SEC Power Rankings: Week 4
There is still a lot of football to play, but we are getting a better understanding of what teams actually are now that three games are in the books. We still have some question marks about almost every team, but we at least know what questions to ask now.
- Ole Miss (3-0, Previous Week: 3rd) You may not like to see this if you are a Mississippi State fan, but the Rebels deserve to be here. They beat the number 2 team in the country in Bryant Denny Stadium. And unless they lose, they’ll probably stay in this spot.
- LSU (2-0, Previous Week: 4th) The formula for beating LSU is quite simple and yet so difficult. Slow down Leonard Fournette. Sounds simple, right? Sure, but actually doing it is going to be next to impossible. LSU and Ole Miss may face each other in Oxford undefeated.
- Georgia (3-0, Previous Week: 3rd) Georgia going down had more to do with LSU and less to do with Georgia. Georgia could coast to an SEC East title. They may be the only team in the division worthy of top 25 ranking, and they have both Alabama and Auburn in Athens. At this point, I’m not confident enough in either team to believe they can go to Athens and beat the Bulldogs.
- Texas A&M (3-0, Previous Week: 5th) Let me just say, I honestly am not sure about the Aggies. Yes, they beat what many people thought was a really good Arizona State team, but Arizona State has really been slightly better than okay. Maybe the Aggies are really good, maybe they’re not. I don’t think we will know for certain until week 5 when they play Mississippi State.
- Alabama (2-1, Previous Week: 1st) There is a lot of gloom and doom being cast upon the Tide, and rightfully so. Alabama is atrocious at the quarterback position, and unless they are at least competent at that position, The Tide could lose 3, 4, maybe 5 games this season. With all of that said, Alabama was -5 in the turnover category and only lost by 6. They might be in for a down year, but it still isn’t easy to beat the Tide.
- Mississippi State (2-1, Precious Week: 6th) The Bulldogs came out and destroyed the Demons like they were supposed to. I thought about moving them ahead of Alabama, but the Tide’s victory over Wisconsin nudged them ahead of the Bulldogs.
- Missouri (3-0, Previous Week: 7th) Is this the year Missouri gets punished for not really being all that great. Missouri beat a terrible team in UConn, but the Tigers played terribly themselves. The SEC East is not very good, and they have Arkansas on the schedule. Despite how poorly they have played, I could still see them only losing two or three games this season.
- Florida (3-0, Previous Week: 10th) Florida just doesn’t lost to Kentucky. 29 straight wins over the Wildcats. They didn’t play great but they did win. And Kentucky isn’t as bad as they normally are, so they get to move up.
- Tennessee (2-1, Previous Week: 11th) Tennessee als0 did what they were supposed to do, so they get to move up as well.
- Kentucky (2-1, Previous Week: 8th) Kentucky might end up being a slightly better football team than they were last year, and still having about the same record. I’ll say they beat Vandy and beat Louisville and squeak out enough wins to get to a bowl.
- Auburn (2-1, Previous Week: 9th) There is absolutely nothing to feel good about when it comes to Auburn football. They get the honor of being above the teams below them simply because they got a “win’ over Jacksonville State.
- Arkansas (1-2, Previous Week: 12th) My wife’s family is full of Arkansas fans. Therefore, I spend some time around Arkansas fans. And I can tell you this, those fans bought into the hype. And now they are dealing with the crushing weight of unmet expectations. Just looking at their schedule, you have to wonder if they’ll win more than 2 more games the rest of the season. It’s a real possibility.
- South Carolina (1-2, Previous Week: 13th) Steve Spurrier just got blown out the way Steve Spurrier used to blow other teams out. It’s time ofr the Ole Ball Coach to hang up the visor before he does too much damage.
- Vanderbilt (1-2, Previous Week: 14th) It looked iffy for Vandy for a little while against Austin Peay, but they got their act together in the second quarter and blew them out like an SEC team is supposed to. Still not enough for me to move them ahead of the Gamecocks. The winner of Vandy and South Carolina might be the only win in SEC play either of those teams get.
We’ll break the Conference down again in next week’s SEC Power Rankings and see if there are any more surprises.