And then there were six. With the Vols beating the Oklahoma Sooners this past weekend, one less team in the Southeastern Conference is undefeated. How many teams in the league could actually compete for the College Football Playoff or national championship, though? We break that down here in our SEC Power Rankings following Week 4.
16. Mississippi State
I still believe Jeff Lebby is building something special in Starkville, Miss., but he’s had a miserable start to the season. Getting blown out by a bad Florida Gators team at home may be as bad as losing to the Toledo Rockets. There are a lot of growing pains required clearly with the program, and it’s showing at the moment.
15. Auburn
Hugh Freeze doesn’t have the play-calling magic he once had with the Ole Miss Rebels, and now all the other parts about him, which highlight how terrible of a human he is, are on display. As a result, the Tigers are next to last in our SEC Power Rankings, and as the team likely quits on Freeze, this could even get worse.
14. Florida
Congratulations to Billy Napier’s Gators for winning a game they should win against the Bulldogs at home. Still, they won it in dominating fashion, and despite all the negative talk, they’re 2-2 heading into a bye week. Maybe they could turn the season around after all. It’s not likely, though, given how bad the defense is.
13. Vanderbilt
Clark Lea’s Commodores are two plays away from being 4-0, but they would’ve been seen as a fluke undefeated team, which keeps them down here in our SEC Power Rankings. Vandy has been an impossible team to predict to this point, but at the end of the day, even at 2-2 with the chance to be undefeated, they’re still Vandy.
12. Kentucky
Mark Stoops’ Wildcats could look like a top 25 team if they didn’t get blown out at home by the South Carolina Gamecocks. Still, this team has shown a promising offense given its scheme and its quarterback, and they were impressive with how they beat the Ohio Bobcats. If they get better, they could be a real threat.
11. South Carolina
Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks are 3-1 and should be 4-0. Sure, they struggled to beat the Old Dominion Monarchs, but they have been getting better and better each week since then. Now, middle of the pack of the league is the best case scenario for this program in 2024, but that’s a solid floor to build something off of.
10. Arkansas
Sam Pittman and the Razorbacks would be undefeated if he hadn’t made the critical mistake of clock mismanagement against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. After a win over the Auburn Tigers, though, the offense appears to be coming together under Bobby Petrino, and they also appear to have a defense now, so watch out.
9. Oklahoma
Brent Venables’ Sooners spent the first three weeks of the season dominating teams defensively but looked awful offensively the past two weeks. It finally came back to bite them, as they fell to the Tennessee Vols at home 25-15 in a game that wasn’t that close, all because Jackson Arnold couldn’t move the ball. Now, Arnold’s been pulled, and this team has some serious issues on offense.
8. Missouri
Eli Drinkwitz and the Tigers are undefeated, but they needed overtime to beat the Vanderbilt Commodores at home. As a result, they are barely in the top half of our SEC Power Rankings, and nobody would seriously consider them a contender for any title after what they saw this past weekend against one of the dormant league programs.
7. Texas A&M
You could make a case for Mizzou to be ahead of the Aggies given how much Mike Elko’s team struggled with the Bowling Green Falcons, but Marcel Reed is getting better at quarterback, and the promise is there for the defense and run game. Things will be fine, and the evidence from the game is there, which is why they get to be in the top half.
6. LSU
Losing to the USC Trojans looks worse now after they lost to the Michigan Wolverines, but beating South Carolina on the road is looking better, and Brian Kelly’s team deserves credit for dominating the UCLA Bruins in the second half this past Saturday. It’s enough for us to have them ranked highest among the non-undefeated teams in our SEC Power Rankings for now.
5. Ole Miss
Lane Kiffin and the Rebels are putting on a show for anybody who is paying attention. The problem is that show consistently comes against teams who aren’t good to this point. Still, Ole Miss is the first undefeated team on this list we could consider a legit contender, even if it is a bit debatable to this point. Jaxson Dart is an NFL quarterback.
4. Alabama
We’re now at the point in our SEC Power Rankings of interchangeable national championship contenders. The Alabama Crimson Tide are only down at No. 4 right now because they didn’t play anybody this past weekend, and they have the worst best win of the top four teams, but Kalen DeBoer and Jalen Milroe are still dangerous for anybody.
3. Tennessee
At what point do we acknowledge, finally, that the Tennessee Vols are elite? They have dominated two ranked teams. You can’t keep calling top 25 programs overrated just because Josh Heupel’s team blew them out. There’s an argument for them to be No. 1 on this list based on production, but nobody would rationally favor them over the top two.
2. Georgia
Beating the Clemson Tigers looks more impressive now after what they just did to the N.C. State Wolfpack, and the Bulldogs are still probably the most talented team in the SEC. However, they have to be No. 2 in our SEC Power Rankings still because of how they struggled with Kentucky last week. That can always come back to bite you.
1. Texas
Arch Manning was pedestrian for the Longhorns in his first start, but he still threw for two touchdowns. Now, Steve Sarkisian’s team’s win over the Michigan Wolverines in The Big House looks even more impressive, so for now, even if I don’t think it will last through October, this program has to be No. 1 in our SEC Power Rankings.
