SEC Power Rankings — Week 3

The game of the week in College Station confirmed what we already knew - Alabama remains the top team in both the conference and the nation. Texas A&M didn't do anything that surprised us either. The Aggies have one of the most explosive offenses in football but will continue to lose big games until the defense improves.

The other things we learned this week included Tennessee fans need to pump the brakes, Auburn is building momentum, and LSU's offense is clicking.

Now that we've had a few weeks to see the conference in action, it's time to unveil the first SEC Power Rankings of the season. We'll roll these out every Monday moving forward.

1. Alabama - The top-ranked Crimson Tide revenged its lone loss from a national championship season one year ago. Alabama's defense yielded its most yards in school history, but that might say more about Texas A&M's offense than the lack of ability for the Tide.

2. LSU - Zach Mettenberg appears to be flourishing under Cam Cameron. The quarterback went 13-18 for 264 yards and three touchdowns against Kent State. Running back Jeremy Hill added two touchdowns on 117 yards rushing.

3. Georgia - It was a bye week for the Bulldogs. We won't know much more about Georgia until the week five matchup with LSU, but Georgia is the best team in the East right now.

4. Texas A&M - The Aggies have the potential to move up this list but improvements need to be made on defense first. Thankfully, it will be four weeks until the team travels to Ole Miss because the Rebels will be able to get into a shootout if needed.

5. South Carolina - The Gamecocks rebounded after a huge game (and loss) against Georgia by taking care of a pesky Vanderbilt. The schedule is very manageable for the next six weeks.

T-6. Florida - The Gators had a week off following the loss to Miami. This team has the defense to compete with anyone, but the offense will keep most opponents within striking distance.

T-6. Ole Miss - Hugh Freeze has stirred up the fanbase in Oxford and put the Rebels in position to have College Gameday come to the state for the first time. The team picked up a big road win against a dysfunctional Texas squad and will get a week off before traveling to Tuscaloosa.

8. Auburn - There was celebration on the Plains after the Tigers won its first conference game in 11 tries. With a much improved defense and a quarterback that seems to be picking up the offense each week, Auburn might be the surprise team in the conference by the end of the season.

9. Vanderbilt - This year's Commodores team has played well but only has a 1-2 record to show for it. Vandy fell behind 21-0 at South Carolina and that proved too much to overcome. Despite outscoring the Gamecocks the final three quarters, Vandy fell 35-25.

10. Arkansas - The Razorbacks are getting fat off easy competition to start the Bret Bielema era, but we'll learn a lot the next three weeks.

11. Tennessee - Vols fans can come back down after screaming from Rocky Top about a 2-0 start. Oregon dismantled the Tennessee defense to the tune of 59 points and 687 total yards of offense. The good news? You won't have to face an offense like that again this season.

12 . Missouri - Missouri could end up slotting anywhere between 9-14 in these rankings, but there's not a lot to analyze up to this point. A Big 10-SEC clash of basketball schools this weekend against Indiana should be entertaining.

13. Mississippi State - When you end a team's 10-game conference losing streak, expect some backlash from the fanbase. Dan Mullen's seat has heated up after two losses and a lack of offense summarize the season thus far.

14. Kentucky - Mark Stoops' defense has shown improvement. That was evident with the competitive performance against a talented Louisville team. Basketball message boards will heat up the next few weeks with football games against Florida, South Carolina, and Alabama.