In the year where we know nothing, SEC Saturdays continue to deliver anything and everything.
Kirby Smart’s Georgia is beatable and vulnerable, playing with fire consistently and asking to be beat, you say? That was so October. It’s November now. Georgia is playing its best football, and Kirby Smart is starting to feel this team and is getting a little loud about it. A week after bulldozing an improved Mississippi State in Starkville, the Dawgs decimated Texas 35-10 on Saturday, scoring the game’s final 21 points and putting the preseason No. 1 Longhorns out of their Playoff hope misery.
Gunner Stockton isn’t quite “List” worthy, but it’s time to acknowledge that, like Stetson Bennett IV before him, Stockton is an asset for Georgia, not just a game manager. The Dawgs are good enough to win Kirby Smart’s third national championship, and as the defense continues to improve, they are sneaking into “favorite” territory.
Speaking of favorites, it was a week of near-failure for other SEC Playoff “favorites.” Then again, the name of the game in the 12-team Playoff era is “Survive and Advance.”
That’s exactly Oklahoma did in its win at Alabama.
That’s also what Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss did on Saturday against Florida. The Gators, released from the fires of Bily Napier’s 2-year long battle with a hot seat, played excellent football for the second time in 3 weeks. It was nearly enough for Florida to fell the less-talented Rebels in Oxford. Then DJ Lagway made a crucial mistake — as he’s done so often this year — and Ole Miss escaped with a 10-point win (thanks to a Kewan Lacy TD run in garbage time that made the final margin much wider than the game itself).
Was that Lane Kiffin’s last game as the Ole Miss coach at Vaught Hemingway? We’ll know soon, I reckon, but even if Kiffin is on another sideline next autumn, is Keith Carter truly Machiavellian enough to dismiss Lane before Ole Miss plays in the College Football Playoff? In an era where the end goal for every SEC program (even Clark Lea and Vanderbilt!) is to play for championships, will Ole Miss cut off its nose to spite its face? Perhaps Lane will stay in Oxford. If he doesn’t, I don’t envy the diabolical decision Keith Carter must make.
Speaking of diabolical, should we discuss South Carolina’s collapse in College Station?
How in the world is Shane Beamer 3-7 with a team that has at least 2 future first-round draft picks (Dylan Stewart, LaNorris Sellers), the fastest receiver (Nyck Harbor) and probably the SEC’s best special teams player (Vicari Swain)? Has a SEC coach ever won SEC Coach of the Year one season and done his worst coaching job the following season? If not, Shane Beamer is first. A woeful coaching job in Columbia, punctuated by the Gamecocks blowing a 27-point halftime lead last weekend at Texas A&M.
Meanwhile, the Aggies feel like a team of destiny.
Not every champion is 2019 LSU or even 2022 Georgia. You usually need luck to win a championship, even in the rugged SEC. Coming back from 27 points down after the worst half of Marcel Reed’s career felt like a stroke of destiny, even if it wasn’t just “luck.” Reed’s bounce back from half 1 to half 2? That felt like great coaching, which we’ve come to expect from Mike Elko and this A&M staff.
And yes, Elko is a great lesson for fanbases teetering on the edge of the Lane Kiffin sweepstakes.
If you don’t land your first choice, you aren’t necessarily doomed.
The grass is often greener on the other side of a big buyout. Trust the process.
The process for crowning a “List” champion will go deep into November and probably December this season.
It’s a 3-horse race (for now), but probably the most competitive “List” battle we’ve had since we started the most important “List” in college football in 2019. The decisions at the top get tougher and tougher, and this week’s new No. 1 is the 7th player to top the list this season — a record. Which player will close strong and wear the crown as the best football player in America’s best conference? Stay tuned.
Last week’s “List” is here.
As always, we begin with Honorable Mentions, limited to 2 per school.
Honorable Mention: Alabama: Parker Brailsford, C; Ty Simpson, QB. Auburn: Xavier Atkins, LB; Keyron Crawford, DE. Arkansas: Mike Washington, RB. Florida: Myles Graham, LB; Jake Slaughter, C. Georgia: Drew Bobo, C; Gunner Stockton, QB. Kentucky: Jalen Farmer, OL; Daveren Raynor, LB. LSU: AJ Haulcy, S; Harold Perkins Jr., LB. Mississippi State: Nic Mitchell, LB; Brenen Thompson, WR. Missouri: Connor Tollison, C; Keagan Trost, OT. Oklahoma: Febechi Nwaiwu, OG; R Mason Thomas, DE. Ole Miss: Suntarine Perkins, LB; Diego Pounds, OT. South Carolina: Dylan Stewart, Edge. Tennessee: Chris Brazzell II, WR; Wendell Moe Jr., OG. Texas: Anthony Hill Jr., LB; Colin Simmons, Edge. Texas A&M: KC Concepcion, WR; Trey Zuhn III, OL. Vanderbilt: Eli Stowers, TE; Jordan White, C.
10. Vicari Swain, DB/Return (South Carolina)
Swain’s 3 punt returns for touchdowns this season lead the nation. He’s also been outstanding in coverage, with 4 pass breakups to his name and a completion percentage against under 50%.
On Saturday, his 2 interceptions helped the Gamecocks storm to a 27-point halftime lead. There was a second half, of course, but Swain, as he has all season, did his part to make the Gamecocks a winner.
9. Kadyn Proctor, OT (Alabama)
Proctor grades out as Alabama’s best offensive linemen in 2025, and he allowed just 1 pressure on a night when the rest of Alabama’s offensive line was shaky against an outstanding Oklahoma defense. In 400 drop-backs this season, Proctor has allowed just 1 sack. Throw in his versatility as a short yardage piece and his excellent run blocking, and you have one of the best offensive linemen in America.
8. Kip Lewis, LB (Oklahoma)
With R Mason Thomas out with a quad injury, Lewis had 7 tackles and 2 sacks to lead the outstanding Oklahoma defense in a 23-21 upset of Alabama. Lewis has 60 tackles this season for a Sooners defense that ranks 11th nationally in stop rate and 5th in SP+ efficiency. Oklahoma produced 3 turnovers in Saturday’s win, tormenting Ty Simpson for 4 quarters to come out of Tuscaloosa with its Playoff dreams very much intact.
7. Trinidad Chambliss, QB (Ole Miss)
Chambliss shook off an early interception to help rally Ole Miss past Florida on Saturday night, throwing for 301 yards and a touchdown in the victory. On the season, the Ferris State transfer has 2,657 yards passing and 14 touchdowns and he’s added 444 yards rushing and 6 scores on the ground. Kewan Lacy is the bell cow and red-zone machine that makes this offense consistently lethal — but Chambliss gives it an extra gear.
6. Mansoor Delane, CB (LSU)
Delane was marvelous in LSU’s 23-22 win over Arkansas, breaking up 2 passes and intercepting another in a performance that should cement his All-American candidacy.
Delane has played through an undisclosed injury over the past few weeks, an ode to the toughness of a player who has allowed just 13 receptions on 34 targets against in 2025.
5. CJ Allen, LB (Georgia)
By his lofty standards, Allen had a quiet evening against Texas, collecting just 3 tackles (1 takcle for loss) in Georgia’s 35-10 win over the Longhorns before he exited with an injury. That said, Allen’s starting to get more help around him, and under his on-field leadership, the Dawgs have risen from the 30s in SP+ defense in early October to 11th in mid-November. Georgia has allowed 21 points or fewer in 5 of its last 6 games, with the lone exception being a 43-35 win over Ole Miss.
4. Ahmad Hardy, RB (Missouri)
Hardy seized the national lead in rushing yardage again with 300 yards on the ground in Mizzou‘s 49-27 rout of Mississippi State. Hardy’s 3 touchdowns give him 15 on the season, which ranks third in the country. The Tigers are 7-1 when Hardy rushes for 100 yards or more. Another huge opportunity and tough defense looms Saturday when the Tigers visit Norman and former Big 12 rival Oklahoma.
3. Diego Pavia, QB (Vanderbilt)
The Vanderbilt quarterback had a bye ahead of a 2-game close that will define the Playoff future of the Commodores. Pavia ranks in the top 6 in the SEC in passing yards, touchdown passes, and completion percentage and continues to be the lone player in the SEC to lead his team in passing and rushing.
2. Cashius Howell, Edge (Texas A&M)
The Aggies’ best player had a strange Saturday afternoon. He was active early in the first half, creating 3 pass breakups. He then went quiet for a quarter-plus, only to reemerge to create havoc as Texas A&M rallied to win late. Howell was targeted repeatedly by South Carolina in the run game Saturday, and graded out a season-low 47.4 (very poor) against the run. But Howell still managed a sack, adding to his SEC-high total of 11.5, and he remains the SEC’s leader in pressures and hurries as well to key one of the nation’s most disruptive defenses.
1. Kewan Lacy, RB (Ole Miss)
The Ole Miss sophomore powered his way for 224 tough yards on 31 carries on Saturday night, adding 3 touchdowns to his nation-leading total of 19 on the season. Lacy’s first touchdown Saturday night broke a single-season Ole Miss record.
Florida’s played solid run defense all season, but Lacy continues to challenge even stacked fronts. An astounding 809 of his 1,136 yards this season have come after contact, and he’s forced 84 missed tackles, the most in America. Not bad for a kid who is only 19 years old.
Neil Blackmon covers SEC football and basketball for SaturdayDownSouth.com. An attorney, he is also a member of the Football and Basketball Writers Associations of America. He also coaches basketball.
