Kentucky Wildcats: SEC Power Rankings Heading Into Week 4

COLUMBIA, SC - SEPTEMBER 16: Defensive back Derrick Baity
COLUMBIA, SC - SEPTEMBER 16: Defensive back Derrick Baity /
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The Kentucky Wildcats improved to 3-0 after a victory over South Carolina. Let’s see how they compare to the rest of the SEC in this week’s Power Rankings.

In a wild week 3 of college football, all eyes were on the SEC. From a hail mary finish to a giant upset, SEC football gave us nothing short of a dramatic weekend. Let’s take a quick look at the big news in the third week of the college football season.

First of all, Florida topped Tennessee by a last second hail mary pass that will be shown for years to come. Mississippi State upset, and dominated, LSU at Davis Wade Stadium. And, of course, Kentucky beat South Carolina with dominating defense.

It’s still early in the season, but this college football season is already shaping up to be a great one. Let’s take a look at our power rankings for the SEC after 3 weeks of exhilarating football.

1. Alabama (3-0)

There’s no surprise here. The 3-time reigning SEC champion has started the season off to another hot start, and they’re not expected to slow down. Although the injuries seem to be piling up for the Crimson Tide, there’s no reason to believe that Nick Saban won’t have his team in the college football playoffs once again.

2. Georgia (3-0)

After an early season injury to Jacob Eason, Jake Fromm was handed the starting job. He has not disappointed thus far. It’s fair to say, though, that it would be hard to fail with Nick Chubb and Sony Michel in the backfield.

3. Mississippi State (3-0)

Upset was on the mind of everyone in Starkville on Saturday, and they did more than that. After dominating LSU, everyone in the SEC (and the entire country) should have the Bulldogs on their radar.

Mississippi State v Mississippi
Mississippi State v Mississippi /

4. Florida (1-1)

Although Florida’s offense has not looked good all season, their defense should be enough to secure them plenty of wins this season. Plus, the Gators may let Feleipe Franks have some more passing freedoms after seeing his incredible arm on the game-winning hail mary on Saturday.

5. Vanderbilt (3-0)

Vandy has been heading in the right direction for quite a while now, and this looks like the year they may break through. After a giant victory over Kansas State, Vanderbilt has the confidence to make a run at a possible SEC East title.

6. Kentucky (3-0)

After looking questionable in the first two weeks, Mark Stoops’ bunch showed Kentucky fans a reason for hope. The Cats’ defense looked great against South Carolina, and helped them get a huge road SEC victory. Kentucky will look to soar up this list with a victory over Florida in week 4.

7. Auburn (2-1)

Auburn has not looked great this year. Much like Florida, their offense has many issues that need to be resolved. Despite how they’ve looked on the field, it’s hard to discredit them considering they only have one loss on the season and it was to Clemson on the road by 8 points.

8. LSU (2-1)

After getting dropped by 30 on Saturday, it became obvious that Coach O has a lot of work to do with these Tigers. It’s hard to tell whether this is going to be a failure of a season after only three weeks, but it’s not looking good for LSU.

9. Tennessee (2-1)

The Volunteers could’ve found themselves a lot higher on this list, if only they would’ve put some safeties deep on the final play against Florida. Unfortunately for them, that loss coupled with an unsteady offense shouldn’t give Butch Jones much reason for hope in 2017.

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10. Texas A&M (2-1)

A&M fell victim to an incredible comeback by UCLA in week 1, but have won their last two games. Although both of those games were against weaker opponents, the Aggies are looking like they don’t want their week one mishaps shape their entire season.

11. Arkansas (1-1)

After an off week, the Razorbacks will get set to play Texas A&M. They only have one loss this season, and it was to a solid TCU team so it’s hard to judge this team quite yet. The week 4 match-up with the Aggies will show us a lot about them.

12. South Carolina (2-1)

Although the Gamecocks lost a close game to Kentucky and have a solid win over NC State, there is a bigger reason they’re ranked so low in this. Star wide receiver Deebo Samuel is out for the season with a broken leg.

13. Ole Miss (2-1)

Ole Miss hasn’t given fans much reason to be excited this season. Although Cal isn’t a bad team, blowing a halftime lead isn’t what the Rebels had in mind. They will need to find a more balanced attack on offense to find success this year.

14. Missouri (1-2)

It’s looking like a really rough season for Missouri. Huge losses to South Carolina and Purdue showed the Tigers defensive weaknesses. It’s tough to envision Missouri making a bowl game after this start to the season.

Next: 2017 Keys to Success for Kentucky Football

With it only being week 3, over-reactions will come quick, but for the Kentucky Wildcats, there is a lot of reason to be excited. If Kentucky is able to pull out a week 4 victory over Florida, the Cats may have a solid chance at an SEC East title this year.