Hard to see this changing.

PLAYOFFS?!?!!

Right now the SEC has one clear Playoff hope, Alabama. Texas A&M would need to win out and have Bama lose two or get plenty of help to slip through the back door.

Florida’s putrid strength of schedule can be countered by winning out as victories over Georgia, Arkansas, LSU, FSU and the SEC West champion should.

But LSU and Auburn are interesting cases. They both have two losses but against high-level competition. Both teams need help to get into the SEC Championship Game. And if either team wins out they will deserve a close look.

LSU’s close losses to Wisconsin and Auburn don’t look as bad as they were at the time. The Tigers will close with the toughest schedule in the nation with their last five games against Ole Miss (win), Alabama, at Arkansas, Florida and at Texas A&M. LSU needs to win out and needs Auburn to lose another conference game to clinch the SEC West. Right now, the Tigers are ranked 19th, but with three games against higher-ranked opposition, moving up in the polls shouldn’t be an issue. Going 5-0 to end the season with that schedule would get the Playoff committee’s attention.

Auburn’s close losses to Clemson and Texas A&M kept the Tigers credible despite questions about their offense. They close with a tough, five-game slate, including road games against Ole Miss, Georgia and Alabama. Like LSU, Auburn doesn’t totally control its destiny. The Tigers must win out and either hope A&M loses another conference game or hope they are ranked higher in case of a three-way tie with Alabama also having one conference loss.

Auburn’s schedule is easier than LSU’s down the stretch with Alabama the only ranked team remaining. That could hurt in the polls and could hurt with the Playoff committee. So Auburn not only has to win, but the Tigers have to dominate like they did on Saturday against Arkansas.

Life is easiest for the Playoff committee if Alabama wins out or wins the SEC with a 12-1 record. If Alabama loses two and Texas A&M wins out, then the Aggies are the likely SEC representative with a 12-1 record.

The nightmare scenario for the SEC (and the Playoff committee) would be LSU or Auburn winning the conference with two losses and the SEC being left out or wondering if a one-loss Alabama team without a conference championship to its name jumps them.

ELI SAYS BYE BYE

This was the Auburn-Arkansas game in a nutshell.

THE TIDE MISSILE

Jonathan Allen with the full layout for the sack early and when the big man works …

The big man gets rewarded in kind.

BAMA WORRY? NOT LIKELY

Jesse Palmer near the end of the LSU-Ole Miss game said the following:

“If you’re Alabama, you do not want to play LSU and Auburn this late in the year the way they are playing.”

Hmm.

Yeah I guess I get where Palmer is coming from. I just think his choice of words could have been better, because Alabama is hardly showing signs of slowing down as it enters the bye week.

That being said the bookend games in November should be the most challenging on the schedule, but both Auburn and LSU are flawed enough to where they will have to play near perfect games to pull an upset.

Let’s size both of these challenges up.

@ LSU (11/5): Alabama’s best strength, the thing that keeps them at a championship level, is its ability to take away the one thing their opponent does best. They only struggle with containing elite-level quarterbacks or wild-card types like Chad Kelly. I don’t believe any team can stop Leonard Fournette, but the Tide can certainly rough him up and make him fight much harder to get yards. The Tigers have some balance on offense, but Danny Etling’s weakness seems to be his anticipation of the pass rush. He lost a fumble because of his inability to recognize a pass-rusher on pre-snap and got blindsided with the hit. Alabama usually doesn’t have to do more than rush four, but it disguises its methods well. Ole Miss generally doesn’t hide much. You know the Rebels are coming, you know they are going to be aggressive. Etling has to improve his internal clock quickly. LSU’s defense also has to account for a different Alabama offense with Jalen Hurts’ ability to hurt a defense with his legs or his arm. It can’t just load the box and try to stop the run.

@ Auburn (11/26): Remember Alabama’s best strength is stopping what you do best and forcing you to win with plan B. Sean White is at his most effective when the passing game isn’t being forced. Auburn’s running game is one of the best in the nation, but I don’t see them rushing for 250-300 yards on Alabama’s defense. I see Alabama selling out against the run and forcing White to throw on early downs to back them off or face 3rd-and-long situations all game. This is going to be an interesting game plan for Gus Malzahn and Rhett Lashlee to put together because the Auburn defense is good enough to play a conservative game and rely on winning the battle of field position. But the Auburn defense, especially that dynamic front four, has to show up from the first snap. One thing that could help Auburn during its week of prep is having John Franklin III on the scout team. He’s a dynamic runner at the QB position and could emulate Hurts very well.

HAMMER VS. NAIL (Part I and II)

Send cards and flowers to Deontay Anderson c/o Ole Miss football. Get better #2!

Meanwhile on The Plains … Arkansas defenders had enough of Kamryn Pettway.

KENTUCKY WINS ONE FOR DIVISION, BOWL HOPES

The Kentucky-Mississippi State game had a nice, exciting finish with Austin MacGinnis hitting a season-long, 51-yard field goal to give the Wildcats a 40-38 win. MacGinnis’ kick and the Wildcats’ celebration provided an easy, feel-good moment of the weekend.

Kentucky became the first SEC East team to win an interdivisional game this season, and more importantly, significantly improved its bowl hopes with five games remaining.

The Wildcats travel to Missouri this weekend and can improve to 5-3 with a win against the Tigers. The remaining schedule is Georgia, at Tennessee, Austin Peay and at Louisville.

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach has the Wildcats projected to play TCU in the Liberty Bowl, while Brett McMurphy has them projected to play Temple in the Birmingham Bowl.

DROPPING A DIME

Even in the loss, Trevor Knight and Christian Kirk hooked up to give Texas A&M fans a moment of joy.