A message from the SEC to the rest of college football:
You’re welcome.
During the past few years, this conference has been accused of domination to the point of the detriment of the rest of the sport. What with all the national championships, recruiting rankings and just general domination. Well, for the good of college football, behold our benevolence.
On Saturday, you saw arguably the most exciting game of the season, Washington outlasting Oregon. And yes the coach and quarterback of Oregon both came from the SEC so, again, you’re welcome.
The week before, saw arguably the other most exciting game of the season, Oklahoma and Texas going back and forth, with the Sooners winning on an epic last-second touchdown. What a beautiful display of non-SEC football. But yes, we’ll take those two teams starting next year.
You also may have noticed — it’s not clear how you couldn’t have — Deion Sanders and Colorado being the story of college football. Maybe that loses some steam now, maybe not. But one of our teams could have hired Prime Time — Arkansas interviewed him in 2019 — but instead, we let him go west. You’re welcome.
College football is again garnering great interest, and the SEC is hardly a part of it. Alabama decided to lay an egg and let Texas be back. Texas A&M forgot to play defense and let people think Miami might be back. (Not so much, it turns out.) LSU got blown out by Florida State, South Carolina was sacked to death by North Carolina, and the Noles and Heels have the ACC in College Football Playoff position.
The SEC got out of the way. For now. But our benevolence has its limits. Georgia is bored but unbeaten. Alabama is lurking. And we may even have our own Cinderella this year, the team out of nowhere that captures the imagination of … well, let’s not go too far, but it’s a nice story right now.
It still may not be the year of the SEC. The rest of you look good. The closing stretch of this season may be about the Michigan-Ohio State–Penn State race in the Big Ten. We’ll be watching that too! College football is back to being more than a Southern sport.
You’re welcome.
For now.
That sums up the conference vibes as a whole. Winning four straight national championships makes it easier to absorb a down season — assuming it stays down, which it may not. Let’s take stock of the SEC teams at the sort-of midseason — some have played six games, some seven, one crazy team has played eight.
As a reminder, this isn’t a pure ranking of how good a team is or even how well each has performed. It’s a measure of the feelings around the teams, taking into account expectations, the state of the program and the good (or bad) feelings about where things are going. And the top-ranked team at midseason is …
1. Missouri (6-1, 2-1 SEC)
Won 38-21 at Kentucky
Did Mizzou benefit from Kentucky committing a bunch of penalties? Yes. Could the wheels fly off the Missouri bandwagon down the stretch? Sure. Did anybody realistically expect Eli Drinkwitz’s team to be doing this well? Nope, which is why the Tigers lead the vibes rankings. And a special season is still on the table: Missouri gets Georgia (in Athens) and Tennessee (in Columbia), plus winnable games against South Carolina, Florida and Arkansas. Between an explosive offense featuring Luther Burden and a defense that is at least average (seventh in the SEC in yards per play), Missouri has a chance.
Kris Abrams-Draine and the Missouri Tigers bounced back from their first loss of the season (to LSU) by beating Kentucky on Saturday. (Jordan Prather / USA Today)
2. Georgia (7-0, 4-0)
Won 37-20 at Vanderbilt
The defense is still what seems most concerning. On paper, it still looks fine, leading the SEC in defensive yards per play and scoring. But opponents are still managing a couple of good drives per game, and those opponents haven’t been great: Only Kentucky ranks in the top half of the SEC in offensive yards per play, and UAB also had some isolated success. The question is whether that translates to Ole Miss, Missouri and Tennessee having field days against Georgia’s defense. And, of course, Georgia’s offense is holding its own, ranking second in the SEC in offensive yards per play and averaging 40.1 points per game.
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3. Alabama (6-1, 4-0)
Beat Arkansas 24-21
It’s hard to tell whether this is the Crimson Tide slowly building back to old-school juggernaut status — doing it with defense and running game — or just muddling through, ready to be exposed by a good team. Alabama leads the SEC in sacks allowed. Jalen Milroe only ranks seventh in the SEC in passing accuracy. And the defense hasn’t been that dominant, giving up at least 17 points the past three weeks. (And we remember the Texas game.) The next two weeks, home against Tennessee and LSU, at least should offer some clarity.
GO DEEPER
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4. Tennessee (5-1, 2-1)
Beat Texas A&M 20-13
There’s less luster around this year’s Volunteers, who aren’t putting up as many points, were throttled by what looks like an average-at-best Florida team and don’t have that new-contender smell going for them anymore. And yet if they can pull off the upset in Tuscaloosa next week, the Volunteers are very much in the picture.
GO DEEPER
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5. Ole Miss (5-1, 2-1)
Bye
Can Lane Kiffin break through? He and his team failed their first test by losing at Alabama. But they hit the halfway mark ranked, reminding us that this time last year the Rebels were No. 7 in the nation. Then they lost five of their final six. This year, Ole Miss may be favored in all but one game — on Nov. 11 at Georgia — so a 10-win season is realistic and probably a disappointment if it doesn’t happen.
6. LSU (5-2, 4-1)
Beat Auburn 48-18
LSU’s offense now ranks first in the SEC in offensive yards per play, and their defense ranks dead last in defensive yards per play. The last SEC team with that much divergence was 2020 Ole Miss (third in offense, last in defense), and it only went 5-5, so at least the Bayou Bengals can be thankful they still have a chance to win the division. But how is a defense with Harold Perkins, Maason Smith and Mekhi Wingo this atrocious? The performance against Auburn was at least a little hopeful, but it’s not like Auburn is a powerhouse.
7. Florida (5-2, 3-1)
Won 41-39 at South Carolina
The heat is off! For now! Billy Napier still has a long way to go, especially when you look at the remaining schedule: Georgia, Arkansas, at LSU, at Missouri, Florida State. A 7-5 finish is very much realistic. But that still would be an improvement over last year, and Napier’s recruiting class currently ranks No. 3. That should be enough to stave off the wolves for a year.
Florida wide receiver Ricky Pearsall scored the game-winner against South Carolina on Saturday. (Jeff Blake / USA Today)
8. Auburn (3-3, 0-3)
Lost 48-18 at LSU
The first half of the season played out exactly as predicted. Maybe a bit uglier than Auburn wanted in Baton Rouge but more competitive than expected against Georgia. Call it a wash. Now comes a final stretch of four out of six home games and two winnable road games (Vanderbilt and Arkansas). The basic goal of Hugh Freeze’s first year should be bowl eligibility and momentum for recruiting, and he’s on track for that.
Bye
Considering everything, including the transition to a new offensive scheme, the overall results have been respectable: the losses being to Alabama and LSU and at South Carolina, with a home win over Arizona that looks better considering the way that team is playing. But the final half of the season will be tough, with three road trips and Kentucky and Ole Miss going to Starkville. There’s a path to 6-6 and bowl eligibility, which would be pretty good for Zach Arnett’s first full season.
10. Kentucky (5-2, 2-2)
Lost 38-21 to Missouri
This was not a good eight-day stretch for Mark Stoops: First, he got beaten down once again by Georgia, reminding the world how big a gap there still is between his program and elite status. Then he got pointed questions from fans on his radio show, and Stoops chose his words clumsily, making people think he was taking a shot at Georgia buying players. Then Kentucky blew an early 14-0 lead and got run off the field by Missouri, one of the programs that was supposed to be behind the Wildcats on the SEC totem pole.
GO DEEPER
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11. South Carolina (2-4, 1-3)
Lost 41-39 to Florida
Ouch. What a gut punch. The Gamecocks actually have played pretty decently since their opening-night stinker against North Carolina, a loss that looks better now with the Tar Heels still unbeaten. But the defense is a real concern, giving up 41 points two straight weeks and 30-plus in two other games. The pass defense ranks last in the SEC, allowing Graham Mertz and Florida to throw for 400-plus yards and win a game the Gamecocks should have finished off. It’s going to be a fight to be bowl-eligible: South Carolina plays at Missouri and Texas A&M before finishing the season with four straight home games. In Shane Beamer’s first two seasons, he pulled off some upsets. This year he doesn’t have one yet.
12. Vanderbilt (2-6, 0-4)
Lost 37-20 to Georgia
The best thing the Commodores have done is avoid getting embarrassed, their worst loss was by “only” 24 at Florida, and that game was within 14 heading into the fourth quarter. But it’s still already within one loss of reaching last year’s total, even though three of the final four games are on the road. At least the offense has had moments of excitement, scoring 20-plus in all but one game this season. But the consistency hasn’t been there, and the defense is a sieve.
13. Texas A&M (4-3, 2-2)
Lost 20-13 at Tennessee
Here we go. Jimbo Fisher’s buyout is just about $77 million after this season, but it’s not like it gets much better by waiting a year, only going down to $67.55 million. And then waiting another year, it would be $58.2 million. If the power brokers don’t see the program on the trajectory they want, they could decide to just start eating that money now rather than going through this again next year. Maybe Fisher can reverse the vibes, starting with a home win over South Carolina. With additional home games against Mississippi State and mighty Abilene Christian, a seven-win season should be assured. But 7-5 isn’t what the power brokers thought they were getting. Fisher probably needs an upset at either (or both) of Ole Miss or LSU to keep his job.
14. Arkansas (2-5, 0-4)
Lost 24-21 at Alabama
This season shouldn’t cost Sam Pittman his job. The first three years should earn Pittman some credibility, recruiting is going OK (Arkansas ranks 20th in the current On3 team rankings), and it’s not automatic that Arkansas would upgrade. It’s also not like the Razorbacks are being embarrassed, with 12 points being the largest margin of defeat during a four-game losing streak. But Pittman does need to do something down the stretch to provide some hope for a demoralized fan base.
(Top photo of Johnny Walker Jr., left, and Darius Robinson: Michael Hickey / Getty Images)
2023-10-15 20:17:07
#SEC #football #vibes #midseason #Youre #America
