With rivalry week capping on the off the regular season in the SEC and Florida facing Alabama in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday, here is our final 2015 regular season SEC Power Rankings.
14. South Carolina Gamecocks
The Gamecocks pulled out all stops against the top-ranked Clemson Tigers in Williams-Brice on Saturday. South Carolina still fell short, however, losing to the Tigers 37-32. The Gamecocks will use this offseason to regroup, after a very disappointing 2015 where they finished 3-9. Athletic Director Ray Tanner went on record saying the Gamecocks are trying to have a coach in place "as soon as possible." South Carolina would surprise me if they didn't have a coach in place within two weeks.
13. Missouri Tigers
Missouri joins South Carolina and now, Georgia, surprisingly as the three teams from the East that are on the search for a new head coach. The Tigers finished their season with a 28-3 loss to Arkansas last Friday, dropping their record to 5-7. It will be interesting to see which direction Missouri Athletics goes in their search for a new coach.
12. Kentucky Wildcats
2015 started out very promising for Mark Stoops' team, who got off to a 4-1 start. The Wildcats' only victory after that 4-1 start came against Charlotte, and Kentucky endured a stretch where they went 1-6 to finish the season. Junior quarterback Patrick Towles announced after the loss to Louisville on Saturday that he will be transferring to another school to play his final year of eligibility.
11. Vanderbilt Commodores
The Commodores finished 4-8 and were trounced by Tennessee in their final game on Saturday. Vanderbilt has taken baby steps under Derek Mason, and it will be critical for Mason to make his next improvements to the team on the offensive side of the ball. If the Commodores don't find a way to improve on their record this season, I fully expect Derek Mason to be a coach on the hot seat.
10. Auburn Tigers
The Tigers were overpowered by Alabama in the Iron Bowl on Saturday on both sides of the ball. The loss leaves Auburn sitting at 6-6 on the year, which is good enough to get them into a bowl game. Auburn has been on a decline since their trip to the final BCS National Championship Game in 2013, and one has to wonder if Gus Malzahn's tenure as head coach might be coming to an end.
9. Texas A&M Aggies
Texas A&M started the 2015 season with a 5-0 record for the second-straight season, but back-to-back losses to Alabama and Ole Miss thwarted the Aggies' playoff hopes again this season. Kevin Sumlin's team continues to improve, however, especially with the addition of Jon Chavis as defensive coordinator. The Aggies were able to win eight games this season and are looking at a berth in a decent bowl game.
8. Georgia Bulldogs
Georgia defeated bitter in-state rival Georgia Tech 13-7 on Saturday, but that win wasn't good enough for Mark Richt to keep his job. Georgia announced Sunday morning that Richt would coach his final game as the Bulldogs' head coach in their bowl game. Georgia finished this season 9-3, despite losing star running back Nick Chubb in the middle of the season in a tough loss to Tennessee. The Bulldogs have just announced that Kirby Smart will be Richt's successor.
7. Tennessee Volunteers
Tennessee's shaky start had many of the Vols' faithful calling for the firing of Butch Jones, but Jones' team responded with five-straight wins to finish the regular season. After dominating Vanderbilt on Saturday, Tennessee finishes their regular season at 8-4, and one could only wonder what might've been if this team hadn't blown three double-digit leads in their first five games.
6. Mississippi State Bulldogs
A slow-start doomed the Bulldogs early against Ole Miss, but Mississippi State tried to rally late. A lot of pundits picked this team to finish dead-last in the SEC West, and that hasn't been the case with Dak Prescott running the show. There's been a lot of speculation surrounding head coach Dan Mullen leaving the program, and we'll just have to wait and see what his next move will be.
5. Arkansas Razorbacks
The Razorbacks, like Tennessee, started this season off very slowly by losing games to teams when they shouldn't have. Bret Bielema has done a terrific job rallying his team and has silenced critics by leading Arkansas to a strong finish.
4. LSU Tigers
Late last week, the Tigers wanted Les Miles out as head coach of LSU. After an emotional victory over Texas A&M, the LSU Athletic Department announced that Miles would remain as head coach of the Tigers. It was a smart move, and Miles has the top-rated recruiting class heading into 2016. If this team can get a little tougher on defense and add more balance to their offense, they will be a National Championship contender next season.
3. Ole Miss Rebels
Despite knocking Alabama off early in the season, Ole Miss lost crucial games to Florida and Memphis. The loss to Florida put the Rebels in the passenger seat for the SEC Championship, and Alabama never looked back. Hugh Freeze has done a good job stocking talent in Oxford, and we'll see if he's able to take a step forward with the program next season.
2. Florida Gators
Florida has won a lot of games the hard way, but the Gators have found a way to get enough hard-fought wins to earn themselves a trip to Atlanta this weekend. Florida will have to find a way to stop Alabama's wrecking ball, Derrick Henry, and that will be a tall-task for a Gator defense that's played well this season.
1. Alabama Crimson Tide
The Florida Gators are the only thing standing between Alabama and a second College Football Playoff berth. The Tide have a ton of momentum that they've built since their early-season loss against Ole Miss. Reflecting on this season, that loss might've been the catalyst that gave Alabama the strength to roll through the rest of their schedule. Derrick Henry is on the top of everybody's Heisman Trophy lists, and he showed us why by carrying the ball 46 times for 200-yards in a big Iron Bowl victory of arch-rival Auburn. If this team makes the playoff by beating Florida, I have a difficult time seeing them dropping a game in the playoff. I was, however, thinking the same thing last season before Ohio State showed us that anybody can be beaten in any given game.
As always, thanks for reading! Be sure to follow me on Twitter @griffaldo.
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