Week 4 didn’t just shake up the college football weekend - it reshaped the ESPN Football Power Index.
Georgia is the new No. 1 in the FPI after moving up two spots, thanks to its win over Oklahoma. The Bulldogs sit atop a top 25 that also features Notre Dame, Ohio State, Texas and Miami rounding out the first five.
The rest of the upper tier comes with plenty of familiar heavyweight names. Alabama checks in at No. 6, followed by Indiana, LSU, Oregon and Florida.
Tennessee lands at No. 11, with Utah, Texas Tech, Nebraska and Penn State next in line. Texas A&M is 16th, then BYU, USC, Ole Miss and Mississippi State.
Oklahoma comes in at No. 21, with Pitt, Michigan, Auburn and Iowa finishing the top 25.
The SEC continues to dominate the conversation. The league has 11 teams inside the top 25, the most of any conference. Beyond Georgia, Texas, Alabama, LSU, Florida, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Texas A&M, the SEC’s depth still shows up across the board.
The teams just outside the top 25 tell part of the story too. South Carolina is No.
33, Missouri No. 35, Kentucky No.
36, Vanderbilt No. 51 and Arkansas No. 60.
Week 4’s chaos fed right into the rankings. Texas survived a road scare at Tennessee.
Florida handled Ole Miss in the Swamp to stay unbeaten under coach Jon Sumrall. Iowa beat Michigan on a last-second play that could only be considered karma for the Wolverines.
Mississippi State and QB Kamario Taylor also came out of their scare against Missouri.
Looking ahead, Week 5 will bring another round of movement, and the FPI will get another reset once the games are in the books.
In Other News...
Kamario Taylor Just Gave Mississippi State Fans Another Reason To Believe
Nick Sabans on-air suggestion that Kamario Taylor should enter the transfer portal turned into one more flashpoint in Mississippi States surprisingly lively start. Instead of feeding the noise, Taylor doubled down on his commitment to the Bulldogs, and the team has backed him up with a 4-0 run that has pushed Mississippi State into the AP Top 25 at No. 16 after a win over Missouri.
Now the conversation shifts from outside skepticism to what Mississippi State can do next, with Alabama on deck in a matchup that will draw plenty of attention. Taylor has already answered one high-profile challenge with a public show of loyalty, and the Bulldogs get a chance to keep proving their early surge is real when the schedule gets tougher. [Read more 🡒]
Kalen DeBoers Unusual Road Routine Just Put Alabama Fans On Alert
Kalen DeBoer is taking an unusual approach for Alabamas trip to Starkville, with the Crimson Tide planning to travel on the morning of the game instead of making the usual day-before move. The short distance between the two campuses makes that possible, and it lets Alabamas players stay home and sleep in their own beds before heading east for one of the SECs more intriguing early kickoffs.
It is a small scheduling wrinkle, but it adds another layer to a matchup already carrying plenty of weight. The game is set for 11 a.m. and pits two undefeated SEC teams against each other, so every detail around preparation is getting extra attention. For Mississippi State, the setup means the Bulldogs will be waiting on a visiting team that is choosing a road routine not often seen at this level. [Read more 🡒]
Mississippi State Has Earned A Ranking Debate Fans Wont Ignore
Mississippi States 4-0 start has put the Bulldogs squarely into the national conversation, and the latest AP Poll slot at No. 16 only sharpened the discussion. A 2-0 mark in SEC play, highlighted by a win over No. 25 Missouri, has given this team a rsum that looks sturdier than the typical early-season surprise, especially with sophomore quarterback Kamario Taylor driving the offense.
Taylor has already thrown for 1,192 yards and 14 touchdowns, tying for the most passing scores in the country, and that kind of production is hard to ignore when the rankings debate turns to the Power Four picture. The bigger question now is how long Mississippi State can keep climbing, with Alabama and LSU looming as the kind of games that can either validate the Bulldogs place in the poll or force another round of second-guessing. [Read more 🡒]