SEC Power Rankings following Week Four of 2019: Vols still the worst
![GAINESVILLE, FL- SEPTEMBER 21: Josh Palmer #5 of the Tennessee Volunteers runs with the ball during the first half of the game against the Florida Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on September 21, 2019 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) GAINESVILLE, FL- SEPTEMBER 21: Josh Palmer #5 of the Tennessee Volunteers runs with the ball during the first half of the game against the Florida Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on September 21, 2019 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/314074ef218a2a149488ca5dad97a02d78b7383dde72809cf07b7f97380cd4a4.jpg)
The Tennessee Volunteers continue to be at the bottom of our SEC Power Rankings along with a couple of other teams in that tier after Week Four.
Talk about a giant difference between the top and the bottom of a league. Our SEC Power Rankings reflect a league that at the top is far and away better than anybody else in the country. And it reflects a bottom that is embarrassingly bad.
Tennessee football’s 34-3 loss to the Florida Gators showed the stark difference between the tiers over the weekend. UT, however, is not alone in looking atrocious in the league right now, as they are joined by one other team in the bottom tier and another team that flirts between that tier and maybe just one tier above.
This week’s SEC Power Rankings, however, has one clear top tier, and all five undefeated teams in the league belong there now. The reason they all belong there is because while some are likely much better than others, the ones who look worse have much better quality wins.
As a result, it’s impossible to separate them based on what they’ve done at this moment. Again, power rankings are based on what you’re doing at the moment, not what anybody projects you to do in the future.
And yes, we factor in number of quality wins, how a team looked most recently, record and margin of victory all into these rankings along with head-to-head if it applies. In some cases, it has indeed begun to apply.
The middle tiers, however, are all over the place. And things are really starting to look sloppy, which becomes the case as the power rankings begin to take shape over the course of the season. But things haven’t gotten difficult to decipher yet.
So who is standing atop the league this week? Is anybody else at the bottom? What do things look like heading into the final weekend of September? Find out in our SEC Power Rankings following Week Four of the 2019 college football season.