SEC power rankings: How high can Kamario Taylor take Mississippi State after latest win?

We are four weeks into the college football season, and the SEC is starting to get into their new, nine-game conference schedule it introduced this year.

While teams like Texas and Ole Miss look good and have played a challenging schedule, others like Georgia have looked elite against a bunch of no name opponents. So, with nothing being equal, which teams in the SEC can we trust and where do they rank in terms of power and trust?

SEC team power rankings heading into Week 5:

1. Texas Longhorns

Even with quarterback Arch Manning not being a top- three player at the position in the conference, Texas is loaded at every other position on the field.

The Longhorns have Ryan Wingo to add to Cam Coleman at the wide receiver, and this gives Manning elite receivers. With Hollywood Smothers and Raleek Brown at running back, even when one needs to be spelled, the other brings a talented backup with experience at the power four level.

The defense is also great as seen against Tennessee on Saturday when they sacked freshman quarterback Faison Brandon 10 times. Collin Simmons was dominant as he was able to flush Brandon to the ground for five of those sacks and Texas won their second game against a top 15 team. This may finally be the year Texas wins a national championship. 

2. Georgia Bulldogs

The one thing the Bulldogs have that none of the others do is consistency.

Kirby Smart gets the most out of his teams and he also makes sure he gets it on every play. This was best shown against Arkansas when, during television timeouts in the fourth quarter, he had linemen on the field of play getting practice because their early season schedule was not physical enough. Smart is crazed in an effective way, and this is to the benefit of his players, the school and the production he gets every season. 

You will never worry about the effort you will get from the Bulldogs and if they lose, it will be because they were outplayed, not because they beat themselves.

3. Alabama Crimson Tide

Alabama at No. 3 after being managed by Florida State in the first half? Yes. 

Alabama did not look good to start the game against Florida State. No one will ever say otherwise. But the Tide were able to come back, winning by a score of 50-26 and this was the only game in which there was a glimmer of hope for their opponents on the season.

In the first conference game Saturday against South Carolina, Alabama ran South Carolina out of the stadium by a score of 49-18. Coach Kalen DeBoer and quarterback Keelon Russell are not messing around in 2026. They are attempting to score 50 on every opponent they face. Although this will not happen against a team like Georgia, it has proven effective as Russell has grown up significantly through the first part of the season. This level of play will continue his growth as the Crimson Tide maneuver their way towards a playoff berth. 

Russell has 1,129 passing yards, 8 touchdowns and 2 interceptions so far this season. On top of his passing, Russell is also a threat in the running game with 168 yards and 3 touchdowns on 32 rushes.

Alabama will go as far as Russell can take him. So far, that looks like a good thing. 

4. LSU Tigers:

I know, LSU lost to Ole Miss in Week 3 and they should be ranked below the Rebels. But this is how much the Tigers need to be trusted. 

While we will get to Ole Miss soon, the team they beat, LSU, came out of their game at Oxford to take on another desperate team in Texas A&M, who just lost a home game to Kentucky.

This was a matchup of two teams who had to win this game and only one of them showed up as the Tigers beat the Aggies 35-6. In doing so, Lane Kiffin and LSU remained in the playoff race while Texas A&M all but eliminated themselves with the no-show.

Sam Leavitt has been good so far this season for the Tigers and although the remaining schedule is difficult, if the Tigers can get through it with just one more loss, they will be in the postseason. You may not like him, but Kiffin has a team in LSU which can beat anyone in the country in 2026 and they need to be trusted. 

5. Florida Gators:

Even though Billy Napier was not a good game day coach, he was excellent at recruiting talent to the Gators roster and Jon Sumrall was masterful at keeping that talent intact.

The biggest additions Florida made both came from Georgia Tech with offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner and quarterback Aaron Philo.

This duo has been the key factor in the rest of the offense quickly learning the system — a system that Jadan Baugh has used to become the best running back in the country after finishing Saturday’s game against Ole miss with 142 yards and 3 touchdowns. Next to him, Florida has another back in Duke Clark who finished the same game with 129 yards and 1 touchdown on 12 carries, giving the Gators the best backfield in the country entering the middle of the season. 

Games against Georgia and others will test the offensive line and the running game in the coming weeks. If Florida can continue to roll the way they have been so far, then Sumrall has this team ahead of schedule in their re-tool and Florida can make the playoffs this season. This will lead to excitement around Gainesville and a massive new contract for Sumrall. That never ends badly. 

6. Ole Miss Rebels

Trinidad Chambliss is the best quarterback in the country. Even with his less-than-impressive game on Saturday against Florida.

As much as he wants to, he cannot do it alone though and this is where the problems come in.

Will Eckels had a great game against LSU in Week 3. But he failed to perform to the same level against Florida and the defensive struggles against the Gators and the Louisville Cardinals, have led to both a loss and a closer than expected win.

Running back Kewan Lacy is exactly what Ole Miss needs to be complete. Unfortunately, after hurting his ankle in Week 1 against Louisville, he has not been healthy. He missed the Rebels second game against Charlotte, was forced to sit for much of the LSU game and missed the game against Florida entirely.

With the availability of Lacy and the defense continuing to be an issue, Ole Miss is ripe to be picked off by another team on their schedule. It is just a matter of which one and it makes them less trustworthy than LSU or Florida right now. 

7. Tennessee Volunteers 

After not looking good for long stretches against Texas, Tennessee almost made a miracle comeback to defeat the No. 1 team in the country. 

After Faison Brandon made a bad throw which forced the receiver to make a catch in-bounds and the clock to ran out, the Volunteers lost by a score of 20-17.

The Volunteers are still a good team — Even a top-25 team. But they are not a playoff contender in the SEC and fall just outside the comfort level of those teams who are. 

8. Mississippi State Bulldogs

Entering the season, no one knew what to expect from the Bulldogs or sophomore quarterback Kamario Taylor. This far into the season, both have overachieved and made Mississippi State one of the most exciting teams in the country.

The Bulldogs went to Minneapolis in Week 2 and defeated Minnesota 38-13 before heading to Missouri and defeating the top-25 ranked Tigers, 31-24. 

Jeff Levy has found a quarterback, one who, at 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, can run like a wide receiver and has the arm power of Joe Milton — only with accuracy. For those of you who are older like me, his massive arm and rushing ability remind me a lot of Randall Cunningham, who was also the best running quarterback and had the strongest arm in the NFL during his limited career.

Taylor is special and he will be the best quarterback in the country in 2027, after Chambliss moves on to the NFL.

I wanted to put the Bulldogs higher. But, when all you have is a quarterback, it is difficult to be trusted as much as others.

9. Oklahoma Sooners

This is extremely generous with John Mateer at quarterback. But it is also needed with the elite defense Oklahoma puts on the field each week.

In their most recent game against Georgia, a 41-13 loss, Mateer had three turnovers in the second quarter — an interception and two lost fumbles. This resulted in the Bulldogs getting 17 of their 41 points. It does not matter how good your defense is, if you give a team as talented as Georgia a short field, points are going to come. They did here and it cost the Sooners any chance for a win and at the playoffs, with so many challenging games left on their schedule — including their next game against Texas in the Red River Rivalry. 

Oklahoma can still beat many teams, but they're solid ... not good. Without an offense, they cannot hang with the top tier. 

10. Texas A&M

Texas A&M came into the season with a top-10 ranking. After a bad home loss to Kentucky and a blowout loss at LSU, the Aggies now find themselves out of the top 25 and with a question at quarterback in Marcel Reed.

Reed has been terrible in his past two games. While a lot of this can be put on his shoulders, Kentucky and LSU were able to put a ton of pressure on him because the offensive line has struggled.

The Aggies were a paper champion last season with an easy out of conference schedule followed by an SEC schedule which included most of the bottom teams. The only two times they played real opponents they lost their final game against Texas and their playoff game against Miami.

This season, it is much the same, except for the nine-game conference schedule which forced their October slide to move into late September.

If Reed can again find a little magic, the Aggies can still reasonably finish with a winning record. If not, games against Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Texas can all end in losses and with Texas A&M missing a bowl game. 

11. Missouri Tigers

The Tigers lost a lot off the team after the 2025 season. This led to a feeling of a sharp decline. Fortunately for them, quarterback Austin Simmons entered the team and has been solid in taking over for Bo Bribula, who transferred to Virginia for his final season.

The defense of Missouri has not been the same since Blake Baker left to take the defensive coordinator position with LSU two years ago. The offense, usually with a good running game, is also at a deficit after the tragedy of Ahmad Hardy being shot while attending a concert while at home in Mississippi and missing the season up to this point.

Had Hardy not been wounded, or if we have seen him up to this point to see how he will look when he returns, Missouri would be higher than Texas A&M. But, without seeing Hardy, we must keep Missouri where they are.

12.  Kentucky Wildcats

After giving Will Stein an A for his first month as the coach of Kentucky, it might be confusing to see Kentucky this low in the rankings. Although Stein is doing magnificent work so far, the team still does not have the talent level of the teams above them.

Even after beating Texas A&M, the Aggies still have a significant talent advantage which needs to be respected.

Landing Kenny Minchey from Notre Dame in the transfer portal over Nebraska was important for the Wildcats as he has been solid for them under Stein, who has worked with the likes of Bo Nix and Dante Moore in recent years. He has been able to build up Minchey to a level where he can count on him and work around him to make the offense succeed. This has been a crucial factor in the first year success of Kentucky under Stein. With time, the talent level will build up, and Stein can have the team back to getting eight, nine or even 10 wins. There is a definite tier break after No. 12, but Kentucky deserves to be on the top side of it. 

13. Auburn Tigers

Auburn finally made the move to get rid of Hugh Freeze from a position that he should never have been put in. The tenure of Freeze has set back the Tigers program, and it will be up to Alex Golesh to attempt a fix. When coming over from USF, Golesh brought with him quarterback Byrum Brown. During the first month of the season, it has not been pleasant for Brown or Golesh as Auburn almost lost to Baylor with Brown outplayed by a hobbled DJ Lagway and lost to a rejuvenated Florida team 44-39.

Strangely, the offense of Auburn, so often the issue, is not the problem this season. It is the defense which has taken a hit with the offensive mindset of Golesh and the system he runs leading to more time on the field for the defense and it is getting tired.

This can be an issue for teams who run a fast tempo as it has manifested in the fatigue shown on that side of the ball late in games. If given time, Golesh can bring in players who fit better in this defensive scheme. But, in the SEC, he may not have the time, and it will be to the benefit of Auburn opponents for the remainder of 2026. 

14. Vanderbilt Commodores:

Diego Pavia finished his career after leading the Commodores to their first 10-win season in school history. So this was always going to be a down season for Clark Lee, Barton Simmons and the rest of the Vanderbilt football administration.

Vanderbilt was able to flip the commitment of five-star quarterback Jared Curtis from Georgia but, in doing so, this left them pinning their hopes on a freshman starter at the most critical position.

After a true miracle win against NC State, Vanderbilt fell back down to earth Saturday with a 21-15 road loss to Auburn.

Lee is in no trouble of losing his job as he has brought more success to the school than anyone since James Franklin. With the way Vanderbilt is committing to their sports programs including football, the future is bright. As for 2026 though, they do not have that special something which made them so difficult in 2025.

15. South Carolina Gamecocks: 

South Carolina has built up an impressive roster with players like Nicholas Harber, LeNorris Sellers and Dylan Stewart. But the Gamecocks have been unable to put it together for more than one 9-3 season which saw them miss out on the playoffs by three spots in the polls.

The other years under Shane Beamer have been less successful and it may lead to a mass exodus — both the coaching staff and from the roster. 

The Gamecocks are coming off a 49-18 loss to Alabama and if they want any chance of getting to a bowl game, they will need to win against some of the other lesser teams on their remaining schedule.

16. Arkansas Razorbacks:

The Razorbacks were run off the field by the Utah Utes and the Georgia Bulldogs in consecutive weeks. The second loss led to a meeting of the university brass, excluding Athletic Director Jeff Long, to discuss the trajectory of the program under first-year coach Ryan Silverfield. Does any more need to be said about the situation brewing in Fayetteville?

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