SEC Rankings: Texas A&M, LSU rising hard

As we thought would happen, we know the best team in the SEC: And it’s not Texas.

Despite what the garbage-throwing, cowboy-hat-but-never-seen-a-cow-except-Bevo crowd might have thought, it would always going to be tough against this Georgia front, who ate Quin Ewers and Arch Manning alive.

It made us think: Is the second-best team in the SEC not actually Texas, but one of their biggest rivals?

Anyhoo….

  1. Georgia (6-1): Utterly dominant at Texas (defensively), but on the offensive side, Travis Etienne bailed out Carson Beck, who was simply awful in Austin. And that balance will be just fine.
  2. Texas A&M (6-1): Finishing drives, defensively very solid…or just plain good? Conor Weigman seems to have found his feet (finally), and Le’Veon Moss is a plain freak.
  3.  LSU (6-1): The Tigers are unbeaten in the SEC, and they went into a hard environment in Arkansas and simply dominated. The scoreline would have been a lot worse for the Razorbacks if LSU could have fully finished drives, instead of hitting four field goals. Still, Brian Kelly’s team still won 34-10.
  4.  Texas (6-1): Quin Ewers’ unpredictability is a problem. Texas’ lack of running game is going to hurt them. Texas misses the speed of Worthy, the reliabiliity of Whittington, and Jonathan Brooks. It’s obvious. And Texas is still an upper-tier SEC team (whatever that is).
  5.  Tennessee (6-1): It was a do or die game on the Third Saturday in October for both sides’ play-off hopes, and Tennessee won out thanks to having a Plan B in the second half (“Let Dylan Sampson run the damned ball!”), while Alabama had to have one plan because UT had stifled their running game. Nico, sadly isn’t filling us up with joy, however.
  6.  Ole Miss (5-2): Tennessee’s win didn’t do Ole Miss any favors in the play-off race. This team is fine, but not great.
  7. Vanderbilt (5-2): ONE WAY AWAY FROM A BOWL GAME, BABY
  8. Alabama (5-2): The Crimson Tide is in rebuild mode. They might need to start paying for running backs in the future, because Jalin Milroe just trying to do everything is a defensive coordinator’s wet dream.
  9.  Missouri (6-1): Brady Cook got injured, went to hospital, came back, led his team to victory against Auburn. Gamer. Does this cover up the cracks? Not particularly, but what a hero.
  10. South Carolina (4-3): Their destruction of Oklahoma on the road was yet again proof that Shane Beamer’s team is gloriously schizophrenic.
  11. Arkansas (4-3): Getting stomped by LSU showed us what level the Razorbacks are at. And it’s pretty ordinary. Sam Pittman’s staying in a job, Arkansas’ boosters are rich as hell, and they will be fine. But right now, it’ll be on-and-off ugly.
  12. Florida (4-3): The Gators SMOKED Kentucky, mostly thanks to a 5 TD performance by RB Jaden Bough. But what’s lost in the conversation is that all of Baugh’s TDs were from close range. DJ Lagway is proving to be inspirational, going 7 for 14 for 256 yards. Five of them for over 40. Kid’s got a cannon. Billy Napier’s job security is beginning to improve – even if the last 4 of 5 games are absolutely evil.
  13. Kentucky (3-4): The Ole Miss victory is looking more and more like an aberration after yet another piss-poor defensive effort. Brock Vandagriff is very mediocre in every quarterback category in the SEC. The offensive line once again in a problem. And when your running game is 78th in the country, then things don’t bode well.
  14. Oklahoma (4-3): Oklahoma’s top 5 wide receivers are out. The quarterbacks are either freshmen or not very good. The OU defense cannot stand up to this many three-and-outs, or what they had on Saturday on their first three drives…Interception, Fumble recovered by SC for a touchdown, Pick Six. Write this one off, folks.
  15. Auburn (2-5): Once again the Tigers’ utter competence at blowing double-digit leads by doing dumb stuff is truly astounding. This week is giving up a PI and three 10+ passing yards with the team driving for a game-winning score. Hugh Freeze may not be the answer, folks.
  16. The smell of stale cigarettes in ashtrays
  17. Mississippi State (1-6): Despite showing a bit of grit against Georgia and Texas A&M, the Bulldogs are still s**t.