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.

The mathematics of a monster contract like Gus Malzahn’s might not show it, but the Auburn head coach’s job status is fragile. The offense is sputtering (76th in the country), and because of that, the defense – although it’s one of the best in the country – can’t get a break.

This week the offense wil hope to rebound against an Ole Miss team that hasn’t really heard of defense. But the Tigers are on the road in Oxford, and everybody’s scenting blood.

Elsewhere, the Ed Orgeron train will keep on truckin’ against Mississippi State in the only ranked match-up in the SEC this week, while embattled Missouri coach Barry Odom will try and pick up his team against high-scoring but D-lite Memphis. Vanderbilt and Kentucky also get together, and Arkansas plays Tulsa. Oh, and go and do some gardening at 3.30pm so you’ll avoid Tennessee’s home shellacking by Alabama. It will be ugly.

Anyway, onto Week 8. As usual, we’re ranking these games by how interested we are in them….

1. Auburn (-3.5) at Ole Miss: Auburn is a train-wreck at the moment. Nothing is going right for Gus Malzahn’s team, and the blue and orange rumour mill – already fearing what might happen when the Tigers have to Georgia and Alabama – are sharpening knives. After all $32m is nothing in SEC terms, is it? The Tigers ‘roll’ into Ole Miss to face one of the worst defenses in the SEC, but can anyone trust the Tigers to get the ship righted? I don’t. PREDICTION: The way War Eagle is getting defeathered at the moment, this is hardly an upset. Ole Miss by 7.

2. No.22 Mississippi State at No.5 LSU (-6.5): LSU had one of those monster weeks where they upset No.2 Georgia, saw a mass field invasion, and suddenly everybody is saying: “LSU is BACK”. If Mississippi State manages to run the ball effectively through Nick Fitzgerald, this one could be tight. PREDICTION: LSU by 10.

 3. Memphis at Missouri (-9.5): Hire Derek Dooley, get him to train up some wide receivers that can’t catch, and Drew Lock’s Heisman season has gone south in a hurry. Lock has thrown for ONE touchdown in three games. He’s also thrown 5 INTs. Although the lack of TDs can hardly all be attributed to Lock (his receivers have dropped open TDs), it’s still a wonder if it’s a matter of quarterback or system that he’s been so poor. Also not helped Lock’s cause is a defense that’s horrible, and it’s facing the 9^th best offense in the country, averaging a feisty 43 points per game. The problem for Memphis is the team is the 66^th-best in defense, giving up 25-a-game, and that’s why Mike Norvell’s team’s 4-3 and 1-3 in conference. This one should be fun. PREDICTION: Missouri squeaks by, winning by 3.

 4. Vanderbilt at Kentucky (-11): Kentucky is back after a week off, and they’ll face a Vanderbilt that was feisty with Georgia and Florida, but is 0-2. Kentucky has the defense to deal with Kyle Shurmur and Vandy’s ‘offense’, and you can expect Benny Snell to ram the ball right down the Commodores’ throat. PREDICTION: Kentucky by 17.

 5. No.1 Alabama (-29) at Tennessee: Alabama will come into a noisy Neyland Stadium at 3.30pm on CBS. The stadium will be rocking – thanks to Tennessee’s upset of Auburn the previous week. And then Alabama will score. And score. And score. And score. And after they finish with their 60 by the fourth quarter, they will run the ball and Tennessee fans will be relieved that Nick Saban didn’t put the foot on the gas anymore. PREDICTION: Tennessee gets a few stops and maybe a couple of touchdowns on the board, but Alabama rolls by 38.

6. Tulsa at Arkansas (-5.5): Arkansas has been getting better and better, and they – as they welcome QB Ty Storey back – shouldn’t have a problem getting Chad Morris his second win of his Razorbacks career. PREDICTION: We don’t understand why the Razorbacks are only 5.5- point favorites against a 1-6 Tulsa team. Anyway, we’ll take it. Arkansas by 14.

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.

Chomp….Chomp….Chomp…..It’s the sound of the Florida Gators on the rise again. The Gators beat LSU in a classic CBS match-up on Saturday afternoon, and they are suddenly looking like they might compete for the East.

You know, if the buzzsaw of UGA and Alabama ever slows down….

1. Alabama: Nick Saban’s not happy with the defense giving up 31 points to Arkansas. The bettors who bet Alabama would beat Arkansas by more than the spread aren’t happy with the defense giving up a last-second, doesn’t-matter touchdown. And the offense is still humming, people.
2. Georgia: The Dawgs were slow to get going, but boy did they accelerate well in an easy win over Vanderbilt. The offense looked balance (238 through the air, 219 on the ground). The first complete performance in three weeks.
3. Florida: Hugely impressive wins against the perhaps the biggest story in the SEC so far. The Swamp was LIT, the fanbase was as noisy as a night game, and Dan Mullen pulled off the biggest win of his young head coaching career. This may well set up for quite a game at the Cocktail Party.
4. LSU: LSU will grouse about the fact that their offensive line was beaten up, giving absolutely no time for Joe Burrow to throw. On the final drive with Burrow needing a touchdown and a two-point conversion to throw, Burrow throw two peaches that his wide receivers completely missed. Still, this is a pretty strong team.
5. Texas A&M: There were a couple of jokes about how weird this season of college football was when A&M was celebrating an overtime win against Kentucky, but A&M’s defense was brilliant all day, giving Benny Snell just 60 yards (with a long of 11), and making Terry Wilson run for his life. Kellen Mond was a better QB of the two that day, and Jimbo seems to have something a-purring in College Station.
6. Kentucky: First away game, first loss for the Wildcats. Although the defense is excellent (Josh Allen is Superman), the fact that UK didn’t have a drive inside Texas A&M’s half for the whole game was a little worrying. Stop Snell, stop the Cats.
7. Mississippi State: I don’t know if this was a statement win for Joe Moorhead after beating a lacklustre Auburn, but it was certain Moorhead’s biggest since his arrival. Giving Nick Fitzgerald the ball and not letting him throw seems to be a positive move.
8. Auburn: Defensively, Auburn’s fine, but offensively…..HOW BAD IS THIS TEAM DEAR LORD ABOVE. We expected an improvement after the hard-fought LSU game but it’s simply gotten worse and worse.
9. South Carolina: They won a game in a second-half hurricane that they probably should have lost, thanks to Missouri’s awful secondary and a quarterback with an unpronounceable name. And got lucky on a TD that maybe touched the sideline but wasn’t exactly ‘conclusive evidence’.
10. Missouri: There are problems all over this team, including NFL first-rounder Drew Lock. It’s not helping Lock that his receivers drop certain touchdowns and his defense is awful. This team looks destined to finish 6-6 when it could easily have been 8-4. What does this say about Barry Odom, kids? Things will get better this week, Missouri fans…..it’s Alabama weekend!
11. Ole Miss: Finally, Ole Miss dropped a huge amounts of points, put up 800 yards, and looked a lot of fun. May this continue for the rest of the season….because the defense is bad still.
12. Arkansas: ‘WE DROPPED 31 ON ALABAMA! WE’RE IMPROVING!’ – Arkansas fans. Suddenly the Ole Miss game is looking weirdly must-watch TV.
13. Vanderbilt: The Dores started well and then got out-played by a better team.
14. Tennessee: They didn’t lose this weekend….because they got the week off.

There’s nothing more fun than a head coach returning to his former team. Especially when it’s the SEC, where there is probably going to be a little more than polite booing directed at Dan Mullen as he takes his Florida Gators to ClangaVille to face Mississippi State.

But other games are also intriguing on the SEC schedule. There’s LSU vs Ole Miss, which seems destined to be close even though Vegas thinking differently, and weirdly, Kentucky vs South Carolina because the Wildcats – right now – are the SEC’s Cinderella story. Then there’s the sorry tale of Tennessee, who have to travel to Georgia. Eesh.

Missouri has the week off.

So here we go with our SEC predictions:

1. Florida (-7.5) vs Mississippi State: Mississippi State looked great until they faced an actual defense last week, and then Nick Fitzgerald & Co looked completely out of sorts. This week they face a Florida defense that lost to the same Kentucky team, and was outplayed by the same Kentucky team, too. But this Florida team is starting to get things together offensively, and know how to play in a nasty environment (see their disposal of Tennessee last week (even though Tennessee is awful). I hope there will be crowd shots of fans giving Dan Mullen the middle finger. PREDICTION: Mississippi State by 6 in a battle.
2. South Carolina vs Kentucky (-1): This isn’t a game I would have picked at the start of the year for one of the most intriguing games in the SEC’s season so far, but the way Kentucky is playing, it really is. Kentucky strangled the life out of Mississippi State in front of a mayhemic crowd at Kroger Field, and we expect South Carolina to be deafened by a similar wall. South Carolina’s offense is efficient without being spectacular, and will they be able to stop Benny Snell with a rushing defense that ranks 75th in the nation? PREDICTION: Kentucky by 10. 
3. Ole Miss vs LSU (-11.5): If the Tigers play as badly as they did for the first three quarters against Louisiana Tech, they are in trouble. The Tigers had 330 passing yards dropped on them by Tech last week, and Ole Miss Jordan Ta’amu and his wide receiving corps – which includes future NFL first-to-second rounders DJ Metcalf and AJ Brown – could do exactly the same. On the other hand – and we’ve mentioned this a lot – Ole Miss can’t play defense. They are 99th against the rush and 122nd against the pass. If LSU can create two or three stops, they’ve got this one in the bag. Maybe. Because it’s LSU. Prediction: LSU by an uncomfortable 14.
4. Arkansas at Texas A&M (-20.5): The only thing really funny about this game will be the look of Jerry Jones’ face when his former school gets stomped on by the Aggies in The House That He Built. Hell, at least Jerry will take home the parking fees. As a game, this is one that Arkansas fans had better turned up paralytic to. Prediction: Texas A&M by 30.
5. Tennessee vs Georgia (-31): The Bulldogs are a 31-point favorite and should cruise against a Tennessee side devoid of any hope or ideas right now. There doesn’t seem to be any pride in the Big Orange. Georgia fans won’t be satisfied with a win this year…..they’ll only be satisfied with an ass-stomping. And they’ll get one. Prediction: Georgia by 41.
6. Southern Miss vs Auburn (-27): Auburn was so bad last Saturday that I’ve got half a thought that Southern Miss – which averages about 38 points per game – might make this pretty fun. Jake Abraham, Southern Miss’ QB, is throwing TDs for fun, and Auburn’s D is hardly playing with confidence (see Arkansas game). Auburn a 27-pt favorite? Please. Prediction: Auburn by 10. Eventually. The locals won’t be happy.
7. Louisiana-Lafayette vs Alabama (-48.5): “I HATE THE MEDIA. I HATE VEGAS. THIS ULL TEAM’S A GOOD TEAM. WHY ARE WE 48-AND-DANGED-HALF POINT FAVORITES? THIS IS RAT POISON. THE KIDS DON’T NEED TO HEAR YOUR RAT POISON” – Nick Saban, giving waaaaay too much respect to ULL. Prediction: Alabama by 58. Most of them during the first half.
8. Tennessee State vs Vanderbilt: Yawn. PREDICTION: Vandy by 35.