14. Kentucky
Kentucky has two wins this season with one against a winless Miami (OH) and the other against Alabama State from the SWAC. It's been a tough first season for Mark Stoops at Kentucky.
Kentucky has two wins this season with one against a winless Miami (OH) and the other against Alabama State from the SWAC. It's been a tough first season for Mark Stoops at Kentucky.
If you think it's been tough for Stoops at Kentucky, it's arguably been worse for Bret Bielema at Arkansas, where expectations are much, much higher. The Hogs are in the middle of a seven-game losing streak, but they will be hoping to pull off a home win coming out of the bye vs. a banged-up Mississippi State.
The next two weeks will frame how successful Butch Jones does in his first year at Tennessee. Winnable games vs. Vanderbilt and at Kentucky are left on the schedule and the Vols need them both to get to a bowl.
You have to wonder how different Mississippi State would have looked had they had leading passer and rusher Dak Prescott healthy for the Alabama game that was up for grabs for the Bulldogs. Nevertheless, they played them tough, but a loss it a loss and they need to win out at Arkansas and vs. Ole Miss to get to a fourth-straight bowl.
Florida played South Carolina really well considering they had no help at quarterback and have been decimated by injuries, but they ran out of gas at the end. This team has been snake-bitten by the injury bug more than any other team in recent memory.
Georgia almost had one of the best comebacks in the SEC this season against Auburn, but a miraculous touchdown catch crushed the Bulldogs, who had their slim SEC east titles dashed.
It didn't look pretty, but Vanderbilt picked up the win over Kentucky to get bowl-eligibility for the third straight season. Jordan Matthews continues to put up remarkable numbers at receiver and should become the SEC's all-time leading receiver at Tennessee on Saturday.
After their loss at Alabama, LSU was idle last week to prepare for Texas A&M. The Tigers need a win this week or risk falling outside the top-25 and losing for the fourth time this season. They had success last year vs. the Aggies, but this year's defense is a far cry from last year’s.
The Rebels were my preseason sleeper, and they've lived up to the hype awfully well with the No. 2 offense in the conference and a defense that's getting better each week. Top recruit Robert Nkemdiche was named defensive lineman of the week for his performance vs. Troy.
Don't look now, but Jadeveon Clowney is starting to heat up after a dominating performance vs. Florida. The Gamecocks need Missouri to stumble to either Ole Miss or Texas A&M to claim the SEC east, and that looks like a real possibility.
Texas A&M is looking for revenge against LSU, who beat up Johnny Manziel last year en route to the Tigers' win. The LSU game last season is the only time in Manziel's career that he has not thrown or ran for a touchdown. A win for A&M means they keep their hopes of a BCS bowl alive.
Missouri gets quarterback James Franklin back for this week at Ole Miss where the Rebels are piling up points. Will Franklin be rusty enough that Gary Pinkel needs to put Maty Mauk in the game? Mauk threw five touchdowns in his last start, but goes back to being the backup with the senior now back from his shoulder injury.
Auburn looked like they were going to run away with the Georgia game, but then Aaron Murray happened and the Tigers needed a Hail Mary to get past the 'Dawgs to keep their hopes of winning the SEC west alive. The Iron Bowl on Nov. 30 with is going to be a crazy scene.
Alabama didn't look great at Mississippi State and made a number of uncharacteristic errors vs. the Bulldogs, but good teams find ways to win when you're not at your best and that's what they did. They have a tuneup vs. Chattanooga before taking on Auburn, with the winner headed to the SEC Championship Game.
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