By Brett Daniels
The regular season wrapped up with Rivalry Week, and there was no shortage of upsets and close games. The conference championship game participants were also decided, with Texas heading to Atlanta for a rematch with Georgia.
1. Texas Longhorns (11-1, 7-1)-The Lone Star Rivalry returned after a 13-year hiatus and didn’t quite live up to the pregame hype. Neither team had much offensive success, and the Aggies held the Longhorns scoreless after halftime. Texas is a near lock for the College Football Playoff, win or lose Saturday in Atlanta. Next Up: Saturday vs Georgia in Atlanta
2. Georgia Bulldogs (10-2, 6-2)-Clean Old-Fashioned Hate was the second longest game in College Football history needing eight overtimes before Georgia managed to push across one more two-point conversion than Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets exposed the Bulldog defense racking up 563 yards of total offense, with 260 of that coming on the ground. Georgia will have to tighten up on defense if they hope to win the SEC and get a first-round bye in the Playoff. Next Up: Saturday vs Texas in Atlanta
3. Tennessee Volunteers (10-2, 6-2)-The Vols may be in the best position of any team in the country with respect to the College Football Playoff. Tennessee came back to beat Vanderbilt 36-23 after falling behind 17-0 in the first quarter and will be watching the SEC Championship on TV while awaiting their playoff fate. It is highly likely that Tennessee will host a home playoff game at Neyland Stadium against a Big Ten or ACC opponent.
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YOUR TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS HAVE PUNCHED THEIR TICKETS TO THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS!!!!! 🍊🏆 pic.twitter.com/yhj2vupOkI
— Volology (@Volology) November 30, 2024
4. South Carolina Gamecocks (9-3, 5-3)-LaNorris Sellers may be the most exciting player in college football right now. Sellers led the Gamecocks to a victory over in-state rival Clemson on Saturday, largely through running for big yards on broken plays. South Carolina is the team that no one wants to play in the Playoff and is squarely on the bubble of the last few teams to get in.
5. Alabama Crimson Tide (9-3, 5-3)-The Tide doubled their hated rival Auburn, 28-14, on Saturday in the Iron Bowl. Jalen Milroe had 256 yards passing and 104 yards and 3 touchdowns, running rebounding after a disappointing effort last week against Oklahoma. Like South Carolina, Alabama is one of the bubble teams that will hope all the favorites win the Big 12 and ACC Championship games so they can sneak in as an 10 or 11 seed.
Take a look at my recap from last night, as Kalen DeBoer wins his first Iron Bowl as the Alabama head coach. The Crimson Tide has now beaten Auburn five times in a row (and never lost to them while I was a student). Read below:https://t.co/2rfZUMI6kw
— Will Miller (@realwbmiller) December 1, 2024
6. Ole Miss Rebels (9-3, 5-3)-Ole Miss found themselves in a dogfight with Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl on Friday but managed to pull away in the end for a 26-13 win. The Rebs have an explosive offense and stout defense that would give most teams in the College Football Playoff problems, the question is if they will get the opportunity to show that in the tournament.
7. Missouri Tigers (9-3, 5-3)-Mizzou outlasted Arkansas 28-21 in the “Snow Bowl” to wrap up the regular season. Even though they are a 3-loss SEC team, they don’t have any chance to make it in the 12-team field due to the weakness of their schedule.
In case you were wondering: snow is still coming down at Faurot Field, but so are #Mizzou players. pic.twitter.com/dpInHOnHaX
— Amelia Hurley (@ameliahurley_) November 30, 2024
8. Texas A&M Aggies (8-4, 5-3)-Head Coach Mike Elko turned the Aggie program around in Year 1, improving across every metric and being in the mix for the conference championship game until the final game of the season. Still, 8-4 seems a little disappointing based off some of the games the Aggies managed to win this season.
9. LSU Tigers (8-4, 5-3)-LSU finished the season with a convincing win against Oklahoma but overall, the season must be considered a disappointment. This team has talent and has the schedule to be playing in Atlanta this weekend, but couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity.
10. Florida Gators (7-5, 4-4)-When the 2024 schedule was published if you had asked almost any Gator fan if they would take 7-5 most would have jumped at it. There were various predictions of 2-4 wins from most publications and Billy Napier losing his job. Instead, Florida pulled two upsets over ranked teams beating LSU and Ole Miss at home and finished the season pummeling in-state rival Florida State. Napier should get some consideration for SEC Coach of the Year.
11. Arkansas Razorbacks (6-6, 3-5)-The Hogs are another team that seemed poised to accomplish bigger things after the early season upset over Tennessee. Unfortunately, they couldn’t capitalize on that momentum and limped to the finish, losing four out of the last six games, with the only wins coming over Mississippi State and Louisiana Tech.
12. Vanderbilt Commodores (6-6, 3-5)-It looked like the Dores might notch their second top 10 upset of the year on Saturday racing out to a 17-0 lead on Tennessee in the first quarter. Vanderbilt will be happy with achieving bowl eligibility for the first time since 2018 and will use this season to build for the future.
https://twitter.com/ojhodgkinson/status/1862907641560789239
13. Oklahoma Sooners (6-6, 2-6)-The first year in the SEC couldn’t have gone much worse for the Sooners. An upset win over Alabama and going to a bowl game will be the highlights of the season. For Oklahoma to be competitive in the conference they will need to upgrade on the offensive line and get better QB play.
14. Auburn Tigers (5-7, 2-6)-Auburn is a better team than their record would have you believe. They rank in the top 35 nationally in both offense and defense but are near the bottom in turnovers. There is a lot of talent on the Plains but Auburn will need to get a QB from the portal or hope one of the players on the current roster develops over the offseason.
15. Kentucky Wildcats (4-8, 1-7)-Mark Stoops will be squarely on the hot seat entering the 2025 season just two years removed from winning 10 games. Kentucky has the best kicker in the conference, a stout defense and a solid offensive line; however, the QB play from transfer Brock Vandagriff and freshman Cutter Boley has not been good enough.
16. Mississippi State Bulldogs (2-10, 0-8)-Year 1 of the Jeff Lebby era doesn’t look very successful in the won/loss column but the improvement of this team from week to week must make Bulldog fans optimistic about 2025. QB Michael Van Buren is a solid piece to build around on offense and it will be up to Lebby to use the Transfer Portal and recruiting to upgrade the talent in Starkville.
The SEC is in line to get 3 and possibly 4 teams into the College Football Playoff depending on how the committee values Alabama, South Carolina, and Ole Miss along with no upsets in the ACC and Big 12 Championship games.
