SEC Power Rankings following Week Five of 2019: Bye didn’t help Vols

A 31-27 loss to the Texas A&M Aggies might be something for Arkansas Razorbacks fans to celebrate. Don’t be fooled. This game almost always ends up being close, regardless of where the two teams stand. It says more about questions for A&M than anything.Also, at this point, we have no idea what to make of Chad Morris’s second team in Fayetteville.

One week, they blow out the Colorado State Rams 55-34. The next week, they lost to the San Jose State Spartans at home. And they also have an ugly win over an FCS school to balance out their close loss to A&M. It’s like a level of perfect symmetry in the most inconsistent way, as if they show up to play only every other week.

As a result, we still have them at No. 12 in our SEC Power Rankings. Two wins does put them ahead of the Vanderbilt Commodores and Tennessee Vols, and they have shown improvement this year, unlike UT under Jeremy Pruitt.

But they still have a ton of challenges ahead. A bye comes up next, but then they have a three-game stretch that includes a home game against the Auburn Tigers and a visit to the Alabama Crimson Tide. Before either of those games, though, they have to visit the next team on this list, a key test for them.