Don’t get me wrong, I’m not about to stand up and applaud anything that Missouri football players have done ON the pitch. They’ve been awful. They’ve been awful with quarterback Maty Mauk, and they’ve been awful with takeover quarterback Drew Lock. Their offensive line has more holes than Penn State’s – and that’s saying something – and if they actually played Kansas in a Grain War in 2015, the game wouldn’t end until 2016, such is the paucity of both offenses.

But off the field, I want to throw these guys a party.

Not because they stood up for their own players’ rights. I don’t believe college football players are slaves. They choose to play college football, and they get a nice education from the privilege.

But what they did last Saturday was awesome. They stood up for someone smaller and weaker than they were.

They stood up for one of their own fellow students, Payton Head (who’s the student body presiident) after the school ignored Head’s complaints after fellow student had yelled racial slurs at him. Head is black.

The football team – including some of the team’s superstar players – staged a sit-in, saying that they would neither practice nor play until the school’s president, Timothy Wolfe stepped down. He did so about 24 hours later, and his resignation was followed quickly by that of R. Bowen Loftin.

It’s really great to see a football team make a difference. Listen, we know that Missouri players have done their fair share of crappy things in the past, from Dorial Green-Beckham’s domestic abuse to Maty Mauk getting suspended from the team for disciplinary reasons. We also know that Missouri are not alone. Every college football team out there (we’re not just going to say “Every SEC team”) has their fair share of assholes, bullies and what some people would nicely call “troubled kids”,  but most would call “candidates for jail”. We don’t hear a lot about college football teams out there wanting to make a difference for something they believe in. But they did.

And here’s to hoping that other college football teams follow suit. I’ll guess that a protest against taking boosters money from SEC players won’t be one of them.

Without further ado, here’s our rankings for Week 10 of the SEC Football Blog.

1. Alabama (1): It’s funny. Alabama does well against teams that have weak quarterbacks and not a great quarterback (Georgia, LSU). Alabama does well against terrible quarterbacks (Texas A&M). Alabama does less well against a mobile quarterback,with good receivers and a better running game (Tennessee, first half of Arkansas). Alabama loses against teams who have got a good defense, a good quarterback, and very good wide receivers (Ole Miss).
2. Florida (2): Er, the win against Vanderbilt was….er…..absolutely terrible. If they play like this offensively against Alabama the winner of the SEC West, then they’ll lose by 3 touchdowns. The defense is tight, though. Not many teams can run on these guys. Or pass, either.
3. Mississippi State (6): Is Dan Mullen the best coach in the SEC? Just maybe. Is Dak Prescott the best QB in the SEC? Definitely.
4. Ole Miss (4): [Wright Thompson voice] A student lies there in The Grove. Around him are deserted tents, half-full red solo cups, and the odd smashed chandelier. I walk slowly to go speak to him. I’ve been to The Grove a million times, so I make sure that he’s OK. Maybe he just wants some piece. It’s been a hell of a day. I look closer, and realise that he’s got no pants and no underwear on. He’s holding a bottle of Jim Beam in one hand. His bowtie is a mess, and his shirt is covered in beer, mess, tears and grass stains. “Arkansas did this to me!”, he says. “We lost in overtime to freaking Arkansas. Arkansas lost to Toledo. We. Beat. Alabama. And we lost to Arkansas. ” He can’t stop repeating himself. Maybe it’s the bourbon. Or maybe it’s the shock that once again the Rebels might not be taking the trip to Atlanta despite beating their hated rival. Or maybe he’s an Ole Miss fan. We’re used to shock, rage and upset living in Oxford. But Hugh Freeze was bring it all to us. And then it happened. Ole Miss Football happened.” Ole Miss is about 5-5 on batshit-crazy plays this season after THE lateral play, by the way.
5. LSU (3): The media should punch themselves in the face. They hyped up this LSU team so much that the Committee drank the same Kool-Aid and put the Tigers at No.2. ESPN gave them a College Gameday spot. This was a team who hasn’t played that well all season. And Brandon Harris was never a world-beater. And the defense was never that good. Yes, Leonard Fournette’s a great player, but when Alabama can be aggressive because when you stop him the pressure’s put hard on Brandon Harris, Les Miles is onto a loser. And that’s what happened.
6. Texas A&M (5): Team Trainwreck has just rolled into College Station. Kyler Murray goes from God to goat (not G.O.A.T.) almost at a flick of a stwitch, John Chavis’ big-time defense really isn’t looking that big-time at the moment, and to cap it all, A&M got slapped 26-10 at home to mighty Auburn. We know that there’s dissatisfaction amongst Aggies players about playing time. I get the feeling that we’ll be saying goodbye to OC Jake Spavital at the end of the season, and Kevin Sumlin’s seat it getting hotter.
7. Arkansas (7): Bret Bielema tells the media on Monday: “I made sweet, sweet love to my wife on the weekend. We did it while watching that crazy lateral play.“
8. Tennessee (8): If you’re a Tennessee fan, we’d suggest you go and see a doctor about your heart when the season is over.
9. Georgia (9): Our prediction that the Georgia vs Auburn game could be awful still stands up, despite the Dawgs scoring 27 this week. Sony Michel and Keith Marshall had good games, and Greyson Lambert was not terrible. But Georgia vs Auburn will be a terrible game.
10. Auburn (10): See above. Except we’d argue Auburn’s actually in a better direction right now. And they might get to bowl eligibility. Which is quite an effort bearing in mind how crappily they started the season.
11. South Carolina (12): Kentucky beat South Carolina so should be above them, but South Carolina’s playing the better ‘ball since Spurrier left. And the wheels seem to have come off Kentucky’s season at some speed.
12. Kentucky (12): See what we said about South Carolina. And add this: “You know you’re doing terrible when Georgia drops 27 on you and they don’t have a quarterback”.
13. Vanderbilt (13): Weird to think that Vandy will probably look at themselves and think: “We were unlucky to lose in The Swamp on Saturday.” Derek Mason is ensuring this team is no walkover.
14. Missouri (14): The team is refusing to practice until the Missouri President resigns. Some bright spark pointed out: “Since when did they show up to practice?”

Losing a game is something Georgia fans hate doing. Losing to a rival as insignificant as Tennessee (OK, that they VIEW as insignificant) is even worse. Getting blown out in The Cocktail Party by their most hated rival – again? Don’t just make Mark Richt’s chair hot. Burn it.

As soon as Georgia lost – and went their second straight game without a touchdown – the calls for Mark Richt’s head reached deafening height. Never mind that he was the winningest head coach the program had ever seen. Never mind that season after season Georgia had brought home competitiveness, bowl games, zillions of dollars into the team’s accounts and NFL Draft picks. If you lose in Georgia, you’re out.

And that’s where Mark Richt looks to be going….out.

This week life’s not going to be any easier for him as the Dawgs host Kentucky at home. The announcers will spend 2 hours talking about Richt’s job security, and the rest talking about what will be a horrible, horrible game.

Anyway, here’s your predictions for the rest of this weekend, which includes some game in Tuscaloosa between Alabama and LSU….

1. LSU at Alabama

Both sides have had games where they’ve played impressively, but when it’s come to poorer opposition, both Alabama and LSU have contrived to stink the house down. We all know what’s going to happen: LSU’s going to hand the ball to Leonard Fournette, who’s going to run headlong into the impenetrable wall known as the Alabama front line. Alabama’s going to hand the ball to Derrick Henry, who’s going to run the ball at a pretty good but not-like-Alabama LSU front line defense. If that fails, they’ll go to their quarterbacks, who aren’t great. They will throw to their wide receivers, which are pretty evenly matched (at a push we’d take LSU). But Alabama has home field advantage, and a real need to win this one. Because if they fail, they don’t win the SEC West, don’t go to the SEC Championship Game, and don’t get in the College Football Play-Off. So, nothing big on the line then….

PREDICTION: Alabama’s a 6-1/2 point favorite with Vegas. We’ll take Alabama by 10. LSU really isn’t that good, folks. 

2. Kentucky at Georgia

Because I’m one of the people who stops to look at the car wrecks. And the way both sides are going about their season, “Car Wreck” would be pretty appropriate right now.

PREDICTION: Georgia’s a 14-point favorite. We’ll take Georgia by 7 in another awful offensive showing.

3. Auburn at Texas A&M

Now Carl Lawson’s back for Auburn, the defense actually looks a little better. Will it be able to stop Christian Kirk or Kyler Murray? Probably not. But it should be really fun to see them try.

PREDICTION: Texas A&M’s a 7-point favorite? Really? That low? We’ll take A&M by 14. 

4. Arkansas at Ole Miss

The Razorbacks have actually played better away than they have at home, which is why we give them a cat-in-hell’s chance at Ole Miss. Plus, Ole Miss hasn’t really looked the same since it was smashed on the road to Florida. The win over Texas A&M in the Worst Game In History a few weeks back righted the ship a little, but then they sank a little playing badly against Auburn. Arkansas could really spring an upset, you know.

PREDICTION: Ole Miss at 10-1/2 point favorite? I’m taking the Rebs by 7. But this will be close.

5. Vanderbilt at Florida

Florida’s ranked highly, so they could do with a win just to stay in the Play-Off conversation. This win will cement the SEC East for the Gators, too. Vanderbilt still trying to get up after being crushed by Houston.

PREDICTION: Florida’s a 20-1/2 point favorite. We’re taking the Gators by 28. 

6. South Carolina at Tennessee 

Tennessee could finish second in the SEC East. South Carolina could finish last. Both need to win for differing reasons.

PREDICTION: Tennessee’s a 17-point favorite. We’ll take the Vols by 21. 

7. Mississippi State at Missouri (Thursday night)

If you like horrific offense, then you’ll love watching the team in gold and black on Thursday night. If you love watching a guy who’s underrated because he should be a Heisman contender, then you’ll love watching the team in the white (Dak Prescott). This game WILL be ugly.

PREDICTION: 9-6?? No really. Mississippi State’s a 7-1/2 point favorite. We’ll take MSU to win by 10.

Clemson, Alabama, LSU and Ohio State are the first College Football Play-Off Committee’s Top Four.

The committee ignored the fact that Ohio State hasn’t had a quality win this season, and that Alabama has a home loss on its resume (and two struggling wins against Tennessee and Arkansas respectively) to put them in the Top Four, while LSU seems to be jumping on the heels of Leonard Fournette to the No.2 position.

Notre Dame is No.5, Baylor is No.6, Michigan State is No.7, and TCU is No.8.

We can expect the Big XII to pick up a spot or two in the Play-Off Committee by the end of the year bearing in mind how back-loaded the Big XII is – starting this weekend with TCU vs also-unbeaten Oklahoma State this weekend.

We haven’t a clue who’s the Top team in the SEC. Alabama should be No.1, but they got beaten by Ole Miss – at home. And Ole Miss were beaten (handily) by Florida. So that’s the Gators, right? Well, the Gators were beaten in Death Valley by LSU, who played well against Florida, and struggled with everyone else. And Georgia? HA!

Anyway, so here’s our SEC rankings….

1. Alabama (1): Because if the Crimson Tide may have lost at home to Ole Miss, but since then, there’s been no better team in college football.
2. Florida (3): Because Florida’s beaten Ole Miss and now Georgia (and lost to LSU). The Gators defense is for real, folks.
3. LSU (2) : Yes, we know that LSU beat Florida. We KNOW! But can you name me good opposition that The Tigers have played really well against? I can’t.
4. Ole Miss (4) : The defense is looking shipshape again, and they avoided a bullet at Auburn. Which was more difficult than some people expected. Maybe Gus Malzahn might have an offense after all.
5. Texas A&M (5) : Smashing South Carolina (in the second half) ain’t gonna win any prizes. Kyler Murray! Step up! You’re going to be the next most-hyped QB in Texas!
6. Mississippi State (6): Dak Prescott would have a Heisman if he played for another team.
7. Arkansas (7): This Arkansas team’s looking like half a team…at last. Don’t think much of the coach, though.
8. Tennessee (8): The Vols were meant to be scared going into Kentucky. We thought they’d even lose. Yeah, well 52-21, suddenly the ‘Cats didn’t look all that scary.
9. Georgia (9) : The Georgia vs Auburn game will be one of the most awful games in the history of college football.
10. Auburn (10) : See above.
11. Kentucky (11) : OK, so maybe this UK team’s not worldbeaters yet, after all.
12. South Carolina (12) : Actually played pretty well in Kyle Field until the Aggies found another gear.
13. Vanderbilt (13) : Getting shut-out 34-0 by Houston was not a good look for Vandy or the SEC.
14. Missouri (14): Beat bye week 9-6.