SEC Power Rankings updated after Week 4 of college football
The latest SEC Power Rankings from On3, utilizing the On3 Massey Ratings, are in after Week 3 of the college football regular season.
The On3 Massey Ratings – which were officially used during the BCS era and have generated high school sports team rankings since 1995 – rank sports teams by analyzing game outcomes, strength of schedule, and margin of victory.
There wasn’t much movement at the top of this week’s SEC Power Rankings, but there was shuffling further down. So without further ado, let’s examine this week’s edition.
1. Georgia Bulldogs
Georgia maintains its spot atop the rankings after getting a bye week. The Bulldogs were coming off a nail-biting win over Kentucky, but they held serve to remain undefeated, even after a tough road contest.
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Now the first massive test for Georgia arrives: a date with Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The Bulldogs obviously have some history with the Crimson Tide in recent years, and this game will set the winner up with the inside track to the SEC Championship Game and a College Football Playoff berth.
2. Alabama Crimson Tide
Alabama also had a bye week this week, affording it the chance to rest before that pivotal Georgia game. Unlike Georgia, Alabama is not coming off a nail-biter, but instead a confidence-building thumping of Wisconsin on the road.
Whether the positive mojo for the Crimson Tide continues another week remains to be seen, but we’re set up for one of the best early season matchups so far. Tuscaloosa figures to be rocking for a matchup between the top two teams in this week’s SEC Power Rankings.
3. Texas Longhorns
It probably wasn’t the cleanest starting debut for Arch Manning, with Quinn Ewers sidelined by an abdominal injury, but it certainly got the job done. Manning threw for 258 yards and two touchdowns, though he also had two interceptions, in a 51-3 rout of Louisiana-Monroe.
Texas just has one more game before a bye week and that’s a home date with Mississippi State. After the bye things get tough in a hurry, with the Red River Rivalry and then a showdown with Georgia. That’ll tell us a good deal about how legitimate the Longhorns are.
4. Tennessee Volunteers
The Volunteers continue to pass every test with flying colors. The latest? A road win at Oklahoma in pretty convincing fashion. Tennessee held Oklahoma to just 222 total yards in the game.
Perhaps the most impressive stat is that Tennessee has yet to trail in a game this season. With upcoming contests against Arkansas and Florida, it may be a minute before Tennessee gets another true test. First up, though, is a much-deserved bye week.
5. Ole Miss Rebels
Ole Miss finished off its non-conference slate with a perfect record on Saturday, steamrolling Georgia Southern in the process. Outside of a road trip to Wake Forest, there really hasn’t been a challenge yet for the Rebels.
And the SEC schedule actually sets up with a gradual ramp-up, too. Kentucky will be first on the slate, followed by South Carolina. Then things get trickier with ranked LSU and Oklahoma squads. It wouldn’t be surprising at all to see Ole Miss get to 6-0 before the tougher tests begin.
6. Oklahoma Sooners
Oklahoma fell to Tennessee and opened up questions about its offense going forward when it benched starting quarterback Jackson Arnold. Arnold has now been very shaky in two games this season, and the Sooners have vowed to ‘evaluate’ the quarterback position going forward.
Schedule-wise Oklahoma gets a little bit of a reprieve. Next up is a road trip to an Auburn squad with similar quarterback woes. Then the team will get a bye week ahead of the Red River Rivalry.
7. LSU Tigers (+2)
Tied for the biggest mover this week, LSU jumps two spots in the SEC Power Rankings after taking down UCLA. The second half proved the difference after a competitive first 30 minutes.
LSU has the pieces to be a contender, but the Tigers continue to play some closer-than-expected games. Whether that continues could determine how real those playoff chances might be. But the next couple weeks should be tune-up — South Alabama and then a bye week — before a home date with a top-10 Ole Miss squad.
8. Missouri Tigers (-1)
For all intents and purposes, Missouri survived a nail-biter in overtime and so there should be minimal damage to the team’s playoff chances. The Tigers do, however, take a slight hit in this week’s SEC Power rankings after surviving Vanderbilt.
That’s back-to-back weeks that the Tigers have found a way to win a close game, though both games were in the friendly confines of the home stadium. Now the Tigers get a bye week before a couple of road tests, to Texas A&M and then UMass.
9. Texas A&M Aggies (-1)
Texas A&M handled a Bowling Green team that has given other power conference opponents problems, winning 26-20 to secure a third straight victory. The Aggies seem to be gelling a bit under first-year coach Mike Elko.
The team now has two more home games against SEC foes before a bye week. First up it’s Arkansas, followed by a top-10 Missouri squad the following week. Win those and the outlook for the Aggies starts to get very interesting.
10. South Carolina Gamecocks
This week South Carolina stomped Akron to pick up its third win of the season. The road instantly gets tougher from here, though, with a murderer’s row of ranked opponents littering the schedule over the next month.
The Gamecocks will go on bye this week, then it’s a four-game stretch against Ole Miss, at Alabama, at Oklahoma and vs. Texas A&M. That will make or break the season for South Carolina and largely determine where the Gamecocks fall in the future SEC Power Rankings.
SEC Power Rankings: 11-16
Arkansas Razorbacks (+2)
Kentucky Wildcats (-1)
Florida Gators (+1)
Auburn Tigers (-2)
Vanderbilt Commodores (+1)
Mississippi State Bulldogs (-1)
Arkansas moves up a couple of spots after a funky win over Auburn, and you have to hand it to coach Sam Pittman for the job he did revitalizing the team’s offense. Florida also moved up a spot after beating Mississippi State, sending the Bulldogs to the cellar in this week’s SEC Power Rankings. Couple that Mississippi State loss with Vanderbilt’s strong showing against Missouri and you get this week’s move. Auburn also slips two spots after a loss that exposed further quarterback issues.