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SEC Power Rankings after week 4: Vols near bottom

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the outside of Neyland Stadium before a game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers on September 15, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the outside of Neyland Stadium before a game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers on September 15, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images /

The Ole Miss Rebels did not play this past weekend, lost to the California Golden Bears the week before and have no quality wins on their schedule. They also are a program in disarray with the Hugh Freeze scandal.

So why did we move them up three spots in our SEC Power Rankings under interim head coach Matt Luke?

It’s simple. Just take a look at how Cal played this past week.

The Golden Bears were tied with the Trojans heading into the fourth quarter on Saturday, and they didn’t pull away until Justin Wilcox’s team eventually committed consecutive turnovers to spot USC a 30-13 lead.

However, they only lost 30-20 and proved they are a legitimately good team, and that means Ole Miss’s loss in Berkeley last week doesn’t look too bad anymore.

Shea Patterson is all the Rebels have, but he’s good enough to carry his team to victory on his own. If he doesn’t commit three turnovers two weeks ago, these guys would be undefeated right now.

So perhaps this is a solid team. They’re about to have a good chance at showing it.

The Rebels face the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers on the road this week and next week respectively. Then they host the Vanderbilt Commodores and LSU Tigers. So the season really starts now.

And Luke’s team will get to show if it can still compete with the top teams in the SEC. As we’ve seen before, that’s always possible if you have an elite quarterback, which the Rebels have.

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