Hey guys!
Well, here we are: the end of the regular season with championship weekend looming. For many of you, the ride is over. There are no bowl games for the bottom part of this list. That doesn’t mean the season is a loss necessarily (looking at you Ole Miss).
It’s been an eventful last weekend in the SEC. Coaching changes, upsets, and more coaching changes! This is basically why Twitter was invented (looking at you now, Vol Nation). We’ve had a lot of coverage on the UT situation: two articles on Greg Schiano (Editor’s Note: Poppa Bear and Smokey wrote about this) and one on Mike Gundy. I recommend all of them.
How much chaos did this weekend cause? Let’s have a look. On to the rankings!
1. Auburn – That was as decisive a win against the Tide as there has been in years. The Tigers are the hottest team in college football, looking nothing like the team that started the season. Kerryon Johnson makes the short list for SEC MVP. The Tigers have a spot in the playoff if they tale down Georgia again this weekend.
2. Georgia – The Bulldogs have had their ticket punched to Atlanta for a few weeks, so the rival game against Georgia Tech was about staying alive for the playoff. They handled the Yellow Jackets and now have to face an Auburn team that demolished them once this season. Win and the Bulldogs are in. Remember the old rule kids; it’s hard to beat the same team twice in one season.
3. Alabama – Saturday was a rough day for the Tide. The offense looked stale and the defense was reeling all day. In short, Alabama had no answers for Auburn. Jalen Hurts had a mediocre game at best, and the run game was abandoned early. For the first time in several years. The SEC championship will not include Alabama, and they don’t control their path to the playoff. They can still make it, but this doesn’t look like a championship team.
4. LSU – The Tigers finished strong in the regular season, beating down the Aggies to finish 9-3. LSU will land in a solid bowl, and could end up with a 10 win season. Not too shabby for Coach O’s first year in Baton Rouge.
5. Missouri – Shut. Up. I know. I don’t care. Missouri finished the season with seven wins! The odds against that were staggering! Drew Lock happens to also be on the SEC MVP short list, and should probably win that honor. The Tigers put away Arkansas and get to go bowling. I’m sold out for Missouri.
6. Mississippi State – It was a rough weekend for the Bulldogs. They lost the Egg Bowl, Nick Fitzgerald went down with a horrific leg injury, and Dan Mullen left for Florida. Overall, pretty tough sledding in Starkville. On the plus side, the Bulldogs are still 8-4 and just hired a homerun in Joe Moorhead. So, hey, it could be worse.
7. South Carolina – Did anyone expect the Gamecocks to beat Clemson? Not at all. But they could have put up a better fight. On the plus side, an 8-4 season is still a win for Will Muschamp and company, so things are trending up in South Carolina.
8. Ole Miss – The Rebels end their season on a solid note. Not only did they take home the Golden Egg, they took the interim tag off of Matt Luke. He more than earned the job, and was definitely the best man for the job. No bowl for the Rebel Land Sharks, so we’ll say farewell until next season.
9. Texas A&M – A tough season for the Aggies ended in a loss to LSU. As expected, A&M moved on from Kevin Sumlin. The Aggies are still bowl eligible, and seem to be targeting Jimbo Fisher for the vacant head coaching spot. Should be an interesting few weeks in College Station.
10. Kentucky – A year after upsetting Louisville, the Wildcats were blown out by the Cardinals. Losing a rivalry game is bad enough, but not being competitive is not how Kentucky wanted to end the regular season. They’re still going bowling, and they don’t have to search for a new coach. So that’s something.
11. Vanderbilt – The season was disappointing for the Commodores, but they handed UT its 8th loss of the season, so they’re still celebrating. Derek Mason is still hanging around, but that might not be the best thing for Vanderbilt. No bowling for Vandy, so we’ll see you next season.
12. Florida – The Gators should probably be at 13 on this list after losing convincingly to a struggling FSU. However, they get a boost for making the best hire of the season so far. Dan Mullen will have Florida trending in the right direction soon, and that’s bad news for the East. No post season for Florida, so Coach Mullen has plenty of time to get started. See you next year.
13. Arkansas – After losing a tight game to Missouri on Saturday night, Bret Bielema was fired before he left the field. That’s cold, even by my standards. Still, it was the right move for the Razorbacks. If they can lure Gus Malzahn from Auburn (and I really don’t see how), the Hogs will be back. Missing bowl eligibility, we’ll catch you next season Arkansas.
14. Tennessee – A loss to Vanderbilt is always a nightmare for the Vols. The coaching search, however, is an entirely different set of problems. Schiano, Gundy, and Brohm are just a few of the names that have come and gone. There’s so much information, you should just read all of our coverage on the topic. The Vols are done playing for the year after their first eight loss season, but we haven’t heard the end of the story yet. The coaching search continues.
It’s been a great regular season everyone. Thank you to each and every one of you that read this article every week. It’s very flattering when someone tells me that they’re a weekly reader. Sincerely, I really appreciate each of you taking time out of your day to read my incoherent ramblings on college football. And don’t you worry, I’ll still be here for random articles during bowl season and the coaching carousel. Stay tuned kids, this ride ain’t over yet.
Have a great week folks. As always, Poppa Bear loves you.
Poppa Bear is the Lead SEC Analyst for the SoBros Network, and serves as our resident expert on the human anatomy, fixin’ stuff, and tomatoes. Follow on Twitter:@SoBroPoppaBear
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