SEC Power Rankings following Week 4 of 2018: Vols still near bottom

Well, even if they lose to the Kentucky Wildcats, the Florida Gators get to maintain their dominance over the Tennessee Vols. And make no mistake, it was dominance. In typical fashion, Florida cashed in on a series of UT mistakes to build a blowout lead.

With a 47-21 win at Neyland Stadium, Dan Mullen’s team is revitalized and has enough to prove it’s solid. Sure, you can say the Vols gave the Gators lots of those points. But a quick look at the game shows that Florida’s defense was forcing those turnovers.

The return of CeCe Jefferson shows this is truly a different team. On top of that, given the way the Kentucky Wildcats are playing at this moment, Florida’s loss doesn’t look so bad there anymore. How good they truly are will come down to what they do in this upcoming SEC stretch run.

Mullen has to travel to his old team and face the Mississippi State Bulldogs this week. That’s a winnable game for these guys. Two weeks later, they visit the Vanderbilt Commodores. But in between those games, they have to host the LSU Tigers. And the Georgia Bulldogs are after Vanderbilt. So this four-game stretch can help define the season for these guys, and there’s a great chance they climb even further up our SEC Power Rankings.