Week 6 SEC Power Rankings: Cake Week

Each week we rank the 14 teams (for now) that occupy our favorite football conference in the whole wide world. This week, we’re talking about baked goods and bads.

Returning this past week for its 14th season, the Great British Bake Off is one of my favorite TV shows because it manages to capture a softer side of competition. The bakers are charming, creative and often help each other to complete their massive projects in a way that lets everyone shine through. So, it’s essentially the polar opposite of SEC football. 

This week, we’re going to take a cue from the show and talk about either the signature (game), technical (challenges) or showstopper (star) for each team. 

14. Vanderbilt Commodores (2-4, 0-2 SEC)

Technical: Everything?

The Commodores don’t do anything particularly horribly, but they also don’t do anything especially well either, and the bad stuff tends to show up at the worst moments. Even that awful missed field goal against UNLV was the only time Jacob Borcila has failed to convert a kick all year. Much like a slightly undermixed cake, it just feels like everything hasn’t quite come together for the Commodores this year in a way where the results are much worse than the process would suggest.

13. Mississippi State Bulldogs (2-3, 0-3)

Signature: W (31-24) vs. Arizona

Not to belabor the point, but this was always going to be a transition year for Mississippi State following the passing of former head coach Mike Leach. The Bulldogs are going to have a largely forgettable season, but moments like the overtime win against Arizona provide enough hope that things are on the right track in Starkville, no matter how many blowout losses to the Alabamas of the world there are this year.

12. Arkansas Razorbacks (2-3, 0-2)

Technical: Same As It Ever Was

Finally getting rid of offensive coordinator Kendal Briles offered some hope for a more creative Hog attack that would get the most out of star quarterback KJ Jefferson. Hiring Dan Enos (again) to fill that spot raised some eyebrows, but still left room for optimism. And now, well, we’ve gone full Houston Nutt (again) with fans FOIAing his emails.

11. Florida Gators (3-2, 1-1)

Signature: L (33-14) vs. Kentucky

This game is what getting your ass kicked looks like. Billy Napier can hire as many offensive analysts and Coordinators of Super Cool Fun Vibes as he wants, until Florida stops getting pushed around on both lines this is what the Gators will be. Dan Mullen left a lot of problems in Gainesville, but it really felt like we’d be seeing more solutions by now.

10. South Carolina Gamecocks (2-3, 1-2)

Showstopper: QB Spencer Rattler

The general inability to establish any kind of overall consistency in Columbia has masked that Spencer Rattler has actually been pretty good for the Gamecocks, albeit in a little bit of an empty calories kind of way. He’s thrown for over 1,400 yards already this year, though his seven touchdowns falls well behind other leaders at the position. He’s kind of like my favorite GBBO production of all time, Season 11 Dave’s Tom DeLonge cake – a very fun idea that still looked kind of cool and was an impressive feat of engineering but ultimately didn’t taste great or meet the high standards the rest of the competition was putting out.

9. Auburn Tigers (3-2, 0-2)

Technical: The Offense

The Tiger defense looked genuinely good against Georgia last weekend! Is that a product of an actually good unit or a substandard Georgia offense? Honestly, who cares?!? That’s a foundation you can build on for the coming years. Now we just need Hugh Freeze’s offense to produce something on a regular basis and Auburn will be a dangerous matchup for any of the conference elite again.

8. Texas A&M Aggies (4-1, 2-0)

Technical: The Offense

The Aggie offense has actually been better than anyone, myself included, probably wants to admit. They’re 34th nationally in yards per game, and have scored more points than the suddenly very exciting Missouri attack. But we’re still left wanting something more from a unit led by two well-known offensive gurus in Jimbo Fisher and Bobby Petrino. A win against a really good Alabama defense would be exactly the kind of thing that would start to change some minds.

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Halftime: Week 6 Picks

This year, we’re picking every game an SEC team plays and keeping track. No spreads, just straight-up picks to see how well we know ball. So far, we’re 43-13 (77%) on the year.

LSU reminds everyone that they’re LSU and Missouri is, well, Missouri

Mississippi State gets back on track against Western Michigan

Alabama escapes in a close win over Texas A&M

Florida looks like a total mess, but gets bailed out by Vanderbilt’s mistakes

Georgia derails the Kentucky hype train, reminds everyone why they’re still No. 1

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7. Tennessee Volunteers (4-1, 1-1)

Technical: Explosiveness

For an offense built on the big play, we sure haven’t seen a lot of big from the Volunteer offense this year. Quarterback Joe Mixon has just nine touchdown passes, and leading receiver Squirrel White doesn’t have any scores. We thought we’d get a lot more boom or bust this year as Milton took over at quarterback, but we’re still waiting on the boom.

6. LSU Tigers (3-2, 2-1)

Signature: L (55-49) vs. Ole Miss

My god, 100 combined points in the game against Ole Miss last weekend. This is not the LSU team we thought we were getting this year, with playoff hopes hanging by a thread just a week into October.

5. Missouri Tigers (5-0, 1-0)

Showstopper: WR Luther Burden III

The nation’s leading receiver resides in Columbia, Missouri at the moment. The Tigers have crafted a really fun attack, with Burden leading the way to the tune of 624 yards and five touchdowns. If Missouri can keep their run going against a shaky LSU defense on Saturday, we might have a really interesting battle for the SEC East on our hands.

4. Kentucky Wildcats (5-0, 2-0)

Showstopper: RB Ray Davis

The Vanderbilt transfer absolutely lit up Florida, running for 280 yards and three touchdowns with most of the damage coming in an unbelievable first half. You could make the argument that the biggest difference in Vanderbilt and Kentucky’s seasons so far is that Davis no longer plays for the Commodores and instead is running the ball for a team they beat last year.

3. Ole Miss Rebels (4-1, 1-1)

Signature: W (55-49) vs. LSU

The Rebels pulled off a massive win, but also showed exactly why they probably aren’t a true threat to win the SEC West with this roster. Lane Kiffin’s teams are fun and can beat anyone at any moment, but there are always enough cracks (especially on defense) that they can get got at any time too.

2. Alabama Crimson Tide (4-1, 2-0)

Showstopper: QB Jalen Milroe

Fine, I’ll say it. I think Milroe is really good, and Alabama can absolutely win a national title with him at quarterback now that they’re willing to correctly use him on offense.

1. Georgia Bulldogs (5-0, 2-0)

Technical: The Get Off The Bus-ness

If games were only made of second halves, the Bulldogs would be far and away the best team in the country. As it is, they’re the best team in the country at frustrating their own fans on the way to an eventually comfortable victory.