SEC Football Power Rankings: Uga may be barking, but is Alabama No. 1?

Chase Goodbread, The Tuscaloosa News

August 29, 2022 at 7:01 AM·3 min read

With nothing but one Vanderbilt game to go by, ranking the SEC entering Week 1 is a tricky task. By season's end, it will all make sense. For now, here's how things look entering the first full week of games:

1. Alabama

This week: vs. Utah State

What to know: No sooner did Nick Saban nip Kirby Smart as the game's highest-paid coach, he nips his former defensive coordinator here as well. This isn't a team without questions, but for now, the clout returning in Bryce Young, Will Anderson Jr. and a host of others puts the Crimson Tide on top.

2. Georgia

This week: vs. Oregon

What to know: Uga can woof all he wants, but the Bulldogs' live mascot knows deep in his canine soul that reloading on defense isn't easy, and that this team must prove it's still that team.

3. Texas A&M

This week: vs. Sam Houston State

What to know: Sam Houston State's namesake is the only person ever to serve as governor for two states (Texas, Tennessee). And with that, you now know a lot more about Sam Houston than his football team will teach us about Jimbo Fisher's.

BOLD PREDICTIONSJahmyr Gibbs bests Najee Harris, and three other bold predictions on Alabama in 2022

GOODBREAD:Alabama fans sound off on preseason expectations

4. Kentucky

This week: vs. Miami (Ohio)

What to know: I'll say it − give Mark Stoops a lifetime contract at UK. He's taken the program to a level of consistency rarely seen in Lexington. After all, John Calipari has one, and he's got the benefit of coaching at a "basketball school."

5. Tennessee

This week: vs. Ball State

What to know: South Carolina and Missouri have had shorter waits than Tennessee since their last trip to the SEC title game. Tennessee has been short on Volunteers for 15 years, to be exact.

6. Arkansas

This week: vs. Cincinnati

What to know: Coach Sam Pittman has brought enthusiasm back to Fayetteville. Maintaining it will require more than just an opening win over the Bearcats.

7. Florida

This week: vs. Utah

What to know: Florida is now on its third former Nick Saban assistant in the head coaching chair. Following Will Muschamp and Jim McElwain, is Billy Napier finally the right guy to make the Swamp scary again?

8. Ole Miss

This week: vs. Troy

What to know: Rebels fans have to get to know a lot of new faces from the transfer portal this year. If we're handicapping highest sales of game programs among SEC teams in Week 1, Ole Miss is the favorite to lead the league.

9. Mississippi State

This week: vs. Memphis

What to know: SEC schools aren't supposed to have to play the revenge game against the AAC, unless you're Mississippi State and you lost at Memphis 31-29 a year ago.

10. LSU

This week: vs. FSU

What to know: The last time LSU beat the Seminoles, Dalton Hilliard was in the backfield and Ronald Reagan was in the White House.

11. South Carolina

This week: vs. Georgia State

What to know: The Gamecocks' live mascot is getting a new name, and there are jokes. If the team tanks, they'll only get funnier.

12. Auburn

This week: vs, Mercer

What to know: There's something not right about Auburn and LSU sitting at the bottom of the SEC West, but here we are, opening the rankings with both needing to pay the power bill.

13. Missouri

This week: vs. Louisiana Tech

What to know: The Tigers won all of one game on the road last season, and this year, they travel to Kansas State, Auburn, Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee. Show me.

14. Vanderbilt

This week: vs. Elon

What to know: Anchor down. Right here in the power rankings.

Reach Chase Goodbread at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @chasegoodbread

Tuscaloosa News sport columnist Chase Goodbread.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: SEC Football Power Rankings Alabama or Georgia, which is No. 1?

NBC News
Trump's Middle East envoy is considering a visit to the Gaza Strip amid ceasefire deal
President-elect Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is considering a visit to the war-torn Gaza Strip as part of his efforts to keep a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas on track, according to a transition official with direct knowledge of the ceasefire process.
NBC News
California wildfires: What we know about L.A.-area fires, what caused them, who is affected and more
Fueled by powerful winds and dry conditions, a series of ferocious wildfires erupted last week and roared across the Los Angeles area.
CNN
A father at the bedside of his son, a surfer and a woman who stayed behind with her beloved pets are among wildfire victims
An amputee and his son with cerebral palsy were among the 24 deaths in the fires raging around Los Angeles. The father was found at his son’s bedside.
NBC News
Capitol riot memories linger on the ground where Trump will take the oath of office
No matter what path Donald Trump takes to the Capitol rotunda before saying his oath of office, he’s guaranteed to pass sites of chaos, violence and destruction wrought by supporters who stormed the Capitol in 2021.
NBC News
Preparations underway as much of U.S. braces for below-freezing temperatures and snow
Preparations are underway as a cold snap bears down on much of the U.S., bringing below freezing temperatures and snow.
CNN
Back-to-back-to-back winter storms will paste the US with snow that could reach the Gulf Coast
An already active winter is about to shift into overdrive as a trio of storms over the weekend and into next week deliver snow to the Midwest, East and possibly as far south as the Gulf Coast.
AFP
US TikTok ban looms as Trump seeks last-ditch solution
TikTok has pledged to "go dark" in the United States on Sunday, threatening access for 170 million app users without 11th-hour guarantees from the government, as President-elect Donald Trump says he is considering a reprieve -- after he takes office.After discussing TikTok with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday, Trump told NBC News on Saturday that he could activate a 90-day reprieve from the ban after he reclaims the Oval Office.
Time
‘I Feel Lost and Defeated’: Anti-Trump March Can't Compete With the One 8 Years Ago
At the anti-Trump protest in Washington, D.C., words like “devastated,” “destroyed,” and "lost" tumble forth. “I cannot believe that normal people voted for this man. But they did."
Associated Press
Oregon man who kidnapped a Seattle woman and kept her in a makeshift cell gets life sentence
An Oregon man has been sentenced to life in federal prison after being convicted of kidnapping and sexually assaulting two women in separate instances, including locking one in a cinder block cell. Negasi Zuberi, 31, was sentenced Friday in federal court in Medford, Portland television station KGW reported. A federal jury convicted him in October on charges of kidnapping, transportation for criminal sexual activity, being a felon in possession of a weapon and attempting to break out of jail when he tried to smash through his cell window in August 2023.
USA TODAY
Winter weather brings winter storm warnings, polar vortex from Texas to Maine
A polar vortex is slated to sweep most of the continental US bringing winter storm warnings and a hazardous freeze to millions.
Reuters
Exclusive-German ambassador warns of Trump plan to redefine constitutional order, document shows
Germany's ambassador to the United States has warned that the incoming Trump administration will rob U.S. law enforcement and the media of their independence and hand big tech companies "co-governing power", according to a confidential document seen by Reuters. The briefing document, dated Jan. 14 and signed by Ambassador Andreas Michaelis, describes Donald Trump's agenda for his second White House term as one of "maximum disruption" that will bring about "a redefinition of the constitutional order - maximum concentration of power with the president at the expense of Congress and the federal states." "Basic democratic principles and checks and balances will be largely undermined, the legislature, law enforcement and media will be robbed of their independence and misused as a political arm, Big Tech will be given co-governing power," it says.
Reuters
Malaysia takes on ASEAN mantle but tempers expectations on Myanmar, South China Sea
Southeast Asian foreign ministers hold a closed-doors retreat in Malaysia on Sunday, as the country hosts its first meeting as chair of the regional bloc ASEAN amid an intensifying civil war in Myanmar and confrontations in the South China Sea. Malaysia takes its turn as rotating chair of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations as the bloc contends with Beijing's assertiveness in the South China Sea and a faltering ASEAN peace process for Myanmar, where the ruling military plans to hold an election this year.
AFP
Trump says he'll sign record number of executive orders on Day 1
Donald Trump said Saturday he plans to sign a record number of executive orders after being sworn in as president, beginning "right after" he delivers his inaugural address.Trump told NBC News the number of orders he will sign after taking office on Monday had not yet been determined but the figure will be "record-setting."
USA TODAY
The Trump family flies to DC on plane provided by Biden ahead of inauguration on Monday
President Biden sends a military plane to bring Trump and family to DC on Saturday ahead of Inauguration Day.
Reuters
Trump flies on Air Force plane to Washington as Biden sticks to tradition
President-elect Donald Trump headed to Washington on Saturday ahead of his inauguration on a U.S. military airplane supplied by U.S. President Joe Biden, as the outgoing president emphasized sticking with traditional transition norms. Trump will arrive in Washington on Saturday evening for celebrations to mark his return to office on Monday. For the occasion, he is ditching his navy and crimson "Trump Force One" he often flies in favor of a government plane Biden sent to Florida.
Associated Press
What to know about the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas
After more than a year of devastating war, the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is set to begin on Sunday, pausing the 15-month conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group in the Gaza Strip. It requires cooperation between Palestinian militant groups, the International Red Cross, the Israeli military, mediators from multiple countries and an Israeli government whose coalition is starting to fray as hard-line ministers express their disapproval. The pause has lifted spirits in Gaza, where 90% of the population has been displaced by Israel’s punishing ground and air bombardments, and vast swaths of the territory reduced to rubble.
AFP
More Kenyan police land in Haiti to bolster security mission
An additional 217 Kenyan police officers landed in Haiti on Saturday to bolster a multinational force seeking to restore order to the violence-ridden Caribbean island. Kenyan President William Ruto said last September that some 2,500 police officers would eventually be deployed.
AFP
Milder winds help LA firefighters as Trump vows to visit
Lighter winds in the Los Angeles area this weekend brought momentary respite to the thousands of firefighters battling deadly wildfires, but meteorologists said stronger winds would add to "critical fire weather" as soon as Monday.With the firefighting effort making progress this weekend, thousands of evacuated residents were preparing to return home, while others still faced the stress of uncertainty.
USA TODAY
6 things you shouldn't leave in your car in freezing temperatures
From electronics to medications, here's a list of things you shouldn't leave in your car as freezing temperatures blast most of the U.S.
CNN
South Korean court extends President Yoon’s detention, angering supporters
A South Korean court on Sunday extended President Yoon Suk Yeol’s detention for up to 20 days, citing concern he could destroy evidence in a criminal probe into his short-lived declaration of martial law in early December.