Ranking the Best SEC Matchups of Week 10
The gargantuan game this week in the SEC will take place in Tuscaloosa between Alabama and LSU, featuring two of the top four teams in the initial College Football Playoff rankings.
Everything else is just garnish.
But that doesn't mean it's a slate of slaw. Everything may take a back seat to the Crimson Tide and Tigers, but there are some other important games. All seven tilts in the conference take place between league participants. Nobody is out of conference.
It all starts on Thursday night when newly ranked Mississippi State heads to Columbia, Missouri, where the Tigers are searching for any offense whatsoever. East battles between South Carolina-Tennessee, Kentucky-Georgia and Vanderbilt-Florida all happen on Saturday.
The biggest battles, however, are in the West, where the big one will be flanked by Arkansas-Ole Miss and Auburn-Texas A&M.
So, let's take a look at what you'll need to know as you settle in on Saturday with your pizza, adult beverage and remote control. There's plenty to see in the SEC.
7. Kentucky at Georgia
1 of 7
Three losses in an embarrassing October may lead to massive changes in Athens, and there are plenty of reporters (like the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Chip Towers and Seth Emerson) already speculating.
Will that mean SEC monument Mark Richt's days may be numbered, or will he rethink his coordinator situation between the hedges?
Can a November to remember erase the writing on the wall? There's only one way to find out, and that's play the games. It all starts this weekend when Kentucky heads to Georgia.
The Wildcats also are reeling after two demoralizing losses to Mississippi State and Tennessee the past two weeks. In each game, coach Mark Stoops' defense had no answers for explosive offenses headed by dual-threat quarterbacks.
They won't face that against the Bulldogs, so it may be a little closer this week. UGA also could remember how much talent it's loaded with and roll.
One thing is for certain, and that's quarterback uncertainty. Whether Faton Bauta or Greyson Lambert gets the call for the Dawgs this weekend is unclear. It's also going to be interesting to see how long Patrick Towles' leash is going to be with redshirt freshman Drew Barker ready to compete.
There are several intriguing storylines in this game, but really, both teams need a win in the worst way.
6. Vanderbilt at Florida
2 of 7
Just when it looked like Vanderbilt may be turning a tiny corner as it was competitive with virtually everybody it played, the Commodores go out last week and get obliterated by Houston.
We're not talking about the Texans, either.
There's nothing wrong with losing to Tom Herman's upstart, ranked Cougars, but an SEC team losing to them by a 34-0 tally is unacceptable. That's perhaps the main reason that led VU coach Derek Mason to "apologize for the bad ball tonight," according to the Tennessean's Adam Sparks.
Now Vanderbilt's sputtering offense has to take on one of the best defenses in the nation in the 11th-ranked Florida Gators.
Coach Jim McElwain's dream season continued last week with a tail-whipping of Georgia in the "World's Largest Cocktail Party," where the Gators neutralized everything the Bulldogs tried to do.
This one should be a swatting in The Swamp. Though Vanderbilt is capable of providing surprising fight, the Gators are far too deep, talented and confident to let the Commodores hang around for too long.
It didn't take Florida long to wash the bad taste of the Will Muschamp era out of its mouth, and it's beginning to get that swagger back. There's no reason to believe the Gators won't chomp their way to Atlanta.
That bulldozer rides right over Vandy this weekend.
5. South Carolina at Tennessee
3 of 7
Man, there would have been some nice pregame banter between Tennessee coach Butch Jones and Steve Spurrier had the Head Ball Coach hung around, right?
If you recall, back in July at the SEC media days, Spurrier made the wisecrack that folks in Knoxville were doing "high-fives and cartwheels" after a 7-6 year in 2014. Jones responded by saying, according to CBS Sports' Chip Patterson that, "contrary to reports, there were no back flips and there were no somersaults."
Maybe Tennessee should be doing some minor acrobatics with the way the Vols are playing lately. Spurrier won't be around to see it and try to avoid his third consecutive loss to UT; instead, he resigned earlier this season.
Interim coach Shawn Elliott will bring his Gamecocks to Neyland Stadium to take on a UT team that looks like it finally realizes how much talent it has and a coaching staff learning to utilize it.
The last time the Vols were at home, they stormed from 21 points behind against Georgia to win and flip the season's momentum. South Carolina needs something similar. The Gamecocks are 3-5 and have just one win in the conference.
It would be a pretty major upset for them to knock off the Vols, but UT isn't good enough to take anybody lightly.
There's plenty enough talent in garnet and black, and the Vols must find a way to stop running back Brandon Wilds and especially receiver Pharoh Cooper. If they can slow them down, the Vols will get above .500.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
4. Mississippi State at Missouri
4 of 7
There are plenty of imperfections on Mississippi State's team as the Bulldogs search for running back options and try to shore up some defensive question marks.
But when you've got Dak Prescott, a lot of blemishes can be disguised.
The senior quarterback is enjoying yet another spectacular season and is coming off a six-touchdown performance two weeks ago against Kentucky. He is a special talent whom coach Dan Mullen is going to have an impossible time replacing next year.
Mizzou is having an impossible time trying to simulate Prescott in practice this week.
"As a staff we sit down defensively and try to get fit on who that could be running and throwing," Tigers defensive coordinator Barry Odom told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Dave Matter. "He does both equally well. There's not one guy who can take every snap. And honestly, we don't have one guy that looks like him. We're mixing and matching and trying to get the best look we can."
The Tigers are just trying to improve their own quarterback situation, and, really, their entire offense. It has been historically horrid this year, and junior signal-caller Maty Mauk was suspended for the remainder of the season this week after a previous suspension, per the Associated Press.
That means it's freshman Drew Lock's team the rest of the way. Beating the Bulldogs on Thursday night could really start a rally for the rest of the year.
3. Auburn at Texas A&M
5 of 7
As the ever-changing carousel of quarterbacks turns in College Station, coach Kevin Sumlin got a superstar performance from freshman Kyler Murray against South Carolina last Saturday to make his decision easy for now.
Kyle Allen will remain on the sideline to start the game this week as the talented dual-threat youngster tries to make the Aggies his team.
Meanwhile, at Auburn, Tigers fans just wish their head coach would stick with one player behind center. Gus Malzahn's wacky, puzzling play-calling against Ole Miss where he shuffled quarterbacks in and out and refused to stick with Sean White for any real length of time may have cost the Tigers a chance for the upset.
In fairness to Malzahn, White was dealing with a knee injury, and he rotated quarterbacks to lessen the load.
"He's still a little banged up, but we expect him to play," Malzahn said of his quarterback, according to the Associated Press. "He showed a lot of guts and a lot of toughness because we really were prepared for him not to play, and we got there in pregame and he was very determined: 'I'm ready to go. I can do it.' It's still a little sore but we expect him to play this week."
After such a promising preseason's worth of predictions, AU is just trying to make a bowl game. The Tigers need to find one more victory to go along with a probable win over Idaho the rest of the way just to get to the postseason.
It's fair to say there are plenty of grumbles on the plains.
As for A&M, the Aggies had a closer-than-expected win over the Gamecocks after two discouraging losses. They need a good showing to kind of get their feet under them again.
2. Arkansas at Ole Miss
6 of 7
Ole Miss is looking a little more like its early-season self recently. The Rebels shook off some cobwebs in a morning game at Jordan-Hare Stadium last week and wound up beating Auburn by eight.
That win exacted some revenge from last year's late loss to the Tigers where Ole Miss also dealt with the gruesome, season-ending injury to Laquon Treadwell.
This weekend, the Rebels want to exorcise some more demons from a season ago. They'll try to run those swine off the cliff with a loss.
The Razorbacks forced coach Hugh Freeze's bunch into six turnovers a season ago in a shocking 30-0 domination of the then-eighth-ranked Rebels. That win kind of ignited the Hogs' late-season surge.
"That was the old team, this is the new,” Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly told the Clarion-Ledger's Daniel Paulling. “But you’ve got to have a chip on your shoulder going into this game for sure. That’s what it all comes down to."
The circumstances are near the same from last year. Ole Miss is 7-2 and riding high, having won some big games. The Rebs control their own destiny after an early win over Alabama, and if they win out, they'll represent the SEC West in the championship game for the first time ever.
Arkansas seems to be over some early-season struggles and has evened its record at 4-4.
If the Razorbacks can go on the road and beat the Rebels, it can start another major move for coach Bret Bielema's team. This has the potential to be a very intriguing battle.
1. LSU at Alabama
7 of 7
As if LSU-Alabama didn't already have enough subplots—Recruiting! SEC West supremacy! OMG Nick Saban!—now we can throw in the added drama that when the initial College Football Playoff rankings came out Tuesday night, the Tide and Tigers were in the Top Four.
That's going to bring some more intrigue to Saturday night's massive SEC West showdown in Tuscaloosa. Though it really can't be called the battle for the division thanks to Ole Miss having beaten Bama with LSU yet to play, it's still vital.
If Alabama wins, it keeps its hopes for an SEC title shot and a spot in the playoff alive. LSU still has work cut out for it, but the Tigers haven't lost yet.
For the Tide, it all starts (of course) with slowing down Leonard Fournette, the splendid sophomore Tigers running back who is running away with the Heisman Trophy. Alabama derailed Dak Prescott's hopes for that award last year, and it will try to play spoiler this year, too.
The bottom line is if the Tide can put everything on the shoulders of quarterback Brandon Harris, they've got to feel good about beating their foe to the south.
Meanwhile, LSU is seeking balance offensively. Though Fournette will get fed, the Tigers know they've got to generate some yards through the air, and they've got plenty of weapons in the passing game, too.
They'll key on Bama bruiser Derrick Henry and try to slow him down and put the game at quarterback Jake Coker's feet, too.
Per ESPN.com's Alex Scarborough and David Ching: "What does Alabama like to do offensively? Run the football, work off play-action and throw the ball deep. And in that respect, LSU’s secondary is actually pretty good, allowing the fewest completions of 20 or more yards (16) in the SEC."
It's going to take similar formulas to win the game, and the team that makes the most big plays and the fewest mistakes will win.
Saturday night in Tuscaloosa has the chance to produce a classic.
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")
