In news far bigger than any football game, Vanderbilt tight end Turner Cockrell has died of cancer aged 21, the school has announced.

Cockrell was a redshirt sophomore, missing the entire 2018 season after he was diagnosed with melanoma. When the disease spread to his lungs, there was little the doctors could do.

He passed away on Thursday.

“My heart is broken for Randy, Noelle and the Cockrell family, for all of Turner’s teammates, and for all who came in contact with Turner,” Vanderbilt head football coach Derek Mason said in a statement released by the university. “Turner had a wonderful spirit and fought an incredible fight. He was a Vanderbilt Man through and through, and he will always be remembered here.”

From Ackworth, Georgia, the 6-5, 205lb player was a three-star recruit, and had no major interest from other schools, although he was offered by Air Force.

How are you not excited? The 2018 SEC Championship Game between Georgia and Alabama will pit two of the biggest – if not the biggest – players in the SEC.

It’s a rematch of the 2018 National Championship Game – the greatest game of the season last year.

It’s a rematch of mentor vs mentee. It’s trying to stay perfect vs the battle for the fourth play-off spot.

It’s Georgia versus Alabama.

Georgia is a 13-point underdog, and that’s not really surprising. A lot of people think Vegas is being kind.

THE SEASON SO FAR

This season, Alabama has been perfect. The Crimson Tide are 12-0 , and they’ve made it look easy, beating every team by a margin of 35.2 points per game. Sure, it’s been helped by the fact that only LSU have surprised on the upside this year and they got Texas A&M just after the Aggies had played in a WAR against Clemson, but still….wow. The clash with LSU was the most-hyped game of the season, and yet the Tide made it look comfortable. Ironically, the Crimson Tide’s biggest challenge was The Citadel, who went in at half-time in Tuscaloosa to the joy of many and the outrage of many with a 10-10 tie. The Crimson Tide adjusted, and the game was over by the third quarter.

Georgia this season, have been a team that started relatively OK, and then after getting thumped at LSU, have put on the after-burners and averaged nearly 42 points a game. For some games they’ve racked up the points early, and others – like the Florida and Auburn games – it’s been the slow-burner before the eventual pounding that’s left opposition fans heading for the exits early.

THE ATTACKING FORCES

Everyone’s going to have their eyes on presumptive Heisman winner Tua Tagovailoa. He’s been throwing on a dime all year long, he manages to dodge sacks and pressure like he’s got eyes in the back of his head, and can scramble like a maniac. That’s why he’s thrown for 3,100 yards and 32 touchdowns – in games that have generally required him throwing for three quarters. Of course, he’s helped by an exceptional offensive line. There are arguments from every SEC fan out that Alabama’s benefitted from holding all season long (as they always do), and SEC refereeing decisions (the fumble against Mississippi State, the decision not to expel Rakkwon Davis for jumping on a Missouri player and punching him repeatedly), but really when you’ve got one of the best offenses in the land, that seems a bit of a joke.

Helping Tua is sensational wide receiver Jerry Jeudy (over 1,000 yards), although Jaylen Waddle, Henry Ruggs, Irv Smith and Devonta Smith have all had 500 yards or more, too.

On Georgia’s side is Jake Fromm. After his embarrassing performance against LSU, questions were being asked about whether he should be replaced with star frosh Justin Fields. But Fromm’s answered the call, throwing only 1 interception and 10 TDs. He’s not as mobile as Tua, though, which could be a problem if Georgia’s offensive line gets pressured as much as we think they’ll be.

Receiving-wise, Georgia doesn’t have one standout receiver. Mecole Hardman’s the only player to have gone over 500 yards, but there are 8 who have grabbed over 100 – and one of them’s a RB.

RUNNING IT RIGHT AT YOU

The reason why Georgia hasn’t needed Jake Fromm to throw for 3,000 yards (he’s thrown for 2,300) is that the Bulldogs have a nasty rushing attack. Ranking 11th in the nation, the Bulldogs have put up over 259 yards per game, mostly thanks to the young, bruising pair of D’Andre Swift (962 yards, 9 TDs) and Elijah Holyfield (896 yards, 7 TDs). We think that Georgia will bring up Alabama’s average of rushing yards conceded (114 per year – good for 15th nationally). Also, watch for some plays where Fromm comes out and Fields comes in in an effort for Kirby Smart to add some more speed at the quarterback level. Smart can’t afford to be conservative, or he’ll get blown apart (see Orgeron, Ed). 

We mentioned Tua out of the pocket, and he’s brought the dangerous rushing element to his game (211 yards, 5 TDs), but we think that Saban’s going to be a bit more careful letting him run the ball – especially when Georgia’s ‘D’ is probably the best he’ll face all year. But even if Tua’s not throwing the ball as brilliantly as usual, OC Mike Locksley (even if he doesn’t plump for the Maryland job, he’ll be around on Saturday) will be able to use the exceptional pairing of Damien Harris, Najee Harris and Josh Jacobs. While no player has gone for over 1,000 yards, none of the three has gone for less than 400, either. And this is in what is meant to be a passing offense.

THE BIG KEY: As first said by SB Nation’s Bill Connelly, Georgia had better be able to take its chances. When it comes to the red zone, Georgia’s horrible. They’ve been horrific inside the 10 and even worse inside the 3. 

AND THEN THERE’S THE DEFENSE

After their abysmal showing against LSU, Georgia regrouped, got more physical, and have been lights out against their opposition. They have been very good (12th in the nation), but like the Crimson Tide, they’ve been getting better each game.

Georgia’s secondary, starring Richard Lecounte and Deandre Baker have been excellent, helping UGA to concede just 300 yards per game, which is very similar to Alabama’s secondary.

The question for Georgia is whether they’ll be able to stop Alabama’s offense, which is quite capable of going four or five wide – giving Tua easy options for a first down or bigger.

Alabama’s defense has been getting better and better at a time when some were worried. Its shutting out of LSU in Baton Rouge (again) was tremendous, with Quinnen Williams time and again proving why he’s the best defensive player in the country (7 sacks, 58 tackles, 16 tackles for loss). Dylan Moses and sack-leader Isaiah Buggs (9) can also bring the house, too.

While we don’t imagine that the game will take place between the 30s, it’ll be a lot of fun watching future NFL talent on both sides.

THE X-FACTOR

Georgia hasn’t been tested for three quarters for a while, and Alabama hasn’t been tested for three quarters all season. That means that both sides are going to be fresh. The reason why Alabama’s tackling and interception stats aren’t higher is that most of the time they don’t play in the third quarter. This will be both sides’ fourth-quarter test.

THE OTHER X-FACTOR

Sadly, as has been the case all season, the X-Factor is going to be the SEC referees. The SEC refs at times this season have missed or wrongly called targeting, fumbles and pass interferences, and have changed games with idiotic holding calls, too. It’s been a mess. Hopefully, they’ll let both sides play (ie give out only obvious pass interference calls), review fumbles and get targetting calls rights), but with them, nothing can be trusted.

PREDICTION

Alabama 27, Georgia 14 in a great game that has you on the edge of your seat until the Crimson Tide pulls clear in the fourth quarter.

Georgia is back in the College Football Play-Off standings, folks.

The 11-1 Bulldogs moved to No.4 in the standings behind Alabama, Clemson and Notre Dame.

Behind the Dawgs are Oklahoma and Ohio State.

Georgia moved up because their comfortable win against Georgia Tech twinned with Michigan’s monster loss to Ohio State. Big Blue fell out of the mix, and was leapfrogged by Oklahoma (who won in a shoot-out at West Virginia) and the Buckeyes.

THE HEADACHE AND PERMUATIONS

• If Georgia beats Alabama, they are in. And the SEC probably gets two teams into the play-off because Alabama has been excellent all year long and passes the ‘eye test’.
• If Alabama beats Georgia and it’s a blow-out, then either Oklahoma or Ohio State (both predicted to win their conference title games) would leapfrog UGA into the fourth position.

So what’s the headache?

If Alabama beats Georgia and it’s close (say a 3-point game or Alabama wins on a late touchdown), then the Committee has a headache. But that reckoning, Georgia’s proved it can hang with anyone – including the No.1 team in the Nation.

This leaves Ohio State and Oklahoma.

Oklahoma would have win their game against Texas comfortably – and their defense doesn’t show that it will be able to do that job to raise the Committee’s eyebrows. This would be a revenge game for Oklahoma, who lost to the Longhorns in a wild one at the Red River Shoot-Out.

Ohio State is the one who needs a big result the most. Any struggle against Northwestern – the Buckeyes are favoured by 14 – and the Committee wouldn’t have to put them in.

Of all the rivalries in the SEC, the best name for a rivalry is the Georgia – Georgia Tech game: “Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate”. Nothing comes close.

However, there are some badass hatred flowing through the SEC.

Alabama and Auburn despise each other. Ole Miss and Mississippi State may be on a par with that….maybe worse. There’s no love lost between Clemson and South Carolina or Florida and Florida State. Tennessee – Vanderbilt always seems to pit the ‘Public School Hillbillies’ and the ‘Private School snobs’, and Louisville and Kentucky certainly aren’t fond of each other, even though the ‘Governor’s Cup’ makes it sound like a place where the fans drink sweet tea before the game, not ludicrous amounts of bourbon.

That’s where we feel a little sorry for Arkansas, LSU, Texas A&M and Missouri. There are no natural in-state rivals for these. Texas A&M vs Texas simply doesn’t exist anymore, and both sides can’t grow up enough to make this happen (ironically it could happen in the Cotton Bowl this year, but we’ll have to see about that!), so Texas A&M plays LSU, because LSU has no interesting in-state college football powers (and unless ULL, Tulane or Louisiana Tech grow rapidly, this won’t change for decades to come), and Missouri’s a new arrival, because Missouri and Kansas can’t grow up enough to continue playing the ‘Border War’ either. So Missouri plays Arkansas, because Arkansas and Arkansas State don’t want to schedule each other (it’s never happened!).

Anyway, there are also some cool rivalries happening outside the conference. There’s Ohio State vs Michigan, Notre Dame vs USC and, er, Virginia vs Virginia Tech (just kidding). There is a potentially awesome game from Morgantown (Oklahoma going to West Virginia) and a great fun game way out West (Washington vs Washington State). And there will be no love lost in the State of Arizona (Arizona vs Arizona State), Oregon (Oregon vs Oregon State (The ‘Civil War’), Utah (BYU vs Utah (The ‘Holy War’), Virginia (Virginia vs Virginia Tech), Another Florida game (USF vs UCF), Indiana (Purdue vs Indiana), North Carolina (NC State vs North Carolina), Private School North Carolina (Wake Forest vs Duke), OTHER Georgia (Georgia State vs Georgia Southern). Oh, and the game where an AXE is the winning trophy (Minnesota vs Wisconsin).

Cool, eh?

Anyway, after getting your lecture about games, it’s important we give you some tips. It’s Thanksgiving Weekend, so you’ll probably want to get your bets on beforehand.

So here are our SEC tips:

1. Iron: Auburn vs No.1 Alabama (-24): Alabama hasn’t been great the last couple of weeks – certainly not in the Citadel game, but it’s still 2-0. Auburn is simply weird. Crimson will trump weird in Tuscaloosa. Easily. PREDICTION: Alabama by 21.
2. Hate (Good Old Fashioned): Georgia Tech vs No.5 Georgia (-17): After starting the season badly (1-3), Georgia Tech has rebounded to win 6 out of the last 7. The triple-option is fun to watch, but if Georgia stop it, we don’t think they have the defense to deal with the Dawgs’ running attack. PREDICTION: Georgia by 20.
3. Hate (South Carolinian style with team fights): South Carolina vs No.2 Clemson (-27.5): South Carolina isn’t even in the same league as Clemson at the moment, so it would be shocking if this game’s close going into the third quarter. Clemson got a little bit of a wake-up call last week against Duke after sleepwalking through the first half before winning 45-6. We don’t think this’ll happen here in a hyped atmosphere. Albeit with Hunter Renfrow uncertain (he’s been listed as a starter, but we’re unsure if that’s going to be true). No fighting please, teams. PREDICTION: Clemson runs riot, winning by 30.
4. Egg: No.21 Mississippi State (-10.5) vs Ole Miss: Last week Ole Miss was jobbed out of taking the Vanderbilt to two overtimes by a terrible SEC refs call. Ole Miss has the firepower but not the defense. We’ll take defense in a fun, fun one. PREDICTION: Mississippi State by 5 in a high-scoring game.
5. Oxygen mask (thanks, @Mizzodcast): No.13 Florida (-5) vs Florida State: Florida State has been awful to point of memes, while Florida has been inconsistent-to-good this year. We can’t see Florida State do anything apart from getting their quarterback killed. PREDICTION: Florida by 14.
6. Saluting Corndog: No.7 LSU at Texas A&M (-2): LSU lost its mega-test on the road this year (Florida), but it’s also been battle-tested. And if you want the definition of battle-tested, it’s Texas A&M, who played the SEC West schedule as well as Clemson and a ranked Kentucky team. Why A&M is a two-point favorite I’ll never know (it should be a pick ’em), but this one will come down to the wire. PREDICTION: LSU by 3.
7. Governor drinking a Bourbon Bottle: No.17 Kentucky at Louisville: Kentucky has been poor recently and Louisville has been more than poor all season long. There’s a reason nearly 2,000 tickets are going for as little as $32, because it’s not going to be pretty. Especially for the Cardinals, who fired Bobby Petrino mid-season because they have really, really sucked. PREDICTION: Kentucky by 25. The Wildcats may not have any offense, but then again, Louisville doesn’t have of both.
8. Orange and Gold Guitar: Tennessee vs Vanderbilt (-3.5): This game features the two worst teams in the SEC, and two of the worst four in the conference overall. It will not be pretty. We still like Ke’Shawn Vaughn from Vanderbilt, but we don’t know who UT will start behind centre with Jarrett Guarantano’s injury. PREDICTION: Vanderbilt to win pretty comfortably. By 10.
9. Musket: Arkansas vs Missouri (-22.5): Arkansas has gotten worse recently while Missouri have won three on the bounce including two meant-to-be-tough road trips at Florida and Tennessee. Missouri’s secondary actually played OK last Saturday, while Arkansas’ secondary seemed to want to play with Mississippi State cheerleaders (and have been suspended). Drew Lock should have even more fun. PREDICTION: Missouri by 30.

Meanwhile in other places:

1. THE GAME (Gotta be capital letters): No.4 Michigan (-4) vs No.10 Ohio State: Ohio State couldn’t stop the run against Maryland, and barely survived a monstrous upset. Michigan played badly against Indiana by survived by 11. It wasn’t pretty last week. Ohio State can get it going on offense, and Michigan has been renewed with Shea Patterson. With all the defense coming back last year, we knew Michigan would be pretty good this season. But not this good. PREDICTION: Michigan breaks the streak, winning by 10.
2. Apple: No.18 Washington vs No.8 Washington State (-2.5): We all want Mike Leach to get into the play-off. Washington has not been terribly interesting on its path to 8-3. PREDICTION: GO LEACH! Washington State by 7.
3. Musket: No.6 Oklahoma (-1.5) vs No.9 West Virginia: IF ANY OF YOU HAVE A ****ING CLUE WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN IN THE BIG 12 THIS YEAR PLEASE LET ME KNOW. APART FROM A TON OF POINTS AND ZERO DEFENSE. Prediction: West Virginia in 4 OTS. 
4. Oxygen Mask with Mickey Mouse Ears: No.11 UCF (-14) vs USF: By the end of this run, UCF will have more National Championships declared for it than Alabama with the Tuscaloosa News. PREDICTION: UCF by 17.
5. DESERT: Arizona State (-2) vs Arizona: If you’re a betting deviant, you’ll be tuning in late for this one. We still love Khalil Tate, but we also love Herm Edwards, who has gone from The Most Stupid Appointment In College Football to Bowl Game in one season. However, how will it go against Kevin Sumlin? PREDICTION: Arizona by 5. 
6. JOSEPH SMITH’S TABLETS: BYU vs No.19 Utah (-13.5): Did you know that the winner of this gets to take home the original Joseph Smith Tablets? Seriously. It’s true. I saw it on Bleacher Report once. PREDICTION: Utah by 21.
7. CLAY HELTON’S LAST GAME: No.3 Notre Dame (-10-5) vs USC: So bad are USC is that I don’t understand why the Irish are only 10-1/2 point favorites. The Trojans are terrible, and so is Clay Helton. PREDICTION: Notre Dame by 21.

Breaking News: Alabama did not impress us on Week 12. At half-time of the game against Citadel in Tuscaloosa, with the much-less-than-the-reported-101,000 inside Bryant-Denny Stadium still sleepy, the game was tied 10-10. The Tide couldn’t deal with the triple-option, and the offense was poor to say the least. In the second half, Alabama adjusted themselves, scoring 40 to Citadel’s 7, and everything seemed good.

I even posted on my Twitter that after Alabama’s putrid performance Clemson should be made No.1 if they comfortably beat Duke. And Clemson was awful in its first half against Duke before exploding for 45. Obviously, Clemson’s victory over an above-average Duke said counts for more than Alabama’s victory against a Citadel team, but the Play-Off Committee won’t care, bearing in mind that they haven’t decided that Washington State or UCF are worthy of a Play-Off fight.

That said, if we go on good performances from the Top 4 in the play-off this week, then we’d have to give it to Notre Dame, because they hammered Syracuse in a game that was meant to be close. Michigan was NOT impressive at home against Indiana.

On the other side of the coin, the Big-12 shot itself in the foot for a play-off place as Oklahoma didn’t play well against Kansas and West Virginia was beaten by Oklahoma State.

Anyway, we digress. The rankings for our SEC table pretty much is the same….. maybe.

1. Alabama: The Tide showed chinks in their armour against Citadel. Not a great performance by any stretch of the imagination, but this team’s still the best in the SEC.
2. Georgia: Rolled past UMass.
3. LSU: I saw Rice a few weeks ago in Houston and said back then that they were absolutely terrible. The game was over by 1 1/2 quarters in Tiger Stadium. We’ll move on now.
4. Missouri: As has been mentioned, the Tigers should be 9-2. The wasting of Tennessee in Neyland showed what they can do.
5. Mississippi State: Dropped 52 on Arkansas. It’s Arkansas, but then again, Mississippi State’s offense was doomed about a month ago, wasn’t it (Bama excluded!).
6. Texas A&M: A better than win than most people will give them credit for against UAB.
7. Florida: The Gators are on a good trajectory at the moment. If they are this inconsistent now, imagine what things might be like next season.
8. Auburn: Whipped Liberty quickly on the last game of the season in Jordan-Hare. A small game in Tuscaloosa will close out the season next week.
9. Kentucky: The Wildcats are creaking. It wasn’t comfortable against Middle Tennessee, but Josh Allen and the defensive guys got it done in the end (after conceding 23 points).
10. South Carolina: I can’t even remember who they beat soundly this week. Let me look it up…Oh yeah, Chattanooga.
11. Vanderbilt: The ‘Dores got lucky in their overtime win over Ole Miss with a disputed/B.S. call. But then again, #SECRefs.
12. Ole Miss: Got diddled out of a second OT by the SEC refs. The defense is as porous as ever.
13. Tennessee: WELCOME BACK to the Bottom 2 Tennesssee. The injury to Jarrett Guarantano didn’t help, but the offensive line? Dear Lord.
14. Arkansas: Razorbacks = Terrible.

IMPRESSED

1. Citadel: Played their behinds off against Alabama. Their triple-option worked in the first half. They were even leading. Alabama didn’t know how to cope. Even after their eventual loss, this team was getting all the plaudits. And good on ’em.
2. Missouri’s win at Tennessee: After their pretty-much-terrible performance against Vanderbilt and the Vols’ stunning win against Kentucky, we thought that Tigers were ripe for the upset at Neyland. Instead, they dropped 50 in Neyland, and looked really good.

NOT IMPRESSED

1. SEC Refs: I spoke to a journalist friend of mine and he told me that he’d never criticise the refs because ‘they do the best job they can do’. After jobbing Ole Miss out of the chance to go to a second overtime with a terrible call, again you’d argue this: Is this actually the best job they can do?
2. Alabama: Unmotivated in the first half against Citadel. When the biggest highlight of the game was Jalen Hurts coming out in the fourth quarter, you know that this is a cr*p performance

We didn’t want to admit it, but 85% (12 out of 14) of SEC teams are really, really ordinary. Some might be even worse than that.

SEC fans will tell you that the ‘ordinariness’ isn’t in fact that, it’s the fact that ‘anyone can beat anyone on ANY GIVEN SATURDAY IN THE SEC’, and that’s what makes the SEC so great, and other conferences so suck-worthy.

Of course, it’s the notion of ‘Every Given Saturday’ that makes college football so awesome, and not just the SEC.

But in fact, the SEC, B1G and ACC have something in common: They all boast a team that hasn’t won an in-conference game all season (Arkansas, Louisville, Rutgers).

And apart from Georgia and Alabama, everyone else in the SEC has two or more in-conference losses, meaning that no-one particularly stands out, meaning that my listings of ‘Power Rankings’ in the SEC against the notion of Who Was Impressive from week-to-week in the SEC gets hurt.

Despite all my whining, here’s my rankings for the SEC. We’re going in terms of less power, more ordinary.

1. Alabama: EXTRA-ORDINARY TEAM. ESPECIALLY THE REFS AGAINST MISSISSIPPI STATE. IN NICK SABAN’S FAVOUR.
2. Georgia: ORDINARY BECAUSE THEY HAD THEIR OFFENSIVE MISCUES AGAINST GEORGIA IN THE FIRST HALF. Y’ALL’S GOT TO BE PERFECT IF Y’ALL ARE GOING TO BEAT ALABAMA, Y’ALL.
3. LSU: ORDINARY BECAUSE NICK BROSSETTE TOOK TWO KNEES INSIDE THE 5 AGAINST ARKANSAS AND LSU DIDN’T COVER THE SPREAD (Just kidding!).
4. Mississippi State: ORDINARY BECAUSE THE SEC REFS MADE THEM ORDINARY (And Nick Fitzgerald slid for the first down but didn’t make it because he slid too early).
5. Auburn: ORDINARY BECAUSE DEAR LORD HAVE YOU SEEN THAT OFFENSE?
6. Texas A&M: ORDINARY BECAUSE THERE’S NO BETTER FOUR-LOSS TEAM IN THE COUNTRY WHO CAN BEAT OLE MISS.
7. Kentucky: ORDINARY BECAUSE THEY LOSE TO 4-5 TENNESSEE EASILY (AND HAVE NO OFFENSE) AS A RANKED TEAM, AND THE BIGGEST LAUGH OF THE WEEKEND CAME FROM WHAT HAPPENED AT LOUISVILLE.
8. Missouri: ORDINARY BECAUSE THEY SHOOT THEMSELVES IN THE FOOT. OVER AND OVER AGAIN. YET SOMEHOW BARRY ODOM KEEPS SAVING HIS BUTT
9. Florida: ORDINARY BECAUSE THE FANS DON’T FILL THE SWAMP FOR THE SPURRIER-MUSCHAMP BOWL.
10. South Carolina: ORDINARY BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO RUN DEFENSE.
11. Tennessee: ORDINARY BECAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENED AT THE END OF FULMER’S REIGN TO THE END OF THE BUTCH JONES’ REIGN. LIKE A LOT OF LADIES IN THE SMOKIES, IT HAD ONE TOOTH AND A METH PROBLEM.
12. Vanderbilt: ORDINARY BECAUSE SOMETIMES RICH KIDS DON’T GET GREAT THINGS.
13. Ole Miss: THAT DEFENSE AIN’T ORDINARY, IT’S DOGS—-.
14. Arkansas: SOON THE ORDINARY-TO-BAD SEASON WILL BE OVER, AND TUSKY WILL REALISE THAT HE PICKED A NICE TEAM TO RETIRE. UNTIL HE’S MADE INTO BRISKET.

But there were things that impressed us this week:

1. Meredith and Luke were first in line waiting for the SEC Network to come along to Fayetteville, which got them a nice coach on set. The bad news for Meredith and Luke is that after the SEC Saturday Network crew had left, they had to sit and watch LSU handle their team. Not that they aren’t used to their team being handled, mind.
2. Nick Brosette: The LSU RBs may have broken Vegas hearts by not running in for the score, but taking two knees at the end was the height of sportsmanship.
3. Mississippi State’s defense: Were exceptional in the second half against the Tide. Completely and utterly suffocated Bama’s offensive line.

But some things really, really got under our skin:

1. SEC refs in the Alabama – Mississippi State game: HOW WAS THAT NOT A FUMBLE? HOW WAS THAT A BLOCK IN THE BACK? Hell, even Gary Danielson, who’s got his head so far up Nick Saban’s behind that when Saban opens his mouth they see two pairs of teeth said repeatedly: “That’s a fumble”. The SEC has to deal with its referees. Right now, the conference is looking worse and worse.
2. South Carolina: How did the offense go from 31 points to zero in The Swamp. Could there have been a worse half-time team talk than Will Muschamp’s at half-time.
3. Auburn: The offense is still clueless. Especially the offensive line, which is plain awful.

Despite the SEC East and SEC West races being over, there is interesting stuff going on the SEC this week.

There is Georgia vs Auburn, who really dislike each other. Then there’s Alabama vs Mississippi State, with Cowbell’s excellent defense. Then there Missouri trying to be bowl eligible, LSU trying to rebound against Arkansas and, er, something else in The Swamp, featuring the world’s most entertaining, quotable retired college coach.

Fun fact: I met someone who said that the only reason why Spurrier came to South Carolina in the first place is that one of South Carolina’s biggest boosters, Augusta National head Hootie Johnson, could make him a member at August. I then met someone in about 2008 who actually worked at Augusta who told me he wasn’t a member. We don’t know if that’s changed now, but we’re sure that wherever there’s a good golf course, Spurrier’s talking crap on it. 

So here are our games of interest for Week 11. Give us a hug, people. This isn’t easy writing.

1. South Carolina at No.15 Florida (-6): Florida was awful last weekend against Missouri. So awful that some guy jumped in an alligator pit. With crocs on. Maybe. Anyway, there’s such a brewing quarterbacking controversy in The Swamp, and the fanbase is looking for Dan Mullen to drain it and start with another QB. It should make ‘The Steve Spurrier Bowl’ pretty damned interesting. Especially with a South Carolina side who’s starting to get a result or two. PREDICTION: Florida rebounds, wins by 10.
2. No.24 Auburn at No.5 Georgia (-14): Auburn’s defense is very middling. Running backs are starting to put up the yards against the Tigers as the months roll by – and Georgia’s decision to hammer opposition defensive lines with their running backs is starting to pay dividends. Add to that an Auburn offense which has ranged between not great to fairly clueless, and we can only see one winner. PREDICTION: This one’s over by half-time. Georgia by 17. 
3. No.16 Mississippi State at No.1 Alabama (-24): Alabama was soooo good on the road at LSU, and now they return to friendlier climes against a Mississippi State who have found its mojo again with three wins in the last four, with Nick Fitzgerald finally learning how to hit one of his own receivers. Mississippi State also has a decent defense, too. But decent defenses won’t work against Alabama, who can rip teams apart at such speed that two 3-and-outs can – and probably will – result in 14 points for the Crimson Tide. PREDICTION: This won’t be pretty. Alabama by 31.
4. Vanderbilt at Missouri (-17): Missouri’s win at Florida sparked a lot of questions about Barry Odom’s team. One of them included: “Why in the hell didn’t they play like this all season?” Legitimately, the Tigers could – and probably should – be 6-3 or 7-2. They have just shot themselves in the foot too much. Now, they are big favourites over a Commodores team who isn’t great. PREDICTION: Missouri win by 14. Not great for Vegas, but comfortable enough for Tigers fans.
5. No.11 Kentucky (-6) at Tennessee: Up until the Georgia game, Kentucky’s defense pretty much bailed them out of every game (if you don’t include the OT at Texas A&M). Then the Dawgs scored early, and Kentucky couldn’t keep up – because they have no offense. Benny Snell was smothered, and the ‘Decider For The SEC East’ was over quickly. Now comes a trip to Neyland Stadium. We don’t expect the place to be full – tickets were selling in the top deck for a juicy $8 each – and this will be close. Tennessee’s the worst offensive team in the division…and Kentucky’s just behind them. PREDICTION: This will be really ugly. We’re going for the upset. Tennessee to win by 3.
6. No.7 LSU (-13.5) at Arkansas: After being crushed at home by Alabama, LSU will be licking its wounds all the way to Fayetteville for the Arkansas game. While Arkansas fans will be excited about playing LSU after the ‘Battle of Baton Rouge’, LSU will be looking to continue what has been an excellent season. PREDICTION: LSU rolls by 27.
7. Ole Miss at Texas A&M (-11.5): According to Aggie fans, Kellen Mond had a nightmare day against Auburn, but if there’s one tonic you need for a crappy quarterback performance, it’s Ole Miss’ defense, which can’t catch a cold. PREDICTION: Texas A&M by 21. Ole Miss: PLEASE FIRE YOUR DEFENSIVE CO-ORDINATOR. NOW.

It was meant to be ‘The Game Of The Century’. It was No.1 Alabama, going to the most evil place alive….Baton Rouge. No.3 LSU was waiting, the crowd was off-the-hook…..and Alabama coasted to a 28-0 victory.

Although LSU’s defense played mightily, the offense simply didn’t show up, struggling with Quinton Williams and Bama’s devilishly-effective pash rush, and Joe Burrow spent most of the game running for his life. On the other side of the ball, Tua was also running – but showed he was as happy making a throw off the run as anyone else in football. And when Bama’s running backs came into play, it was frightening.

The thing about LSU is that they weren’t bad on Saturday. They were just another team to get butt-kicked by ‘Bama.

So here are your SEC Power Rankings. And as we’ve mentioned before, it’s about how teams are playing right now, rather than the transitive properties of winning.

The sad news is that the SEC as a league is pretty much over until December. Both Alabama and Georgia clinched their divisions.

1. Alabama (9-0): Absolutely peerless this season. Saban’s decision to promote instead of hire offensive co-ordinators and defensive co-ordinators looks absolutely genius. Everyone on this team – apart from special teams – looks excellent. Good luck to anyone trying to beat them this season. They clinched the SEC West in Baton Rouge, by the way.
2. Georgia (8-1): The Bulldogs went back to playing a physical style of football against Florida, and continued the same against Kentucky, and they were absolutely dominant. Because of the loss against LSU, the Bulldogs can’t afford another loss if they are to get into the play-off. That’s OK, because they clinched the SEC East, and will play the SEC Championship Game against…..Alabama.
3. LSU (7-2): The Tigers were outmatched. Coach O has managed to recruit good offensive depth for 2019, and they’ll need it – they were getting destroyed on Saturday. Also, they were unlucky not to get a bunch of holding calls when on defense. But then again, #SECRefs.
4. Mississippi State (6-3): Nick Fitzgerald AGAIN plays solidly, and Cowbell Central comfortably puts away Louisiana Tech. Fitzgerald will have to be on fire if MSU manages to pull off any kind of upset (ie keeping the spread to under the 30 that it is now).
5. Kentucky (7-2): The Cats have no offense. And when you go down early against Georgia, and your running back is completely suffocated, it’s going to hurt. And yes, we get they beat Mississippi State comfortably, but that was then…this is now.
6. Auburn (6-3): The Tigers aren’t a wonderful team. But they pulled out a victory against Texas A&M when they needed to. But you can’t help but feel that the Tigers are one of the most disappointing teams of 2018…and that doesn’t bode well for two of the nastiest teams Auburn will now have to play in the next few weeks…..Georgia and Alabama.
7. Texas A&M (5-4): THIS IS THE BEST FOUR-LOSS TEAM IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL (Maybe).
8. Florida (6-3): The Gators played well for three quarters against Georgia….and looked utterly lost against Missouri. This team has to be careful or the season could descend into nothing.
9. Missouri (5-4): Massive on the road win over Florida – Drew Lock’s first win against a ranked team – and this team could well have been 7-2 if it hadn’t shot itself in the foot against both South Carolina and Kentucky. Seriously.
10. South Carolina (5-3): Won a shoot-out at Ole Miss. When this South Carolina wins in a shoot-out, the opposition’s defense probably needs a bit of work.
11. Vanderbilt (4-5): Vanderbilt’s stuffing of Arkansas on Week 9 still makes me believe that they aren’t altogether terrible.
12. Tennessee (4-5): They beat Charlotte. And struggled while doing it. Well done #sarcasm.
13. Ole Miss (5-4): As proved yet again, the Rebels have no defense. As we said before, the DC has to go. Preferably now.
14. Arkansas (2-6): Yeah, so the Razorbacks aren’t very good.

If you haven’t heard, there’s two pretty big games in the SEC this week.

One’s in Death Valley, LSU, where the No.3 Tigers host hated No.1 Alabama. The atmosphere will be electric….and very drunk.

The other – somewhat unexpectedly – is earlier in the day at Kroger Field, Lexington, Kentucky, where the No.9 Kentucky Wildcats host the No.6 Georgia Bulldogs. The winner of that game will win the SEC East, and keep its chances of a play-off place very alive indeed. The loser will not only lost in the East, but also not (probably) go into the play-offs.

Anyway, here are our SEC Previews in order of interest. And it’s such a huge damned week for college football, we’re actually going to preview some other games around the country, too.

1. No.1 Alabama (-14.5) at No.3 LSU: Although we probably wouldn’t have picked it as one at the start of the year, now this IS the biggest game of the year so far. Why? Alabama’s unbeaten and No.1, and LSU, by virtue of its 4-1 record over Top 25 teams (3-0 over Top 10 teams) is No.3. However, with the fact that Alabama’s destroyed anyone that’s gotten in its way, the Crimson Tie are 14-1/2 point favourites. Joe Burrow’s said: “We’re got to be perfect to win this game”, and he’s right: The Tigers too. Burrow’s decision-making is going to have to be faster. His wide receivers can’t drop a ball – let alone the 10% of passes thrown to them this year that they’ve dropped so far. The team can’t give up 58.6 yards worth of penalties (72nd in the country). The special teams has got to continue to play in dominant fashion – both in punting and kicking.  And only then might they have a prayer against Tua Tagovailoa, the probable Heisman winner. Tua has weapons. He’s got three future NFL runnings backs. His wide receiving corps – led by Jerry Jeudy, who averages 97.1 yards per game are excellent. And the defense is throttling teams when the game actually counts. The great thing that will help LSU is the atmosphere. The place will be absolutely rocking, and willing the Tigers to survive until the team’s defensive leader Devin White returns after a half-game suspension for a B.S. targeting call. We just hope that this game won’t be settled by the refs. PREDICTION: Alabama wins by 10 in a game that’s a three-point until a Crimson Tide touchdown at the end.
2. No.6 Georgia (-9) at No.9 Kentucky: Josh Allen, Josh Allen, Josh Allen. Georgia’s offensive players had better watch where the Kentucky DE is all afternoon long, because this kid is absolutely awesome. Responsible for 56 tackles and 10 sacks in 8 games, there’s been no offense who’s been able to contain the freak, so expect him to double-teamed for most of the game. Georgia will also play against a Kentucky team that plays solid defense as a unit too (it’s not just about Allen), doing most of the things correctly. The defense is going to have to extremely well, and we expect them on the field a lot. That’s because Kentucky QB Terry Wilson simply isn’t very good, and the Bulldogs  – hopefully looking at the template that Missouri and before that Texas A&M gave them for shutting Kentucky – will quieten Benny Snell, knowing that that’s Kentucky will offer. PREDICTION: Georgia rolls by 21, and they are back in the play-off conversation. 
3. No.25 Texas A&M at Auburn (-4): If you really love the SEC, then you’ll be tuning into the 2018 version of the Jefferson Sports Pilot Game. We’re neither expecting a great atmosphere or a great game. Both defenses have been excellent, and Texas A&M’s offense isn’t a lot of fun to watch on the road (see Mississippi State game last week). And Auburn’s offense hasn’t been fun to watch at home OR on the road. We expect it to be pretty damned close, but every watching it on TV and who’s actually there will come out and say: “Thank God that’s over”. PREDICTION: Texas A&M with the ‘upset’, winning by 7. But take the ‘under’ on 48-1/2, betting deviants.
4. Missouri vs No.11 Florida (-6): Missouri is winless in the SEC and Florida’s two losses have come against Top 10 teams (and it’s beaten the No.3 team in the Nation). Florida also kept close to Georgia until the fourth quarter, when Georgia’s depth took over. We still don’t trust Feleipe Franks with the ball for Florida, but we might well trust him more bearing in mind how AWFUL Drew Lock has been against ranked teams. Sorry Mizzou, but that’s another SEC loss for you. PREDICTION: Barry Odom’s hot seat gets hotter. Florida by 18.
5. South Carolina vs Ole Miss (Pick-Em): This game’s so great that ESPN’s also showing this one at 12pm. Both sides aren’t great, with Ole Miss maybe swinging the way for ‘greatness’ with its defense. South Carolina, on the other, is so bad that my buddy called me just to tell me how bad the Gamecocks were. Here’s to you, Mr Gamecock Fratboy Fan. PREDICTION: South Carolina by 3 in one of the closest and weirdly entertaining games of the day. 
6. Louisiana Tech vs No.18 Mississippi State (-23-1/2): Nick Fitzgerald hasn’t been lucky with his wide receivers catching the ball – but he was immense in the Bulldogs’ excellent win over Texas A&M last week, throwing two absolute dimes for TDs and rushing for two more. Mississippi State feels ignited again – and that’s bad news for Louisiana Tech. PREDICTION: Mississippi State by 28.
7. Charlotte vs Tennessee (-20-1/2): I expected more from Tennessee at South Carolina, and I’ll expect the Volunteers to coast against a UNC Charlotte team still trying to find itself after the injury to QB Chris Reynolds. PREDICTION: Tennessee by 35.

GAMES FROM ELSEWHERE

1. No.14 Penn State at No.5 Michigan (-10): Penn State pulled out its first victory against a ranked team last week when it won in the rain against Iowa, but facing this Michigan team with all its defensive firepower will be a whole other beast. We don’t know how fully healthy Trace McSorley is, and his WRs drop far too many balls for us to think of anything but the ‘Rines. PREDICTION: Michigan by 18.
2. No.4 Notre Dame (9-1/2) at Northwestern: Notre Dame is good, but games in Evanston this year are weird. Pat Fitzgerald’s Wildcats are not only in control of their own destiny in the B1G West, but they should have beaten Michigan earlier in the year. PREDICTION: ‘Book’ the Irish victory. Notre Dame by 7. 
3. No.13 West Virginia vs No.17 Texas (-2): This game – potentially for a Big 12 Championship Game spot – features two good QBs in Will Grier and Sam Ellinger. But West Virginia has more speed on both sides fo the ball. PREDICTION: I don’t understand why the Mountaineers are a ‘dog. West Virginia by 10.
4. No.7 Oklahoma (-13) vs Texas Tech: If this game’s as good as the 66-59 game in 2016, then it’ll be the Game Of The Day. Oh, and this Kyler Murray kid (Oklahoma QB) is really, really fun to watch. PREDICTION: Oklahoma by 20 in a feisty, fun game.