Standings and conference wins don’t always tell the full story about how a team or its fanbase feels about a season. Decent teams on paper can feel like they’ve fruitlessly underachieved, and teams that seem forgettable can feel like they’ve stolen some goodwill from the football gods.
The Athletic’s Seth Emerson knows there’s nuance to be found in the rankings, which is where his SEC vibe rankings come in.
The Alabama Crimson Tide might still be behind Georgia in every metric or ranking one can find. This isn’t the best team Nick Saban’s ever fielded, nor will it ever convince anyone otherwise. But Emerson pointed out that the Tide have fought through some adversity, notably a 20-7 halftime deficit this weekend against Tennessee. The Athletic writer is right, considering where Alabama seemed to be after Week 3, there’s plenty of silver lining to find in being undefeated in conference play.
Emerson also offered praise for Missouri and Florida, who both mathematically control their own destiny in the SEC East. Both programs have exceeded expectations held on the first Saturday of the season after the Gators’ terrible Thursday night loss to Utah.
The team the rankings spent most of their time bemoaning, however, was the Arkansas Razorbacks. A 7-3 loss to a Mississippi State team previously winless in the conference and without their starting quarterback seems like a new low for the Sam Pittman tenure.
Arkansas fired offensive coordinator Dan Enos on Sunday after a showing that Emerson said “threatened to make Iowa’s offense look competent.” The Razorbacks sit 13th in total offensive yards this season in the SEC despite being one of only three teams to have played eight games already. They’re averaging 31 fewer yards per game than any other team in the conference.
Here are Emerson’s full rankings for the conference.
| Rank | Team |
| 1 | Alabama |
| 2 | Missouri |
| 3 | Georgia |
| 4 | LSU |
| 5 | Florida |
| 6 | Ole Miss |
| 7 | Tennessee |
| 8 | Auburn |
| 9 | Mississippi State |
| 10 | Kentucky |
| 11 | Texas A&M |
| 12 | South Carolina |
| 13 | Vanderbilt |
| 14 | Arkansas |