SEC Rankings: Texas A&M is the best team in the SEC
So here are our rankings for the SEC….
- Texas A&M (7-1): The Aggies beat LSU on Saturday night, meaning that they have the SEC’s only unbeaten record. And looking at the schedule- and we’re increasingly confident that they’ll beat Texas at Thanksgiving – they should face off against Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. What Mike Elko has done so well is recognize when his quarterback’s playing terribly, and change him (See Conor Weigman for Marcel Reed – who has wheels and a good arm) out.
- Georgia (6-1): After losing to Alabama and then two very ordinary performances against Auburn and Missisippi State, Georgia came to Texas and rolled – mostly on the strength of their defense, which forced Quin Ewers to make stupid decisions and also bail Carson Beck out of jail. But where Georgia is good is that they have depth at WR, and Trevor Etienne balled against Texas.
- Texas (7-1): The Longhorns have a Quin Ewers problem. In the fact that he’s a pretty crappy decision-maker (two more interceptions against Vanderbilt to go with his 4 this year) isn’t going to the Longhorns far. In fact, if they lose against Texas A&M, then they throw themselves into College Football Play-Off hell. They were challenged against Vanderbilt, but in the end came through it. But when you’re a 19 1/2 point favorite and come away with a 27-24 win mostly thanks to your defense, things look a little worrying.
- Tennessee (6-1): As results go when you’re on a Bye Week, it was a fairly ordinary week for the Vols. But if you look at the results, the Vols are hardly filling us with confidence – particularly with Georgia in three games’ time.
- Alabama (6-2): Alabama slammed Missouri to keep a small window open for a Play-Off spot, but let’s be honest – the Tide was helped by an awful lot by Mizzou’s reserve-to-the-reserve Drew Pyne, who threw 3 pretty simple 3 TDs. Jalin Milroe isn’t a particularly great QB, but his legs make him – again – a frightening prospect when they get it all together.
- LSU (6-2): LSU’s loss didn’t put paid to the Tiger’s National Play-Off odds, but it certainly made them a whole lot longer. The problem for LSU – as we saw against Arkansas – is their problem with finishing drives. They had the ball on 1st and goal from the Aggies’ 7th yard line and could only convert it into a field goal. The quarterback play from Garrett Nussmeier (he threw 3 picks in Aggieland) has hardly been world-beating, and they continue to make mistakes on special teams.
- Ole Miss (6-2): Ole Miss’ Play-Off hopes were hanging like a thread when they hosted a Oklahoma who’s offense is atrocious…and they were down at the half. They came back in the second half to win – mainly on the back of their defense, who had nine sacks. We’re suddenly not confident in the Lane Train.
- Vanderbilt (5-3): No-one was expecting Vandy to beat Texas. But the seven-point loss when you’ve been pretty much dominated showed an incredible amount of resilience. And it’s cool to see.
- South Carolina (5-3): A good-if-not-great team, but fun enough to watch. The home game against Texas A&M should wild on the 2nd, but we’re not confident. But that’s fine – LaNorris Sellers has given us plenty of room to think they’ve got hope.
- Florida (4-3): The record thus far is predictable, but the way they battled against Tennessee (and probably should have won) and then curb-stomped Kentucky makes us believe that they are going to give some teams fits come November.
- Arkansas (5-3): We thought the Mississippi State game would be a challenge for the Razorbacks…but it wasn’t. The Razorbacks dropped 58, and were fantastic throughout. Things continue to look up.
- Missouri (6-2): Missouri has played two ranked teams, and they’ve been smashed both times. The first one was because the gameplan was abhorrent…and the seccond one was because Brady Cook got injured in the first half, and Drew Pyne played like such ass that they had to rely on the running game, which Alabama stacked the box for.
- Auburn (3-5): Jarquez Hunter did the job against Kentucky on Saturday (a game we’d honestly forgotten existed when we were writing these rankings), and after the Missouri performance, things are looking more encouraging. A bit more encouraging.
- Oklahoma (4-4): The Sooners are 1-4 in the SEC, and the offense is so darned bad and the schedule is so darned rough that it wouldn’t be surprising if they missed a bowl this year.
- Kentucky (3-5): This team is terrible. Ole Miss must be wondering how they lost to the Wildcats. And Mark Stoops should be fired. But because of his $44m buyout, the Wildcats are now more excited about a rebuilding basketball team then this goddawful football team.
- Mississippi State (1-7): There is an expression in the stock market called “Pump and Dump”, in which stock market people talk up a stock and then dump it. It’s an illegal practice. This team is ‘Dump and Dump’, in which we thought they would be crappy, and they’ve actually been worse. Yes, they are relying on frosh Michael Van Buren Jr to run the offense, but the defense ain’t run by him.