Biggest storyline for each SEC team in Week 12

Week 12’s one of those weeks you wait for all season as a college football fan. Six games and all of the matchups are all within the SEC.

Before the all-important Week 12 arrives this Saturday, here is the biggest storyline for each SEC team in Week 12.

Alabama — Well, things don’t get much easier for Nick Saban’s team. The Crimson Tide’s reward for beating LSU on the road in OT? A game against No. 1 Mississippi State. Alabama is absolutely in the College Football Playoff at this point, but it is playing for its SEC life this weekend. A loss knocks them out of SEC West contention and certainly make the goal of making the playoff much more difficult with two losses. We should find out just who exactly is the best team in the SEC West division by watching this game.

Arkansas — The Razorbacks have yet to win an SEC game in over two years, but that didn’t stop Vegas bookkeepers from making them a slight favorite over LSU this weekend. The Arkansas-LSU matchup is one of the most underrated rivalry games of the season, and while it may not have postseason implications, it should be an entertaining battle. Until Bret Bielema is able to get over that hump and get that SEC win, however, it’ll be what overshadows this Arkansas team in every game. Certainly a W against one of their biggest rivals would firmly put Bielema in the good graces of Arkansas fans.

Auburn — Just like that, Auburn’s goal of defending its SEC title went out the door. It appeared the Jordan-Hare magic from last season had run out on the Tigers as they fumbled twice late in the fourth quarter to squander any chance of a victory. The Tigers will likely still have a top-10 ranking in the CFP, but with no longer any contention for an SEC title, one wonders just what their motivation will be like moving forward. Of course, it helps when two of the next three games are against two of your biggest rivals — Georgia and Alabama.

Florida — Florida continued its turnaround this past weekend with a decisive victory over Vanderbilt. Simply put, quarterback Treon Harris makes this a different football team. He’s given the Gators energy and confidence, and with the offense playing better, that same energy and confidence extends to the defensive side of the ball. The Gators are still playing with the slim hope of winning the SEC East, but their early season struggles really put them behind the 8-ball. They’ll need some help via losses from Missouri and Georgia, but none of that matters if they don’t beat South Carolina at The Swamp this weekend, a place where they’ve lost two straight.

Georgia — In what can only be described as perfect time, the Georgia Bulldogs will be back to full strength at the running back position in time for their most important game of the season. With Auburn coming to town, not only will Keith Marshall be back but the return of Todd Gurley from his four-game suspension will surely dominate the headlines. Georgia’s still in a good position to win the SEC East, but a loss here against Auburn will significantly complicate things. Can Gurley lead them to Atlanta in his first game back?

Kentucky — On the verge of losing five straight, Kentucky is scrambling to gain some positive energy before the season’s over. UK’s two SEC wins suddenly don’t look that great anymore considering they were against South Carolina and Vanderbilt, two teams below .500. UK stormed out of the gates to a 5-1 record, but the Cats’ inability to win against some of the SEC’s tougher competition has now put them in danger of not even making a bowl game with two road games left against Tennessee and Louisville. Last week’s 63-31 loss to Georgia certainly didn’t help, either.

LSU — There’s no question that LSU has improved greatly over the season and with its bevy of young talent, this should be a national championship caliber team in no time. As for this season, the Tigers will be on the road for the rest of 2014 and must face Arkansas and Texas A&M. There’s nothing at stake for the CFP or SEC Championship, so these Tigers should be able to play free and loose in their remaining two games.

Mississippi State — In the premier matchup of the week, No. 1 Mississippi State travels to Alabama to take on the Crimson Tide. The Bulldogs have are one of two undefeated Power 5 teams left. They’ve already defeated three top-10 teams and very well may have to beat two more in order to make it through the season unscathed. However, this weekend’s matchup may very well be their toughest of the season. Dak Prescott and company have risen to the challenge every week so far. Can they keep it up in Bryant-Denny Stadium?

Missouri — Coming off a bye week, the Tigers are now facing a three-game stretch where their SEC fate will be decided. Road games against Texas A&M and Tennessee, followed by a home matchup vs. Arkansas are all toss-ups at best. So far the defense has carried Missouri to this favorable position within the SEC East and it’ll need to be that way in these last few weeks. The Tigers have made a habit of winning in November and will need that same success now more than ever with Georgia right on their heels.

Ole Miss — The Rebels get a bye week before finishing up the season against Arkansas and Mississippi State. If the pieces fall just right, Ole Miss still has a shot at the SEC West title, but for now the Rebels will have to sit this one out.

South Carolina — Steve Spurrier’s team is 4-5 with three games left. This preseason favorite to win the SEC East is now in all likelihood not going to make a bowl game unless it can pull off at least one upset. Time is running out to salvage any optimism in what otherwise has been an incredibly disappointing season. But there’s no better place for Spurrier to get some good vibes back than with a win at his old stomping grounds — The Swamp.

Tennessee — The Vols are working on building for the future and their comeback win against South Carolina was a huge step in that direction. With Josh Dobbs firmly in the starting quarterback position, this team looks completely different. Much like at Florida with Treon Harris, Dobbs has injected new life into Tennessee and the Vols are hoping to start a little winning streak within the SEC East to end the season on a high note.

Texas A&M — For a while it looked like Texas A&M was done for, but true freshman Kyle Allen played the game of his life at Jordan-Hare Stadium last weekend as the Aggies pulled off an incredible upset over Auburn. It seems the Aggies have regained their identity on offense are back to their high-flying, high-scoring ways. The development of Kyle Allen will be the most important thing for A&M over these last few weeks.

Vanderbilt — The Commodores have yet to put a complete game together and go into the last three weeks of the season without an SEC win. They are coming up on a bye week, but will face off against Ole Miss and Tennessee to finish off the year.