College football winners and losers: How the SEC stacks up after a pivotal Week 4
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The SEC was the main character of the biggest Saturday of the 2026 season so far.
Four of the six matchups between teams ranked in the AP Top 25 were between SEC teams. And after Week 4, we have a pretty good idea of how the conference stacks up. Here’s how we see what we think is the deepest league in college football.
The favorites
No. 2 Georgia
No. 1 Texas
No. 8 Alabama
The Bulldogs are ahead of the Longhorns here for a reason. They are the most dominant team in the SEC. And possibly even the country. Georgia beat Oklahoma 41-13 on Saturday to move to 4-0 and 2-0 in conference play. The 28-point win is Georgia’s closest game of the season, though QB Gunner Stockton now finally does have more incompletions than passing TDs after he was 14-of-25 for 171 yards and just one touchdown.
The Longhorns got out of Knoxville, Tennessee with a 20-17 win after the Vols converted an onside kick that might or might not have been legal. The two teams don’t meet in the regular season, but might be on a collision course for the SEC title game.
Unless Alabama has something to say about it. The Crimson Tide dominated South Carolina in a 49-18 win as Keelon Russell threw for 365 yards and four touchdowns. Russell has become an immediate star in his first season as a starter and WR Ryan Coleman-Williams had five catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns. The Tide host Georgia in two weeks.
It’s early, but ascending to favorite status
No. 21 Florida
The Gators are going to be much higher in the AP Top 25 after their 52-28 win over Ole Miss on Saturday. Florida’s rushing attack looks absolutely phenomenal and Ole Miss was helpless to stop it. Jadan Baugh has already rushed for 11 touchdowns as he had 29 carries for 142 yards against the Rebels. With games against both Georgia and Texas in October, we’ll get a good idea of where Florida stacks up after the Gators were picked ninth in the SEC’s preseason media poll.
Needs to overcome an early loss
No. 4 Ole Miss
No. 10 LSU
No. 14 Tennessee
There’s no need to write off any of these teams just yet. But they’re also a tier behind the top four simply because they already have a conference loss. Ole Miss’ win over LSU in Week 3 could be massive in the late-season tiebreaker race, and LSU worked out its frustrations on Saturday night in a blowout win over Texas A&M.
Tennessee’s Faizon Brandon had his welcome to the SEC moment against Texas, as he was just 17-of-29 passing for 145 yards and was constantly under pressure. Brandon should only get better, and Tennessee still has a path to a nine-win season.
Let’s still wait and see
No. 24 Mississippi State
No. 19 Missouri
Kentucky
Auburn
Vanderbilt
The Bulldogs are 4-0 after a 31-24 win over the Tigers. Mississippi State squandered a 14-0 lead before outscoring the Tigers 14-0 in the fourth quarter to get the win. MSU has won its first four games of the season in back-to-back years for the first time since 1944 and 1945. But the Bulldogs finished last season at 5-8. We think it’ll be a bit different this year with Kamario Taylor entrenched as the team’s starting QB.
Kentucky’s Week 3 win over Texas A&M was a statement and the Wildcats should be favored against South Carolina in Week 5. The big test comes in Week 6 against No. 10 LSU. Another win there and the Wildcats might be for real.
Auburn took down Vanderbilt on Saturday as Byrum Brown threw for a TD and ran for another. Both the Tigers and Commodores have daunting schedules going forward and might be reduced to playing spoiler sooner rather than later.
The playoff dream already looks very over
No. 23 Texas A&M
Oklahoma
It’s hard to see how either the Aggies or Sooners are going to be relevant in the playoff conversation now that both teams are 2-2. And it’s not just about their records, either. A&M has now been soundly beaten in back-to-back weeks, and Oklahoma’s offense can’t get out of its own way. After beating UTEP 51-0 in Week 1, Oklahoma has scored six times and committed nine turnovers.
Looking towards 2027?
South Carolina
Arkansas
The only time the Gamecocks could be favored the rest of the season may come at Arkansas on Nov. 14. That’s about as fitting a statement as you can make about these teams. After Kentucky visits in Week 5, South Carolina has Florida and Tennessee on the schedule.
Arkansas fans are already in a somber mood and a 34-6 win over Tulsa on Saturday wouldn’t have done much to cheer them up. A win at Texas A&M next week would, however.
Winners
Boise State: The Broncos are now the clear favorite for the Group of Six spot in the playoff. Any chance Western Michigan had of capitalizing on its near-win against Michigan disappeared in a 32-7 defeat to the other Broncos. Boise State scored in every quarter and absolutely held the Western Michigan offense in check. WMU had just 223 yards and ended up averaging more yards per carry (5.1) than yards per attempt (3.8). Boise State QB Maddux Madsen was 16-of-23 passing for 204 yards and three touchdowns, while Dylan Riley rushed 28 times for 138 yards and a score. Assuming the American Conference doesn’t produce a dominant team, Boise State could get into the playoff with two losses.
Wisconsin: The Badgers are now 3-1 after a 24-20 win over No. 13 Penn State. And an eight-win season suddenly looks very real. USC and Iowa are the only two ranked teams remaining on Wisconsin’s schedule, and the Badgers’ November slate includes Rutgers, Maryland, Purdue and Minnesota. Could 8-4 be enough to save Luke Fickell’s job? It’s very possible, especially after Saturday’s win.
UCF: The Knights got a huge win to open Big 12 play. Without QB Alonza Barnett, UCF beat TCU 21-13 to move to 3-1 overall. Backup Keyone Jenkins threw one TD … and still had as many touchdowns as incomplete passes. Jenkins was 19-of-20 passing for 160 yards as Taevion Swint and Landen Chambers also rushed for a score.
Losers
Colorado: It’s hard to see how Colorado’s rebound happens in 2026. The Buffaloes lost 23-13 to Baylor a week after a 41-7 thrashing at Northwestern. That’s 20 points over the last two games. And a big reason why Deion Sanders turned to Isaac Wilson. JuJu Lewis was 11-of-16 passing for just 75 yards before Wilson entered the game. Wilson finished 12-of-25 passing for 156 yards and a score. But that fourth-quarter touchdown came too late to make much of a difference. The Buffs have games against Texas Tech and Utah over the next three weeks. A 2-4 start is looking very likely.
No. 16 Louisville: Any control the Cardinals took in the ACC title game race after a Week 3 win over SMU disappeared with a 30-27 home loss to Wake Forest on Saturday. Louisville gave up 21 points in the second quarter and was shut out in the fourth thanks to a turnover on downs and two missed field goals. Louisville gained just six yards after taking over at the Wake Forest 44-yard line before failing on fourth down. And then Carson Hilbert missed a game-tying 42-yard field goal with 2:29 to go before Nick Keller’s 57-yard attempt was blocked with 15 seconds remaining.
Maryland: The Terrapins had a bad, bad day at home against UCLA. After failing to score in the first quarter, UCLA still pasted Maryland 54-3. Malik Washington threw four interceptions and Kaleb Webb lost a fumble as hardly anything went right for Maryland. UCLA RB Wayne Knight III continued his touchdown party with 10 carries for 100 yards and a score as UCLA rushed 39 times for 266 yards and four touchdowns as a team. Unless things get better quickly, it’s hard to see how Maryland doesn’t explore moving on from Mike Locksley in 2027.
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