SEC Power Rankings Entering Week Four
Another week of craziness-perhaps the most yet- is behind us in week three of the SEC football season with upsets and records produced.
Missouri and Texas A&M shocked both the conference and national rankings by upsetting LSU and Florida while Ole Miss and Alabama set defensive football back a decade in Oxford.
In Lexington, the Wildcats made fans of those who said Mike Leach's offense wouldn't work in the SEC, as they held the Bulldogs to two points, which they gave then. Simultaneously, Auburn benefitted from a botched call by the officials that prevented Arkansas from getting their second win of the season.
Is that wild and wacky enough for you?
SEC POWER RANKINGS WEEK FOUR
1) Alabama: Despite the worst defensive performance in the Nick Saban era, the Tide offense was near perfect in scoring 63 points to outpower Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin. The Tide defense better find some answers in a hurry, or they won't hold this spot next week.
2) Georgia: The Bulldogs knocked off Tennessee in a battle of unbeaten teams in Athens, and it was their defense that got it done. The offense spotted the Vols seven points on a terrible snap, so the defense forced multiple turnovers leading to points, including a pick-six. The Dogs offense isn't nearly as good as Alabama's, but their defense is the conference's class. Saturday night in Tuscaloosa's going to be fun.
3)Texas A&M: Here's where things begin to get tricky, but we have the Aggies at No.3, considering they knocked off last week's No.3 in Florida. The Aggies only loss has been to Bama in Tuscaloosa, and while we doubted Jimbo Fisher's team last week, they proved us incorrect and thus claimed this spot.
4) Florida: The Gators have offense, but their defense is suspect, leading Dan Mullen to proclaim changes coming on that side of the football.
5) Tennessee: A loss to Georgia in Athens isn't terrible, but the Vols have issues starting with quarterback and depth. Jeremy Pruitt insisted this week that Jarrett Guarantano is their guy, which begs the question, how bad are the rest of their quarterbacks, or are they simply unable to develop someone better that Guarantano.
6) Auburn: While the Tigers got the benefit of a terrible call to steal a home win over a quickly improving Arkansas squad, and likely don't deserve this perch, facts are that their record and their only loss coming to Georgia puts them here.
7) Kentucky: The Cats got a win at home and shut down the Bulldogs offense. A case can be made that the Cats should be 2-1 with a win over Auburn to their credit, but that's not the case.
8) Arkansas: What's going on in Fayetteville? New head coach Sam Pittman might lock up coach of the year honors if this continues.
9) Ole Miss: Lane Kiffin's bunch might be higher than this if they knew you have to play at least some defense to win games. As quickly as they are 1-2, they could also be 0-3 if not for Kentucky mistakes that helped cost the Cats the game in Lexington.
10) LSU: Who would have thought LSU would be 1-2 three weeks into the season and out of the top-25 for the first time since 2017.
11) Mississippi State: Yeah, the Dogs have been atrocious the last two weeks after knocking off LSU, and yet we have them below the Tigers. It's hard to say the Bulldogs are better than the Tigers right now, considering they've managed just 16 points in the last two games. At least LSU is still scoring points.
12) Missouri: The Tigers upset of LSU puts them at No.12 ahead of South Carolina because they have the better win. Carolina nailed a bad Vanderbilt team that LSU had beaten by the same score a week earlier.
13) South Carolina: No.12 and No.13 might be the closest of any two teams outside the top two, with the Tigers getting a slight edge over Missouri because LSU isn't as good as anyone predicted. The good news is the two will face off later in the season.
14) Vanderbilt: Yep, it's official. All alone at the bottom while everyone else but LSU is rising.
