It is Week 4 in the SEC, and DOTD ranks each SEC team based on the season so far in our Week 4 SEC power rankings.
Related Story: Ole Miss offense presents scary matchup for young Bulldogs
The SEC season has been an exciting one over the first three weeks, and it will only get better. This weekend offers a slate of games that will have a lot to say about the destiny of multiple teams (see Georgia-Ole Miss, LSU-Auburn, Florida-Tennessee, Arkansas-Texas A&M, etc). With that in mind, let’s dig into our Week 4 SEC power rankings and start with the worst team in the SEC. (Hint: the coach’s name rhymes with Bark Loops).
14. Kentucky (1-2)
This one should be obvious. Kentucky is awful. That much is clear. It is unfair to the Wildcat fans. They deserve better. If Mark Stoops doesn’t get fired at the end of the season, everyone will be surprised, unless something completely bizarre happens.
Kentucky fans have to especially ticked off considering that Louisville and even Western Kentucky are better than them. The Wildcats lost to Southern Mississippi in the first game, then got demolished by Florida in their first SEC game 45-7 and finally got a win for the first time this year at home against New Mexico State last week. There are seven games left on the schedule that the Wildcats could easily lose, so the road does not get any easier.
13. Vanderbilt (1-2)
Vanderbilt has a great defense, but their offense is beyond anemic. Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason is a great defensive coordinator, but being a head coach does not seem to be his thing. The Commodores lost to South Carolina, 13-10, at home in a game that Vanderbilt arguably should have won. Then, Vanderbilt beat Middle Tennessee State at home but lost 38-7 to Georgia Tech (3-9 in 2015) on the road.
Vandy faces Western Kentucky this Saturday in Bowling Green, Ky., and the Hilltoppers are favored. WKU head coach Jeff Brohm and his high-octane offense should have their way with Vanderbilt. The road is not getting any easier from there for the Commodores. Safe to say, Vandy fans are missing the ol’ James Franklin days pretty badly right about now.
12. South Carolina (2-1)
Will Muschamp’s team is on the up and up, but the Gamecocks just do not have the guys right now to be in the upper or even middle echelon of the SEC. However, the Gamecocks have a winning record thus far, which is kind of big for the Gamecocks. They won their first game by rattling off 13 unanswered points in a comeback win against Vanderbilt in the first game. A 13 point loss to Mississippi State on the road the next week dampened the excitement around the program, but the Gamecocks bounced back and beat a good East Carolina squad last Saturday.
The Gamecocks are playing Kentucky this weekend and should earn a win to improve to 3-1 on the year. However, the talent differential between them and several other SEC schools is significant.
11. Mississippi State (1-2)
Yes, I know the Bulldogs have a worse record than the team ranked directly below them, but they beat that team in South Carolina. Mississippi State somehow lost a game to South Alabama they had no business losing (good, ol’ college kickers) in Week 1 but rebounded to beat the aforementioned Gamecocks in their second game. They lost to the LSU Tigers by three points last week, but that does not really reflect how the game went, as they got blown out in the first half, but Les Miles and Co. took their foot off the gas and inexplicably let MSU back in the game.
It looks like Damian Williams is the Bulldogs quarterback going forward, so we will see how that goes. Either way, they are probably still going to be this year’s cellar-dwellers in the West.
10. Missouri (1-2)
Barry Odom has this team headed in the right direction. The defense is nasty, and Charles Harris is a freak coming off the edge. The offense is improving, and I honestly think Missouri has improved a lot compared to where they were last year.
They still deserve to be ranked where they are though. It is a rebuilding process in Columbia, but it might not take quite as long as previously thought.
9. Auburn (1-2)
The Gus Bus is heading toward the ditch right now. If the Tigers lose to LSU this weekend, Malzahn might be effectively done as Auburn’s head football coach. After an outstanding 2013 in which Malzahn’s team went to the national championship, the team hasn’t been the same since.
The offense has struggled tremendously recently, and that is very puzzling considering how that side of the ball is supposed to be Malzahn’s forte. However, their defense is legit and will keep them in games. (Maybe, if Malzahn could pick a quarterback it would help matters too). I still can’t bring myself to rank them any higher than this though.
8. No. 18 LSU (2-1)
LSU should be a heck of a lot better than they are. They have Leonard Fournette – the best running back in college football and the best player in the SEC. Waste of talent comes to mind when I think of LSU. Everybody loves Les Miles, but LSU might be looking for a new head coach soon if the Tigers lose to the other Tigers this weekend. (See above).
LSU’s awful offense (watch the offense versus Wisconsin if you want to have crippling nausea) might be improving because the Tigers actually seem to have a serviceable quarterback in Danny Etling, who has thrown for 315 yards and two touchdowns over the last two games for LSU. The rest of the team is stacked, but never discount the power of Les Miles to somehow screw it up.
7. No. 23 Ole Miss (1-2)
Ole Miss is easily the best two-loss team in the nation. Their schedule so far has been absolutely brutal, and that is why they have lost two games. However, their first loss was to FSU (who was No. 2 in the country last week before Lamar Jackson happened) in a game in which they were up 28-6 before allowing the Noles to come storming back to win in the second half. In their other loss, the Rebels gave Alabama all they could handle as they scored 43 points on the Tide but managed to lose by five points, even though they were up 24-3 at one point.
If Ole Miss could ever put it all together for a full game, think of how much better they would be. Their offense is absolutely insane and is led by arguably the best quarterback in the SEC in Chad Kelly. Head coach Hugh Freeze and the Rebs face our next team in this power ranking Georgia this Saturday and look to get back on the winning side of things.
6. No. 12 Georgia (3-0)
Inconsistency is a word that can describe almost every SEC team (particularly in the East) this year, and Georgia fits that description to a tee. The Bulldogs looked like the team to beat in the East after a big win over then-No. 22 North Carolina in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game, but then went on and barely escaped FCS Nicholls State the next week and Missouri last weekend.
The strength of this Georgia team is supposed to be their run game, but Nick Chubb and the other backs cannot get anything going, considering that the UGA offensive line do not seem to be good enough to run block against some high school defenses. Yes, it’s that bad. First-year head coach Kirby Smart better thank God every night for the ahead-of-schedule development of freshman quarterback Jacob Eason, or Georgia would be in a heck of a lot of trouble.
Georgia plays Ole Miss this week, which might get ugly if Georgia cannot establish their run game and cannot get consistent play from their secondary. Ole Miss has the guys to punish them on both sides of the ball this weekend.
5. No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers (3-0)
The Volunteers fall into the category of inconsistency as well. The Vols started the season as the favorites to win the East, and their hopes are still alive and well. However, they have not looked all that great in either of their first three games, as they barely escaped Appalachian State in overtime in Week 1, were down 14-0 to Virginia Tech but came storming back to win in a blowout and kept it close for most of the game with Ohio last Saturday.
However, they can prove their critics wrong by beating Florida in Knoxville this weekend. The win would be the first over the Gators in 11-straight years. (The last time the Vols beat UF, MySpace was celebrating its one-year anniversary, which tells you everything you need to know). But the Vols have the talent to win and should win this ballgame.
Tennessee is the most talented team in the East (though they aren’t playing like it) and is led by a veteran quarterback in Josh Dobbs, who needs this win badly. UT head coach Butch Jones needs to take that final step in contention for the East and beat Florida to put the Volunteers in the driver’s seat in the division, for now.
4. No. 19 Florida (3-0)
Florida is playing the best football in the East. Their defense is absolutely ridiculous. Jim McElwain is a heck of a coach, and I honestly really like the guy. He knows what he is doing with this Florida program, and his offense seems to be in a lot better shape than it was last year.
In fact, it looked like McElwain had found a competent quarterback for Florida in Luke Del Rio. However, life is cruel, and that was evident last week when Del Rio sprained his knee against North Texas last and was ruled out for the Tennessee game. Austin Appleby will be the starter this week, and the jury is still out on how he is going to perform this weekend. If Florida can win this game on Saturday, they will put themselves in a great position.
3. No. 17 Arkansas (3-0)
Bret Bielema’s team has actually survived early in the season so far and actually looked really good against then-No. 15 TCU on the road, where the Razorbacks won in overtime. The team appears to be rolling, although that might change against Texas A&M this weekend.
Quarterback Austin Allen has stepped up to the plate with the departure of his older brother, Brandon, in 2015. So far this year, Allen has thrown for 655 yards and two touchdowns with a 67.1% completion rate. Pretty good, right? Combine that with having a strong running game and big-time receivers, and anybody can see why Arkansas is undefeated.
There defense is not the team’s strength, but we’ll see how it fares against a great Texas A&M offense this weekend. Speaking of which…
2. No. 10 Texas A&M (3-0)
The Aggies look good this year. Then again, they started 5-0 last year and ended the regular season 8-4. This year, Aggies head coach Kevin Sumlin hopes it will be different. It will not take long to find out. As previously mentioned, they will be playing a very good Arkansas team on Saturday night in a game that appears to be a toss-up.
The Aggies have a talented offense and have seemed to find an answer at quarterback in Oklahoma transfer Trevor Knight. The rest of the offense is absolutely loaded, and the receiving corps might be the best in the entire conference.
Defensive coordinator John Chavis has improved the defense tremendously and has one of the best pass-rushers in the entire country in end Myles Garrett. We will see how the unit fares this Saturday against an Arkansas team that knows how to put up points.
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1. No. 1 Alabama (3-0)
Alabama is unquestionably the best team in the SEC. The Tide looks unstoppable. Their defense might be better than last year’s historically good unit, and true freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts leads a talented offense and might be the best signal-caller Nick Saban has ever had at Alabama.
The Tide have been dominant this year (52-6 win over then-No. 20 USC, a 38-10 beatdown against Western Kentucky this year and an offensive explosion in a 48-43 win over Ole Miss last week). It is going to be difficult for any team to beat them this year in-conference. Alabama has got a great shot of winning a third-straight SEC title, and they are rolling (no pun intended).