SEC Scouts Football Power Rankings — Week 4

Three weeks into the 2026 regular season, the SEC has nine unbeaten teams and no consensus about who the best of them is. The AP Poll says Texas at No. 1 and Georgia at No. 2. Our formula says something different: Florida, ranked just No. 13 nationally, sits atop the SEC Scouts Power Rankings with a 78.5 Power Score, edging Georgia by a single tenth of a point.

The gap between the two is a rounding error, and the reason Florida holds the tiebreaker is simple. The Gators went to Auburn and won a 44-39 shootout on the road against a ranked opponent, while Georgia's dominant 45-17 win at Arkansas came against a team that now sits 1-2 with a minus-44 point differential. Quality wins matter in our formula, and Florida has the more valuable one on the ledger this week.

The other headline is Mississippi State. The Bulldogs are 3-0, 1-0 in conference play, own a plus-81 point differential and just walked into South Carolina and won 41-34 — yet the AP Poll still leaves them unranked. Our formula does not. They check in at No. 5, ahead of the AP's No. 1 team.

The Rankings

1. Florida (3-0, 1-0 SEC) — Power Score 78.5

The Gators own the top spot on the strength of a 44-39 road win at Auburn, a result that counts as a quality win over a ranked team. Their plus-99 point differential trails Georgia's by a wide margin, and their 4-1 form over the last five games is actually the second-best mark in the league behind Texas. The AP has Florida at No. 13, which looks conservative next to a 3-0 record and a conference road win.

2. Georgia (3-0, 1-0 SEC) — Power Score 78.4

Georgia's plus-138 point differential is the best in the SEC by a wide margin, and the 45-17 dismantling of Arkansas showed why the AP has the Bulldogs at No. 2. The only thing separating them from the top of our rankings is the quality-wins component; a blowout of a 1-2 team does not carry the same weight as Florida's win at Auburn. The 3-2 mark over the last five games is a lingering drag on the formula.

3. Ole Miss (3-0, 1-0 SEC) — Power Score 74.7

The Rebels' 32-24 win over LSU was a ranked-on-ranked result, and it vaults them into the top three despite a modest plus-43 point differential, the lowest among the unbeaten teams in the top nine. Ole Miss is not blowing anyone out, but the AP's No. 8 ranking and a 1-0 conference start give the formula plenty to reward.

4. Alabama (3-0, 1-0 SEC) — Power Score 73.5

Alabama's 45-17 road win at Kentucky was a statement, and the plus-80 point differential ranks fourth in the conference. The Crimson Tide sit at No. 10 in the AP Poll, and the gap between them and Ole Miss at No. 3 is a little more than a point in Power Score. A 3-2 record over the last five games is the only soft spot in the profile.

5. Mississippi State (3-0, 1-0 SEC) — Power Score 68.5

The Bulldogs are the formula's biggest disagreement with the AP voters. Unranked nationally, Mississippi State has a plus-81 point differential, a 1-0 SEC mark and a 41-34 road win over an AP No. 11 South Carolina team. That is a quality win over a ranked opponent on the road, and it carries real weight. Zero AP bonus is the only thing keeping them out of the top four.

6. Texas (3-0, 0-0 SEC) — Power Score 61.4

The AP's No. 1 team sits sixth here, and the explanation is entirely structural. Texas has not played a conference game yet, so the 20 percent of the formula tied to conference win percentage contributes nothing. The Longhorns are the only SEC team with a perfect 5-0 record over their last five games, and the 27-17 win over Texas A&M was a ranked win. Once conference play starts, the Power Score will climb fast.

7. Tennessee (3-0, 0-0 SEC) — Power Score 52.5

Tennessee's plus-101 point differential is the second-best in the SEC, but the 45-24 loss to Vanderbilt in the most recent outing takes the shine off. The AP still has the Volunteers at No. 15, and the 3-2 form over the last five games reflects a team that has been up and down. The formula gives them credit for the point margin and the poll position, but the Vanderbilt result is the story.

8. Vanderbilt (3-0, 0-0 SEC) — Power Score 49.1

The Commodores went to Knoxville and won 45-24, and the AP responded by ranking them No. 15, tied with the team they just beat. The plus-32 point differential is the lowest among the unbeaten teams, which keeps Vanderbilt behind Tennessee in the formula despite the head-to-head outcome. Beating a ranked team on the road is the best result of the young season for Vanderbilt.

9. Missouri (3-0, 0-0 SEC) — Power Score 48.9

Missouri handled Arkansas 31-17 on the road and sits at No. 20 in the AP Poll with a plus-67 point differential. The Tigers have quietly done everything asked of them. With no conference games on the ledger yet, the formula caps how high they can climb, and the 3-2 mark over the last five games keeps them just behind Vanderbilt.

10. Kentucky (2-1, 1-1 SEC) — Power Score 43.9

Kentucky is the highest-ranked team with a loss, and the reason is a 31-21 road win over Texas A&M, a team the AP has at No. 9. The Wildcats' plus-14 point differential is thin, and the 2-3 form over the last five games is among the worst in the top half of the rankings, but a 1-1 conference mark with a ranked road win is a legitimate foundation.

11. South Carolina (2-1, 0-1 SEC) — Power Score 43.5

The Gamecocks have the fifth-best point differential in the league at plus-86 and an AP ranking of No. 11, but the 41-34 home loss to Mississippi State dropped them to 0-1 in conference play. That loss is the difference between a top-five Power Score and an 11th-place finish this week.

12. Texas A&M (2-1, 0-1 SEC) — Power Score 41.6

The AP has Texas A&M at No. 9, but the formula sees a team that lost 31-21 at home to an unranked Kentucky team and sits 0-1 in the SEC. The plus-68 point differential is respectable, but the 2-3 form over the last five games is a red flag.

13. LSU (2-1, 0-1 SEC) — Power Score 41.4

LSU is ranked No. 7 nationally, the highest AP position of any team outside our top six, but a 32-24 loss at Ole Miss leaves the Tigers 0-1 in conference play with a 2-3 mark over their last five games. The plus-64 point differential is solid; the results are not.

14. Auburn (2-1, 0-1 SEC) — Power Score 38.7

Auburn's 44-39 home loss to Florida was competitive, and the AP still has the Tigers at No. 22. The plus-31 point differential is the lowest among the two-loss-or-better teams outside Kentucky, and the 0-1 conference start puts Auburn in a hole the formula does not forgive.

15. Oklahoma (2-1, 0-0 SEC) — Power Score 36.8

Oklahoma's 34-24 loss to Alabama is the only blemish, and the AP still ranks the Sooners No. 24. The plus-52 point differential is better than several teams ranked above them, but the 2-3 form over the last five games and the absence of any conference result hold the Power Score down.

16. Arkansas (1-2, 0-1 SEC) — Power Score 16.6

Arkansas is the only SEC team with a negative point differential at minus-44, and the 45-17 home loss to Georgia followed a 31-17 home loss to Missouri. A 1-4 record over the last five games is the worst in the conference, and the 16.6 Power Score is more than 20 points behind the next team.

Stock Up

Mississippi State (No. 5). A 41-34 road win over AP No. 11 South Carolina is the best unranked result in the conference. The plus-81 point differential ranks fourth in the SEC, and a 1-0 conference record puts the Bulldogs ahead of every team that has not yet played a league game.

Vanderbilt (No. 8). Going into Tennessee and winning 45-24 earned the Commodores an AP No. 15 ranking. The plus-32 point differential is modest, but a road win over a ranked team is exactly the kind of result the formula rewards.

Kentucky (No. 10). The 31-21 road win over AP No. 9 Texas A&M is why a 2-1 team sits ahead of five ranked opponents. The Wildcats' plus-14 point differential is thin, but the quality-win component is doing the work.

Stock Down

Tennessee (No. 7). A plus-101 point differential should have the Volunteers in the top five, but a 45-24 home loss to Vanderbilt is the worst result of the week among ranked teams. The 3-2 form over the last five games is trending the wrong way.

LSU (No. 13). The AP's No. 7 team is 0-1 in SEC play after the 32-24 loss at Ole Miss, and 2-3 over the last five games. The gap between the poll position and the 41.4 Power Score is the largest in the conference.

Arkansas (No. 16). Back-to-back home losses to Missouri and Georgia by a combined 76-34 have left the Razorbacks at minus-44 for the season and 1-4 over their last five. There is no sign of a turnaround in the data.

Games to Watch

The formula's biggest questions heading into Week 4 involve the teams still sitting at 0-0 in conference play. Texas, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Missouri and Oklahoma all have Power Scores suppressed by an empty conference-win column, and each will see a sharp move once league results arrive. Texas in particular, with its 5-0 recent form and AP No. 1 ranking, could leap into the top three with a single conference win.

At the top, Florida and Georgia are separated by one tenth of a point. Either team's next result will decide the No. 1 spot, and any slip by the Gators would hand it to Georgia's plus-138 point differential.

In the middle, the 0-1 conference teams — South Carolina, Texas A&M, LSU and Auburn — are all ranked in the AP Poll and all sitting between 11th and 14th here. A conference win for any of them would move the needle dramatically; a second conference loss would push them toward the bottom of the table alongside Arkansas.