THE HOTTEST SEAT

1. Will Muschamp: Following a 29-point loss to Missouri two weeks ago, Florida fans weren’t certain Muschamp would survive the Gators’ bye week with his job in tact. He did, and he’ll coach Florida in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in Jacksonville on Saturday, although at this point he’s hanging on by a thread. If the Gators produce another poor performance on a national stage against one of their biggest conference rivals, it could be the nail in the coffin for Muschamp. It seems almost certain he won’t be back next season, but he could be coaching for the right to finish out this season in Saturday’s action.

THE WARM SEATS

2. Derek Mason: Vanderbilt played one of its best games of the season in a 10-point road loss to Missouri last week, but Mason’s team seems to be coming together as we near the end of his first season in Nashville. Mason has a core of freshmen who could lead this team back to relevance down the road — Ralph Webb, C.J. Duncan, Nigel Bowden, etc. — and fellow freshman Johnny McCrary played surprisingly well in his first career start under center for the Commodores. Vanderbilt fell hard this season after James Franklin’s departure, but Mason is finally showing signs that he’s the man for the job.

3. Bret Bielema: Bielema’s Razorbacks smoked UAB last week, but no one was worried about his ability to take down a team like UAB. The Hogs’ head man needs to win an SEC game to get his critics off his back, and he’ll have four more chances to do so this season. Three of those games are against top 20 teams, making an SEC win hard to come by, but if Bielema ends the year with another 0-8 record in the conference, bringing his overall record in the SEC to 0-16, Arkansas fans may get fed up with last place in the West Division standings.

4. Butch Jones: Jones is in the same situation as Bielema in that his team has shown progress but that progress has yet to translate into a single conference victory. Unlike Bielema’s Razorbacks, Jones’ Volunteers have four winnable SEC games to close the season, none of which are against ranked teams. Tennessee would need to finish 3-1 in those games to earn bowl eligibility, and it should get one easy win over Vanderbilt, but upcoming games against South Carolina, Missouri and Kentucky will not only decide the team’s postseason fate — they could decide their coach’s fate as well. Jones is likely to return next season, but it’s a difference of beginning next year with confidence or beginning next year on a hot seat.