Moral Victory! power ratings: To be somebody, you've got to play somebody

After a week of play, here are our Moral Victory! power ratings for the SEC. Our power ratings aren't based on what we think teams are going to do, but how they're doing so far (i.e. you've got to beat an FBS team to be ranked like one):

1. Alabama, 1-0 (0-0): Beat Virginia Tech 34-24. A big victory that establishes the Tide as a contender.

2. South Carolina, 1-0 (0-0): Beat NC State 7-3. ZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Another scary defense and shaky offense.

3. Georgia, 0-1 (0-0): Lost to Oklahoma State 24-10. Like Bama, the Dawgs weren't afraid to test themselves early. But they lost and now the season really begins.

4. Ole Miss, 1-0 (0-0): Beat Memphis 45-14. Sure, the offense struggled a bit at first, but the defense shut down the Tigers.

5. LSU, 1-0 (0-0): Beat Washington 31-23. Did you ever think that Les Miles played it close
Saturday because he's really worried about Vanderbilt and didn't want to show his hand?

6. Auburn, 1-0 (0-0): Beat La Tech 37-13. The Tigers manhandled a team they should have manhandled, which is an improvement over last season.

7. Kentucky, 1-0 (0-0): Beat Miami (Ohio) 42-0. An impressive beat-down for the Wildcats.

8. Tennessee, 1-0 (0-0): Beat Western Kentucky 63-7. OK, so these Vols aren't going to toy around with a lesser opponent. But what about an equal — or superior — one?

9. Florida, 1-0 (0-0): Beat Charleston Southern 62-3. Just fine-tuning the machine before facing real opponents.

10. Vanderbilt, 1-0 (0-0): Beat Western Carolina 45-0. As impressive as they could have been.

11. Arkansas, 1-0 (0-0): Beat Missouri State 48-10. This time last season, the Razorbacks barely escaped the clutches of a monumental upset.

12. Miss State, 1-0 (0-0): Beat Jackson State 45-7. Surely the Bulldog fans enjoyed all the scoring.