Last week brought a reckoning to the SEC with Georgia’s shocking loss, Joe Burrow’s masterful performance and whatever it was Vanderbilt was doing.
Week 8’s lineup is short any marquee headliners but brings plenty of trap games and opportunities for teams to shock the nation. Unless you’re Tennessee. Let’s check in with all the SEC fan bases and see how they’re feeling heading into Week 8.
Alabama
The Tide are the No. 1 team in the country, yet somehow still feel underrated and underappreciated. That probably won’t change when they play Tennessee this weekend, but just the fact that Bama can intimidate the SEC into giving them a night game is enough of win to be happy and move on.
Arkansas
The Razorbacks lost narrowly last week to Kentucky in the Hard to Watch Bowl: Presented by Charles Barkley’s Golf Swing. So now the best chance to get an SEC win is most likely behind them and there’s nothing else to do but enjoy the ride. At least it should be over soon.
Auburn
After a bye week to sit in the corner and think about what they did against Florida, the Tigers now have a huge opportunity to redeem themselves and get right back in the thick of the Playoff discussion. It just won’t be this week against Arkansas. It’ll be 2 weeks from now vs. LSU. For this week the goal is to not get injured, get Bo Nix’s confidence back up, and hope whatever Arkansas is dealing with isn’t contagious.
Florida
For about 50 minutes last week, Kyle Trask and the Gators’ offense were fighting shot for shot with LSU. At the end of the day, it was a quality loss and you know the Playoff committee loves those. Plus it’s a lot more than what Georgia can say. …
Georgia
No amount of money the Georgia athletic department can spend can fight off the Atlanta sports curse. It gets the best of us, even Rodrigo Blankenship. But the good news is there’s still hope. The bad news though, is Kirby Smart will still be making late-game decisions.
Kentucky
What’s the sound of one man beating an SEC team by himself? Just watch Lynn Bowden’s performance against Arkansas last week and you’ll know. Unfortunately, you can’t play Arkansas every week. Even more unfortunately, you play Georgia this week. Let’s hope Bowden has 300 more yards in him.
LSU
Any doubt about the Tigers have to be erased after the big win against Florida last week. Joe Burrow, the running back and receiving corps, and the big men up front combined to give a masterful performance against one of the best defenses in the country. Just don’t ask about LSU’s defense.
Mississippi State
There’s nothing like building momentum for one of your biggest games of the year by … losing to Tennessee by double digits … after a bye. Ouch. At least a national television audience will get to watch this offense maybe get past midfield a few times.
Missouri
Don’t look now, but this is starting to feel like one of those sneaky Mizzou wins the East type years, right? Everything seems to be going wrong (injuries, the NCAA, etc.) yet the Tigers keep winning and the 2 other top teams in the East just lost. As long as Wyoming doesn’t make it to Atlanta, Mizzou seems to be in pretty good shape.
Ole Miss
Sure, losing isn’t great. But watching John Rhys Plumlee shock opposing defenses with his speed almost makes up for it. Hopefully one day they’ll teach him to pass. Or they can keep playing Matt Corral and continue to be mediocre to bad forever. Who knows what will happen.
South Carolina
The one thing we can safely predict about Will Muschamp football teams is that they are very unpredictable. And Carolina fans got to see the good kind of unpredictable last Saturday. I mean not even Cocky would have been bold enough to predict the Gamecocks could go into Athens and beat UGA with a 3rd-stringer. But it happened and now you get the chance to do it again this week. One piece of advice: Don’t expect anything.
Texas A&M
Nobody in college football is better at knowing they’re completely outmatched but making the game look somewhat respectable than Jimbo Fisher. So in that respect, it was another masterful performance last week. This week the Aggies hope to be on the other end of it vs. Ole Miss, and if they can pull it off, the dream of a trip to the Independence Bowl is still within grasp.
Tennessee
Who’s laughing now? If you don’t count the Florida and Georgia games, Tennessee has won its past 2 games by a total of 65-10. Vols are back, baby! Now it’s time to take a big sip of coffee and see who Tennessee plays this weekend … oh, no.
Vanderbilt
When you really think about it, football is a pretty dumb sport. I mean what a waste of time. Not even worth looking up to see how Vandy did last week. Trust us, don’t do it.
Houston lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football for Saturday Down South. You can follow him on twitter @hbarber17 or reach out at hbarber17@gmail.com
