The first half of the season is over, so what’s left to come in the SEC? Plenty, but we’re paring the list to 10 of the most significant or exciting things we expect in the second half of the season.

1. The continuing emergence of Tua Tagovailoa

When Alabama doesn’t get challenged, Nick Saban gets creative. He may never need Tua Tagovailoa, but Tua will be ready come CFP season. If a fluke injury to Jalen Hurts or a Clemson-game-esque period of non-productivity creates the need, the most exciting freshman QB in college football will be ready. Alabama may be harder to defend with its backup QB in the game.

2. Georgia will be tested

Georgia has a clear path to 12-0, and a bye this week to think about it. Sometime in the back half of the schedule, the Bulldogs are going to run into a one-score game that will test Jake Fromm’s maturity under pressure. But if Tagovailoa is the most exciting freshman QB in college football, Fromm might be the best. Maybe it’s at Auburn, maybe UGA falls behind at Georgia Tech to close the regular season, but some team is going to make the Bulldogs stretch for a win. It’ll be a useful experience for when they meet Alabama in Atlanta.

3. Auburn stumbles badly

Look at that November schedule again. At A&M is far from a guarantee, and home games against Georgia and Alabama will have the Tigers as double-digit underdogs. Auburn is an ugly stumble this weekend at Arkansas away from a disastrous 1-4 finish. The wheels on the Gus Bus might not be going round and round much longer.

4. A&M finishes second in the West

On the other side of Auburn, A&M’s late-season schedule stacks up relatively well. The Aggies are off this week and then get home games against Mississippi State and Auburn, as well as a non-conference gimme against New Mexico. They finish at Ole Miss and at LSU, and they figure to be in better shape than the Tigers come Nov. 25, when that game probably decides the West’s runner-up.

5. Bret Bielema and Butch Jones are gone

This isn’t exactly a shocker, but we don’t see either coach making it to the end of his season. Even the games that used to look winnable for Arkansas look hard now. As for Tennessee, it has to be one of the biggest disappointments in college football. The two fifth-year coaches will be out of their jobs come December.

6. Matt Luke might stick

Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

On the other side, nobody thought Matt Luke might parlay this interim thing into a full-time gig, but if he can get the Rebels to, say, 6-6, it’s going to be hard for Ole Miss to ditch him. The two Mississippi schools are annually at the bottom of the SEC in spending on football, and coaches aren’t exactly lining up to move to Oxford. The guess here is that Luke stays.

7. The Gators crash and burn

It’s not hard to imagine that the Jim McElwain era is trending downward. Injuries, suspensions and back-to-back home losses aren’t the look the Gators want. They’re off this week, but after Georgia thumps them, they have three November games that are lose-able — at Mizzou will take some work, but this UF offense might manage it. At South Carolina and at home against Florida State will both be dogfight games, and the guess here is that the Gamecocks and the Seminoles have more dog left in the fight than does Florida. How does Florida not send the Brinks truck to Starkville?

8. Carolina, Kentucky slightly overachieve

There were reasons people were skeptical about either Carolina or Kentucky moving up in the East. But with Tennessee marching its coach out of a job, and Florida looking increasingly clueless, these two take advantage to post solid 8-4 type seasons. This isn’t the stuff of headlines, but considering where both schools were a couple years ago, it’s a step in the right direction.

9. Vandy beats UT for a bowl

Start checking the schedules, and there’s a fair possibility for a 5-6 UT team to face a 5-6 Vandy team in Knoxville on Nov. 25. If UT hasn’t moved on Butch Jones by then, we’ll be shocked. But for Vandy, what better cherry could there be on the top of a disappointing and difficult season? Before the season, it was South Carolina whose schedule looked brutal. After the fact, it’s probably Vandy — which would make winning in Knoxville even more significant.

10. Bama and Georgia in CFP

Why not? There won’t be three teams better than Georgia, even if it does lose — in a reasonable fashion — to Alabama. Who would have a better case? A second Big Ten team? Please. A second Big 12 team? Negatory. Anybody from the ACC? Nope. The Pac whatever has already been exposed as a junior varsity league. Two SEC teams, and the possibility for the most anticipated rematch since … what, Bama/LSU?