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.

Awful.

Terrible.

Nope.

Why in the hell did they call that?

How could they not see that?

Those are the words usually describing a refereeing crew in ALL team sports – especially if the team’s losing. Except over and over again, we’re hearing these words about SEC officials?

Do they understand targeting? How was that clear?

How did they miss that call? 

Why did the official get in the way there? 

How did they managed to screw that one up?

Do they not know what a field goal is?

(We’re serious: That happened during Georgia vs Missouri game at Farot Field this year).

Here are some highlights of SEC stupidity.

Devin White getting booted out for targeting against Mississippi State. Some couldn’t see why it was a personal foul, some could. But everyone – including tens of thousands of LSU fans – thought White was jobbed for getting called for targetting and subsequently booted, which will make him miss one half of the small, inconsequential home game against the no-name No.1 team Alabama on Saturday.

A ref getting in the way of a blatant Ole Miss touchdown against LSU. The ball was coming straight to the wide receiver, and the referee somehow didn’t notice and seemed to get in the way of the wide receiver. It’s not really mentioned on the Ole Miss blogs or created a lot of controversy (mostly due to the fact that the Tigers eviscerated the Rebels).

The refs at the Georgia vs Missouri game, who seemed to miss a Georgia player fumbling the ball while going in for the touchdown. There wasn’t clear and conclusive evidence that it was a touchdown. But to the refs it wasn’t.

The stupidest event SO FAR wasn’t the refs – against during a Missouri game – where the refs ruled defensive pass interference on an uncatchable ball against Kentucky, when anyone – including Kentucky fans – could have seen it was the opposite way. The penalty – given in the last second game – resulted in an untimed down and Kentucky winning.

The refs not seeming to understand what a field goal was, when Missouri’s Justin Tucker made a 41-yarder when just inside the top right upright. That wasn’t stupid, it was imbecilic.

Then there are the missed targeting calls, the missed pass interference calls, which are too many mention. Or the missed ejections, like the one Raekwon Davis should have had for jumping on a player and beating the living crap out him. Davis was flagged, but there was no ejection – despite the serious violence of the player’s actions (Nick Saban kept him out for half a game though).

In short SEC refs are wafting like baseball players, lucky if they are batting .300 right now.

And if the SEC’s head offices in Birmingham, AL claim to watch over their refs as they claim to do, then they are engaging in the biggest cover-up since Watergate. It got out of jail with the ‘call went upstairs to see whether it was targeting, and it WAS targeting, so LSU can shut the hell up, y’all’, but managed to put itself further in jail.

The problem for the SEC is that no-one’s calling them on their crap. No-one saying that EVERY targeting expulsion should be reviewed by a three-man SEC refereeing committee (I mean, what are they doing all week apart from counting money made from free labour anyway?), and then decisions about banning a player for the next half game made from there. They aren’t taking action over seriously violent play. They aren’t re-looking at games and suspending players for eye-gouging (Florida vs Georgia), or out-and-out assault (Davis). And worse, no-one is suspending refs for getting in the way of would-be touchdowns, blocking players downfield, and blatantly missing field goals.

Listen, we’re not asking the SEC to suspend refs for missing holding calls. But if they blatantly screw up, they should be punished accordingly.

By not suspending referees for a game for their dumbass mistakes, the SEC is letting refs are simply get away with their stupidity over and over again. No-one is sitting them down and telling them to improve, or threatening to take away the big games and moving them from FBS to Division-III level. And worse, we desperately need younger officials who can keep up with the speed of play. We’re not being ageist, but it’s important to blood in new people. The NFL seems to be happy with blooding new refs. Why doesn’t the SEC? When one of your refs runs into a player in the end-zone, things have got to be looked at.

And bad refereeing has already cost a team one game this year, and it’ll get worse unless the SEC sorts out this problem.

There were two major games in the SEC on paper: Georgia vs Florida and Mississippi State vs Texas A&M. And Missouri vs Kentucky was meant to be an afterthought.

One untimed play later, and Kentucky was celebrating the victory that took them within one game – against Georgia – of the SEC East title. Georgia had earlier torn apart from Florid and later on Mississippi State’s Nick Fitzgerald accelerated past Texas A&M.

So, here are our SEC rankings:

1. Alabama (8-0): The Crimson Tide did not beat anyone by 60 this week, because they were off.
2. LSU (7-1): LSU keep on complaining about Devin White’s suspension, but nothing’s going to happen about it. The Tigers were still off.
3. Georgia (7-1): The Bulldogs game was close for a while, and then Georgia motored through Florida. Kirby Smart showed how much he disliked the Gators using ‘MF’ while the sea of red celebrated.
4. Kentucky (7-1): Josh Allen is one of the best defensive players in college football. Although they got some fortune with a B.S. pass interference call at the end of the Missouri game, the defense did exceptionally not giving the Tigers one first down in the second half.
5. Mississippi State (5-3): Joe Moorhead finally gave Nick Fitzgerald some running room, and Fitzgerald also made some beautiful throws to give MSU a comfortable victory. Could the Bulldogs turn into a decent team?
6. Florida (6-2): The Gators kept it close through three-quarters of the game against Georgia, but in the end the Bulldogs were a better team. Mullen’s team still has a long way to go, though.
7. Texas A&M (5-3): THE AGGIES ARE THE BEST THREE-LOSS TEAM IN THE NATION, Y’ALL!
8. Auburn (5-3): Auburn didn’t pee off their fanbase this week. Congrats.
9. South Carolina (4-3) : South Carolina is legitimately a very ordinary side….but the rest of the SEC East is worse. Maybe.
10. Vanderbilt (4-4): Crushing and impressive win over Arkansas this weekend to give the ‘Dores their maiden SEC East victory of 2018. One of the performances of Week 9.
11. Missouri (4-4): The Tigers keep on finding ways of losing. Barry Odom’s job is now on notice.
12. Ole Miss (5-3): The Rebels still have a bad defense. I’m sure they missed some tackles in their week off, too.
13. Tennessee (3-5): After one half, the Vols found ways to lose and look inconsistent again. I’m not a fan.
14. Arkansas (2-7): I thought they would be better against Vanderbilt, I really did. But they were awful.

WHO IMPRESSED US?

1. Vanderbilt: We expected Arkansas to beat Vandy – especially at home. But the ‘Dores went on the road and dropped 45 on the Razorbacks, mainly thanks to Ke’Shawn Vaughn, who had 3 TDs and over 200 yards rushing.
2. Georgia: The Dawgs went from a war with Florida to a one-sided massacre. So deep is this Dawgs team is that they can struggle but then its mojo again.
3. Nick Fitzgerald: Two money throws helped to give MSU the win over Texas A&M. He might not be a terrible quarterback, after all.

WHO DIDN’T IMPRESS US?

1. SEC Refs: Once again, SEC refs were terrible. This time, it was giving a non-existent pass interference call at the end of the Kentucky vs Missouri game (the throw from Wilson wasn’t catchable, and it was offensive PI). The next play becomes an untimed down, and Kentucky escapes with victory. But seriously: ARE WE GOING TO HAVE TO WRITE THIS EVERY DAMNED WEEK ABOUT THE OFFICIALS?
2. Drew Lock: Cannot get it done against good opposition (against UK it was 15-27 for 165 yards and 0 touchdowns). Lock is on course to get The Biggest Letdown Of 2018 Award.

Alabama’s fun to make fun of for one major reason: The fanbase. If you are nasty about the Crimson, Alabama fans take it so damned personally. I mean, this blog on Twitter just mentioned the fact that Alabama had played only one team of any note this season (Texas A&M), and comparing it to the amount of ranked teams LSU teams played, and Bama fans hit Crazytown. Of course, when the two teams clash in Week 10 it’s going to be something special. But if we’re talking about this year’s schedule for Alabama so far, it sucks. 

So why do we think they are the best team in the SEC? Because if I’m honest, I don’t see anyone beating them. LSU will be missing the best defensive player it has for half of the game because of a B.S. targeting call (while Alabama will keep one its own defensive keys due to a B.S. targeting call), and Alabama’s got a better offensive. It’ll be closer than 40-odd points, but we can’t see LSU winning.

Mind you, we couldn’t see Ohio State losing at Purdue…

Anyway, here goes….

1. Alabama (8-0): The schedule may suck so far, helping the Tide to Top 2 rankings in offense and defense, but this side is absolutely wasting every team its playing against. No-one can seem to touch them, let alone bring them down. Tua’s hitting a breadth of receivers, the running game is a machine, and the defense is stopping everybody except, er, Arkansas. They walk into Baton Rouge in two weeks’ time, and they should be two-score favourites. If not more.
2. LSU (7-1): Despite never making it easy for themselves (apart from the Georgia game) LSU’s results have been sensational this season. The defense completely stopped Nick Fitzgerald and Mississippi State. The offense is OK with being…OK (85th in the nation) – especially when you bear in mind that they’ve played FIVE ranked teams – if you count where they were at the time – already this season. The loss of defensive leader Devin White for the first half of the Bama game due to a B.S. targeting call may loom large.
3. Georgia (6-1): Week off preparing for a Cocktail Party by burning jorts.4
4. Florida (6-1): Week off preparing for a Cocktail Party by burning bulldogs.
5. Texas A&M (5-2): Week off preparing for Mississippi State by burning cowbells.
6. Kentucky (6-1): Never a good look beating Vanderbilt 14- 7…at home. Is Kentucky trending down? Perhaps. But Benny Snell is still awesome, though.
7. Mississippi State (4-3): The defense is very good. But the offense is absolutely terrible. How could the offense regress so badly despite bringing back all the weapons that it had last year? The answer is that Dan Mullen is a better offensive head coach than Joe Moorhead. Give Moorhead a bit of time (it’s his first time as a HC at a major program), though. Still, this is a disappointment.
8. Auburn (5-3): Gus Malzahn took a little bit of the monkey off his back with a convincing performance on both sides of the ball against Ole Miss.
9. South Carolina (3-3): Whoever the QB is, the team is 72nd nationally in offense- and Deebo Samuel isn’t in the Top 100 in receiving yards or yards per catch. Missouri must be scratching their heads as to how they lost to this team….and Texas A&M must be wondering why they didn’t beat them by more.
10. Missouri (4-3): Missouri’s convincing win over Memphis proved two things: 1) The Tigers can play offense 2) The Memphis Tigers cannot play defense. The Tigers will be praying Emanuel Hall returns soon….they really need their star receiver. They also need their receivers to catch balls in SEC games, too. They are still winless in that category.
11. Arkansas (2-6): The Razorbacks have been playing a lot better lately, and they deserved their 23-0 win over Tulsa to give Chad Morris his second win as a head coach. How in the hell Vegas decided this might be a close game we’ll never know. But it was free money for those who bet Arkansas to win more convincingly than 9.
12. Tennessee (3-4): The crushing at home by Alabama wasn’t fun. Alabama could have made it a lot worse in the 4th quarter had Nick Saban and Mike Locksley decided not to totally crush the Volunteers. The biggest pain for the Vols was seeing Butch Jones get the Gatorade shower for seeing his former team win at Neyland Stadium. Butch Jones isn’t even a coordinator for Alabama, btw. He’s a freaking analyst.
13. Ole Miss (5-3): When you get shut out by a team that’s playing terribly, you’re not a good team. Ole Miss might still win a couple more games in the SEC to lift themselves off the bottom, but the team’s defense is a joke. We don’t understand why Matt Luke hasn’t fired DC Wesley McGriff yet.
14. Vanderbilt (3-4): Vanderbilt’s defense played well at Kentucky (2 turnovers created), but the offense didn’t (2 turnovers lost). The Commodores must be sick and tired of losing games that they have played well in. That’s the mark of a bad team, folks.

eorWorking out an order for who are the best teams in the SEC is hard work. While No.1 (Alabama) is easy, then it becomes a headache.

LSU has a claim because it battered No.2 Georgia last week. Florida has a claim because it beat LSU. Kentucky has a claim because it beat Florida. Georgia will have a claim if it beats Florida (although it will strengthen LSU’s position at the moment). Texas A&M has a claim because it beat Kentucky. Those out of the running include Auburn, Mississippi State, and Tennessee.

But it’s even more difficult at the bottom to work out the crappiest. Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Missouri (all winless in the SEC) can all battle it out for the title, and it’s going to get riveting because all three play each other in a vomitous Hunger Game/round-robin where the survival is nothing in particular.

Anyway, read on…… We’re going in top-to-bottom order.

1. Alabama (7-0): Unbeaten. Weren’t especially great against Missouri, but still ran out easy winners. Worries about Tua’s knee are still there, and everything else  – apart from Raekwon Davis – is fine.
2. LSU (6-1): Yes, we know they lost to Florida. But the Tigers were fantastic against Georgia, outplaying the Dawgs in every facet of the game. Are the Tigahs back? We don’t know yet, but my gosh they played well on Saturday afternoon.
3. Florida (6-1): Despite a poor showing against Vanderiblt, this is a team that’s finding ways to win. That’s the mark of a good team.
4. Georgia (6-1): The heavy loss against LSU was a culmination of three games of poor play from the Bulldogs, who failed to perform particularly well against Missouri, Tennessee, and for a half against Vanderbilt. Looking back at it, the loss was due. Kirby Smart got rightly criticised for his tactics against LSU….and it’s something he’ll need to get right against Florida. Oh, and there’s a QB controversy brewing in Athens between Jake Fromm and Justin Fields. After Fromm’s poor game in Baton Rouge, a lot of people want Fields’ presence, er, on the field.
5. Texas A&M (5-2): Speaking of teams finding ways to win, A&M nearly screwed it up against South Carolina before coming away with the ‘W’.
6. Kentucky (5-1): Despite their slide down the rankings, nothing’s really changed: The Wildcats are good offensively and good defensively.
7. Mississippi State (4-2): It’ll be interesting to see how Joe Moorhead’s strategy of running Nick Fitzgerald down the middle will work against LSU, who were relatively untested by Georgia in that sense last week (we still don’t know why).
8.  South Carolina (4-2): South Carolina is an inconsistent, not particularly good team. They are fourth in the SEC East because a bunch of teams fall into that category (and are probably worse).
9. Tennessee (3-3): A huge win at Auburn Tennessee gave Jeremy Pruitt his first SEC win as a head coach and the Vols program a marquee victory. It was also Tennessee’s first SEC win in two years. Sure, it was great for UT that they were playing a team who’s wheels seem to have completely come off, but a win’s a win.
10. Auburn (4-3): This is turning into a trainwreck. Auburn fans are starting to want blood.
11. Ole Miss (5-2): Survived an ugly-but-awesome game at Arkansas to pull out victory. The defense still isn’t great, but the Rebels are still fun to watch.
12. Arkansas (1-6): In another season, this Razorbacks team – which should have beaten Ole Miss last week, outgained Auburn and played Texas A&M very close indeed – could be 4-3. This team is going in the right direction.
13. Missouri (3-3): If you want a team that’s going in the wrong direction, it’s Missouri. Drew Lock at the moment is looking for a cylinder to fire on, making bad decision after bad decision. Defensively things are a joke, and Barry Odom’s looking hopeless. The good thing for Mizzou is that they still have Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Arkansas to play. The bad news is that they will probably have to lessen up on their stupid mistakes to pull out victory in any of those games.
14. Vanderbilt (3-4): The ‘Dores played OK against Florida, but Derek Mason’s motivational talks don’t seem to be getting the victories. We don’t know if Mason’s on the accursed ‘hot seat’, but it’s not looking great for him.

IMPRESSED: 

1. Ed Orgeron: That’s three massive wins for Orgeron in 7 weeks after a dominating win over the No.2 team in the nation. His team loves him. The fans (right now) love him. LSU is rolling.
2. 5,000 Volunteers: That win wasn’t so much for Jeremy Pruitt as for the 5,000 travelling Vols fans who came into Jordan-Hare expecting a fun day out rather than victory, and getting both.

UNIMPRESSED

1. Raekwon Davis: The more you see Davis’ punches getting thrown at the Missouri player, the worse it looks. Hopefully Nick Saban will suspend Davis for a game or two, but it’s likely it’ll be a quarter because he will have ‘learned his lesson’ in practice.
2. SEC refs: First of all, WHY IN THE HELL WASN’T DAVIS EJECTED? Secondly, the refs don’t seem to have a clue what targeting is. Thirdly, they had great control of the Florida and Vanderbilt sidelines. Said nobody.
3. Kirby Smart and His Merry Men: Opting to throw the ball against one of the SEC’s best secondaries instead of running it down their throat wasn’t a great look for the Georgia coaching staff, folks.

It’s  going to be an interesting week in the SEC. Most people with have their eyes glued to Georgia’s trip to Death Valley. Personally, we wish that it was a 7pm kick-off rather than the 3.30, but that’s because we love a raucous Tiger Stadium (and so will the fans who have to endure the humidity!!). Then there’s Texas A&M’s potentially tricky trip to South Carolina, Florida going to Vandy, Ole Miss playing Arkansas in the ‘Battle of The Worst Teams In The SEC West’, and Tennessee’s trip to Auburn. Oh, and Missouri go to Alabama as the latest sacrificial lambs to Nick Saban’s offense.

Anyway, so here we go….

1. No.2 Georgia (-7.5) at LSU: Our fear for LSU is this: UGA QB Jake Fromm isn’t going to give LSU’s excellent secondary the chance for a lot of break-ups and interceptions, but the Tigers were at times gashed by Florida last week on the road, giving up 215 and 2 TDs on the floor. The week before, LSU gave up 150 and a TD. The Tigers have only had one game where they have given up less than 80. And they face a Georgia team in Elijah Holyfield and D’Andre Swift who could do some real damage down there. And although offensively LSU has the height advantage receivers-wise, if they perform like they did in that last drive for Joe Burrow, they are in trouble. And while it’s been noted that both teams have been excellent in the red-zone, I would trust UGA to put more chances away than LSU – particularly with LSU’s beaten-up offensive line. PREDICTION: Dawgs bark. Georgia by 14 in a convincing road win. An additional note for betting folks: The last time LSU was as bigger an underdog to a team, it was Alabama when they went to Bryant-Denny as 20.5 point dogs. The last time they were a plentiful home underdog was Auburn last year, when they were 7pts to the bad. For those gambling deviants, Ed Orgeron’s team came out 2-0 (1-1 in actual game results). 
2. No.22 Texas A&M (-2.5) at South Carolina: Texas A&M’s only two losses of the season have been to ‘Bama and Clemson, and they beat a ranked team (Kentucky) more comfortably than the victory in overtime might suggest. Kellen Mond is an excellent quarterback who should flourish against a South Carolina defense which is….ahem….not great. South Carolina rode their luck against Missouri last week with regards to poor officiating, poor weather, and Mizzou’s defensive disability, and we aren’t convinced that they are very good – even with Home Field Advantage. There will be a lot of Sandstorm, but when that settles, it’ll be the Aggies who should come out victorious. PREDICTION: Texas A&M by 13. 
3. Ole Miss (-7) at Arkansas: If your recipe for fun is College Football Trainwreck, then please consider the Ole Miss-Arkansas game as one that’l be just to your taste. Ole Miss’ offense let all hang out against poor ULM, dropping 70 points and over 800 yards. But Arkansas did what no offense had done this year against Alabama – score 31 points on them. This game will be more about ball control from Arkansas’ point-of-view in an effort to deal with an Ole Miss offensive that can put up the points, quickly. Arkansas’ passing defense gives up 271 yards per game (12th in the SEC), which doesn’t fill us with optimism against an Ole Miss team that can drop bombs. However, Ole Miss’ defense is absolutely terrible (worst in the SEC, 124th in the country out of 130, and second-lowest among Power-5 schools (only Oregon State is worse), too. This trainwreck will be a lot of fun. PREDICTION: Ole Miss by 6 in a shoot-out that smashes the 70.5 over/under.
4.  Tennessee at Auburn (-15): Tennessee might not be improving, but nor is Auburn. In fact, the knives are already sharpening for Gus Malzahn after the Tigers’ shambolic performance against Mississippi State last week. The game won’t be pretty, (Bar the Washington game, Auburn games this season have been dreadful to watch), but we expect Tennessee to hang in there. The reasons are simple: Auburn’s offense is awful, and it’s managed to get worse week-by-week, not better. Tennessee has had two weeks to steel itself for Auburn (including mending a defense that gives up 340 yards/game). Listen, Auburn’s defense is too good to let the Vols win, but it’s going to be closer than most imagine. Oh, and we’d like to give a lot of love to the 5,000 Tennessee fans going to Auburn that weekend. UT fans: You deserve better. Prediction: Auburn by 10. And the locals still won’t be happy.
5. No.14 Florida (-8) at Vanderbilt: Florida’s excellent performance against LSU was a testament to good defense and a little offensive invention by Dan Mullen, while last week Vanderbilt played well for a quarter against Georgia before the Commodores were summarily dismantled. Vanderbilt is quite simply not a good team, while Florida is getting better and better each week. PREDICTION: Florida bites through the private school kids by 14.
6. Missouri at No.1 Alabama (-27.5): Alabama QB Tuanigamanuolepola Tagovailoa (try saying that first name after a few beers!) is a very good quarterback. We know this because he’s going to probably win the Heisman. Missouri’s Drew Lock was meant to be a Heisman candidate, but his wide receivers can’t seem to catch the ball, and he’s not been great, either. Alabama’s offense scores about 60 a game. Missouri’s secondary is the second-worst in the SEC and 117th in the nation, giving up a tidy 284 yards/game. And although Tua’s got a knee sprain, Nick Saban told the press he’s taken ‘every rep in practice’. This does not bode well. Oh, and Saban was also grumpy at his defense for giving up 31 to Arkansas. Somehow I don’t think this will happen again. PREDICTION: Alabama by 40.

On paper, it doesn’t look as though the most interesting Saturday in the SEC’s calendar. Alabama and Georgia are expected to both roll. In four out of eight of the games, the favourites are 20+ point favourites. In 6 of eight games, teams are double-digit favourites. Which leaves Florida’s trip to Tennessee and South Carolina’s game with Vanderbilt as the only (potentially) close games of the SEC Week, if Vegas is anything to go by.

Anyway, at least all the SEC games aren’t dumb non-conference games, unless you believe Arkansas should be in another conference…

So here we go (in order of interest from a College Football fan’s point-of-view, not a betting fanatic (although comes into it):

1. No.13 Mississippi State (-10) at Kentucky: Mississippi State looks like one of the class acts of the SEC, but Kentucky has certaintly been one of the most surprising. Fans of the SEC will enjoy watching the skills of MSU and Kentucky QBs Nick Fitzgerald and Josh Wilson, as well as RBs Benny Snell (Kentucky) and Kylin Hill (RBs). Both teams have good defensive lines and good offensive lines, too. This could come down to the wire in what will be a very noisy game in Lexington. PREDICTION: Mississippi State by 7 in a classic. 
2. No. 22 Texas A&M at No.1 Alabama (-27): Can Texas A&M play as well as they did against Clemson? A lot of people think this one won’t be interesting after the third quarter, and some are even tipping it not to be interesting after half-time. Alabama’s 27-point spread seems a little generous, but the Tide has destroyed 3 spreads so far this year, so Vegas is worried. The bright spot for A&M could be the speed of A&M Kellen Mond. If the Aggies offensive line can hold up – they’ve already allowed 7 sacks this year. PREDICTION: Texas A&M gets what everyone expected. Alabama 45, Texas A&M 14.
3. Florida (-4) at Tennessee: As has been mentioned by pundits, this game will be a measure of how far both teams have come in their two new head coach’s short reigns. Both have reasons to be happy, although Tennessee will be a little happier because their loss to West Virginia was at least more predictable than the Gators’ loss at home to Kentucky. Jeremy Pruitt’s trying to balance his attack between QB Jarrett Guarantano and RB Tim Jordan, while Florida seems to have piled a lot of pressure on Feleipe Franks, who threw THAT Hail Mary to beat UT in 2017 in one of the most incredible-terrible games of the year. The game might not be great, but the atmosphere at Neyland should be phenomenal. PREDICTION: Tennessee by 3 in a huge upset.
4. Georgia (-13) at Missouri: Georgia’s widely predicted to coast against Missouri, but the most interesting part will be how Georgia deals with one of the best QBs in the country in Missouri’s Drew Lock. Lock also has receiving weapons in Emmanuel Hall, Albert Okwuegbunam, and that might open up the team’s run game. But Missouri (and we may have heard this before) has a poor secondary, and it’s likely that they’ll get torn apart by Mecole Hardman, as well as Georgia’s monster running backs. PREDICTION: This won’t be close. Georgia 42, Missouri 17.
5. South Carolina (-2.5) vs Vanderbilt: South Carolina has the benefit of last week’s game getting washed out against Marshall, while Vanderbilt has the benefit of the fact that they SHOULD have won the game at Notre Dame and are a hell of a lot better than a lot of people expected. Vandy QB Kyle Shurmur’s a real star, while South Carolina’s Jake Bentley-Deebo Samuel connection is serviceable when it’s not being covered (as Georgia did for vast amounts of the clash between the two sides, and kept him to just 33 yards on 6 receptions). This could be fun. PREDICTION: Vanderbilt by 4. 
6. Arkansas at No.9 Auburn (-30): This is the third straight home game for Auburn, but after the stunning home loss to LSU, the locals aren’t happy again with Gus Malzahn (ironically they weren’t too happy with him after 2017’s loss to LSU, either). On the other side, Arkansas fans – despite getting trashed by North Texas at home – are a little more patient with Chad Morris because he comes to town with a completely different offence than Bret Bielema’s. The problem for Morris isn’t necessarily the offense (although they are 62nd nationally) but the defense (100th nationally), which is leaking points like my car leaks oil. We don’t expect any different to happen against Auburn. PREDICTION: Auburn 48, Arkansas 10.
7. Louisiana Tech at No.6 LSU (-21): LSU is on roll with the whole ‘EVERYONE DANG HATES US TIGAHS’ tour, and Louisiana Tech is next in line. The LSU ‘thing’ for years has been LSU’s habit of sitting back and not playing well after a big win, but they might need to be on their game immediately to keep an offense that is dropping around 42 points/game at the moment, with RB Jaqwis Dancy (17th nationally in total rushing yds), and Tech WR J’mar Smith, who can definitely toss a ball up (he’s a little unpredictable though). We expect LSU to get ahead early, and control this one. PREDICTION: LSU 31, Louisiana Tech 10.
8. Kent State at Ole Miss (-28.5): Both teams got a combined total of 120 points dropped on ’em last week, so we’re not anticipating a particularly defense-orientated encounter. The problem for Kent State is that they ain’t good, and Ole Miss’ offfense is still one of the best in the nation, despite what the Crimson Tide did to them on Saturday. PREDICTION: Ole Miss by 41.

Right, now we’re a quarter of a way through the season (sniff, sniff), we’re going to start our SEC rankings.

There’s no surprise who’s going to be No.1 and No.14, but in between…..(we apologise in advance)…

1. Alabama (3-0): While the most annoying thing about Alabama might well be the team’s head coach and his Napoleonic tendencies, the Tide’s way of evolving from a slow-moving ‘three yards and a cloud of dust’ offense to something that moves at such speed that Usain Bolt’s struggling to keep with it is awesome to watch. Although the opposition is hardly vaunted, the way the Tide managed to shut up a high-octane Ole Miss offense was highly impressive.
2. Georgia (3-0): The game that stood out for me that Georgia could well win the SEC Championship was this year, when the Dawgs absolutely dusted South Carolina at home. The Dawgs don’t even seem to hitting the heights of their talents, and yet they are looking really, really good.
3. LSU (3-0): Two Top 10 wins, both away from Baton Rouge. That’s pretty impressive for a team that was meant to be firing their head coach mid-season. Although we’re not entirely convinced of the Tigers’ offensive qualities (Joe Burrow is hardly the finished article), the defense is awesome.
4. Mississippi State (3-0): Joe Moorhead’s a damned good coach, and it’s helped with the on-field talent he’s got on the field. Nick Fitzgerald is gradually getting back to pre-Ole Miss 2017 levels, and the defense is sharp, too. This team could be scary in the SEC pack.
5. Auburn (2-1): A great coaching win against Washington and a coaching brain-fart against LSU making Gus Malzahn one of the most eyebrow-raising coaches in the SEC – again. Auburn itself is a run-stopping machine, but we don’t trust the secondary. On offense, it needs to be quicker. And we know Jarrett Stidham can play with that speed, too.
6. Texas A&M (2-1): The Aggies narrowly lost at home to Clemson and played their butt off. They’ve been unexpectedly strong in the first year of Jimbo Fisher’s reign. We don’t know how that will measure up with Alabama – but it might be pretty interesting.
7. Kentucky (3-0): Stunning at might seem to have Kentucky so high, they went to Florida and won the match-up for the first time in 31 years. Benny Snell is a workhorse and Terry Wilson makes up for his unpredictable arm with great legs. This might be one of the more underrated team in the SEC East.
8. Vanderbilt (2-1): I’m increasingly high on the Commodores because not only should they have beaten Notre Dame last week, but Kyle Shurmur’s an increasingly assured quarterback, and Derek Mason’s decision not to have anything to do with the offense seems to have paid off. By the evidence of that Notre Dame game, these guys could be pretty good.
9. South Carolina (1-1): Georgia and Hurricane Florence have beaten the Gamecocks two straight, and it’s not been nice in either match-up. Jake Bentley is a serviceable QB and Deebo Samuel is an awesome wide receiver, but has one of the most talked-about underdog in the country actually pretty ordinary?
10. Missouri (3-0): The offense is fantastic, and the defense isn’t great. As shown by the narrow win against Purdue (where the defense didn’t look great), Derek Dooley needs to use TE Albert Okwuegbunam and his RBs more, or Emmanuel Hall will simply get double-teamed and that’s going to frustrate Drew Lock. How Missouri will measure up in the SEC will start when Georgia rolls in. We’re not anticipating it to be other than ugly.
11. Florida (2-1): Florida’s loss at home to Kentucky doesn’t make me excited about this season, and Malik Davis’ injury won’t help the RB corps, either. If Dan Mullen is truly the QB whisperer, then ‘the whispered’ Feleipe Franks is having a pretty strong start.
12. Ole Miss (2-1): The offense was awesome to watch until it got hit by the Alabama freight train. But what will happen in future games if there’s a 3-and-out and Ole Miss have to defend? They’ll get crucified.  DC Wesley McGriff has told the press that he has accepted responsibility for the team’s loss. So why doesn’t Matt Luke take some responsibility and fire the guy?
13. Tennessee (2-1): After the (predictable) West Virginia loss, Jeremy Pruitt’s given UT some hope in Knoxville, but we’ll have some sort of idea whether they are actually any good against Florida on Saturday.
14. Arkansas (1-2): Here’s what we don’t understand: Chad Morris is one of the best offensive minds in the country. That’s well-known. So why hand over the whole offensive reigns to Craddock. If I’m Morris, I take over the QB coach responsibility or even more Craddock down to QBs and WRs, and move myself to OC. Desperate times, desperate measures. But right now, this team is bad, bad, bad.