How the first half changed our opinions of SEC teams

The first half of the 2016 season has seen its share of memorable moments and disappointments. Some expected contenders have fallen behind, while others have surged ahead to stake their claim as the SEC’s best.

Here’s a look at how our opinions of SEC teams have changed at the midpoint of the season.

Alabama: It’s become almost an annual tradition to question whether Alabama will be overcome its personnel losses and mount another crusade against the rest of college football. Given the amount of talent the Crimson Tide lost after last year’s national title run, it was fair to wonder how Nick Saban’s team would look in 2016.

Well, it turns out they look very much capable of repeating as national champions. Fresh off a 49-10 rout of Tennessee on the road, No. 1 Alabama looks like the most complete team in the country. They have scored a whopping 11 non-offensive touchdowns, which is more than South Carolina’s offense has scored the entire year. Jalen Hurts should only continue to improve as the year progresses and it’s entirely possible that the offense has yet to find its stride.

Not many were betting against the Crimson Tide before the season, but now, it’s time to go all in.

Arkansas: After a slow start in 2015, the Razorbacks jumped out of the gates this year. Nobody could have predicted the immediate success enjoyed by Austin Allen, who leads the SEC in touchdown passes (18) and yards (1,861) in his first year as a starter.

The Razorbacks are 5-2, but have only one conference win. Bret Bielema’s team has two notable victories already against TCU and Ole Miss, but the toughest part of the schedule looms ahead.

Bielema has added to his win total every season. He’ll have to knock off at least two more ranked teams to get to 10 wins this season.

Auburn: Since starting 1-2, the Tigers have won three consecutive games, including their best performance of the year — a 38-14 victory at Mississippi State in Week 6. After the two early losses, Gus Malzahn’s job appeared to be in major jeopardy. That talk has since cooled following the turnaround, and with the emergence of Kerryon Johnson, Kamryn Pettway and a talented defense, there is optimism on the Plains.

Those positive feelings could vanish as quickly as they appeared, however. The Tigers still must face Arkansas (on Saturday), Ole Miss in Week 9 and end the regular season at Alabama. For now, though, there is a sense of cautious optimism, which is more than could be said at the beginning of the year.

Florida: The Gators are in first place of the SEC East, which was always a possibility at the beginning of the year. Rescheduling the LSU game to the second half of the schedule makes it a little difficult to judge this squad, but they’ve looked capable so far. The defense is once again dominant and Luke Del Rio has provided competent quarterback play to pair with a versatile rushing attack.

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Florida will be challenged from this point forward, but it is right where it wanted to be when the season began: in first place, and in control of its path back to Atlanta.

Georgia: It’s always tricky to predict how a team will look under a new head coach, but Kirby Smart inherited a 10-win team and won a big game against North Carolina to start the season. Since then, however, things haven’t been as fun. The Bulldogs barely beat Nicholls State and Missouri before suffering a blowout at Ole Miss and a heartbreaker against Tennessee. Georgia just dropped a game to Vanderbilt on homecoming, which has created a little anxiety in Athens.

Smart’s team is full of youth, including true freshman quarterback Jacob Eason, so inconsistency was to be expected. Still, there’s no excuse for losing to Vanderbilt.

Kentucky: The Wildcats have had an interesting start to the 2016 season, but their 3-3 record is about what many expected. Kentucky jumped out to a big 35-17 lead in its season opener against Southern Mississippi before getting shut out in the second half and losing 44-35. Since then, Mark Stoops and the Wildcats have responded by beating the teams they were expected to compete against and even holding a 3-3 tie in the first quarter against Alabama.

The Wildcats opened the season hoping to make a bowl game. That goal is still within reach, but they must beat Mississippi State on Saturday.

LSU: There might not be another team that looks more different at the midway point of the season than LSU. Les Miles and Cam Cameron were sent packing after the Tigers started a most disappointing 2-2.

Ed Orgeron stepped in as the team’s interim head coach, and the Tigers responded with two impressive outings, despite Leonard Fournette missing time with injury. Derrius Guice has proven to be a very capable backup and the Tigers have even developed a passing game behind quarterback Danny Etling.

LSU is back in the top 25 but has the hardest remaining schedule in college football. Still, after a slow start, the Tigers finally look like they are up to the task.

Mississippi State: The state of Mississippi has been at the forefront of college football in recent seasons, but that isn’t the case in 2016. A loss to South Alabama was not the start Mississippi State wanted, but it’s certainly not the only blemish on the Bulldogs’ record. Life without Dak Prescott hasn’t been kind thus far, and it looks like an uphill battle to to make it seven consecutive bowls under Dan Mullen.

Missouri: The Tigers were picked to finish sixth in the East. They have had some very impressive moments in Barry Odom’s first season. Unfortunately, they’ve only come against much weaker opponents. Missouri has beaten Eastern Michigan and Delaware State by a combined score of 140-21 but has lost its other four games by a combined score of 136-59. Missouri’s offense has potential moving forward, but the defense has struggled to learn a new scheme.

Ole Miss: The Rebels knew they’d have to overcome three key early departures to the NFL, but they weren’t expecting to have to deal with so many more key injuries. Ole Miss sits at 3-3 after a tough first-half schedule. Poor second-half play cost the Rebels games against Florida State and Alabama.

Ole Miss is out of contention for the division title, which is disappointing for a team that is talented enough to beat a lot of opponents.

South Carolina: Defense hasn’t been a problem for Will Muschamp in his first season with the Gamecocks. South Carolina is allowing just over 20 points per game, which is a touchdown less than the defense surrendered last season. It’s the other side of the ball that’s the issue.

South Carolina is scoring only 14 points per game – the worst in the country. This wasn’t going to be a quick rebuild, but at least the defense looks promising.

Tennessee: No team had the first-half roller coaster ride that Tennessee did. Four of the Vols’ five victories have been comebacks, including the incredible game-winning Hail Mary against Georgia. The team’s experience certainly played a role in allowing them to come from behind, but injuries slowly have taken their toll.

Tennessee lost several starters in an overtime loss to Texas A&M and looked clearly outmatched against Alabama. The offensive line has been decimated. Jalen Hurd missed time and now Alvin Kamara is injured.

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There were some who expected Tennessee to lose two games during the tough four-game stretch it just wrapped up, but now the Vols need to refocus on winning the division.

They need help to get to Atlanta, but not a lot: One more Florida conference loss puts the Vols in control of their fate.

Texas A&M: After an interesting offseason, Kevin Sumlin has his most complete team at 6-0 and preparing for a showdown with No. 1 Alabama.

That’s a rapid rise for a team picked to finish fourth in the West.

The Aggies have struck an incredible balance between offense and defense, showing they can win low-scoring games and shootouts. Trevor Knight has been a very strong contributor with both his arm and his legs for the offense, while Myles Garrett and Daeshon Hall continue to strike fear into opposing quarterbacks.

The upcoming matchup with Alabama could decide the Aggies’ SEC West fate, but the team has undoubtedly had an impressive start to the season.

Vanderbilt: Derek Mason earned his first road conference victory against Georgia, which is likely enough to declare the first-half of 2016 a success. The Commodores have had several close games, including a 13-6 loss against Florida, but had been unable to break through before beating the Bulldogs.

While that could build some momentum, the schedule quickly turns unfriendly. Vandy faces three ranked teams in its final four games.