With Week 6 of college football action in the books, we decided to take a look at what the media buzz is around the nation regarding the SEC:

SAM KHAN JR., ESPN

Khan released his weekly SEC Power Rankings after Week 6 and has the undefeated LSU Tigers at the top. Thee SEC West teams top Khan’s list with 6-0 Florida coming in all the way at fourth. The Gators have been playing with a chip on their shoulder all season, and it appears they will need to keep winning to get the same kind of respect that teams in the other SEC division get. Khan’s decision between putting LSU and Texas A&M at No. 1 must have been a difficult one, but the emergence of Tigers quarterback Brandon Harris in Week 6 appears to have given them the edge.

Khan writes:

“The Tigers were the better team Saturday and played like it, rolling up 624 offensive yards en route to a 45-24 win over South Carolina. Two LSU players hit the 150-yard mark rushing (Derrius Guice with 161 and Leonard Fournette with 158), but quarterback Brandon Harris’ career-high 228-yard passing performance was perhaps most encouraging, as this team will need him to effectively throw the ball later in the season as games get bigger.”

JON SOLOMON, CBS SPORTS

Solomon wrote an in-depth column about the impact on the SEC from Florida quarterback Will Grier’s suspension for PEDs. Solomon writes that while Grier’s absence for the Gators’ Week 7 meeting with LSU could be fortunate for the Tigers in the short term, it could also help prevent a playoff appearance at the end of the year for Les Miles’ squad that keeps having to play teams that are at less than full strength.

Solomon breaks down some possible scenarios that could come of Grier’s suspension:

“But if the Gators fall apart from the Grier suspension, there may be a ripple effect for the SEC in the playoff race. What if the SEC West continues to beat up on itself and say a one- or two-loss LSU is the SEC champion? Will beating Florida this week without Grier have less value in the eyes of the playoff selection committee?

What if the SEC West winner needs a bump at the SEC Championship Game and draws a weak SEC East champ? Would the SEC champion get enough help by beating Florida without Grier, Georgia without Nick Chubb, a Kentucky team that needed overtime to beat Eastern Kentucky, a Missouri team that edged UConn at home, or a Tennessee team with home losses to Oklahoma and Arkansas? It’s all speculative at this point, of course. But a weakened Florida would do no favors to the SEC.”

DOUG SEGREST, USA TODAY SPORTS

Segrest dissected the continual growth of Alabama freshman quarterback Jake Coker. Segrest said that Coker is showing more maturity and becoming a quarterback that will be more than enough to win any game for the Crimson Tide, especially with its stout defense.

Segrest writes:

“He’s merely getting better, week after week. He’s quicker on his delivery, more confident in his command and more decisive at finding a seam and scrambling for daylight. He now shakes off bad plays.

He’s imperfect on a team with a defense that will give you a Mulligan if you can find an open Mullaney now and then.

He’s a lot like the Alabama offense, which doesn’t have to be exceptional. Not yet, not now.”

ZAC ELLIS, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

In one of his three biggest takeaways from Week 6, Ellis claims that there doesn’t appear to be a dominant SEC team this season. According to Ellis, several SEC teams have shown flashes of greatness this year but questions whether or not there is truly an elite team in the conference.

Ellis writes:

“It’s near impossible to pinpoint the SEC’s most viable playoff contender as we near the midpoint of the season. To complicate matters, teams without much hope of an SEC title—like Arkansas and Tennessee—look like pesky spoilers for the league’s top teams. Perhaps the SEC retains the title of “top conference” by its depth alone, but right now it’s unclear whether one of its teams can win a national championship.”