Wallace: So how do you get to be king?
D’Angelo: It ain’t like that. See, the king stay the king.

Probably the least popular — or least interesting — thing to say about college football is that it tends to remain static.

This doesn’t make it boring, obviously — this site wouldn’t exist if college football were boring. The reality of college football, however, is that the new boss remains the same as the old boss, from year to year. We began the season knowing basically who was going to win most conferences (see Ohio State), and with a pretty clear vision of the 8-to-10 teams who were most likely to have the best shot at reaching the playoffs.

The same holds true for the SEC. Though the league’s best conference leads the nation in the passion of the fans and the quality of the athletes involved, rarely does it give way to upstarts. In fact, when the league first split into divisions in 1992, the same two teams — Alabama* and Florida — played in the championship game for the first three seasons of its existence. It took until 1997 for anybody other than Florida to represent the East.

* – Honesty compels me to note that undefeated Auburn would have been the Western division representative in 1993 had it not been under NCAA sanctions.

For all the talk of parity in the current age of SEC football, since 2007, every SEC Championship Game except two featured either LSU or Alabama (Auburn occupies the two other spots, in 2010 and 2013). In the East, the results are even more predictable — Florida, Tennessee or Georgia have essentially been the reps for that division with the exception of one cameo by South Carolina (in 2010), and the last two appearances by Missouri.

Which brings us to the overarching storyline as we wrap up October 2015 — the new bosses in the league are essentially the same as the old. For all the upheaval and gnashing of teeth that has taken place from week to week, the Eastern division is on the line this Saturday in The World’s Largest Please Stop Calling It A Cocktail Party Game between, yes, Florida and Georgia.

It isn’t exactly Matthew Stafford vs. Tim Tebow — the Gators came out of nowhere this year to lead the division until last week’s loss to LSU, and are missing starting quarterback Will Grier (suspended for PEDs). And Georgia wheezes into the game, missing Heisman contender Nick Chubb (lost to a gruesome knee injury) and off an insomnia-curing 9-6 win over Missouri that barely kept them in the race.

And in the West? In two weeks, it’s LSU at Alabama. Yep.

The king stay the king.

A few other storylines …

• Who’s losing his job? Who’s going where? There will be obvious intrigue at South Carolina throughout November, as fans and media openly speculate about who will succeed Steve Spurrier. What the Gamecocks lack in a tradition of success, they can make up for with a rabid fan base and booster group that will pay top dollar. Expect to hear the following names in some order: Lane Kiffin, Kirby Smart, Ed Orgeron, Mike Bobo (Mike Bobo?), Justin Fuente, Dino Babers, Tom Herrmann, Tommy Tuberville and Mack Brown (yes, THAT Mack Brown). I have no inside info, for the record.

While we’re on the subject, expect to hear many of those names in connection with the openings at Southern Cal and the (presumed) opening at the University of Miami.

The other coaching related storyline will be which disgruntled fan bases force changes at their schools in the offseason. Right now I count Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Georgia, Auburn, Arkansas and even Texas A&M as programs with fan bases that range from disappointed to outright suicidal, with Alabama fans on the verge of a complete meltdown if Lane Kiffin’s offense doesn’t unstick itself from whatever mud hole it got lost in Saturday vs. Tennessee.

• Heisman for Fournette? Also, should he sit? Expect the next two weeks to be filled with Leonard Fournette talk — the sophomore sensation is essentially guaranteed a trip to New York to pick up a Heisman Trophy if he remains healthy. In the wake of Chubb’s injury during the Bulldogs’ game in Knoxville, also expect to read a number of think pieces about whether Fournette should bother playing football at all next season in college, or whether he should hit the gym and wait for the 2017 NFL Draft. College football — sometimes it doesn’t make sense.

• Rivals with an opportunity to cripple the SEC’s matrix. So, at this time a year ago, Mississippi State was No. 1 in the nation, with everyone speculating that Alabama would defeat them but they still might get into the College Football Playoff. The Tide did indeed overcome the Bullies in Tuscaloosa, but State remained at No. 4 in the nation … until Ole Miss snuffed out their title hopes in a nightmarish Egg Bowl. Hours later, Auburn nearly did the same to Bama, which needed to score 55 points at home to stay in the playoff hunt.

It’s on the table for this season, as well. For all the talk about Alabama and LSU as kings of the county, they both still have treacherous terrain to travel — LSU must beat Ole Miss and Arkansas in November, while Alabama still has to travel to Starkville and Auburn, should it survive Nov. 7. There is the possibility that someone like Clemson will drive through the SEC’s burning wreckage all the way to the playoff.

On the other hand …

• Wait — what about Ole Miss? Here, then is the SEC’s worst nightmare: A revitalized Rebel team that strangled Texas A&M to death Saturday night in Oxford suddenly gets white hot again in the month of November, dusts Auburn, Arkansas, LSU and State, then defeating Florida or Georgia in its first-ever SEC Championship. The Rebels then proudly hoist the championship trophy … as a 11-2 team, with one of their losses at Memphis.

Holy smokes. Don’t expect any favors from the SEC refs for the next four weeks, Rebel fans.