The SEC and Pac-12 enter Rivalry Week with three teams needing a win to extend their season into December. Combined, the SEC and Pac-12 have 19 teams (10 SEC) currently with the requisite six wins for bowl eligibility. Last year, the two conferences sent 20 of their 26 teams to bowl games. All told, both the SEC and Pac-12 have 14 teams that garnered a vote in this week’s AP Poll.

Here’s a look how the SEC and Pac-12 stack-up against one another in our weekly hybrid power rankings.

The Elite

Alabama and Florida are the only two squads in either conference with just one loss on the season (10-1). As a result, the Crimson Tide and Gators are the lone schools technically still in the running for one of the four College Football Playoff slots. Alabama sits comfortably at No. 2 in just about everyone’s poll (AP, Coaches, and CFP) and should return to the playoffs for the second time in as many years. Florida has struggled of late, but has still managed to keep its playoff hopes afloat. The Gators get a pseudo-playoff game in Week 13, needing a resounding win over Florida State to make a case for the playoffs.

  1. Alabama Crimson Tide (10-1, 6-1)
  2. Florida Gators (10-1, 7-1)

Close, but short

Oregon has surged in the second half, salvaging their once-lost season. Losses to No. 6 Michigan State, No. 20 Washington State and Utah don’t seem all that terrible given the success this season of the Spartans, Cougars and Utes, respectively. There are eight teams in both leagues with three losses, but the Cardinal and Ducks, as well as Ole Miss, have the elite talent to compete with anyone in the country but are going to fall short this season.

  1. Stanford Cardinal (9-2, 8-1)
  2. Oregon Ducks (8-3, 6-2)
  3. Ole Miss Rebels (8-3, 5-2)

Still fighting within the division

Utah, who’s lost three of their last five games, has created a logjam in the Pac-12 South as the Utes find themselves tied with Southern California and UCLA entering the final week of the season. Both of Utah’s losses came to the Los Angeles schools, effectively quashing any hope the Utes have of winning their first-ever Pac-12 South division title. USC, as crazy as it sounds, also has never won the division since it was created in 2011. But that could change on Saturday when the Trojans play host to the Bruins in a rivalry game that will crown the division champ.

In the other divisions, Washington State can complete its upstart season by overtaking Oregon for second place in the Pac-12 North with a win over Washington and a Stanford victory over the Ducks. Tennessee can claim second place ahead of Georgia in the SEC East with a win over Vanderbilt.

Either LSU or Texas A&M (who face each other in Death Valley on Saturday) can finish in second place with a Mississippi State win over Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl. Both squads have fallen after early-season success, but finishing directly below Alabama in the SEC West is quite an accomplishment in a division where all seven teams are bowl eligible. Of course, Ole Miss can make all the tiebreakers (Mississippi State lost to both the Tigers and Aggies) for naught with a win.

  1. Washington State Cougars (8-3, 6-2)
  2. Mississippi State Bulldogs (8-3, 4-3)
  3. UCLA Bruins (8-3, 5-3)
  4. Utah Utes (8-3, 5-3)
  5. Arkansas Razorbacks (6-5, 4-3)
  6. LSU Tigers (7-3, 4-3)
  7. Southern California Trojans (7-4, 5-3)
  8. Tennessee Volunteers (7-4, 4-3)
  9. Georgia Bulldogs (8-3, 5-3)
  10. Texas A&M Aggies (8-3, 4-3)

The Bowl Teams…maybe

Arizona and Arizona State got rivalry season off to an early start last week as the Sun Devils downed the Wildcats for the Territorial Cup, the oldest rivalry trophy in all of college football. The game was played a week earlier, seeing that the Pac-12 schedule-makers decided not to give the Wildcats a bye week this year. Both Kentucky and Washington enter their respective season finales needing to win to claim bowl eligibility. Kentucky gets its shot against cross-state rival Louisville (6-5), while the Huskies play host to No. 20 Washington State, who isn’t going to roll over for their Evergreen State rivals.

  1. Auburn Tigers (6-5, 2-5)
  2. Arizona State Sun Devils (6-5, 4-4)
  3. California Golden Bears (6-5, 3-5)
  4. Kentucky Wildcats (5-6, 2-5)
  5. Washington Huskies (5-6, 3-5)
  6. Arizona Wildcats (6-6, 3-6)

Watching from home

Of the bottom five teams in both the SEC and Pac-12, only Missouri has a chance to become bowl eligible, but must defeat Arkansas in the final week of the regular season to get to six wins. All told, Colorado and Oregon State, as well as South Carolina and Vanderbilt, enter the final week with a combined 4-27 record in conference play, with half those victories belonging to the Commodores.

  1. Vanderbilt Commodores (4-7, 2-5)
  2. Missouri Tigers (5-6, 1-6)
  3. Colorado Buffaloes (4-8, 1-7)
  4. South Carolina Gamecocks (3-8, 1-7)
  5. Oregon State Beavers (2-9, 0-8)