It was a reduced slate in SEC Week 9, but the games didn’t lack for significance. Ole Miss? Kentucky? Not so fast. Auburn? Mississippi State? Let’s slow down on writing off either one. Where does the SEC stand? If we drew a map, it would look like a conspiracy bulletin board from A Beautiful Mind. So instead, we’ll just predict the final regular-season records of the SEC.

West

Alabama: 11-1

The short trip to Auburn for the Iron Bowl looks much more interesting than it did a month or so ago, but we haven’t seen enough to convince us that the Tigers pull the upset. That one aside, the Tide should be sailing pretty smoothly in November.

Arkansas: 8-4

That Mississippi State at Arkansas game will be interesting, and we considered dropping Arkansas to 7-5, but at home, we think they’ll hold off the Bulldogs. LSU probably shouldn’t be written off, but it’s hard to know if there’s anything left in the tank for the Tigers. Missouri looks like a win, and Alabama like a loss. An 8-4 mark preseason would have left Arkansas fans elated. Win on Saturday and it’s there for the taking.

Auburn: 8-4

Gave a long, hard look at projecting the Tigers to reach 9 wins, but at A&M, we’ll take the Aggies. Whichever team pulls that one out has the inside track on 2nd in the SEC West —  and it could well be Auburn. Home against Mississippi State and at South Carolina both look like wins, so we’ll land Auburn at 8-4 for the moment.

LSU: 5-7

The Tigers’ best shot to reach .500 lies in beating Arkansas at home in 2 weeks. A win over UL-Monroe should be certain, and losses to Alabama and A&M are likely. Given the motivation of the respective teams, Arkansas gets the edge for now, even at LSU. Next week against Alabama should give more clues as to how committed this Tiger squad is right now.

Mississippi State: 6-6

Mississippi State’s wins over A&M and Kentucky were impressive … and it feels more than a little wrong to forecast them to go 6-6. But playing at Arkansas and at Auburn feel like tough matchups. Of course, the Egg Bowl (in Starkville) looks more competitive than it did a month ago, but for the moment, we’ll put the Bulldogs at 6-6. Jumping above there requires a win Saturday at Arkansas.

Ole Miss: 10-2

It’s tempting to drop Ole Miss to 9-3. The game against A&M is in Oxford, and for that reason, we’ll project the Rebels to reach 10-2. Liberty and Vandy are definite wins, and while going to Starkville isn’t fun, the Rebels hold the potential edge in the Egg Bowl. For now, we’ll slot Ole Miss here.

Texas A&M: 9-3

For the moment, we’ll take A&M to win at home against Auburn and lose at Ole Miss. The opposite is easily possible — or, of course, they could win both or lose both. But for now, we’ll call a split in those 2, which puts A&M at 9-3 and just below the Rebels in the West race for 2nd place.

East

Florida: 8-4

There may not be a ton of style points here for the Gators, but the November schedule is an easy one, and even this bunch should be able to win out and get to an 8-4 season.

Georgia: 12-0

Tennessee in Knoxville remains the best shot of anybody to knock off the Bulldogs —  which frankly isn’t much of a chance. Georgia isn’t losing a regular-season game.

Kentucky: 10-2

Yes, we may have overreacted to UK’s early success by predicting them to win at Mississippi State and at home against Tennessee. But in light of the MSU loss, the tendency now will be to flip the other way and pick the Vols to win in Lexington. Given UK’s pass defense issues, that’s not impossible, but we think Kentucky gets right on Saturday and finishes off a 10-2 season that will be among the most surprising stories of the SEC season.

Missouri: 5-7

We’ll take the Tigers to take care of South Carolina at home. But an SEC school that gives up 28 points to Vandy isn’t going to have enough defense to win any of the other games. Georgia and Florida will probably both be brutal, and the regular-season finale at Arkansas doesn’t seem like a great matchup for the Tigers.

South Carolina: 5-7

A regular-season ending win against Clemson (yes, we did just say that) feels like the season-defining moment for Shane Beamer’s team. They just don’t have the horses to win again, although if they can put up enough points on Mizzou, that one might get interesting.

Tennessee: 6-6

South Alabama and Vandy are wins, and Georgia is almost certainly a loss. That leaves the Kentucky game in Lexington next week. We’re giving the Wildcats the slightest of edges as they’re at home and should be motivated after a thumping from Mississippi State. But 7-5 could be there for the taking for the Vols.

Vanderbilt: 2-10

This feels less likely to change than our Georgia prediction.