SEC Power Rankings: Every team’s standout performer in Week 1

The first full weekend of college football is in the books and for the first time since 1997, every SEC team won its season opener.

However, only two teams played schools from a Power 4 conference. So we shouldn’t draw too many conclusions or make any serious declarations, right?

Correct, but this is college football. Fans aren’t able to wait long enough to know if patience is a virtue, let alone exercise patience at the start of the season.

If your team played, good, then this is your team’s year. You’re going all the way. If a player had a good game, he’s going to win the Heisman. Or if a team, player or position group played poorly, your team is doomed.

But in truth, we don’t know if any of that is accurate. Ole Miss might finish the season with the nation’s best pass defense. LSU could stumble into another 7-5 season. We just don’t know and one weekend isn’t enough to know anything for certain.

That’s why there’s very little change in this week’s SEC power rankings. I made two small tweaks, flipping teams who had some big wins. But most of it, including the top three, remained the same.

Here’s this week’s rankings along with one standout performer from each team’s season-opening win.

Taylor’s SEC Power Rankings

(Last week’s ranking in parenthesis.)

1. Texas (1): Ryan Wingo didn’t get the preseason attention another new Longhorn did, but he did lead the team in receiving with seven catches for 121 yards and a touchdown.
2. Georgia (2): The Bulldogs may have played every player on their roster based on how long the box score is. Most of the stats were spread around, but Nate Frazier did have three touchdowns while averaging 18 yards per carry.
3. Ole Miss (3): The only team to play an opponent worthy of drawing conclusions from, Deuce Alexander earned the right to wear the No. 1 jersey. Five catches for 159 yards and a pair of 62-yard touchdowns is exactly the type of game you’d expect from a DK Metcalf or AJ Brown.
4. LSU (5): Good thing LSU is making nice with the courts, because they just annihilated Clemson and may have started the end of Dabo Swinney in Clemson. Sam Leavitt had a huge day, throwing for 230 yards and running for another 113 while accounting for three total touchdowns.
5. Texas A&M (4): The Aggies had a great game, but it wasn’t flashy. Nobody had more than one rushing or receiving touchdown and nobody had more than seven tackles on defense. So, let’s spotlight running back Rueben Owens II who had busy day carrying the ball 17 times for 77 yards.
6. Oklahoma (6): Isaiah Sategna III had the first punt return for a touchdown for the Sooners since 2023 while also catching a team high four passes for 76 yards and a touchdown.
7. Missouri (7): Austin Simmons threw more touchdowns (4) than he did incompletions (2), including one touchdown to another former Rebel, Cayden Lee.
8. Alabama (8): Ryan Coleman-Williams had five catches for 130 yards, which is 26 yards per catch, and a long of 58 yards. Yet, he didn’t score a single touchdown. That’s kind of impressive.
9. Tennessee (9): True freshman Faizon Brandon nearly had more touchdowns (3) than he did incompletions (4) but the fact Tennessee has a true freshman starting and playing like that is very noteworthy.
10. South Carolina (10): Opening week games tend to produce video game-like stat lines. That’s what Jabree Coleman’s rushing stats look like. Four carries, 77 yards, 19.3 ypc and two touchdowns with a long run of 60 yards is straight out of EA College Football 27.
11. Florida (11): Jadan Baugh might be a big problem for teams this season. Against Florida Atlantic, Baugh had 14 carries for 160 yards (11.4 ypc) and three touchdowns. His longest run was 61 yards.
12. Auburn (12): This list needs some defenders and the Tigers’ offense didn’t produce any great performances. Elijah Mendez did though, registering 12 total tackles, including two tackles for a loss and two pass deflections.
13. Mississippi State (14): Kamario Taylor will get plenty of attention this season, but JJ Hill had a nice coming out party. He ran the ball only seven times, but scored on two of those carries and finished with 118 yards.
14. Vanderbilt (13): How big of a red flag is only scoring 28 points against Austin Peay? Six of those points came on a punt return for a touchdown from Josiah Braxton who was just in the right place at the right time, too. But that’s good enough to make this list.
15. Kentucky (15): Teams went deep into their depth charts defensively this weekend so there aren’t many standout performances on that side of the ball. Jordan Castel qualifies though, tying for the team lead with seven tackles and leading the Wildcats with a pair of TFLs.
16. Arkansas (16): It’s a little concerning there aren’t more options for the Razorbacks than a quarterback that threw a pick against North Alabama or the kicker. Max Gilbert made his lone field goal attempt (33 yards) and was 4-for-4 on extra points.