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.
For the second straight week, UGA claims the No. 7 spot in the Power Poll. Saturday’s 9-6 victory over Missouri was not enough to move the Bulldogs past Ole Miss, which was defeated by Memphis over the weekend.
UGA fell one point shy of moving into a tie for No. 6 as it garnered 130 points to Ole Miss’ 131. An argument could be made that the Bulldogs should be ahead of the Rebels based on each team’s respective outcome in Saturday’s games, but Ole Miss did defeat Alabama on the road while UGA lost handily to the Crimson Tide at home. Only five points separate UGA and Mississippi State, which occupies the No. 5 spot in the poll, so the voters must feel that the Bulldogs are in the same tier with the schools from Mississippi.
After a bye in Week 8, UGA will face Florida on Halloween in a game that could decide the winner of the SEC East when all is said and done. The Gators dropped one spot to No. 3 in this week’s poll after losing a close game on the road to the Power Poll’s top-seeded LSU team.
The entire SEC Country Power Poll can be seen below:
| RANK | TEAM | POINTS | 1ST PLACE VOTES | HIGH VOTE | LOW VOTE | PREV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Louisiana State (6-0) | 219 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2 | Alabama (6-1) | 206 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 3 | Florida (6-1) | 185 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| 4 | Texas A&M (5-1) | 172 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| 5 | Mississippi State (5-2) | 135 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 6 |
| 6 | Mississippi (5-2) | 131 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 5 |
| 7 | Georgia (5-2) | 130 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 7 |
| 8 | Tennessee (3-3) | 92 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 9 |
| 9 | Auburn (4-2) | 88 | 0 | 8 | 12 | 12 |
| 10 | Kentucky (4-2) | 70 | 0 | 8 | 12 | 8 |
| 11 | Arkansas (2-4) | 53 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 11 |
| 12 | Missouri (4-3) | 49 | 0 | 9 | 12 | 10 |
| 13 | South Carolina (3-4) | 17 | 0 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
| 14 | Vanderbilt (2-4) | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
Previous results: Week 4 • Week 5 • Week 6 • Week 7
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)
