Ole Miss’ win over LSU was the SEC’s best win of Week 5.

The Tigers and Rebels dueled in Oxford in front of a record crowd. Both feature backs rushed for over 100 yards in a game that saw over 1,300 yards of total offense.

And Ole Miss firmly placed itself 3rd in the SEC until further notice. Given the Rebels’ schedule, it’s not hard to envision a 10-2 finish with a NY6 appearance. They can afford to lose once more and I’m not sure Georgia is a guaranteed loss as we near the halfway point of the regular season.

Speaking of Georgia, the Bulldogs showed late Saturday that they are still good enough to win games where they are punched in the mouth early. But they still struggled out of the gate in their first SEC road test of the season, and that’s concerning.

The Bulldogs have started slow twice this season: Against South Carolina in Week 3 and once again Saturday against Auburn. This Georgia team, the one that hasn’t lost in over 650 days and has won back-to-back titles, should not be struggling as they are early against teams like Auburn and South Carolina.

However, until the Bulldogs lose, no matter how ugly it is, I’m not moving them from the top 4. Moving on.

Texas A&M, Tennessee and Kentucky all had strong wins in Week 5. Max Johnson looked good once against for the Aggies and has proven they won’t be taking a huge step back in lieu of Conner Weigman’s injury.

The Vols needed that win over South Carolina and got a huge boon from its defense. The Gamecocks, alongside Florida and Arkansas, are far from a guaranteed 6 wins this season.

Kentucky decimated Florida on Saturday and looked amazing while doing so. The Wildcats’ struggles with inferior opponents made me hesitant about them early in the year, but I think this is an 8-win team right now, sitting at 5-0 after their win over the Gators. However, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Mizzou all remain for UK.

One final parting note: Mizzou has to prove it’s for real next week against LSU in Columbia. The Tigers have beaten a Top 25 team at home already this season, and if they can do it again, I’ll bump them up an echelon. For now, the Tigers will remain in the Mayo Bowl as they were last week.

We’ve not seen enough game action to get serious. Here are our SEC bowl projections following Week 5:

SEC college football bowl projections following Week 5

Sugar Bowl (Playoff semifinal): Georgia vs. Florida State

Rose Bowl (Playoff semifinal): Michigan vs. Texas

Peach Bowl: Alabama vs. Ohio State

Cotton Bowl: Ole Miss vs. Fresno State

Citrus Bowl: LSU vs. Wisconsin

ReliaQuest Bowl: Texas A&M vs. Iowa

Mayo Bowl:  Mizzou vs. Duke

Music City Bowl: Tennessee vs. Maryland

Texas Bowl: Kentucky vs. Kansas

Gator Bowl: Auburn vs. Miami

Liberty Bowl: Arkansas vs. West Virginia

Birmingham Bowl: South Carolina vs. UCF

Gasparilla Bowl: Florida vs. Memphis