Ranking the Best SEC Matchups of Week 9
After a couple of quality weeks, this Saturday features an SEC slate that's a bit on the lighter side, as bye weeks are in full swing and there are no matchups between ranked opponents.
There are still a few extremely intriguing games.
The most interesting one will occur in Jacksonville, Florida, as the Georgia Bulldogs and 11th-ranked Florida Gators will renew their rivalry in the "World's Largest Cocktail Party."
Ole Miss has to travel to the loveliest village on the Plains of Alabama, and Tennessee heads to Lexington, Kentucky, to try to reverse this season's bad luck against the Wildcats.
Vanderbilt must venture out of conference to take on a ranked opponent, and Texas A&M has to find a way to pick up the pieces against South Carolina.
The SEC East may very well be at stake this weekend, so that will provide plenty of drama. Other games should hold plenty of interest as well, as contenders will try not to get in scary situations on Halloween.
Taking into consideration the quality of opponents, venue and chances of an upset, let's take a look at the top SEC games of the week.
6. Tennessee-Martin at Arkansas
1 of 6
After winning one of the most exciting games of the season in a 54-46, four-overtime classic against Auburn where they converted two fourth-down-or-die situations in extra sessions, the Arkansas Razorbacks need a break.
The Hogs don't have a bye week, but they've got the next-best thing—a game against a Football Championship Subdivision opponent.
Coach Bret Bielema's team welcomes the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks to Fayetteville, and though Arkansas currently sits at 3-4 on the season, this is an ideal chance to even that record.
Coach Jason Simpson's high-powered offense led by quarterback Jerod Neal has lit up the FCS this year, with the Skyhawks' only loss on their level coming by a 48-41 tally to top-ranked Jacksonville State. But to give you an idea of what happens when UTM goes head-to-head with an SEC opponent, look back to Week 1.
That's when they played at Ole Miss and lost 76-3. It won't be that bad this weekend, but the Skyhawks won't be able to hang with the big, physical Hogs, either.
This will be an ideal week for Bielema to play a lot of guys, develop a little depth and give his players a breather. That's exactly what they need after an emotional roller-coaster win when they came out on top over the Tigers.
5. Vanderbilt at Houston
2 of 6
At the beginning of the season, Vanderbilt's out-of-conference schedule didn't look that difficult.
But, as it turns out, the trio of Western Kentucky, MTSU and Houston will wind up being a pretty sturdy cluster of non-SEC opponents. This weekend's foe is the No. 18 Cougars, and this game has the chance to be as bad as the Ole Miss-Memphis game a couple of weeks ago.
First-year coach Tom Herman made a name for himself as Urban Meyer's offensive coordinator at Ohio State. Now, that name is becoming one of the hottest on the head-coaching trail as some of the top programs who've punted coaches start looking for the next guy up.
Don't be surprised to hear Herman heavily discussed with openings at South Carolina and Miami, among others.
That reputation will only grow if the Cougars beat Vanderbilt, as the oddsmakers expect. Houston opened as 13.5-point favorites, according to Oddsshark, and although that number has dropped a couple of points, it still could be lopsided.
The Cougars are led by dual-threat quarterback Greg Ward Jr., whom Herman likened to another athletic then-quarterback he coached with the Buckeyes in Braxton Miller.
"He’s like a poor man’s Braxton," Herman told FoxSports.com's Bruce Feldman. "He’s so explosive with a lot of wiggle and great change of direction. He also throws it much better than people think."
The Commodores, meanwhile, are coming off their biggest win of the Derek Mason era with a 10-3 win over a hapless Missouri team.
VU gave freshman quarterback Kyle Shurmur his first start against the Tigers. Shurmur, who is the son of Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, was adequate in his first action.
Vanderbilt's game is defense, so it's going to be an interesting battle of strengths with Houston's offense. This is a big opportunity for the Commodores to win a very important game.
4. South Carolina at Texas A&M
3 of 6
The quarterback situations for both South Carolina and Texas A&M may seem a bit murky on the surface heading into this weekend's game, but at least one side doesn't have any pregame concerns.
Gamecocks interim coach Shawn Elliott welcomed back Connor Mitch and Lorenzo Nunez to practice this week after both former starters suffered injuries at points this season, but Perry Orth is the man.
For now.
Elliott told the (Charleston) Post and Courier's David Caraviello this week:
"I think Perry right now is our solid starter. He played really well, we thought, against Vanderbilt. He continues to play well in practice and make good decisions, he continues to have the backing of most of our football team at this moment. The guys kind of believe in him because of how hard he works, and his preparation in practice. So I’d say he’s a pretty solid starter at this point.
"
Meanwhile, Texas A&M and Kevin Sumlin are trying to pick up the pieces of what is a slowly shattering season.
The Aggies went from one of the nation's most surprising teams and dynamic offenses to a mess in losses to Alabama and Ole Miss. Both of those are excellent opponents, so it isn't the end of the world, but there are major questions.
Just a couple of weeks ago, sophomore Kyle Allen looked like the best quarterback in the SEC, throwing 13 touchdowns and just two picks. Against Ole Miss, he was absolutely clueless, and in his past two games, he's tossed one touchdown and four picks.
That's why Sumlin opened up the competition this week between him, Kyler Murray and Jake Hubenak. He told the Associated Press (via FoxSports.com):
"Looking for consistency across the board at quarterback. Cutting down on turnovers. This week you'll be evaluated not only based on practice, percentage in drills and everything else, but also evaluated in your leadership skills, communication with teammates and the coaching staff and general overall play and demeanor.
"
With all those question marks, it'll be interesting to see who exits this game as the starter for both teams.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
3. Tennessee at Kentucky
4 of 6
Tennessee has been mentioned several times this week as "the best four-loss team in college football," or something along those lines.
That's little solace to a 3-4 team sick of moral victories.
Indeed, the Volunteers have four losses by a total of 17 points. After blowing two-score leads against Oklahoma, Florida and Arkansas, UT scored late to have a shocking 14-13 advantage over eighth-ranked Alabama last weekend before the Tide eventually scored and won 19-14.
Now, coach Butch Jones' team enters a five-game season finale where it could win out. That stretch includes Kentucky, South Carolina, North Texas, Missouri and Vanderbilt, but the toughest battle remaining may come on the road this Saturday night in Lexington.
When describing UK, Jones used "very" a lot, according to GoVols247's Wes Rucker.
"Very, very talented football team. It's gonna be a great challenge in and of itself going over to Lexington. It's gonna be a great environment, a 7:30 kickoff. I've got a lot of respect for what Mark (Stoops) is building a Kentucky. He's done a very, very good job there. They're very, very, very explosive on offense. Can score anytime they get the football, can score anywhere on the field. They do a great job of distributing the football, of running the football.
Defensively, very, very physical. They play with very good effort. Very, very stout up front, and they have the luxury of playing man-to-man coverage anywhere on the football field, as well. So it's gonna be a great challenge this week, and it starts, just like every week, with a great week of preparation.
"
A glimpse at the statistics will tell you the Wildcats aren't that good, but they are much improved. They took Florida to the wire and also beat Missouri and South Carolina.
Running back Boom Williams is perhaps the most underrated player in the SEC, and Patrick Towles is a capable quarterback who has suffered a struggling year so far.
If UK gets off to a hot start, Lexington could become a very hostile environment for the Vols. This could wind up being a good game.
2. Ole Miss at Auburn
5 of 6
When Ole Miss shockingly lost handily to Memphis a couple of weeks ago, many wrote the Rebels off as being another also-ran.
But they dominated Texas A&M in Oxford last week, looking more like the team that routinely rolled up 70-point games early in the season before upsetting Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The Rebels defense smothered the Aggies on the way to a 23-3 win.
Earlier in the day, Auburn missed a golden opportunity to take a major step toward bowl eligibility with a four-overtime loss to Arkansas. But the Tigers have found the future in freshman quarterback Sean White, who is growing and improving with every start.
He told AuburnTigers.com's Charles Goldberg that he was learning how to be a quarterback in the league.
"As a quarterback, you have to be a leader, but you don't want to step on the seniors' toes or anything like that, especially because I didn't start out the season as a starter. I feel as a quarterback I'm gaining my teammates' respect. My leadership role has to increase the more that I play. I think that's something that has been increasing and I'll continue to try to build that for my team.
"
AU has a bit of a gauntlet remaining, and though the Tigers will beat Idaho, that sixth win is looking tough. They've got to play the Rebels, Texas A&M, Georgia and Alabama. Winning one of those would be a decent consolation prize considering all the early-season adversity.
Ole Miss has bigger fish to fry. Coach Hugh Freeze's team still controls its own destiny in the SEC West, and with Alabama vanquished and LSU remaining, the Rebels can't afford any slip-ups.
A morning game in Auburn isn't the easiest of tasks. This game could be interesting, especially if the Tigers get off to a fast start.
1. Georgia vs. Florida
6 of 6
There are a lot of interesting subplots and national-picture scenarios that get too complicated to discuss, but the bottom line of Saturday's "World's Largest Cocktail Party" is the winner holds the upper hand in representing the SEC East in the championship game.
The 6-1 Gators have lost their only game since starting quarterback Will Grier was suspended for a calendar year for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, but that was a highly competitive road loss to undefeated LSU where Treon Harris played admirably.
Though the 5-2 Bulldogs got blown out by Alabama and lost at Tennessee, they survived a low-scoring slug-fest against Missouri and still hold the upper hand in the division with a win over the Gators.
If Florida wins, it will control its own destiny over everybody but Vanderbilt, who isn't a real threat to go to Atlanta, anyway.
"The down-the-road ramifications aren't set in stone, but they're pretty much in the cement mixer and ready to poured," GatorZone's Chris Harry wrote. "Both teams control their destiny in the race for the league's East Division title and accompanying berth in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game."
Wacky outcomes are notorious for this game, such as last year's 38-20 win for Florida over ninth-ranked Georgia, which wound up as the league's biggest upset of the season. A case could be made that it was the biggest upset in the country last year.
This year, the Gators are expected to win. But the spread is narrow, and though UGA is without star running back Nick Chubb, the Dawgs still have plenty of weapons led by runner Sony Michel.
It should be an extremely entertaining game, and there's no doubt it's the marquee game of the week.
All stats gathered from CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted. All quotes gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Brad Shepard covers SEC football and is the Tennessee lead writer for Bleacher Report. Follow Brad on Twitter @Brad_Shepard.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
