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College football conference power rankings: Week 4 – Pac-12 plummets

By Nathaniel Reeves

LOUISVILLE, KY - SEPTEMBER 16: Clemson Tigers players celebrate after the game against the Louisville Cardinals at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium on September 16, 2017 in Louisville, Kentucky. Clemson won 47-21. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KY - SEPTEMBER 16: Clemson Tigers players celebrate after the game against the Louisville Cardinals at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium on September 16, 2017 in Louisville, Kentucky. Clemson won 47-21. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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BATON ROUGE, LA – SEPTEMBER 09: Head coach Ed Orgeron of the LSU Tigers reacts during a game against the Chattanooga Mocs at Tiger Stadium on September 9, 2017, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
BATON ROUGE, LA – SEPTEMBER 09: Head coach Ed Orgeron of the LSU Tigers reacts during a game against the Chattanooga Mocs at Tiger Stadium on September 9, 2017, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

4. SEC

The gulf between Alabama and the rest of the SEC only grew in week three, leaving it with the weakest depth at the top of any Power Five.

Having the clear-cut national title favorite keeps the SEC in fourth for now, even if Alabama didn’t put together its most dominant performance in a win over Colorado State. LSU no longer looks like a serious threat given Saturday’s result, and it was a shock to see the Tigers completely beaten down in all three phases of the game by Mississippi State.

Of course, that means the No. 17 Bulldogs are much better than expected, and the combination of Dan Mullen, Nick Fitzgerald and a Todd Grantham defense could do some serious damage. Another surprised contender is Vanderbilt, which shut down Kansas State’s smashmouth offense for its first victory over a ranked non-conference opponent since 1946. The Commodores aren’t the only rising team that looks capable of challenging for the SEC East, as Kentucky moved to 3-0 with a nice road win over South Carolina.

Auburn’s woeful offensive performance in week two was likely more a product of Clemson’s defense being on a different level, but Gus Malzahn didn’t exactly inspire a lot of confidence in Saturday’s 24-10 win over Mercer. Georgia looks like the best team in the SEC outside of Tuscaloosa and cruised past Samford to jump to No. 11, although injuries to Sony Michel and Jacob Eason are concerning.

Florida will gladly take the win over Tennessee, although both teams look pretty offensively challenged at this point. Missouri was absolutely awful in a 38-3 loss to Purdue, Ole Miss could muster little against the Cal defense and Kevin Sumlin seems destined to be fired at any minute, meaning there could be a lot of bad teams in the SEC in 2017.

A lack of top-tier depth plus multiple rebuilding teams drops the SEC to fourth and it appears to be in for a second straight down year. Next week’s matchup between Mississippi State and Georgia suddenly has some national significance, and Alabama might not have the easiest time with Vanderbilt in Nashville.

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