The SEC is a wild place, with teams’ chances at a division crown or playoff berth, or a coach’s job security, can vary widely week to week. Whose stock is rising and whose is dropping this week in the SEC West? SDS takes a look.

RISING

• LSU’s defense. The Tigers looked to be lost on the defensive side of the ball for the early part of the season, especially when it came to slowing the run down. They were on their game for the first 59 minutes and change of their slugfest with Alabama. Over nearly four quarters, the Tigers held the Tide to 235 yards before giving up 80 in the final 50 seconds of regulation and overtime. Still, it was a remarkable performance from a very young team, a sign of good things to come for Les Miles’ group.
• Kyle Allen. See how fast things can change in this league? A week ago, Allen was down after a disheartening offensive effort against Louisiana-Monroe. Against Auburn last Saturday, he lit it up in the first half, throwing for 4 TD and looking like the five-star recruit label he earned in high school. Allen showed zip on his passes and mobility in the pocket that could have the Aggies offense humming again if they can maintain consistency.
• Cameron Artis-Payne. After an uneven start to the year, Artis-Payne has come on like a freight train over the last three weeks. He bruised Texas A&M for 221 yards and 2 TDs on 30 carries, an average of more than 7 yards per tote. The only downside to his day, other than the loss, was having a fumble pulled away from him in the pile late in the fourth quarter. Still, it was his third straight game with at least 130 yards and a 5 yards-per-carry average. It might be too late for Artis-Payne to work his way into the Heisman conversation, but at this point last year Tre Mason wasn’t there either.

FALLING

• Auburn’s defense. What happened to the team that was allowing just 287 yards per game for the first half of the season? Over the Tigers’ last three games, they’ve been gashed for 491.7 yards per game, a number that would rank them in the bottom 10 nationally over the course of the full season. The problems are at every level — a weak pass rush, shoddy tackling and poor coverage — and Auburn will have to turn it around quickly if they want to spoil some seasons down the stretch.
• Arkansas’ offense. The Razorbacks haven’t won an SEC game since 2012, and their inability to finish off games. It would help if they could perform like they do against non-conference opponents in SEC games; Arkansas is averaging nearly 100 yards fewer per game on the ground when they play a conference opponent, and quarterback Brandon Allen doesn’t have the skill or receiving weapons to make up for that.
• The West’s playoff chances. The prospect of the division sending two teams to the playoffs gets slimmer by the week, and now it all comes down to this weekend. Auburn dropped out of playoff contention with its loss to Texas A&M, leaving Mississippi State and Alabama as the only two true contenders left in the SEC. That could change this weekend. If Mississippi State is able to knock off the Tide in Tuscaloosa, Alabama will almost certainly be eliminated. If Alabama defeats a No. 1 team for the fourth time in five tries under Saban, both the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide will still have a crack at being in the College Football Playoff committee’s Top Four.

Brett Weisband

A former freelance journalist from Philadelphia, Brett has made the trek down to SEC country to cover the greatest conference in college football.