The SEC’s Week 5 slate has a little of everything: undefeated heavyweights, a ranked road trip for Florida, and a few matchups that should tell us plenty about where the league stands after the first month.
And in The Alligator’s weekly picks race, Curan Ahern is still out front after Weeks 1-4 with 54 points. Ava DiCecca and Max Bernstein are tied for second at 46, while Riley Orovitz sits fourth at 44. The three-point bonus for an exact score prediction showed up again last Saturday, when Ahern nailed Mississippi State’s 31-24 win over Missouri.
This week’s biggest SEC showdown is the only one featuring two unbeaten teams: No. 7 Alabama at No.
16 Mississippi State. The Crimson Tide have owned the series for a long time, winning 16 straight, and the Bulldogs’ last victory over Alabama came in 2007, Nick Saban’s first season in Tuscaloosa.
Both teams are rolling into this one after convincing wins, with Alabama blasting South Carolina 49-18 and Mississippi State beating then-No. 19 Missouri 31-24.
DiCecca has Alabama 42, Mississippi State 31. Bernstein sees Alabama 35, Mississippi State 27.
Ahern likes Alabama 34, Mississippi State 27. Orovitz is on Alabama 38, Mississippi State 24.
No. 2 Georgia gets Vanderbilt next, and Kirby Smart’s team has been ruthless through four games, outscoring opponents 219-53.
Georgia handled Oklahoma 41-13 on Saturday, while Vanderbilt lost 21-15 and saw its six-game regular-season winning streak come to an end. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 61-20-2, and Vanderbilt has won only three times since 1995.
When this game was last played in Athens, Georgia rolled 55-0.
DiCecca picked Georgia 41, Vanderbilt 14. Bernstein went with Georgia 38, Vanderbilt 13.
Ahern took Georgia 34, Vanderbilt 10. Orovitz chose Georgia 42, Vanderbilt 10.
Florida’s trip to No. 25 Missouri is one of the more intriguing games on the board.
The Gators thumped then-No. 4 Ole Miss 52-28 in The Swamp and jumped 13 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll.
Jadan Baugh also made history, becoming the quickest Florida player to reach 10-plus touchdowns in a season and passing Tim Tebow’s mark. Missouri is coming off its first loss of the year, a defeat to Mississippi State, and the Tigers still hold a narrow 7-6 edge in the series.
The teams split their 12 SEC meetings from 2012-23, and the home team has won the last four matchups.
DiCecca sees Florida 45, Missouri 34. Bernstein has Florida 37, Missouri 27.
Ahern likes Florida 41, Missouri 21. Orovitz went with Florida 42, Missouri 28.
Auburn and Tennessee meet for the first time since 2020, and it’s been since 2013 that Auburn played at Neyland Stadium. Auburn head coach Alex Golesh has a direct connection to this one, having served as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator from 2021-22.
Auburn is coming off a win over Vanderbilt, while then-No. 14 Tennessee fell to No.
1 Texas at home. The Vols have beaten Auburn only once this century, and the Tigers have taken seven of the last eight in the series.
DiCecca picked Tennessee 35, Auburn 28. Bernstein had Tennessee 30, Auburn 24.
Ahern took Tennessee 27, Auburn 20. Orovitz chose Tennessee 32, Auburn 28.
No. 24 Kentucky heads to South Carolina in a game that looks very different from where the Wildcats were a year ago.
In year one under Will Stein, Kentucky has cracked the Top 25 for the first time since 2023 after beating Texas A&M on the road and then handling South Alabama 45-21. South Carolina, meanwhile, has dropped consecutive games to Mississippi State and Alabama, and Shane Beamer is under pressure.
The Gamecocks have still won four straight in the series, including a 35-13 home win last season.
DiCecca went with South Carolina 24, Kentucky 21. Bernstein picked South Carolina 27, Kentucky 26.
Ahern backed Kentucky 28, South Carolina 24. Orovitz chose South Carolina 21, Kentucky 18.
Arkansas and Texas A&M round out the SEC matchups. This one has usually lived in Arlington, but Arkansas is going to College Station for a true Texas A&M home game for the first time since 2020.
Both teams have had uneven starts: Arkansas has beaten North Alabama and Tulsa but was blown out by Utah and Georgia, while the Aggies have lost back-to-back games to Kentucky and LSU. Texas A&M leads the series 42-37-3 and has won 13 of the last 14 meetings.
DiCecca picked Texas A&M 38, Arkansas 10. Bernstein had Texas A&M 28, Arkansas 20.
Ahern chose Texas A&M 27, Arkansas 20. Orovitz went with Texas A&M 37, Arkansas 14.
The final SEC game on the board is McNeese at No. 11 LSU, and it is the lone non-conference matchup in the group.
LSU responded to its loss to Ole Miss with a 35-6 win over Texas A&M. McNeese comes in at 2-3 after beating Texas Wesleyan and East Texas A&M but falling to Stephen F.
Austin, Tarleton State and UT Rio Grande. LSU has won both previous meetings between the programs.
DiCecca picked LSU 48, McNeese 6. Bernstein had LSU 45, McNeese 7.
Ahern went with LSU 49, McNeese 10. Orovitz chose LSU 52, McNeese 10.
In Other News...
Former Florida QB Pledge Just Raised The Stakes For Mizzou Game
Austin Simmons path has already taken him from one SEC sideline to another, and now it brings a little extra intrigue to Missouris matchup with Florida this weekend. Simmons initially pledged to the Gators in 2023 as a class of 2025 prospect, then reclassified to 2023 and flipped to Ole Miss before eventually transferring to Missouri, where he has emerged as the Tigers starting quarterback.
For Florida, the connection is hard to miss. A player who once looked headed to Gainesville will be lining up against the Gators instead, adding a familiar face to a conference game that already carries plenty of weight. With Simmons now running Missouris offense, the meeting has a little more personal history attached to it than most late-season SEC showdowns. [Read more 🡒]
Jon Sumrall Already Has Georgia Fans Arguing Over Florida Practice Talk
Jon Sumralls Florida practices are already drawing attention well before the Gators and Georgia line up for their next meeting, and this time the buzz has more to do with terminology than tactics. Sumrall has been using Bloody Tuesday to describe the kind of intense, physical work he wants on the practice field, a label meant to signal how demanding those sessions are.
Some Georgia fans and media quickly tried to frame the phrase as a Kirby Smart hand-me-down, but the history stretches far beyond that rivalry. The wording has been around for years, including at Florida under Urban Meyer and even earlier with Penn State coach Hugo Bezdek in the 1920s, which only adds another layer to a matchup already loaded with enough history and side chatter to keep both fan bases engaged as the game gets closer. [Read more 🡒]
Floridas New Offensive Identity Puts Pressure On Buster Faulkner
Floridas offense has started to look like something sturdier and more convincing than the unit that spent earlier stretches searching for an identity, and the recent 52-28 win over Ole Miss only reinforced that shift. Offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner pointed to the rushing game as the clearest sign of progress, with Jadan Baugh continuing to set the tone and Duke Clark emerging as another dependable option in the backfield.
Baugh leads the SEC in rushing yards and touchdowns, but the bigger takeaway for Florida is how the ground game has changed the way defenses have to play the Gators. Faulkner said the offense is showing it can adapt and impose its will, and that kind of flexibility will matter again as Florida turns its attention to Missouri, where the challenge is not just carrying over the same production but proving this new identity can hold up week after week. [Read more 🡒]