With due respect to T.S. Eliot, October is the cruelest month.

October has plenty to like, of course. There’s that special feeling when the first cold front hits and the heat of a sweltering southern summer finally snaps. There’s the beauty of the changing leaves and the creature comfort of the first firepit on a Thursday night to toast an early arriving weekend. October has a claim to “best sports month,” with college football and the NFL in full swing, Major League Baseball’s postseason, media days for college hoops, and for those of us who care, the beginning of the PGA Tour.

But for those of us in the college football mad South, October is cruel because when it ends, it’s a reminder that we’re edging too close to the end of season. Such is life when you love a game with the longest offseason in global sport. By the end of October, we’ve only played two months of football, but for many teams, there is no January and at best, there’s 1 game in December. That’s a tough realization, and it makes you cherish special Saturdays like the ones coming in the SEC over the next few weeks even more. Those tailgate handshakes and hugs with family and long-lost friends, the sealant that makes a season special, hit a little different when you know there’s only 1 or 2 home games left to play.

Of course, there’s so much to be decided still, and that’s something to enjoy too. This weekend, there’s one of the sport’s best rivalries in Georgia-Florida in Jacksonville, Kentucky playing its annual game of Sisyphus against Tennessee, a fascinating Arkansas-Auburn game, and Texas A&M and its coach with the $80-million-plus buyout hosting Ole Miss and the coach that if I were A&M, I’d back up the oil rig for next time around.

The top of this list also needs to be decided, and in 3 years of doing this, SDS can’t remember a tighter contest with as much turnover at the top. Hendon Hooker accomplishes a rare feat this week in remaining No. 1, but there are 5 more weeks for all that to change. Try to savor them, folks, because college football always seems to be gone just after it arrived.

Last week’s list is here. 

As usual, only 2 honorable mentions are allowed per school. And no, this isn’t a “Mock Draft” list. There are plenty of those elsewhere. This list is interested in the most productive college football players in the best conference on the planet.

Honorable Mentions: Darrian Dalcourt, C (Alabama); Jahmyr Gibbs, RB (Alabama); Beaux Limmer, OG (Arkansas); Dwight McGlothern, CB (Arkansas); Tank Bigbsy, RB (Auburn); Owen Pappoe, LB (Auburn); O’Cyrus Torrence, G (Florida); Austin Barber, OT (Florida); Stetson Bennett, QB (Georgia); Jamon Dumas-Johnson, LB (Georgia); Jordan Wright, LB/Edge (Kentucky); DeAndre Square (Kentucky);  Micah Baskerville, LB (LSU); Jayden Daniels, QB (LSU); Emmanuel Forbes, CB (Mississippi State); Will Rogers III (Mississippi State); Ty’Ron Hopper, LB (Missouri) Isaiah McGuire, DE (Missouri); Nick Broeker, OL (Ole Miss); Khari Coleman, Edge (Ole Miss); Zacch Pickens, DL (South Carolina); Jordan Burch, Edge (South Carolina);  (Texas A&M); Jardin Gilbert, DB (Texas A&M); Trevon Flowers, CB (Tennessee); Cooper Mays, C (Tennessee); Anfernee Orji, LB (Vanderbilt).

10. Mekhi Wingo, DT (LSU)

As great as Jayden Daniels has been the past 2 weeks, Wingo has been the rock in the middle for LSU for several weeks. He edges out his teammate to get on the list, largely on the back of a fascinating statistic. LSU allows just 3.4 yards on attempts up the middle, the 2nd-best number in the SEC, per Stats Solutions. Given LSU’s tremendous athletes, it is hard to beat the Tigers to the perimeter, which means Wingo keys the run defense for LSU. That also means that schematically, for all the unfortunate things about Maason Smith’s injury, Wingo has filled the leadership and productivity void left behind beautifully. Wingo was at his best Saturday in the Tigers’ win over Ole Miss, registering 7 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, deflecting 2 passes at the line of scrimmage, and adding 3 pressures of Jaxson Dart in addition to the sacks. Oh — and the Tigers limited Ole Miss, which entered with the SEC’s top rushing offense, to 117 yards rushing on 3.2 yards per attempt. Keep this up, and Wingo will become a fixture in the list.

9. WIll Anderson Jr., Edge (Alabama)

Anderson and the Crimson Tide bounced back defensively Saturday night, limiting Miss State’s explosive Air Raid to just 293 yards and 1 touchdown in Alabama’s 30-6 victory. Anderson also got back to being his productive self after a miserable game in Knoxville. Anderson collected just 4 tackles, but they included 2 tackles for loss and a sack. He also had 3 pressures and consistently drew help blockers, helping to limit Mike Leach’s usual schematic number advantages offensively. Anderson can still do more, and needs to, if Alabama is going to contend for the national championship. But Saturday’s performance was a step in the right direction for the All-American.

8. MarShawn Lloyd, RB (South Carolina)

The sophomore making a star turn in 2022 is one of the better stories in the SEC, and a big reason the Gamecocks are still a factor in the SEC East title race. Lloyd has 526 yards rushing and 9 touchdowns, with the touchdown total ranking 2nd in the SEC. Lloyd’s patience, on runs like below, makes him brutally efficient as a red-zone back.

Lloyd has also been a force in the passing game. After catching just 3 passes in 2021, he has 17 receptions thus far in 2022, adding 2 touchdowns as a receiver. The best player on an improving offense, Lloyd could find himself higher on this list as the season continues.

7. Drew Sanders, LB (Arkansas)

He and Arkansas had a bye Saturday but return to action Saturday against Auburn. Sanders leads the SEC in sacks (6.5), forced fumbles (3), and tackles for loss and was a consensus selection on midseason All-American teams. Whether he can help an Arkansas defense that has surrendered too many points of late right the ship down the stretch remains to be seen, but individually, he’s had a brilliant year.

6. Quinshon Judkins, RB (Ole Miss)

The freshman sensation did his part Saturday against LSU, rushing for 111 yards and 2 touchdowns, including this physical score where he ran over a linebacker at the young age of 19.

Judkins is 2nd in the SEC in rushing yards (829) and 3rd in yards per game (103.9), and he’s the SEC touchdown leader with 12 rushing scores and 13 overall touchdowns. A tough Texas A&M defense will be the latest unit to try and stop him Saturday night.

5. Brock Bowers, TE (Georgia)

The Georgia star remains one of the top ranked tight ends in the country, per Pro Football Focus, and he gets a tasty matchup against a Florida defense that hasn’t covered tight ends well since the Obama administration on Saturday. Utah tortured Florida with the tight end, as did LSU. What Bowers will likely do Saturday in Jacksonville should have Dawgs fans salivating.

4. Bryce Young, QB (Alabama)

Is Alabama still in the national championship conversation without Young? It was difficult not to ask that question — and answer it in the negative — watching the Crimson Tide manhandle Miss State 30-6 Saturday night in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide have struggled up front this year for the second consecutive season, but no one in the sport in recent memory extends plays while remaining as in control of what’s happening downfield as Young.

Young might not return to New York City for the Heisman ceremony, but given a young receiving corps and a brittle offensive line, his nearly 2,000 yards passing, 18 touchdowns and only 3 interceptions this year are almost more impressive than the gargantuan numbers he posted a year ago to win the Heisman Trophy.

3. Christopher Smith, S (Georgia)

Smith is the latest Georgia player cruising to All-American honors whose leadership and dominance are more about film study than numbers. The Power 5’s best safety, per PFF grades, Smith’s numbers on the year aren’t gaudy: 21 tackles, 3 passes defended, 2 interceptions. But his Georgia defense ranks 4th nationally in total defense and 8th in yards allowed per play, and the Dawgs rank 7th in success rate against, meaning they are a top-10 defense by every meaningful total defense metric.

The best player on the SEC’s best defense, Smith gets another nationally televised chance to shine Saturday in the Cocktail Party.

2. Jalin Hyatt, WR (Tennessee)

The best story in the SEC this season, Hyatt keeps producing huge plays. He’ll beat you over the top or he’ll juke you out of your shoes:

However he attacks you, Hyatt produces. With 769 receiving yards, he leads the SEC by nearly 200 yards, and Saturday’s 174-yard performance was the third time this season where he went over 150 in a game. He’s also up to an SEC-best 12 TD catches, ranking 2nd in the SEC in total touchdowns scored. And he’s done all of this without Cedric Tillman on the other boundary to force matchup problems. Wow.

1. Hendon Hooker, QB (Tennessee)

Another day at the office for the Heisman Trophy candidate on Saturday in the Vols’ 65-24 win over UT-Martin. Hendon played only a half, but that was enough time for him to post 304 total yards of offense and throw for 3 touchdowns. Hooker is lethal with his arm and legs, and let’s put to bed the idea he’s dinking and dunking and letting his receivers do the work, as Hooker is the best downfield passer in the sport this season.

The Vols know the next 2 games will decide their SEC East fate, but as long as 5 is under center, there isn’t a team in the country Tennessee can’t beat on any given Saturday.