I know Georgia is undefeated and blew out Tennessee on the road, but one-loss Auburn might be the second-best team in the SEC.

The Tigers were awfully impressive Saturday, dominating Mississippi State on both sides of the ball in a 49-10 laugher at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The Bulldogs, on the other hand, have quickly gone from contenders to pretenders after two straight defeats.

Needless to say, Alabama still deserves the benefit of the doubt as the class of the conference so long as coach Nick Saban is patrolling the sideline. The Crimson Tide don’t lose every often — and every loss is considered a colossal upset — so there has to be a perfect storm for another program in this league to be a legitimate threat.

Well, a near-perfect storm is brewing on The Plains. This is the formula for the War Eagle types to make it to Atlanta.

Offensively, quarterback Jarrett Stidham finally looked like the pinpoint pocket passer he was billed to be this offseason as a transfer from pass-happy Baylor, completing 13-of-16 throws for 264 yards with 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.

Stidham got off to a bit of a slow start in 2017 — he came into Week 5 with a puzzling TD-to-INT ratio of just 3-to-2 — but was razor sharp against MSU. Most important, he added the downfield element that this aerial attack has needed so desperately. He connected for gains of 47, 49, 52 and 57 yards, and all of them were vertical in nature.

While he won’t be a high-volume passer in coach Gus Malzahn’s system, he made the most of his opportunities with a big arm.

Even more encouraging for Stidham’s development is that Malzahn’s usually reliable ground assault wasn’t overpowering against the ‘Dogs. Neither of his top running backs, Kerry Johnson and Kamryn Pettway, is entirely healthy at this point.

As for the defense, we're still not talking about how stifling this unit has been for second-year coordinator Kevin Steele.

Johnson ran for 116 yards and 3 scores — that’s an eye-popping 8 in his last two outings — on 23 carries, although he came up gimpy on a 59-yarder in the first quarter that ordinarily would’ve been a touchdown had he been 100 percent. As for Pettway, he was quiet with 6 yards on 5 attempts. He also lost a fumble and may have rushed back from injury.

Just imagine how effective Stidham can be if Johnson and Pettway return to their previous form, which is the premier tailback tandem in the SEC.

As for the defense, we’re still not talking about how stifling this unit has been for second-year coordinator Kevin Steele. Mississippi State QB Nick Fitzgerald was held in check with 157 yards passing and 56 rushing.

They Bulldogs were destroyed by Georgia seven days ago, so it’s safe to say they’re not equipped to make a dent in the West. While Fitzgerald (below) is a unique talent, he simply doesn’t have enough help around him — not out wide, not up front — to win from week to week. His receivers dropped passes left and right, while his offensive line committed 7 false starts.

Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

Getting back to Auburn’s D, it allowed just 4.1 yards per rush and 4.2 yards per pass to what can be an explosive MSU offense.

The Tigers have waves of playmakers along the defensive line, in the linebacking corps and in the secondary. Their front four in particular is deep and dangerous with both run stuffers and pass rushers, so the trenches tend to be controlled.

Stidham seemed to be much more comfortable in the pocket, plus his receiving corps finally started to win some one-on-one matchups. With four different wideouts reeling in a completion of at least 47 yards, that's serious progress.

Yes, Auburn already has a blemish on its record after Week 2 resulted in a 14-6 L at Clemson. That being said, a one-score defeat at the hands of the defending national champion — coach Dabo Swinney’s squad looks just as good this year, too — is forgivable. If anything, holding that offense to only 14 points is even more impressive in hindsight.

The Tigers have the formula necessary to run through the conference undefeated until they host ‘Bama on Thanksgiving weekend.

First of all, their schedule appears to be quite manageable. In addition to the Tide, they get Ole Miss and Georgia at home. They only have to travel to LSU, Arkansas and Texas A&M, so they should be heavily favored in all three.

The ‘Dogs just don’t have what it takes. After a frisky 3-0 start — that 37-7 whitewashing of LSU doesn’t mean much after what we’ve seen lately in Baton Rouge — they were completely dismantled by Georgia and Auburn. When they get behind a superior club, they don’t have enough firepower through the air to play catch-up effectively.

The Tigers, on the other hand, have everything necessary to run the table in league play before we get to the Iron Bowl.

Stidham seemed to be much more comfortable in the pocket, plus his receiving corps finally started to win some one-on-one matchups. With four different wideouts reeling in a completion of at least 47 yards, that’s serious progress.

Malzahn has a track record of being able to run the ball no matter who lines up in his backfield. Even with Johnson and Pettway limited to some degree — this was the first time all season they suited up in the same game — Auburn had 244 yards and 4 TDs on 39 rushes. And with the way Stidham is now throwing it, safeties can’t risk creeping down into the box.

The Tigers entered the game with the No. 1 defense in the league, and it played like it from start to finish in prime time.

We thought LSU could compete in the West. We were wrong. Then we thought Mississippi State had a shot. No chance. Arkansas, Ole Miss and Texas A&M never really entered the conversation. But Auburn just took center stage as Alabama’s chief rival again.