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We’re halfway through the 2015 season and the landscapes of the SEC and Pac-12 have begun to level out. All told, the conferences combine for 11 teams receiving votes in the current AP poll — and many more pose dangerous threats.
Here’s a look at how the SEC and Pac-12 stack up against one another at the season’s midway point.
PLAYOFF CONTENDERS
Both the SEC and Pac-12 have two teams that have to be considered playoff-caliber, even if two of them (Alabama and Stanford) have a loss already and sit outside the top-five in the polls. Alabama and LSU still have to square off against one another in Week 10, in what is building up to potentially be another classic between the two storied programs. Utah and Stanford elude one another this regular season, but are on course to meet in the Pac-12 title game at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. The Utes (two games) and Stanford (three games) have opened up big leads in the Pac-12 South and North, respectively. College football is very much a week-to-week sport, but at the midway point of the 2015 campaign, these four schools are among their conference’s elite.
- Utah
- LSU
- Alabama
- Stanford
MAJOR THREATS
Florida (6-1, 4-1) and Texas A&M (5-1, 2-1) aren’t quite playoff contenders yet, but neither can be truly counted out of contention, especially the Gators, who have a one-game lead in the SEC East and a huge tilt on the horizon against Georgia in Jacksonville on Oct. 31. The Aggies suffered their first loss to Alabama, but still have contests against Ole Miss and LSU in the second half of the season.
- Florida
- Texas A&M
TECHNICALLY ALIVE, STILL DANGEROUS
There are a handful of two-loss teams in both conferences that are, technically, still alive in their division races. At one point this season — except maybe for Mississippi State — teams Nos. 7-12 in our rankings were considered the frontrunners to win their divisions. But glaring flaws have prevented many from having the type of seasons they’d expected. Not one of these teams, however, can be taken lightly by anyone who thinks they can contend for the College Football Playoffs.
- Ole Miss
- Georgia
- Mississippi State
- UCLA
- Arizona State
- California
NO VOTES, BUT FIGHT LEFT
These are the first teams in both conferences that did not receive votes in the AP Poll. Washington State might be the biggest surprise of the Pac-12. The Cougars are 4-2 and 2-1, good enough for third place in the Pac-12 North ahead of Oregon and Washington. Mike Leach’s squad has swept the Oregon schools, beat a Big Ten school (Rutgers) on the road, and lost to Cal by only a touchdown. Arizona, Arkansas and Tennessee are fueled by dynamic running games that should keep all three in ball games the rest of the year. Neither will likely win their division, but a second-place finish could happen with all the cards falling into place.
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Tennessee
- Washington State
TALENTED UNDERACHIEVERS
This group is a who’s-who of what happened? Four of the six teams in this pairing have combined to win nine division titles in the past five years. But Auburn and Missouri, as well as Oregon and Southern California, have all taken quite the tumble this season. Washington might be the biggest tumbler on the entire list after a loss to Oregon and a win over USC don’t look quite as shiny on the résumé anymore.
- Auburn
- Oregon
- Kentucky
- Washington
- Southern California
- Missouri
BETTER LUCK SOME YEAR
Several (relatively) new coaches have injected life into this group. The most-recent being South Carolina, where Shawn Elliott has the Gamecocks 1-0 in the post-Steve Spurrier era. Mike MacIntyre in Colorado is also starting to see progress with his program in his third season in Boulder — much the same way that Sonny Dykes is starting to find success in his third year with his players at Cal. For the Buffs, the once-proud program is starting to compete, and that’s a start.
- South Carolina
- Colorado
- Vanderbilt
- Oregon State
Chris Wuensch is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers South Carolina and Tennessee.
