If you were concerned heading into the week that what looked to be a loaded slate of games in the SEC was due to inevitably underwhelm, it didn’t take too long for you concerns to be alleviated on Saturday afternoon.
We saw an historic comeback in Aggieland, a statement win from the best program of the last quarter-century, a 300-yard rushing game from Missouri’s Ahmad Hardy, and yet we’re going to start down in Tuscaloosa, where the Oklahoma Sooners and head coach Brent Venables secured their biggest win since making the jump from the Big 12 to the SEC.
Biggest Winner of the Weekend: Oklahoma SoonersÂ
If there were any lingering doubts heading into the week regarding Oklahoma’s legitimacy and readiness to compete in the SEC, then all of those Q’s were provided with A’s on Saturday afternoon, as the Sooners went into Tuscaloosa to face an Alabama team that hadn’t lost since the last weekend of August, earning a 23-21 win over the Tide to not only prove their worth in the Southeastern Conference, but also to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive.Â
I will admit that I’m a little bitter that it was the Sooners who cost me my Week 12 parlay, though in fairness, I probably didn’t even deserve to have a fighting chance considering the way the first half of South Carolina at Texas A&M went. At the same time, now that John Mateer was a full 52 days removed from surgery on his broken hand, I should’ve known better than to pick against Oklahoma.Â
The job isn’t done for Oklahoma just yet though. The Sooners still need to take care of business in Norman against Missouri and LSU over the final 2 weeks of the regular season, but the biggest obstacle standing in the way of the Sooners heading into the month of November has already been cleared. Â
Biggest Loser of the Weekend: Texas LonghornsÂ
Despite all of the hype and the preseason No. 1 ranking, barring something completely unexpected and completely undeserved, the Texas Longhorns will miss out on the College Football Playoff, much to the disappointment of head coach Steve Sarkisian, the entire Manning Family and Lone Star State legend Matthew McConaughey.Â
Did we expect too much of Arch Manning in his first season as a starter? Of course we did. He was the preseason Heisman favorite, the expected No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft and already being compared to his 2 uncles, both of whom were selected 1st overall in the NFL Draft and have 2 Super Bowl titles apiece, even though he had thrown just 95 passes in his collegiate career heading into the season.Â
Did we underestimate just how much of a grind this schedule, which started on the road against the Ohio State Buckeyes, was going to be? Evidently we did, though that argument maybe loses some steam since there was no good reason for the Longhorns to lose in Gainesville against a Gators squad that was just a couple of weeks away from firing its head coach.Â
But losing in Athens to a Georgia Bulldogs team that is beginning to get their swagger back is nothing to be ashamed of, especially since that 35-10 final misrepresents how much of a fight the Longhorns put up over the first 3 quarters of the game. Georgia converted on a couple of 4th downs, swung the momentum of the game with an onside kick and then things got out of hand.Â
Texas will reload and they’ll be back next year ready to contend for an SEC title yet again. But now that the national championship drought has hit 2 decades, patience is going to start wearing thin.Â
Biggest Single Game Turnaround of the Weekend (and probably the year): Marcel Reed and the Texas A&M AggiesÂ
True story: I started my Saturday morning at Cleveland’s West Side Market doing a little eating and a little shopping with my fiancee and niece, and when we returned home, the very first play that I saw when I turned on my television was Nyck Harbor going 80 yards for a touchdown late in the 2nd quarter to give South Carolina a 27-3 lead over Texas A&M. Needless to say, this was not the score I expected to see from College Station at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time. To make matters even worse, the Gamecocks were able to tack on another 3 points before the teams went to the halftime locker room.Â
It didn’t surprise me to learn that since 2004, teams were 0-286 in SEC play when trailing by 27 points or more. What did surprise me was that the Aggies bucked that trend, scoring 28 points unanswered in the 2nd half, upending the Houston Texans as the biggest comeback in the state of Texas in the month of November. Shout out to the Texans, who held that title belt for exactly 6 days.Â
In the 2nd half of Saturday’s game, A&M out-gained South Carolina by 298 yards. Marcel Reed, who played the worst half of his career in the opening 2 frames of the game, bounced back in a major way in the 3rd and 4th quarters, throwing for 316 yards and 3 touchdowns in the 2nd half alone, getting an SEC Player of the Year and Heisman Trophy campaign that looked like it had gone off the rails back on track. Speaking of which…Â
SEC Player of the Year BallotÂ
1. Marcel Reed (QB, Texas A&M) – 2,632 passing yards, 22 passing touchdowns, 8 interceptions, 61.5% completion, 391 rushing yards, 6 rushing touchdowns
2. Ty Simpson (QB, Alabama) – 2,787 passing yards, 22 passing touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 66.9% completion, 2 rushing touchdowns
3. Trinidad Chambliss (QB, Ole Miss) – 2,657 passing yards, 14 passing touchdowns, 3 interceptions, 65.2% completion, 444 rushing yards, 6 rushing touchdowns
4. Diego Pavia (QB, Vanderbilt) – 2,440 passing yards, 21 passing touchdowns, 5 interceptions, 70.0% completion, 613 rushing yards, 7 rushing touchdowns
5. Gunner Stockton (QB, Georgia) – 2,269 passing yards, 19 passing touchdowns, 3 interceptions, 70.3% completion, 350 rushing yards, 8 rushing touchdownsÂ
SEC Power PollÂ
With Georgia’s win over Texas dropping the Longhorns to 7-3 on the season, I’m prepared to say that there are now just 6 teams left in the SEC who have 2 or fewer losses and enter the final 2 weeks of the season with legitimate College Football Playoff hopes.Â
As I did last week, I’ll be including each team’s remaining games and current odds of making the CFP based on ESPN’s Allstate Playoff Predictor.
1. Texas A&M AggiesÂ
– Current Playoff Odds: 99%
– Remaining Games: vs. Samford, at TexasÂ
2. Georgia Bulldogs Â
– Current Playoff Odds: 99%
– Remaining Games: vs. Charlotte, at Georgia TechÂ
3. Ole Miss RebelsÂ
– Current Playoff Odds: 89%
– Remaining Games: at Mississippi StateÂ
4. Alabama Crimson TideÂ
– Current Playoff Odds: 84%
– Remaining Games: vs. Eastern Illinois, at AuburnÂ
5. Oklahoma SoonersÂ
– Current Playoff Odds: 49%Â
– Remaining Games: vs. Missouri, vs. LSUÂ
6. Vanderbilt CommodoresÂ
– Current Playoff Odds: 10%
– Remaining Games: vs. Kentucky, at TennesseeÂ
One Big Question for Week 13: With very little on the slate for the SEC, what should fans be paying attention to?
Very glad you asked! I’ve got 5 suggestions:
- Let’s start in the ACC, where we’ve got the Duke Blue Devils visiting the North Carolina Tar Heels at the Dean Dome… wait, that’s basketball. Never mind, we could find a better game to go to in the very wacky and still wide open ACC.
- Take two: Let’s start in the ACC, where we’ve got the Pittsburgh Panthers visiting the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Pitt’s loss at the hands of Notre Dame takes some of the luster off of this matchup, but both of these schools are very much in the hunt for an ACC Championship Game berth. In fact, Georgia Tech clinches its spot in the title game with a win in this game. Pittsburgh on the other hand would need to upset the Yellow Jackets and then do the same to the Miami Hurricanes in the final game of the regular season, and it would still need a little bit of help elsewhere. Also, can Haynes King finally start getting some Heisman Trophy love please?
- I know that Rutgers at Ohio State isn’t a matchup that screams Must Watch Football, but the Buckeyes’ defense is in historic territory right now, and this game against the Scarlet Knights can help the cause. Since 1990, no team has allowed fewer than 8 points per game in a single season. But presently, Ohio State’s D is allowing just 7.5 points per game.
- Interested in seeing how things shake out in the American Athletic Conference? Check out the double header on ESPNU, as Tulane goes on the road to face Temple, followed by North Texas visiting Rice. The Green Wave and Mean Green should both cruise, but perhaps we’ll get some mid-November madness in a conference that has been unpredictable from the jump this season.
- The game of greatest consequence on Saturday afternoon is a Pac-12, I mean, Big Ten, matchup between the USC Trojans and the Oregon Ducks. This is the only game on the slate in Week 13 where both teams still have hopes of making the College Football Playoff. USC’s hopes may be slim — only 18%, according to ESPN — but for that to materialize, a win in Eugene is a must. The Ducks haven’t been quite as dominant as we’re used to seeing from a Dan Lanning squad, but this is Oregon’s chance to earn a momentum-building and résumé-strengthening win late in the season.
