Each week a panel of beat writers who cover all 14 SEC teams (Chip Towers of the AJC and DawgNation is one) and three national writers cast a ballot for The Official SEC Country Power Poll.

Despite the bye week, UGA (5-2, 3-2 SEC) rose one spot to No. 6 in the latest edition of the Power Poll. The move probably had more to do with Texas A&M’s loss to Ole Miss than the voters gaining confidence in UGA over the weekend, however.

The Bulldogs received 129 points from the voters — one fewer than their point total from last week’s poll — which was two more than Texas A&M’s total. Some voters had UGA as high as No. 4 in the poll, while others placed it at No. 7.

If UGA manages to win Saturday’s matchup with No. 11 Florida (6-1, 4-1), which was No. 3 in this week’s Power Poll, there will be no question that the Bulldogs deserve to be closer to the top.

The entire poll can be seen below:

RANKTEAMPOINTS1ST PLACE VOTESHIGH VOTELOW VOTEPREV
1Louisiana State (7-0)21915121
2Alabama (7-1)2062122
3Florida (6-1)1860343
4Mississippi (6-2)1640456
5Mississippi State (6-2)1490375
6Georgia (5-2)1290497
7Texas A&M (5-2)1270584
8Arkansas (3-4)10006911
9Tennessee (3-4)9207108
10Auburn (4-3)6508119
11Kentucky (4-3)58081210
12South Carolina (3-4)190121413
13Vanderbilt (3-4)180121414
14Missouri (4-4)150111412

Previous results: Week 4 • Week 5 • Week 6 • Week 7 • Week 8

Here is this week’s voting roster:

Adam Sparks (Nashville Tennessean) Anthony Chiang (Palm Beach Post) Aaron Suttles (Tuscaloosa News) Bill Bender (Sporting News) Bob Holt (Arkansas Democrat) Chip Towers (Atlanta Journal-Constitution & DawgNation) Dana Sulonen (Opelika-Auburn News) Dave Matter (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) David Cloninger (The State) Dustin Dopirak (Knoxville Sentinel) Jen Smith (Lexington Herald) Joel Coleman (Starkville Daily News) John Davis (Oxford Citizen) Richard Croome (Bryan-College Station Eagle) Scott Rabalais (Baton Rouge Advocate) Tom Fornelli (CBS Sports) Zac Ellis (Sports Illustrated)