Georgia may have taken a hit, but the top of the SEC still runs through Athens.
That’s the basic truth after a wild Week 7 left the league’s hierarchy looking more chaotic than ever. Georgia sits at No. 1 anyway, Auburn’s shocker in Athens shook up the middle, and Texas keeps tumbling toward the bottom as the Longhorns’ season keeps slipping further out of reach.
The Bulldogs are still the team at the top, even after the loss to Auburn. There’s a sense that the result says more about how strange that game was than it does about Georgia’s actual standing. The resume took a dent, sure, but the Bulldogs still have plenty of chances ahead to make a stronger case.
Behind them, Kentucky is surging into real Playoff conversation at No. 2.
The Wildcats have become one of the hottest teams in the country, and Vanderbilt is next on the schedule. After that comes a difficult stretch with Tennessee, Florida, and Missouri, before the rivalry game against Louisville.
Even with another loss mixed in there, Kentucky can still make the playoff, and this is a candidacy worth watching closely.
LSU checks in at No. 3, and the Tigers now get a chance to deal with their road issues at Auburn this weekend. Under Kiffin, they have dropped both of their first two road games, so another slip would start to look like a pattern. November is where the real story begins, though, with Alabama and Tennessee still waiting later on.
Alabama is at No. 4, even if the offense has started to look mortal again. The absence of Ryan Coleman-Williams mattered last week, and the Tide will try to get right against Texas A&M before the bye. Still, they open November in Death Valley, which does not exactly offer much comfort.
South Carolina lands at No. 5 after a week off, but the Gamecocks return straight into a tough test against Tennessee. The big question is simple: which LaNorris Sellers shows up? The version from the Alabama game, or the one from the Florida game?
Tennessee sits at No. 6, and the frustration around what might have been is impossible to ignore. The Volunteers, by rights, should be 6-0 and ranked among the country’s elite if a quarterback change had come earlier. Instead, they head into a tricky road game at South Carolina before the bye, then face a finish that includes LSU and Kentucky among their final four.
Ole Miss rises to No. 7 and is starting to rebuild momentum after that ugly result in Gainesville. The Rebels’ win over LSU keeps looking better by the week, and a chance to land a big blow against Texas is coming soon. Georgia still looms a few games down the road, but the Rebels are moving the right way again.
Missouri is No. 8 after taking a little humble pie against Ole Miss. Even so, the Playoff dream is still alive, though only barely. The trip to Athens later this year is the obvious hurdle, and if the Tigers can survive that, they could absolutely stay in the 12-team hunt.
Texas A&M comes in at No. 9 after doing what it had to do against The Citadel. Now comes the real test: a road trip to Alabama. The Tide may be more vulnerable than they were earlier, but A&M still hasn’t won a road game this season, and it hasn’t even looked competitive in one.
Mississippi State is No. 10, and the return of Kamario Taylor and Fluff Bothwell has changed the feel of the team. But a shutout in Death Valley off a bye is still a bad look, and the schedule does not get easier with Oklahoma and Texas next.
Auburn’s statement win over Georgia rockets the Tigers to No. 11, and it’s the kind of result they have not had in a decade. It was the first time they won in Athens since 2005. The numbers said they probably shouldn’t have, but the win counts all the same, and LSU comes next.
Florida is No. 12 after that road win in Austin behind Tramell Jones’ breakout performance. The bad losses to Missouri and South Carolina are still hanging around, though. The Gators get an off week before Georgia comes to town on Halloween, and the question is whether the proof of concept holds until then.
Oklahoma is No. 13, up and down in the span of two weeks. The Sooners got a brief lift from the Texas win, then were snapped right back by the loss to Kentucky. Now they head to Starkville to face an injured Mississippi State team, but they still have to score points to win - and that remains a problem.
Texas sits at No. 14, and the outlook in Austin is getting uglier by the week. The Longhorns are 0-2 since the bye and, as the ranking suggests, are only a few bounces from being 2-4. Ole Miss and Mississippi State are both coming to Austin, followed by road trips to Missouri and LSU, and there could easily be two or three more losses on that path.
Arkansas is No. 15 after finally picking up a conference win. It may be the only SEC victory the Razorbacks get all year, with Missouri, Auburn, South Carolina, Texas, and LSU still ahead. Still, it gives Ryan Silverfield something to work with, even if it came against Vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt rounds out the list at No. 16.
The Commodores started 3-0, then have gone 0-4 in league play since, and now they’re fresh off losing to what had been viewed as the worst team in the SEC. A road trip to Kentucky is next, and the Wildcats suddenly look like a team with postseason ambitions.
In Other News...
Mike Elko Got A Reset But Texas A&M Still Has Everything To Prove
The win over The Citadel at least gave Texas A&M a clean break from the kind of performance that had hung over the program after the Missouri game, when the Aggies failed to score a touchdown and looked nowhere near the standard they need to reach. For a team trying to steady itself under Mike Elko, even a lopsided result can matter because it offers a chance to regroup, refocus and stop the spiral from looking permanent.
Still, one reset does not change the larger question facing this season. The Aggies have to show they can carry that momentum into games that actually define an SEC year, and that means proving the offense and overall consistency travel against better competition. Until they do, the Missouri loss will feel less like a bad day and more like the clearest warning sign of what this team still has to overcome. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Heads To Texas A&M With Two Key Availability Questions
Alabamas trip to College Station comes with a little more uncertainty than a typical October road game, thanks to a pair of lower-leg injuries that bear watching all week. Head coach Kalen DeBoer said EJ Crowell and Zabien Brown are both being evaluated as the Crimson Tide prepare for their Week 8 matchup with Texas A&M, leaving two of their more impactful defenders and contributors in a day-to-day holding pattern.
Crowell has been one of Alabamas most efficient runners by yards per carry, while Brown has been a steady presence in the secondary and leads the team in passes defended. For Texas A&M, the situation adds another layer to a game that already carries real SEC weight, because Alabamas available personnel in the backfield and on the perimeter could shape how aggressive the Tide can be from the opening series on. [Read more 🡒]
Texas A&M Faces A Bigger Question Than Its Alabama Trip
Texas A&M heads into the Alabama trip with the kind of underdog label that tends to sharpen every conversation around the program, but the bigger intrigue may be happening off the field. Betting lines have reflected the Aggies recent play, yet the more forward-looking chatter around the program has centered on how the roster could be shaped for next season and what kind of quarterback help might be available in the transfer portal.
One name already floating into that discussion is Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele from Cal, a signal that Texas A&Ms attention extends well beyond Saturdays matchup. For a team trying to stabilize its trajectory, the Alabama game is only part of the picture, and the rest of it involves how aggressively the Aggies choose to pursue help at the games most important position. [Read more 🡒]