Can you believe the 2014 regular season is already in the books?

What a wild weekend it was for the SEC, and what a poor weekend it was for the SEC East. Here are this week’s biggest takeaways:

SEC Big Picture

SEC Championship: Alabama and Missouri will play in Saturday’s SEC Championship, and it will be much better than people think. Missouri’s defense is really underrated, but Alabama will be the heavy favorite, which is where Mizzou loves to be heading into a big game: the underdogs.

SEC LEast: It was a bad day for the SEC East Saturday. Florida (FSU), Georgia (Georgia Tech), Kentucky (Louisville) and South Carolina (Clemson) all were beaten by ACC teams. Yes, three of the four SEC teams were underdogs, but what does that say about the East? It further proves what we’ve been saying all season: the gap between the East and the West has never been greater. Missouri is the East’s only 10-win team.

Almost Armageddon: Had Alabama lost to Auburn, the SEC would have likely been shut out of the College Football Playoff. A two-loss SEC Champion wasn’t getting into the playoff, but thanks to a big second half, Alabama will march into Tuesday night’s rankings as the No. 1 team. Alabama essentially saved an SEC Armageddon.

Alabama 55, Auburn 44

RELATED: What Nick Saban and Gus Malzahn said after Iron Bowl

Saban beat Malzahn at his own game: You witnessed the highest scoring Iron Bowl in history, and Nick Saban essentially beat Gus Malzahn at his best. Auburn had to win a shootout, and on a night where the Tigers rolled up 630 yards of total offense and 44 points, Alabama came roaring back with the best player on the field in Amari Cooper.

Heisman: Amari Cooper played his way into the Heisman conversation and had a game for the ages, posting 13 catches for 224 yards and three touchdowns. With Ohio State’s JT Barrett going down, Cooper will get the invite to New York. If Oregon’s Marcus Mariota struggles in the Pac-12 Championship Game, look out for Cooper hoisting the Stiff Arm Trophy. He’s the best player at any position in college football, and that includes Mariota.

Career game: Nick Marshall had one of the best games in Iron Bowl history. He threw for 456 yards and three touchdowns in a losing effort. Alabama’s Blake Sims threw three INTs, but unfortunately, Marshall’s only INT was the momentum changer. Auburn brought its A-game on offense, but the Crimson Tide just torched Auburn’s defense, too.

Changes coming? How long will Gus Malzahn live with Auburn’s defense being average? We’ve already seen Kevin Sumlin make a defensive coordinator change, and you have to wonder if Ellis Johnson is feeling any heat.

Missouri 21, Arkansas 14 (Friday)

Did it again: Meet your back-to-back SEC East division winners, Missouri Tigers. Say what you want about Missouri, but finishing 10-2 and winning the East again is impressive. And the Tigers are money when it matters: in the fourth quarter. Trailing 14-6, Mizzou scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to get the 21-14 win. Many thought Arkansas was too physical for Missouri, but the Tigers proved it’s not how you start, but it’s how you finish. And they have finished strong this season.

Much to build on: Arkansas had a big finish, despite losing to Missouri. The Hogs are going bowling, and it was a strong finish to the season, shutting out LSU and Ole Miss in back-to-back weeks. Losing Friday isn’t a setback in the least.

Ole Miss 31, Mississippi State 17

RELATED: Ole Miss fan lost her mind Saturday night

Runnin’ Rebs: The biggest reason Ole Miss won the game was the reason many thought they couldn’t: running the football. The Rebels were averaging just over 164 yards rushing per game, and they rolled up 224 yards and three touchdowns. Jaylen Walton reeled off 148 yards of the 224, and he was spectacular.

Ruined the season: What will Mississippi State fans remember the most about 2014? Ten wins? Dak Prescott? It’ll be the loss to Ole Miss that kept them out of the College Football Playoff. The loss to Ole Miss put an asterisk beside the 10 wins. The Bulldogs’ run defense just couldn’t stop the Rebels, who entered the game without a big-time playmaker or a difference-maker at any offensive position. The Rebels piled up 532 yards of total offense against Mississippi State’s defense.

Georgia Tech 30, Georgia 24

Beat themselves: When Georgia’s good, they’re good. But when they’re bad, it’s really bad. The Bulldogs fumbled twice inside the five-yard line, lost a fumble on a kickoff and made a terrible decision to squib kick at the end of regulation. Mark Richt will kick himself the entire offseason for the squib kick. The way UGA lost Saturday will be remembered for quite some time.

Richt feeling any heat? Mark Richt just lost to South Carolina, Florida and Georgia Tech in 2014, three teams he simply cannot lose to, certainly not in the same season. Let’s get real: Richt isn’t on the hot seat, but next season could get very interesting. Don’t we say this every year?

Florida State 24, Florida 19

RELATED: Muschamp says he’d kick a player off the team

In a nutshell: Saturday’s loss to FSU was a snapshot of the Will Muschamp era in Gainesville: the defense was very good, but the offense lacked execution and couldn’t take advantage of what the defense provided. The Gators missed two field goals and gave FSU its first score of the game on a dropped pass pick-six. The Gators weren’t out-athleted against FSU. That’s the good news.

Inheriting talent: Florida’s next coach won’t lack talent. The Gators’ defense will be very good next year, and the offense just needs to execute better. Treon Harris will be the favorite to keep the job, while redshirt freshman Will Grier has superior talent, too. But with a new coaching staff, Jeff Driskel also isn’t out of the question.

Clemson 35, South Carolina 17

Same ole, same ole: South Carolina got torched by Clemson and gave up 255 rushing yards. The Gamecocks let three freshmen in QB Deshaun Watson, RB Wayne Gallman and WR Artavis Scott carve them up. The defense struggled tackling just like every game this season, and they just couldn’t slow down the Tigers, who torched USC on the edge.

O-line struggled: Clemson’s defensive line was as good as advertised. South Carolina’s O-line yielded 13 tackles for loss and four sacks. It certainly wasn’t Dylan Thompson’s best outing, but the offensive line sure didn’t help him out any.

LSU 23, Texas A&M 17 (Thursday)

It was clearly a penalty: But the referees didn’t call it. When players jump into the neutral zone, quarterbacks are taught to throw it up and take a shot. Unfortunately, Kyle Allen’s pass slipped and it was picked. Above all, there was no penalty called on the play and there certainly should have been.

Nasty next year: LSU’s defensive unit owns Texas A&M. Les Miles and John Chavis are 3-0 over Kevin Sumlin in as many years. Kendell Beckwith is a man-child at linebacker, and he and Kwon Alexander form a nice duo. The cornerback duo of Tre’Davious White and Rashard Robinson is also nasty. The Tigers could have the top defense in the league next year, and the offense can only get better.

Why now? How did it take Les Miles so long to run Anthony Jennings as much as he did? Jennings rushed for 119 yards, and he was very effective. Leonard Fournette also torched the Aggies’ defense for 146 yards and one touchdown. Jennings may not be the future quarterback, but it’s puzzling why Miles waited so long to run Jennings so much. He should have run him 10-plus times per game this season, minimum.

Snyder out: Kevin Sumlin already fired Mark Snyder, and he was the scapegoat this season. But 2015 is all on Kevin Sumlin and no one else. Another 8-4 or 7-5 season, and people will start talking. Is Sumlin on the hot seat? Not even close, but next season falls directly on him.

Tennessee 24, Vanderbilt 17

Going bowling: It wasn’t pretty, but Tennessee is going bowling for the first time in four seasons. There’s much to clean up, but the Vols are making progress with a bowl berth in Year 2 of Butch Jones’ tenure.

Staff changes: Derek Mason announced Vanderbilt will have staff changes, but he was unsure of what will exactly go down in the near future. The Commodores have to make some changes to a program that’s on life support.

Louisville 44, Kentucky 40

Missing on a bowl: After starting 5-1, Kentucky isn’t going bowling and lost its final six games. Chips were falling into place to beat the Cardinals, but the Wildcats’ defense just couldn’t stop Louisville. Mark Stoops received an extension during the first half of the season. But you really have to ask yourself if this was a successful season. On paper, 5-7 is an improvement over 2-10, but after starting 5-1, I’ll say it’s a bit of a letdown. Bottom line: the program is improving and is in much better position in the future.