# SEC Scouts Football Power Rankings Week 4: Florida Edges Georgia for the Top Spot as Regular Season Heats Up

**Published:** 2026-09-21 — **By:** Stacy Stanfield
**Category:** analysis — **Type:** power-rankings
**Source:** https://secscouts.com/news/sec-football-power-rankings-week-4-florida-edges-georgia

**Teams:** [Alabama](https://secscouts.com/alabama/), [Arkansas](https://secscouts.com/arkansas/), [Auburn](https://secscouts.com/auburn/), [Kentucky](https://secscouts.com/kentucky/), [LSU](https://secscouts.com/lsu/), [Miss State](https://secscouts.com/mississippi-state/), [Oklahoma](https://secscouts.com/oklahoma/), [Ole Miss](https://secscouts.com/ole-miss/), [South Carolina](https://secscouts.com/south-carolina/), [Texas A&M](https://secscouts.com/texas-am/), [Vanderbilt](https://secscouts.com/vanderbilt/)


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# 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.

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*Original article: [SEC Scouts Football Power Rankings Week 4: Florida Edges Georgia for the Top Spot as Regular Season Heats Up](https://secscouts.com/news/sec-football-power-rankings-week-4-florida-edges-georgia) — SEC Scouts*