The SEC is heading into its 13th week of the 2014 season and the current records have yet to decide which teams will represent each division in the SEC Championship. With so much on the line right now, we’ll take a look at the biggest storyline for each SEC team prior to this upcoming weekend.
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Alabama — Alabama’s back atop the SEC, a place it’s all too familiar with over these last few years. A home win over No. 1 ranked Mississippi State has the Tide back up at No. 2 in both Top 25 polls and the Iron Bowl in two weeks figures to be another classic despite the recent losses by Auburn. This weekend’s game is merely a tune up for Auburn, but the Crimson Tide will have a lot at stake in the coming weeks — win and they’re in the College Football Playoff. Another loss will likely knock them out of consideration.
Arkansas — Finally! Head coach Bret Bielema can rest easy after achieving his first ever SEC win as a head coach. The Hogs saved their best game for one of their biggest rivals, shutting out LSU 17-0. I expect the Hogs to play a little more freely in their last two games now that the SEC losing streak is behind them. Arkansas is one of the few SEC schools with a tough Week 13 matchup as it’ll face off against Ole Miss, which means there’s not too much time to celebrate for Bielema and his staff.
Auburn — The Tigers are reeling somewhat in recent weeks, losing two straight games. Auburn’s hopes of a CFP berth or SEC Championship berth are gone, so the Tigers will be playing for pride in these next few weeks. With several of their key players being in their last season, it also wouldn’t be a bad thing to send them out on top and possibly spoil Alabama’s chance of a CFP berth in two weeks.
Florida — Well, Will Muschamp is gone. He had the program heading in the right direction following two straight wins, but the loss to South Carolina (especially how he lost) was too much to overcome. He’ll remain the coach for the last two games, so you can bet these players will be playing for him. It creates an interesting scenario, however, in two weeks. Back in 2004, the Gators faced a similar situation with Ron Zook and they beat FSU on the road to close out his Florida career. With Muschamp’s fate sealed, that kind of motivation may be enough to put the players over the edge.
Georgia — A great weekend for UGA was spoiled by the news of Todd Gurley’s torn ACL. While the loss is tragic for UGA fans now that Gurley’s career at Georgia was cut short, the opportunity for Nick Chubb to start softens the blow. Missouri still needs to lose another SEC game in order for the ‘Dawgs to make it to Atlanta and I guarantee you whichever SEC West team makes doesn’t want to face UGA. The Bulldogs are playing their best football of the season behind a punishing running attack and shut down defense. They should cruise into their final regular season game against Georgia Tech.
Kentucky — When will the bleeding stop? What looked like such a promising season for Kentucky has turned into a bit of a bummer. The Cats are in a five-game SEC losing streak and are in danger of missing a bowl game after starting the season 5-1. Simply put, Kentucky has just not been able to handle the tougher part of its schedule. Fortunately for the Cats, they’ll get a bye week before traveling to Louisville to take on their rival in hopes of clinching a bowl game appearance.
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LSU — What happened to the rushing game? LSU’s offense was stymied by Arkansas’ defense last weekend and the Tigers suffered a disappointing defeat. LSU is also on a bye week this weekend before they face Texas A&M. After this past weekend’s debacle, I’m not sure there was a better time for a bye week, either.
Mississippi State — The Bulldogs are now down from their ivory tower after losing to Alabama this weekend, but not all hope is lost for MSU. If they win out, their chances of making the CFP remain strong, despite a loss late in the season. And if Alabama loses to Auburn, MSU’s in the SEC Championship. As expected, the Egg Bowl will determine a lot for MSU and where it ends up at the end of the year.
Missouri — The Tigers kept winning ugly until this past weekend with a resounding 34-27 victory over Texas A&M. No matter how Mizzou’s looked these past few weeks, it is still in first place in the SEC East and controlling its own destiny to Atlanta. Two SEC games remain for Missouri, but a road game against Tennessee may be its toughest yet with quarterback Josh Dobbs playing the way he has. But for the Tigers, it’s simple: just win.
Ole Miss — Coming off a bye week, the Rebels will be tasked with facing Arkansas on the road, a team coming off its first SEC win in more than two years. As a current top-10 team, theoretically, Ole Miss still has a shot at the CFP, but would need a lot of help by way of losses from the teams in front of them. But with two SEC games left including a matchup against top-five Mississippi State, the Rebels could still make a lot of noise late in the season.
South Carolina — Although the Gamecocks won’t finish anywhere near their preseason expectations, their season certainly looks much better after a road upset of Florida over the weekend. With an easy FCS matchup this weekend and a game against Clemson, South Carolina has a realistic shot of finishing 7-5 and making a solid bowl game. Unfortunately, the Gamecocks have blown several fourth quarter leads this season, leading fans to only wonder just how close they were to a much more impressive record.
Tennessee — Can anybody stop Josh Dobbs? The sophomore quarterback is lighting it up for the Vols, especially after a 50-16 blowout win over UK. With Dobbs’ emergence, he’s giving Tennessee a great shot at finishing 7-5 on the season and possibly with eight wins after a bowl game. To finish the season on a four-game winning streak would certainly be a positive note to what originally looked like a season full of disappointments. This is a different kind of Tennessee team with Dobbs under center.
Texas A&M — The Aggies have this weekend off, but after 27 points against a tough Missouri defense, it appears Texas A&M’s offense has fixed some of its issues from earlier in the season. For the Aggies, it’s all about showing progress in preparation for the 2015 season, especially with all of their young playmakers.
Vanderbilt — Vanderbilt still has two more SEC games on the season, but with both matchups coming against Mississippi State and Tennessee, the prospects of the ‘Dores winning a conference game this season aren’t looking good. They have certainly made a lot of progress throughout the season and Johnny McCrary seems like a good option at QB moving forward, but right now Vandy is just too bad of a team to pose any sort of threat to other SEC teams.
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Drew Laing will be providing analysis and insight on Florida, Georgia, Missouri and South Carolina.
