SEC Power Rankings following Week 9 of 2018: Vols stay in place

They’re still one game away from a bowl game, but the Ole Miss Rebels belong just above the bottom of our SEC Power Rankings at this moment. You could make the case for them to be higher by only one or two spots given their season-opening win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

But outside of that, Matt Luke’s team is stumbling to victories and looking bad against anybody that’s not a bottom of the barrel team. Maybe they fixed things during their bye week, but they have shown no reason for us to believe in them outside of that first game.

The good news is this team does have a really good offense. On top of that, now with the bye in the rearview, they already have five wins thanks to that Texas Tech upset. And there are plenty of chances for them to get win No. 6.

This weekend, the South Carolina Gamecocks at home is a very winnable game. But should they come up short, they still have the Mississippi State Bulldogs at home to close the year, and that’s always a dangerous match-up.

To assure a bowl game, though, they have to circle a road game two Saturdays from now. It’s a conference match-up that could determine who’s left out of the postseason. And it’s against the next team in our SEC Power Rankings.