Week four SEC power rankings: Another week, another big shakeup

Tennessee took a nosedive, while Mizzou and Florida make a climb.

Author:
Steve Simpson
Publish date:
Sep 18, 2023 11:14 AM EDT

In this story:

The 2023 season has proven one thing so far, there are no clearly, dominant teams.

Even the gap between Georgia and Alabama and the rest of the league appears to be narrowing, which has resulted in some volatile power rankings so far. Florida's blowout of Tennessee and Arkansas' home loss, while Alabama had a struggle win at South Florida, make for another week of big changes in the weekly power rankings.

1. Georgia (Previous: 1)

Shaky performance by the Dawgs v. South Carolina but until they drop one, it’s “Sit! Stay!” in the top spot. Georgia trailed South Carolina 14-3 at the half of their game in Athens. Kirby Smart and company made some adjustments and outscored the Gamecocks 21-0 in the second half to earn a 24-14 win and move to 3-0 on the season. The Dawgs were able to find their run game with a 182 yards on the ground. That' good for them going into the meat of the season. Georgia steps back out of conference to host UAB Saturday.

2. Ole Miss (Previous: 3)

The Rebels hosted Georgia Tech and after clinging to a seven point lead at the half, exploded for 38 points in the second frame en route to a 48-23 victory over the Yellow Jackets. Lane Kiffin now turns his focus to the trip to Tuscaloosa this week to take on a struggling Crimson Tide team.

3. LSU (Previous: 8)

After a rough start to the season against FSU and an easy win over Grambling, the Bayou Bengals were hard to figure out. They left no doubt Saturday as they dismantled Mississippi State 41-14 in Starkville. The Tigers rolled up 503 yards of offense while holding Will Rogers and the Bulldogs to a paltry 201. In a year where most of the SEC teams have struggled to impress, a beat down stands out all the more – even against a team that will fight for bowl eligibility. LSU welcomes Arkansas Saturday for a game under the lights in Death Valley.

4. Auburn (Previous: 5)

The Tigers were determined to get the passing game in gear this week after a rough outing against Cal last week. Payton Thorne and company did exactly that. Thorne there for 282 yards and a TD while spreading the ball around to six different wide receivers, the running backs and the tight ends in a 45-13 win over Samford.The surprise of the night though was the damage inflicted by Thorne on the ground as he rushed for 123 yards. At 3-0, Auburn has an opportunity to make a statement this week when they visit College Station to take on Texas A&M.

5. Texas A&M (Previous: 9)

The Aggies cruised to a 47-3 victory over Louisiana-Monroe in College Station. Like some other teams, trying to get a read on the Aggies is difficult, the talent is there, but the performance on the field hasn't been. When they host Auburn Saturday afternoon we'll find out if the Aggies can be a legit contender in the west division.

6. Alabama (Previous: 7)

Alabama went through a QB shuffle Saturday in an ugly 17-3 win on the road over South Florida. How ugly? Until very late in the game the Tide had the same number of punts as completed passes. This edition of Alabama football does not resemble any of the previous ones. It is not up to "Bama Standards." They will have have to make some big improvements if they want to beat Ole Miss at home Saturday.

7. Missouri (Previous: 12)

Mizzou hasn't been super impressive while reaching the 3-0 mark. The Tigers welcomed Kansas State to Columbia and sent them home with an "L" after Harrison Mevis' 61 yard, game winning field goal. Trailing the Wildcats 24-17 at the outset of the fourth quarter, Mizzou's defense held KSU to 3 points, while their offense was able to put up 13. The Tigers schedule is very favorable the next couple of weeks with winnable games against Memphis and Vanderbilt before hosting LSU in Columbia. It gets real then, so circle the date on your calendar, October 7 when we will see what kind of ceiling we’re looking at for Mizzou.

8. Kentucky (Previous: 10)

Kentucky remains undefeated, but like several others has yet to be tested. Notching victories over the likes of Ball State, Eastern Kentucky and Akron, is not the same as doing that against Florida, Tennessee or Georgia. They should be able to get another "W" at Vandy this week before consecutive games against the aforementioned Florida Gators and Georgia Bulldogs. At that point there should be no doubt what kind of trajectory we can expect the rest of the way for Big Blue.

9, Florida - (Previous: 13)

The Gators chomped the Volunteers from Tennessee in the Swamp 29-16 in a game that was not as close as the final score. Florida led 26-7 at the half and was able to hold off the Tennessee comeback attempt, only allowing 9 points in the second half. Has Florida righted the ship since that embarrassing loss at Utah? Time will tell and with a game against Charlotte this week, we'll have to wait until the Gators travel to Lexington at the end of the month to find out.

10. Tennessee (Previous: 2)

The Vols took the biggest drop in this week's rankings after their 29-16 loss to the Gators in Gainesville. Despite Joe Milton throwing for 287 yards and two TD's, the ground game couldn't get anything going only generating 100 yards. The Vols will get a chance to work on that rushing attack Saturday when they host Texas-San Antonio in Knoxville. After that they have a challenging four game stretch against South Carolina, Texas A&M, Alabama and Kentucky.

11.South Carolina (Previous: 11)

The Gamecocks stay put this week after a disappointing 24-14 loss to Georgia in Athens. The game appeared to be winnable for USC as they led The Bulldogs 14-3 at the half, but they were unable to score in the second half and their defense couldn't contain Georgia. The Gamecocks host Mississippi State this week before a tough stretch of games against Tennessee, Florida, Mizzou and Texas A&M.

12. Arkansas (Previous: 4)

Arkansas, like Tennessee, took a big fall in the rankings after a bad 38-31 home loss to BYU. Arkansas is in trouble and it's about to get worse as they visit LSU this weekend and follow that up with Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Alabama. What was once believed to be a promising season in Fayetteville may turn into another season of disappointment.

13. Mississippi State (Previous: 6)

Mississippi State had built up some positive momentum after their overtime win against Arizona and some believed they may be able to upset LSU when they paid a visit to Starkville. LSU crushed any momentum and hope the Bulldogs had in a devastating 41-14 loss that wasn't that close. There was going to be a lot of starting over this year for the Bulldogs anyway, and there’s time enough to turn this thing around, but the odds will be stacked against MSU the rest of the season.

14. Vanderbilt (Previous: 14)

A trip to fabulous Las Vegas, NV didn't turn out so fabulous for the Commodores. A heartbreaking 40-37 loss to UNLV on a game winning field goal put a damper on what little enthusiasm was in Nashville for this season. The schedule is not favorable going forward and it's hard to envision another win for Vandy this season.