X

Have feedback / suggestions? Let us know!

NCAA Football SEC Football

Midseason SEC Football Conference Champion Prediction

By @BZarp

SEC

Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Once again, the SEC is the preeminent college football conference, with 11 of the 14 teams holding a winning record six weeks into the season. Of course, having so many quality teams in the same league makes it difficult to predict who will end up winning the conference. But at the midway point in the season, let’s take a crack on predicting a winner in the SEC.

For starters, nearly the entire SEC East can be eliminated, as that division is somewhat mediocre. Preseason favorite South Carolina is all but eliminated from contention, as the Gamecocks have already lost three conference games. This weekend’s showdown between Georgia and Missouri could decide which team from the East heads to the SEC title game, although both teams still have difficult games with the West, which could help the loser of that game catch up.

The representative from the SEC West is going to be the favorite to win the conference, but sorting out who comes out on top in the West may be as difficult as figuring out the four teams that go to the playoffs. LSU and Arkansas are clearly pretenders, although the Razorbacks do look poised to pull off an upset over one of the competitors at some point this year. The next team eliminated is Texas A&M, on the basis that they have to play both Alabama and Auburn on the road, and did not look like a competitor against Mississippi State last week.

That leaves four possible champions: Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi State and Ole Miss. Alabama has some work to do after losing last week, but it has the most manageable schedule, relatively speaking, of the four teams in contention. At the other end of the spectrum, Auburn has the toughest schedule left, with road games against Mississippi State, Georgia and Alabama. Mississippi State has the newest Heisman frontrunner in quarterback Dak Prescott leading the way, but it also has to go on the road to Alabama and Ole Miss, and an Egg Bowl in Oxford with a spot in the SEC title game on the line will not be easy. Finally, there’s Ole Miss, who has already taken care of Alabama and will have the luxury of playing both Auburn and Mississippi State at home.

And the verdict is: Auburn. The schedule the Tigers have to play is brutal, but the eye test says Auburn is the best team in the conference. Nick Marshall is able to run Gus Malzahn’s offense to perfection, and he’s a better passer with a better corps of receivers than he had in 2013.

More importantly, the Auburn defense is playing a much bigger role in the team’s success than last year, and that will make a big difference in such a fiercely contested conference. Auburn already survived a trip to Kansas State, even without playing that well, and that experience will have it prepared for the gauntlet that is the SEC West.

When all is said and done, Auburn will win the SEC West, win the SEC championship game and be the top seed in the College Football Playoff.

Bryan Zarpentine is a New York Mets writer at www.RantSports.com. Like him on Facebook, follow him on twitter @BZarp and add him on Google.

Trending Now on