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We’re 11 weeks into the college football season and there’s still plenty to be settled in the SEC. Week 11 did not disappoint, as Auburn-Texas A&M and Alabama-LSU turned out to be two of the best games of the season in any conference. The Tigers have fallen out of playoff contention, while Alabama survives for another week.
With three Saturdays left in the regular season, here are the biggest questions every SEC team must answer down the stretch:
RELATED: Week 10 Power Rankings
1. Alabama: Can Blake Sims take advantage of a suspect Mississippi State secondary in this weekend’s showdown in Tuscaloosa?
2. Arkansas: Can the Hogs win an SEC game this season? (This will remain the question facing the Razorbacks until they finally break through in conference play.)
3. Auburn: Will Auburn’s heartbreaking loss to Texas A&M fuel the Tigers in Saturday’s matchup with Georgia, or will the loss cause Auburn to spiral late in the season?
4. Florida: How many yards will Florida’s run-heavy offense, led by Treon Harris and tailbacks Matt Jones and Kelvin Taylor, amass against the SEC’s worst run defense in South Carolina this weekend?
5. Georgia: How will Todd Gurley look in his first game back from a four-game suspension this weekend?
6. Kentucky: Can Kentucky’s defense contain Joshua Dobbs better than it contained fellow running quarterbacks Anthony Jennings and Dak Prescott? Did UK learn enough from road losses earlier this season to snap its road losing streak?
7. LSU: Like Auburn, how will LSU respond after a gut-wrenching loss to Alabama last weekend? Will the loss inspire a frustrated Tigers team to close the season with purpose, or have the Tigers peaked in 2014?
8. Mississippi: Can the Rebels get healthy during this week’s bye? Can Hugh Freeze and his staff get their young backups up to speed for the final stretch of the season?
9. Mississippi State: Is Mississippi State really capable of winning a national championship? Saturday’s showdown with Alabama should answer this question.
10. Missouri: What does Aarion Penton’s future with the program hold? If he’s held out of Saturday’s game against Texas A&M, can the Tigers secondary do enough to slow down the Aggies?
11. South Carolina: Did South Carolina move past another frustrating loss to Tennessee during last week’s bye? Can the Gamecocks get back on track with a win against Florida this weekend?
12. Tennessee: With Josh Dobbs at quarterback, is Tennessee capable of winning its final three games of the year? Has the SEC finally figured out Dobbs, or will he continue his success through the end of the season?
13. Texas A&M: Was Saturday’s win over Auburn a fluke, or has A&M turned a corner in 2014? Who is the real Kyle Allen — the player who barely threw for 100 yards against Louisiana-Monroe or the player who picked apart Auburn in an upset win?
14. Vanderbilt: Having officially been eliminated from bowl contention, can Vandy continue to grow the rest of the season? How will Derek Mason and the Commodores approach a difficult final stretch featuring games against Mississippi State and Tennessee?
A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.
