The Week 5 SEC schedule featured a couple of games between top-25 teams. Neither, surprisingly, proved to be as competitive as the pregame point spread would indicate. Both games ended up as one-sided blowouts.
Florida, coming off a huge 52-28 win over previously unbeaten Ole Miss, began Week 5 as one of the hottest teams in the SEC. Missouri, on the other hand, was returning home with its Tiger tail between its legs after a heartbreaking Week 4 road loss at Mississippi State.
The question was how both teams would respond to the emotional highs and lows of the previous week when the No. 8 Gators faced Missouri in the Tigers' SEC home opener and homecoming on Saturday.
Florida was as much as a 5.5-point favorite in its road test at Mizzou, but was never able to get its offense untracked against the physical and aggressive Tiger offense. Meanwhile, the Missouri offense was virtually unstoppable, exploding for 560 yards of offense and a 211-yard rushing effort by the Tigers' Jamal Roberts. Missouri's response to the previous week's outcome obviously was the more determined of the two teams and ended up delivering a statement 45-17 victory.
As you might expect, Missouri and Florida were the biggest movers in the Week 6 SEC Power Rankings, with the Tigers climbing up three spots, while Florida tumbled backward after sitting at No. 4 last week.
Down in Starkville, Mississippi, No. 7 Alabama visited No. 16 Mississippi State. The home team was not as fortunate in this SEC showdown between ranked teams. The Crimson Tide defense forced four Mississippi State turnovers, and Bama rolled all over the Bulldogs, 56-23. Mississippi State was one of four SEC teams that lost ground this week in the SEC Power Rankings.
Oklahoma was one of three SEC teams (along with Texas and Ole Miss) that did not play this weekend, but was the only one of the three that moved up in the conference power rankings, taking over the 12 spot from Auburn. The Sooners will have their hands full coming off the bye week as they head to Dallas this weekend for the annual Red River Rivalry against Texas.
Only three SEC teams (Alabama, Georgia, and Texas) remain unbeaten heading into the sixth week of the 2026 season. That number will be down to at least two after this weekend. Georgia and Alabama, both 5-0, square off in Tuscaloosa on Saturday, and Texas and Oklahoma go at each other in the 122nd edition of the Red River Rivalry.
The top-to-bottom strength of the SEC is reflected in the nine teams from that conference that are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll this week.
Here are the Week 6 SEC Power Rankings with advancement (+), declines (-), and no change (--) indicated after the season record.
Week 6 SEC Football Power Rankings
Texas was one of three SEC teams with a bye over the weekend. That gave them an extra week to prepare for the Longhorns' annual Red River Rivalry against Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas on Saturday. Texas held on to its No. 1 ranking in the SEC Power Rankings for the fourth straight week, as well as the top position in the national rankings.
Georgia tuned up for its marquee showdown with undefeated and No. 6 Alabama this coming Saturday with a relatively uneventful 38-14 win at home over Vanderbilt on Saturday. It should be a slugfest in Tuscaloosa this Saturday. Georgia's average margin of victory through five games this season is 38.0 points; Alabama's margin of victory in its five wins is 28.8 points.
Alabama has been an offensive wrecking crew through its first five games. That trend continued over the weekend as the Crimson Tide rolled into Starkville, Mississippi, and steamrolled out of town with a dominant 56-23 win over the No. 16 Mississippi State Bulldogs. That sets up one of the top games of the year in college football next weekend, when undefeated and No. 6 Alabama hosts unbeaten and No. 2 Georgia.
LSU had no trouble whatsoever disposing of FCS opponent McNeese 63-14 in a non-conference game. The 4-1 Tigers inched into the top 10 this week in the AP Top 25 and return to conference play on Saturday at Kentucky, which also owns a 4-1 record through five games. LSU has dominated the series with Kentucky historically. The Tigers are 39-16-1 all-time vs. Kentucky, but are just 2-3 in the last five games played in Lexington.
Tennessee evened its conference record at 1-1 with a 24-14 win at home over Auburn. After two consecutive home games to begin conference play, the Volunteers are headed to 2-3 Arkansas this weekend before returning home to host Alabama on Oct. 17.
Ole Miss was humbled in a 52-28 loss at Florida in its last game. The Rebels had an extra week to think about it in a Week 5 bye and will be back out on the road again this weekend with a game at Vanderbilt. Ole Miss has Missouri at home next weekend, and then it's No. 1 Texas in Austin on Oct. 24.
Missouri head coach Eliah Drinkwitz wasn't sure how his team would bounce back from a heartbreaking 31-24 loss at Mississippi State the week before. Plus, the Tigers were going up against red-hot Florida, which completely dismantled previously unbeaten Ole Miss the week before. It didn't take long for the Mizzou head coach to get his answer.
After battling to a 3-3 tie after one quarter, Missouri scored 42 of the next 56 points for a 45-17 smackdown of the previously unbeaten Gators. The Tigers advanced three spots, to No. 7, this week in the SEC Power Rankings and jumped all the way to No. 14 in the AP Top 25. Mizzou hosts Texas A&M this weekend.
Florida's vault into the No. 4 spot in last week's SEC Power Rankings was short-lived. The Gators fell a week's worst four spots after suffering a 28-point loss to Missouri. The Gators had been averaging 53.5 points per game but were held to a season-low 17 by the opportunistic Missouri defense. Florida hosts South Carolina, a team looking for its first conference win, on Saturday.
Kentucky overcame a 20-10 halftime deficit to tie South Carolina at 27 and send the game to overtime. The Gamecocks scored a touchdown and extra point on their opening possession in the extra session to go up 34-27. Kentucky matched USC's touchdown in OT, then ended the game with a successful two-point conversion to squeak out a 35-34 victory.
Despite the win, the Wildcats dropped back one spot in the Week 6 Power Rankings. Kentucky is at home against LSU this weekend. The following week, the Wildcats visit Oklahoma for their first game against the Sooners since 1982.
Texas A&M bounced back from consecutive conference losses for a 34-7 victory over Arkansas. The Aggies had suffered back-to-back losses to Alabama on the road and Kentucky at home. They have a date at Missouri this weekend.
Mississippi State dropped from the unbeaten ranks over the weekend in a decisive home loss at the hands and feet of visiting Alabama. Jeff Lebby's crew is idle this week before returning to action in consecutive weeks against LSU, Oklahoma, and Texas to close out October. LSU and Texas are on the road.
Oklahoma plays its third nationally ranked team in five games when it takes the annual trek down Interstate 35 to Dallas this weekend to go against top-ranked Texas in one of college football's classic rivalries. The Sooners' bye week couldn't have come at a better time after a disappointing 41-13 loss at Georgia and with the dangerous Longhorns looming.
The Sooners are in danger of having their season get away from them. They close out October at home vs. Kentucky, at Mississippi State, and back home to take on South Carolina.
Auburn matched 15th-ranked Tennessee in total yards, offensive plays, and average yards per play, but was unable to match the Volunteers on the scoreboard, falling 24-14 at Tennessee on Saturday. The Tigers are one of two SEC teams that have the week off before returning to action on Oct. 17 at No. 2 Georgia. They will finish out October at home against LSU, followed by a road contest at Ole Miss.
South Carolina opened the 2026 season with two straight wins, but since then, have lost its last three, including a one-point, 35-34 overtime loss at home to Kentucky on Saturday. All three of the losses (to Mississippi State, Alabama, and Kentucky) have been against conference opponents. It doesn't get any easier for the Gamecocks in Week 6, with an angry group of Florida Gators chomping at the bit in Gainesville and stinging from a humbling road loss at Missouri.
Vanderbilt is at home to host No. 9 Ole Miss this weekend and is still looking for its first conference win of the season. The Commodores' two losses were to Auburn and Georgia this past weekend. They opened the season with three straight non-conference wins over Austin Peay, Delaware, and North Carolina State, all in Nashville.
Arkansas, the lowest-scoring team in the SEC while averaging 19.8 points a game, fell 34-6 at Texas A&M on Saturday. It was the Razorbacks' second consecutive loss in conference play (they lost 45-17 to Georgia a couple of weeks earlier). Only Oklahoma has posted worse offensive numbers than Arkansas in the SEC so far in 2026. The Hogs will try to pick up their first conference win when they host Tennessee on Saturday.
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