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SEC Power Rankings following Week 6 of 2018: Bye doesn’t help Vols at all

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 08: Tennessee mascot Davy Crockett carries the flag across the end zone during a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers at Neyland Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennesee won the game 59-3. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 08: Tennessee mascot Davy Crockett carries the flag across the end zone during a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers at Neyland Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennesee won the game 59-3. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images /

Circular logic applies again. Despite being No. 9 in our SEC Power Rankings and beating a team many believe to be overrated in overtime at home, Jimbo Fisher’s team jumped all the way to No. 3 on our list. Well, that’s how things work, as we can’t use our own projections to determine if a team is overrated in our power rankings.

The facts are that Texas A&M beat the Kentucky Wildcats, who beat the Florida Gators, who beat the LSU Tigers. Each of these teams all only have one conference loss, while A&M’s is to somebody higher in these rankings. They have a worse record with a non-conference loss, but it’s a close one at home to the Clemson Tigers.

Sure, they struggled with the Arkansas Razorbacks just last week. But consider that Arkansas just dropped 31 on the Alabama Crimson Tide’s defense. See a pattern? There is no logical explanation for having any other team above Texas A&M at this point.

Fisher’s salary is already paying off to a degree, and it will only pay off more in the long-term. However, to define their season, they’ve got three major road games coming up, all in a row. The first is against the South Carolina Gamecocks. Then, after a bye, they visit the Mississippi State Bulldogs and Auburn Tigers. These are all middle to lower tier SEC teams at this point. So we’ll have a great read on these guys soon enough.

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