SEC Football Power Rankings: Week 4
There weren't any changes in the top four of this week's SEC football power rankings, but that doesn't mean everything else stayed the same.
A moderate upset sent an SEC West team tumbling and an East Division also-ran into the realm of the much-discussed this week, when Kentucky sent Mississippi State home from Lexington stunned with a lopsided loss.
Florida slithered into Knoxville and easily beat the Vols, and South Carolina cruised to a road victory over Vanderbilt. Auburn handled its business against Arkansas, Georgia claimed a hard-fought win on the road at Missouri, and Alabama took care of business against Texas A&M.
The conference continued to flex its considerable muscle, looking like the best in the country yet again. It is also getting deeper, as evidenced by the league continuing its head-to-head prowess over other conferences.
Its star power perhaps isn't as pronounced as in years past, but Alabama has its share of stars and the Crimson Tide look like the early favorite to repeat yet again.
Anything can happen, though, so let's take a look at the SEC's power rankings after Week 4.
14. Arkansas Razorbacks
1 of 14
After two Group of Five losses to Colorado State and North Texas to leave first-year coach Chad Morris answering tough questions about his program, the Razorbacks went on the road to the Plains to start a grueling stretch.
They were uncompetitive yet again, but this time, that was warranted. Auburn dominated Arkansas 34-3, and the Razorbacks were held to just 290 yards and 3-of-17 on third-down conversions. The Tigers didn't play anywhere near their best game, either.
It's going to take a while for Arkansas to rebuild its program, and this year isn't going to be an easy or fun one for fans to endure. It's difficult to envision Morris' team winning a conference game this year unless something changes, and unfortunately for the Hogs, Tennessee isn't on the schedule.
It's no secret Bret Bielema didn't leave Arkansas in the best shape. Right now, the Hogs are just trying to find playmakers to get Morris' high-octane offense started. It's going to be tough with Texas A&M and Alabama staring them down next.
While the offense and special teams have struggled, there are bright spots on John Chavis' defense.
"It's the first time since 2012 that we’ve held three straight opponents to less than 100 yards rushing," Morris told HawgSports' Tyler Davis after the AU loss. "I thought this was the most complete game that our defense has played this season. They did another really good job of handling sudden change with their back against the wall in poor field position."
This year is about finding building blocks for the future and positivity in the small things.
13. Tennessee Volunteers
2 of 14
A team with as little talent as Tennessee cannot afford to give away any points and beat a decent team. If the Vols didn't know it, they learned it the hard way Saturday night in Knoxville.
UT gave the visiting Gators 28 points in what became a disappointing, embarrassing 47-21 loss in front of a disgruntled Neyland Stadium crowd that gathered to watch a hopeful upset and see the 1998 national championship team honored.
Instead, they saw UT fall behind big early, giving away turnovers deep in its territory that led to a pair of touchdowns. Tight end Austin Pope fumbled through the end zone after a big gain late in the second half.
After the break, Shawn Shamburger fumbled the opening kickoff, giving the ball to UF, which scored one play later on a Jordan Scarlett run. By then, it was long over.
Coach Jeremy Pruitt's program now faces an even tougher stretch, traveling to Georgia and Auburn, hosting Alabama and going to South Carolina over the next month.
In other words, a 2-6 start is definitely possible, and the late-season stretch that includes Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Missouri doesn't look as easy as it once did.
The Vols have deep-rooted issues on the offensive line and in their pass rush that can't be fixed through anything but recruiting. They also don't have nearly enough playmakers or strong enough quarterback play to gloss over anything. Throw in the mistakes, and you've got ingredients for failure.
It feels like rock-bottom on Rocky Top.
12. Ole Miss Rebels
3 of 14
Ole Miss' problems are far from fixed, but the Rebels at least got a one-week reprieve from having to worry too much about their defensive woes. They overcame a sputtering offensive start to run away from Kent State 38-17.
Quarterback Jordan Ta'amu threw for 442 yards against the Golden Flashes in one last tune-up before they travel to hated rival LSU.
There's a massive opportunity for the Rebels to upset a Top Five team. Though LSU has looked stout on defense, it hasn't faced anything like Ole Miss' passing attack, and the Rebels would love nothing more than to wash out the early-season bad tastes.
Yes, they gave up a lot of points in wins over Texas Tech and Southern Illinois and were embarrassed on national television against Alabama, but the Rebels are still 3-1 on the season. If they can shore up defensive issues, they should score enough to scare teams.
Coach Matt Luke told the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com) that Saturday was a "bounce-back win," but this weekend, the real fun starts. Though the Rebels are going to be big underdogs, they'll try to thrive on the stage of playing a night game in Death Valley.
"I most definitely have thought or dreamed of playing down there before," Ole Miss running back Scottie Phillips told the OM Spirit's David Johnson. "I know it is going to be a hostile environment. I am ready. I am going to embrace the challenge."
It's a second chance to do what they failed to against Alabama.
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11. Vanderbilt Commodores
4 of 14
Vanderbilt, for a week at least, caught the nation by surprise by traveling to South Bend and nearly upsetting Notre Dame before falling 22-17 a week ago.
Unfortunately for the Commodores, they couldn't carry the momentum.
Instead, they're 2-2 after South Carolina traveled to Nashville, waited out a lightning delay and left with a lopsided 37-14 win. The Commodores couldn't muster any offense, couldn't protect quarterback Kyle Shurmur and failed to play with the same defensive edge that frustrated the Fighting Irish.
Coach Derek Mason called the loss a "comedy of errors," according to the Tennessean's Adam Sparks. It probably wasn't funny for the Commodores faithful, who got its hopes up but came only to have them crash down once again. Vandy struggled with turnovers and erratic play on both sides of the ball.
After getting in a 10-0 hole, Vanderbilt was never competitive.
All isn't lost for the Commodores, who should get back to their winning ways this weekend against Tennessee State before a difficult road test at Georgia. With Florida, Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri, Ole Miss and Tennessee to close the season, that's navigable.
Six or seven wins are attainable if VU can progress with the way it looked early in the season. Last year, the 'Dores fell apart following a Week 4 domination by Alabama. They've got to guard against that happening again.
10. Florida Gators
5 of 14
Forget about that early-season loss to Kentucky that ended a 31-year streak of dominance over the Wildcats; that UK team is good this year.
The Gators are focused on proving they aren't that bad, either.
The past two weekends have gone a long way in the development of first-year coach Dan Mullen's program. First, the Gators used elite defense and special teams to destroy visiting Colorado State. Then they traveled to Knoxville and shocked Tennessee by scoring 47 points.
While the offense wasn't always sharp against Tennessee, the defense forced the Vols into multiple mistakes. When there were unforced errors, the Gators made UT pay for those, too.
Feleipe Franks wasn't great, but he managed the game well. The Gators had their share of big plays and took the crowd out of the game early.
It wasn't a huge shock that they beat the Vols, but both teams needed the win to creep closer to bowl eligibility, and the Gators proved once again they are further along in their rebuild than UT. While getting by Georgia doesn't look plausible now, the Gators can win the rest of their East Division games.
If they can do that, it'll be a big step forward for a team trying to move on from the forgettable Jim McElwain era.
Mullen doesn't have anywhere near enough weapons to run his spread offense, but he is tailoring his offense to the strengths of his team. That's the mark of a good coach, and UF just needs to ramp things up in recruiting.
9. South Carolina Gamecocks
6 of 14
Say what you want about South Carolina's inconsistency in the beginning of the Will Muschamp era, but the coach knows how to motivate his team, and the Gamecocks have taken on the personality of their fiery leader.
When something is said that they don't like, they get after it, as evidenced by Saturday's 37-14 win at Vanderbilt on the heels of some comments made by 'Dores coach Derek Mason that Carolina didn't care for.
Mason called for a "street fight" before the game, according to The State's Josh Kendall, and the Gamecocks took him up on it. He definitely got one, and VU got whooped.
Multiple South Carolina players talked about how Mason's comments rankled them.
"We took it very personally," offensive lineman Zack Bailey said. "You want to try and call somebody out, you better know who you're calling out before you call them out. That's the bottom line. We took it to them."
After struggling throughout the early season, the Gamecocks offense got going with quarterback Jake Bentley looking like one of the top signal-callers in the league and the running game getting on track. Even better for Carolina was Muschamp's defense getting after the opposing quarterback.
It was a full team effort, and it really wasn't close. Perhaps this is a building block for a Gamecocks team that had so much early-season excitement before getting drilled at home by Georgia.
That's just one game, and if Carolina can forget about that hiccup, there are still plenty of attainable goals in 2018. This may seem low for the Gamecocks in these rankings, but they've got to prove they can rally.
This past weekend was a great start.
8. Missouri Tigers
7 of 14
Missouri had a massive opportunity on Saturday, hosting No. 2 Georgia at home in an early start with a chance to catch the Bulldogs still in a morning slumber.
It didn't happen. UGA didn't play its best game and still beat the Tigers by 14 points, 43-29.
The Tigers needed a great game plan and a world-class performance by senior quarterback Drew Lock. Instead, the signal-caller completed just 23 of 48 passes, with 12 of those going to tight ends. Offensive coordinator Derek Dooley called a disjointed game, and the Mizzou defense struggled late.
Even though the Tigers looked like they were holding UGA intact early, the Bulldogs got it going enough in the second half to win comfortably. That didn't change Lock's point of view.
"If we play our A-game, we can compete with anyone in the country, and that's something I believe in my soul," Lock told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Benjamin Hochman.
There are a lot of weapons in Mizzou's offense, and the defense showed some signs of life after getting shredded by Purdue in a win. But this isn't one of the two best teams in the SEC East right now, and coach Barry Odom needs to find a way to start pushing some buttons.
Remember, last year Mizzou started the season 1-5 before making a bowl game. This year, the Tigers are 3-1 and in much better shape. They know they can ride Lock's arm, and he must perform better in elite matchups than he did on Saturday.
If he does, this is a team that's explosive enough offensively to make things tough on anybody. It will be interesting to see how the Tigers bounce back following a tough East Division loss.
7. Mississippi State Bulldogs
8 of 14
All the early-season, feel-good vibes built up by the beginning of the Joe Moorhead era in Starkville came crashing down in one thorough manhandling at the hands of Kentucky.
MSU traveled to Lexington, expecting to beat coach Mark Stoops' team. Somebody forgot to tell the Wildcats, who not only upset the Bulldogs but also dominated them in every facet of the game.
UK's defense smothered dual-threat quarterback Nick Fitzgerald, and the Wildcats rode the sturdy legs of running back Benny Snell Jr. to a 28-7 win. It left plenty of questions for the Bulldogs, who were flagged 16 times for 139 yards.
A Bulldogs defense that had looked stout against the run couldn't keep Snell from ripping off big runs, and it cost the team. Then, MSU couldn't run on the other side of the ball or protect Fitzgerald.
"We just weren't getting the push on the offensive line we needed," Fitzgerald told The Dispatch's Brett Hudson. "We were shooting ourselves in the foot every chance we got. Not going to win like that."
This was a game MSU needed, especially with Auburn, LSU and Texas A&M up next on the schedule. Moorhead has the weapons on both sides of the ball to upset any of those teams, but the Bulldogs cannot play the way they did Saturday.
Is Kentucky really 21 points better than MSU, or was it just an off night for the Bulldogs? That's an answer that will materialize over the next few weeks when the competition remains elevated.
This is the first real adversity Moorhead has faced, and how he responds to this early-season crossroads could help him define what kind of program he anticipates running in Starkville.
6. Texas A&M Aggies
9 of 14
For nearly a half, Texas A&M kept the game at Alabama close.
The Aggies were within eight points until the Crimson Tide reeled off 10 consecutive points and never looked back in an eventual 45-23 win over the Aggies. Though coach Jimbo Fisher's young program showed some signs of life, such as quarterback Kellen Mond's 98 rushing yards, A&M is still far from the standard.
Alabama showed what that standard was in Tuscaloosa, and the Aggies (along with most everybody else) have a long way to go to get there.
Defensive coordinator Mike Elko's unit looked strong throughout the early season, but Alabama's vaunted offense made A&M look pedestrian.
But there's no question the Aggies have seen what the nation's best looks like in a close loss to Clemson and a blowout setback to the Crimson Tide. Fisher sees a light ahead.
"Far from discouraged," Fisher told the Dallas Morning News' Ben Baby. "I'm actually encouraged about the things we can do."
After playing Arkansas on Saturday, the schedule gets tough again for Fisher, who is making $75 million to get answers quickly in College Station. There are reasons for fans to be encouraged so far, too, despite getting spit out of the Tuscaloosa meat grinder.
Mond continues to prove he's one of the most exciting young players in the league, and A&M may even be a bit ahead of schedule after ending the Kevin Sumlin era. It's just going to be tough being happy when you're in the same division as Alabama, Auburn and others.
Getting a resume win in the coming weeks will help that a lot.
5. Kentucky Wildcats
10 of 14
Kentucky's football program is being rewarded for its patience while Mark Stoops slowly built his program.
In Year 6 of his tenure in Lexington, the Wildcats are a stunning 4-0 with upset wins at Florida and at home on Saturday against Mississippi State. Stoops is now 30-36 as a head coach in his career, but none of that matters because the 'Cats look like they've arrived.
The defense is stout and making plays, bottling up stars like MSU quarterback Nick Fitzgerald. The dazzling play of JUCO transfer quarterback Terry Wilson has revolutionized this offense, and as a sophomore, he still has nearly three full years to play.
Then there's running back Benny Snell Jr., a true SEC star who could start for anybody in the league not named Alabama.
Stoops has UK's program rolling, and it is far from just a basketball school in the Bluegrass State.
Hosting South Carolina and traveling to Texas A&M over the next two games are two huge tests to keep things heading in the right direction. Win those two games, and who knows how high the ceiling is?
An elated-but-defiant Stoops took a little time following UK's win over the Bulldogs to talk about what the program is doing, according to the Lexington Herald Leader's Mark Story:
"We're knocking the dang doors down one at a time. So we're going to knock a door down every seven days is what we're trying to do, because one of you will come up with something ... I don't want to hear anything about this running quarterback, I don't want to hear anything about teeing it up for a home game and not playing good. What other doors do you guys got?"
You'll have to pardon the media's skepticism about Kentucky's football program. It has rarely looked this strong. Now, everybody wants to see just how high the No. 17 Wildcats can go.
4. Auburn Tigers
11 of 14
Though Saturday's 34-3 win over Arkansas was thorough, it was still not Auburn football. The Tigers struggled to run the ball, and quarterback Jarrett Stidham continued his early-season sputtering.
Sure, the Tigers were brilliant on defense, but if you're going to compete for SEC titles, you've got to play well on both sides of the ball.
It doesn't help matters that receiver Nate Craig-Myers transferred out of the program prior to the game against the Razorbacks. This offense doesn't look like it has enough weapons to threaten the top of the league, at least not now.
You may point out Craig-Myers had just two receptions, but he was a strong blocker in the run game. That wasn't enough for him, obviously.
Now, the Tigers must try to find some offensive playmakers to come close to the level of their vaunted defense. It's becoming a national storyline. CBSSports.com's Chip Patterson is noticing.
"The Tigers defense never gave Arkansas a real chance and the special teams came up big, but a low-key storyline for this team is the current state of the offense after the last two weeks," Patterson wrote.
AU is far from a bad team. But it already was stunned in the final seconds by an LSU team that found a way to beat its rivals again, despite trailing throughout the game. Stidham hasn't been anywhere near the star under center he was expected to be, and the running backs have struggled.
This is an imperfect Auburn team that needs to find itself in a hurry if it's going to rebound in the SEC West.
3. LSU Tigers
12 of 14
LSU didn't win any style points this weekend with a lackluster win over Louisiana Tech, but the most important thing is the Tigers at least continue to win.
This weekend, the Tigers will play against Ole Miss, a game where they'll be the heavy favorites at home. But whether the Bayou Bengals take care of business depends on how their offense responds.
The defense is going to hold its own, but the Rebels will score some points on coordinator Dave Aranda's unit. They've got too much talent in quarterback Jordan Ta'amu and his elite receiving corps not to.
But the Tigers need to keep the pedal down on offense against a Rebels team that has only really stopped Kent State all season. LSU is banged-up on its offensive front, but the Tigers can't expect to win this game with, say, 20 points.
The Tigers are awful in netting big plays, and coach Ed Orgeron brings everything back to the O-line issues, according to The Advocate's Brooks Kubena.
"The problem that we have is that we've had such a change on the offensive line that everything comes down to protection," he said. "What protection can we use? What is the best protection to get the ball down the field? And we're limited in some of the things that we can do right now with all the injuries that we've had."
All the mixing and matching is fine when you're playing Louisiana Tech, but it isn't going to cut it in the SEC. This offense is at a major crossroads, and the onus is on the big guys up front to make things easier for quarterback Joe Burrow and company.
Nobody expects Saturday to be a shootout, but the Tigers need to at least fire some bullets.
2. Georgia Bulldogs
13 of 14
It's not bad when you've got the youngest team in the SEC, have an off game against a division foe with a dynamic offense and still win by 14 points.
That's where the Georgia Bulldogs are as a program. Coach Kirby Smart's elite recruiting in the past two classes has led to a strong and deep roster, and there are plenty of reasons to be excited about where the team is.
This is a young group that's only going to get better, too.
No, Saturday's 43-29 win over Mizzou wasn't the prettiest, but it is going to look just fine in the win column, anyway. The Bulldogs played 13 true freshmen against the Tigers and still won by double digits. They also improved the pass rush, forced turnovers against Drew Lock and won when the offense wasn't at its best.
If anything, Saturday provides a teaching moment for Smart, and DawgNation's Connor Riley noted the third-year coach has been up to that challenge so far.
"As Smart has shown, he's great at making adjustments and small tweaks," Riley wrote. "This Georgia team is very talented but it also has a lot of room to get better. That's a situation that any good coach should relish, and you can bet that Smart is going to tinker and tweak with this team so it can reach its potential."
Whether this team is on a collision course for a national championship game repeat battle against Alabama remains to be seen. But even with all the losses from last year's team, the Bulldogs are among those who look like they've got a shot, along with Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma.
There aren't many teams as talented as UGA. If the Bulldogs can put everything together, they're going to be a hard team to deal with.
1. Alabama Crimson Tide
14 of 14
Alabama is the best team in the nation.
If you disagree, you've not watched a lot of football this year.
When the Crimson Tide are playing at their best, nobody in the country can beat them. Even when they struggle at times, they can still cover that up with all the talent and quality coaching.
Playing Alabama is not going to be fun for anybody. Texas A&M was the latest to prove that, as it didn't look bad at all in Tuscaloosa last Saturday and still left with a 22-point loss.
As Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger wrote, Alabama looks terrifying.
So far, as Dellenger points out, Alabama has scored 51, 57, 62 and 45 points in its four wins. The offense has carried the way under new coordinator Mike Locksley, who has to feel like he's got things on autopilot. The Tide have gained 519, 599, 516 and 524 total yards, respectively.
Tua Tagovailoa is the maestro, taking the Heisman Trophy lead in his performance against the Aggies, completing 22 of 30 passes for 387 yards and four touchdowns. A quarterback hasn't thrown the deep ball as beautifully as him in a long time.
You tend to forget UA also has running backs Damien Harris and Najee Harris, along with a few others who can shred you. The offensive line is one of the best in college football, and the defense is young and improving, even if the linebackers have been a bit of a disappointment so far.
The Tide are great, and they still aren't as good as they can be. That's scary for the rest of the college football world. As long as Tagovailoa is under center, it's hard to envision anybody beating Alabama unless the Tide have a huge off night.
Yes, they're that good.
Unless otherwise noted, stats courtesy of Sports Reference CFBStats.com and recruiting data courtesy of 247Sports. Odds provided by OddsShark.
Brad Shepard covers college football for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @Brad_Shepard.
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