RTT SEC Power Poll Ballot: week three

by Joel Hollingsworth on Sep 8, 2008 9:51 PM EDT in College Football

RTT's SEC Power Poll ballot for this week. The numbers repeatedly referred to below are the same ones I use for the RTT BlogPoll ballot. Yes, due to laziness and obstinance, I am utilizing a resume system for a power poll. Sue me. But don't.

The zero loss teams

1. LSU. Solid numbers across the board with the exception of 3rd down offense and experience. A pretty significant lead over the rest of the teams, but they've only beaten Appy State, so really, the jury -- or whatever they call it down there in that wacky legal system -- is out.

2. Florida. Worst experience rating in the league and the best numbers after two games against decent competition. Surprisingly, the Gators' defensive numbers are better than their offensive numbers.

3. Georgia. The Dawgs' 3rd down offense is third-best in the nation. Pass efficiency offense is 12th.

4. Kentucky. Pretty surprising here, really. The Wildcats' pass efficiency defense and opponents points per game are both third in the nation, and their rush defense is 12th. If it weren't for a 100th-ranked 3rd down offense and an 95th-ranked pass efficiency offense, they'd be doing really well.

5. Auburn. The Tigers 3rd down defense is first in the nation. Other numbers are simply solid. Nothing spectacular -- just really good.

6. Alabama. Much like Auburn, the Tide's numbers are merely very good, with the notable exception of a 5th-ranked rush defense.

7. Vanderbilt. Significant drop off in the numbers here. Alabama ranks 40th overall, and Vandy and Arkansas are 60th and 61st respectively. Both have middle of the road numbers so far.

8. Arkansas. Like Vanderbilt, but lucky, lucky, lucky.

The .500 teams

9. Mississippi. Right around the same spot as Vandy and Arkansas, but they actually lost, too. It was to a good Wake Forest team, though, and it was close, so the carbon in me overrode the computer and moved them up over South Carolina.

10. South Carolina. The Gamecocks have the 7th-best pass efficiency defense rating and the 9th-best total defense rating in the nation with solid numbers in the other stat categories to boot. Except for that whole "win" thing. They actually ranked 22nd overall in the nation, which says either that they're still very good despite having been beaten by Vandy (who was 60th) or that my spreadsheet is in serious need of tweaking. Okay, then. Tweaking it is.

11. Mississippi State. Ditto Croom's guys. 23rd overall with very good defensive numbers. Bumped down for the loss to Louisiana Tech, though. As it should be.

That other team

12. Tennessee. Yeah. Not only are we the only team in the conference without a win, our numbers put us at 86th in my rankings. We are No. 1 in the country in rush defense, though, so there's that.

Full chart after the jump.

Rank	Team	WL	SOS	PED	RD	3DO	TD	PEO	EXP	OPPG	TO	3DD	AVG R	W AVG
14	LSU	1	3	35	9	82	22	30	77	26	31	2	28.91	189.27
18	Florida	1	3	19	13	23	12	41	116	8	63	6	27.73	207.82
19	Georgia	1	3	46	28	3	45	12	90	48	9	43	29.82	212.82
25	Kentucky	1	3	3	12	100	10	95	38	3	85	12	32.91	236.55
29	Auburn	1	2	37	13	90	28	94	84	8	53	1	37.36	248.09
40	Alabama	1	3	33	5	23	26	80	95	14	95	27	36.55	280.91
60	Vanderbilt	1	2	36	37	60	60	50	90	29	96	45	46.00	337.00
61	Arkansas	1	3	55	55	18	47	36	109	79	33	73	46.27	339.27
22	South Carolina	2	1	7	53	72	9	75	26	22	76	19	32.91	231.91
23	Mississippi St.	2	3	8	15	60	17	72	38	39	64	24	31.09	232.45
57	Mississippi	2	2	78	70	31	85	29	26	82	49	71	47.73	327.73
86	Tennessee	3	3	32	1	99	42	114	45	82	68	95	53.09	407.00