CBS Sports‘ Chip Patterson moved the Texas Longhorns from No. 8 to No. 4 in his Week 9 SEC power rankings after their 34-27 win over Ole Miss in Austin.
The four-place rise put Texas behind Georgia, Kentucky and LSU in Patterson’s list.
CBS Sports framed the win as a sharp rebound for a team that had lost to Florida two weeks earlier. The result also moved Texas ahead of Ole Miss, which fell from No. 2 to No.
6 in Patterson’s rankings.
Key Takeaways
- Texas moved from No. 8 to No. 4 in Chip Patterson’s CBS Sports ranking.
- Georgia, Kentucky and LSU occupied the top three places in Patterson’s Week 9 list.
- Aggies Wire also ranked Texas fourth, matching the top-four order from CBS Sports.
Texas SEC Rankings Shift After Ole Miss Win
The Texas SEC rankings changed substantially after the Longhorns beat Ole Miss 34-27. Patterson described Texas as an uneven team in the game, but judged that its strongest stretches outweighed the mistakes in a consequential conference win.
Arch Manning made mistakes, Patterson wrote, but answered with enough to help Texas secure the result. The Longhorns’ defense forced Trinidad Chambliss into three interceptions, disrupting the Ole Miss quarterback after Texas had struggled against Florida two weeks earlier.
The win reversed the direction of Patterson’s ranking for Texas, which had dropped to No. 8 the previous week. His assessment emphasized the gap between the team’s performance against Florida and its ability to control key parts of the Ole Miss game.
Ole Miss mounted a comeback after falling behind by 21 points in Austin, Patterson noted, but could not complete it. He wrote that the Rebels’ first-half deficit proved too large to overcome and that their run defense gave up 207 yards to Texas.
Week 9 SEC Rankings Put Texas Fourth Across Two Outlets
The top four in CBS Sports’ Week 9 rankings were Georgia, Kentucky, LSU and Texas, in that order. Alabama was fifth, with Ole Miss sixth after its loss in Austin.
Aggies Wire published the same top-four order, also placing Georgia first, Kentucky second, LSU third and Texas fourth. Its account described the Longhorns’ 34-27 victory as a thrilling win over the Rebels and put them ahead of Ole Miss.
Those lists are outlet power rankings, not official Southeastern Conference standings. Their agreement on Texas’ position reflects how the Ole Miss result was assessed in two separate Week 9 evaluations, while the teams below the top four differed between lists.
The climb also came amid substantial movement elsewhere in Patterson’s ranking. Ole Miss fell four spots from second to sixth, while Texas rose four places; Patterson’s top three remained Georgia, Kentucky and LSU.
Kentucky and LSU Add Context to a Volatile SEC Race
Patterson ranked Kentucky second after the Wildcats reached 7-1 entering November. He credited quarterback Kenny Minchey with completing 69% of his passes for 1,755 yards, 14 touchdowns and one interception as Kentucky continued its strong season.
LSU held the third spot after beating Mississippi State and Auburn by a combined 69-17 since losing to Kentucky. Patterson pointed to the Tigers’ offensive production, while noting that Mississippi State played without Kamario Taylor in its game against LSU.
The wider standings underline the volatility surrounding Texas’ move. Stormin’ in Norman reported that 14 of the SEC’s 16 teams had at least two losses at the season’s midpoint, leaving no undefeated team in the conference.
Patterson’s ranking also captured how quickly a team’s position could change: Texas rose after beating Ole Miss, while the Rebels dropped four places and Tennessee fell from fifth to seventh after losing to South Carolina. That turnover helps explain why a single result reshaped the middle of the list as the conference moved into November.
