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By Brett Daniels
Week 9 was a light schedule with several teams on their second bye week of the season, however three games provided a little more clarity to how the conference is going to shake out and who will ultimately make it to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game on December 6th. The results of Week 9 also brought into play a nightmare scenario for the conference which we’ll lay out after the rankings.
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Week 9 SEC Power Rankings
1. Georgia Bulldogs (6-1)
The Dawgs were on a bye week before their annual neutral site game in Jacksonville against the Florida Gators. The last time we saw Georgia on the field it was against Texas in a dominant defensive performance. Will that defense show up in Jacksonville and will QB Carson Beck find his mojo and return to 2023 form? A “yes” answer to both questions makes Georgia the front-runner for the SEC and perhaps the National Championship.
Next Up: Saturday vs Florida in Jacksonville
2. Texas A&M Aggies (7-1)
The Aggies had a huge come-from-behind win against LSU that put A&M in the driver’s seat to get to Atlanta. QB Marcel Reed was outstanding in relief of Connor Weigman in the second half. Winning two out of their last three SEC games (Saturday @ South Carolina, 11/23 @ Auburn, 11/30 vs Texas) should be enough to close the deal.
Next Up: Saturday at South Carolina
3. Texas Longhorns (7-1)
Texas escaped Nashville with a 27-24 win over a tough Vanderbilt squad. QB Quinn Ewers looked sharp throwing for 3 TDs in the game, however the Longhorns continued to make mistakes giving up four sacks and committing 108 yards worth of penalties. Texas will have a week off to clean things up before their next game against the Gators.
Next Up: 11/9 vs Florida
4. Tennessee Volunteers (6-1)
It’s strange to see the Volunteers, known for their high-flying offense win with defense and running the football. Tennessee currently ranks in the top 5 nationally on defense in all major categories and lead the SEC in rushing yards. After a week off to celebrate their second win over Alabama in the last 18 years, the Vols return to the field against reeling Kentucky. If QB Nico Iamaleava can tighten up his accuracy just a little the Vols will be a tough team to beat down the stretch.
Next Up: Saturday vs Kentucky
5. Alabama Crimson Tide (6-2)
Alabama was able to right the ship against Missouri and quiet an angry fan base for a couple of weeks. The defense was suffocating and executed a goal-line stand on 4th down to preserve the shutout. The Tide will get a week off to rest and regroup before the annual rivalry game against LSU. A win versus the Tigers would set Alabama up for at least a shot at the conference championship game and a possible playoff berth.
Next Up: 11/9 at LSU
6. LSU Tigers (6-2)
The Bayou Bengals have to be disappointed after blowing a first-half lead at Texas A&M which would have given them the inside track to Atlanta. Coach Brian Kelly came to LSU from Notre Dame where he had the reputation of never being able to win the “big game” and has done nothing to dispel that notion. A chance for redemption and to stay in the race for Atlanta await against Alabama after a bye.
Next Up: 11/9 vs. Alabama
7. Ole Miss Rebels (6-2)
Lane Kiffin and the Rebels were hyped as the next big thing in the SEC prior to the season and at 6-2 aren’t completely dead for a chance to make it to Atlanta and the CFB Playoff, however with games at Arkansas and versus Georgia the next two weeks there is no room for error. The Rebel defense had nine sacks against Oklahoma and limited the Sooners running game which is a good sign moving forward.
Next Up: Saturday at Arkansas
8. Vanderbilt Commodores (5-3)
Diego Pavia and the Commodores are the best story in the SEC this season, they are also a good football team that pushed a top-5 Texas team for 60 minutes on Saturday losing 27-24. Vandy needs one more win out of their last four games to reach a bowl for the first time since 2018.
Next Up: Saturday at Auburn
9. Arkansas Razorbacks (5-3)
At 3-2 in the SEC, the Hogs are still mathematically alive for the conference championship game and would be one of the teams selected if the doomsday scenario discussed at the end of this article comes to fruition. None of that will be possible though if Arkansas doesn’t take care of business against Ole Miss on Saturday. QB Taylen Green will have to be special again after accounting for 6 TDs (5 passing and 1 rushing) against Mississippi State on Saturday.
Next Up: Saturday vs Ole Miss
10. South Carolina Gamecocks (4-3)
The Gamecocks are a Jekyll and Hyde team on each side of the football. The defense is one of the best in the nation ranking 6th overall in total defense while the offense is at the other end of the spectrum ranking 115th in total offense. If the defense can continue to play like they did against Oklahoma forcing three straight turnovers and scoring on two of them then it may not matter how poorly the offense plays. South Carolina’s defensive line will be a force against Texas A&M but can they score enough on the Aggies to win?
Next Up: Saturday vs Texas A&M
11. Florida Gators (4-3)
Saddled with what was billed as the nation’s hardest schedule before the season began, many expected Head Coach Billy Napier to be a dead man walking and to not be around this late in the season. Instead, the Gators have made steady progress relying on young players at key positions who keep improving as they gain experience.
Florida will have their work cut out for them as they begin one of the toughest four-game stretches of any team this season starting with the annual neutral site game on Saturday against Georgia, followed by a trip to Texas and then two home games against Ole Miss and LSU. The Gators will need to pull at least one upset and beat 1-7 Florida State to end the season to qualify for a bowl.
Next Up: Saturday vs Georgia in Jacksonville
12. Missouri Tigers (6-2)
How is a team that is ranked in the Top 25 and 6-2 overall rated in the bottom half of their conference? After a dismal showing and shutout loss against Alabama its clear that these are paper Tigers and not true contenders for the conference crown. Missouri is a product of their laughable schedule and will most likely finish no worse than 9-3 with winnable games against Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Mississippi State up next. The Tigers will finish the season against a very inconsistent Arkansas squad at home.
Next Up: 11/9 vs Oklahoma
13. Mississippi State Bulldogs (1-7)
The Bulldogs are another team on the rise even though their record may not reflect their progress. Since coming off of the bye week prior to the game against Georgia, Mississippi State has given both the Bulldogs and Texas A&M all they wanted for 60 minutes.
QB Micheal Van Buren has blossomed and will be a star in the SEC in the future. I like where this team is headed, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see the Bulldogs knock off someone *cough Missouri cough* before the season is over.
Next Up: Saturday vs UMass
14. Oklahoma Sooners (4-4)-It has been a first season to forget in the SEC for the Sooners as they have struggled to adapt to their new neighborhood. The defense has been respectable ranking 36th in Total Defense while the offense has been offensive, ranking 133rd out of 134 FBS teams. The Sooners went back to QB Jackson Arnold for the game against Ole Miss and he responded with a solid first half against the Rebels.
The second half was a different story as the Ole Miss defense tightened up and sacked Arnold a total of nine times. The Sooners have a “rent a win” game against Maine on Saturday but will need to upset one of the three ranked opponents they finish the season with (Missouri, Alabama, LSU) to qualify for bowl season.
Next Up: Saturday vs Maine
15. Auburn Tigers (3-5)
Auburn will welcome Vanderbilt to the Plains on Saturday in what is a must-win game if the Tigers hope to reach the six-win bowl threshold. Vandy QB Diego Pavia torched the Auburn defense last season as the QB for New Mexico State and will look to do so again on Saturday. Auburn will finish the season against Louisiana-Monroe, Texas A&M and Alabama.
Next Up: Saturday vs Vanderbilt
16. Kentucky Wildcats (3-5)
The calendar has officially turned to basketball season in the Commonwealth as the wheels have completely fallen off the Wildcat football team. The vaunted defense gave up a career-high 278 yards rushing to Auburn RB Jarquez Hunter and has fallen to 86th nationally in total defense after being in the top 10 at the beginning of the season. The Cats offensive woes continued and resulted in the benching of former 5-star transfer QB Brock Vandegriff in the second half. Kentucky ranks 124th in total offense nationally.
Next Up: Saturday at Tennessee
The Nightmare Scenario for the SEC
With the addition of Texas and Oklahoma this season, the SEC officially scrapped divisions and announced that the top 2 teams would play in Atlanta for the SEC Championship. Since it is impossible to have a true round robin schedule with sixteen teams, to determine the top two teams, a series of tiebreakers were implemented.
The first and easiest is head-to-head match-ups which can only apply if there are a small number of teams that are tied at the end of the season. The tiebreakers continue all the way to drawing teams out of a hat if no other method is successful breaking the tie. As the schedule lays out there is a possibility that is not all that far-fetched where seven teams end the season tied at 6-2 in conference play. Below is that scenario and how the tie would be broken:
- · Texas A&M is currently 5-0, Georgia is 4-1, Texas is 3-1, Tennessee is 3-1, Alabama is 3-2, LSU is 3-1, Ole Miss is 2-2, Vanderbilt is 2-2, and Arkansas is 3-2.
- · Texas A&M loses at South Carolina on Saturday, beats Auburn and at home to Texas to end the season and finishes 6-2.
- · Georgia loses to either Florida or Ole Miss but beats Tennessee to finish 6-2.
- · Texas loses to Arkansas but beats Florida, Kentucky, and Texas A&M to finish 6-2.
- · Tennessee beats Kentucky, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt but loses to Georgia and finishes 6-2.
- · Alabama wins out beating LSU, Oklahoma, and Auburn to finish 6-2.
- · LSU loses to Alabama, but beats Florida, Vanderbilt, and Oklahoma to finish 6-2.
- · Arkansas wins out beating Ole Miss, Texas, and Missouri OR Ole Miss wins out beating Arkansas, Georgia, and Mississippi State OR Missouri wins out beating South Carolina, Mississippi State, and Arkansas to finish 6-2.
If this happens the next-to-last tiebreaker (the one before drawing teams out of a hat) would be applied and the two teams with the highest opponents winning percentage in the conference would make the SEC Championship Game. Adding up all of the teams’ conference records produces a championship game match-ups of Arkansas (35-27 opponents record) vs Alabama (32-32 conference record) OR Alabama (32-32) vs LSU (31-33)
