SEC ROOTING GUIDE

In which we tell you which teams you should root against in the upcoming week.

Life is about silver linings.

The bad: SEC representatives in the Associated Press Top 25 have dwindled from 10 to six. The good: that means there are more ranked teams for SEC fans to cheer against. There are also fewer SEC teams primed to suffer upsets.

When Ohio State and Michigan State are the only two teams that are much good in the Big Ten, it hurts the conference. But its ranked teams tend to go unbeaten each week.

The Pac-12 should be doing some major hand-wringing right now, as Stanford managed to upset USC on Saturday. UCLA got by BYU, but the Bruins lost Myles Jack for the season. UCLA, Arizona and Utah are the only ranked and unbeaten teams in the conference right now, so the margin already is thin in terms of making the College Football Playoffs.

In a twist, according to the AP poll, the Pac-12 is the deepest conference along with the SEC, with six ranked teams. Again, that just means plenty of opportunities for losses and shakeups in the top 25.

Perhaps this week will bring about more turmoil for the other power conferences.

Here are the Week 4 teams that SEC fans should root against.

Oklahoma State at Texas (3:30 p.m. ET, Saturday): Former Florida coordinator Charlie Strong may be in trouble in Austin. The Longhorns are hiring a new athletic director, and Texas could fall to 1-3 this season with a loss here. The Cowboys (3-0) faced a weak non-conference schedule and don’t play TCU, Baylor or Oklahoma until November. The SEC would love to avoid barking from the state of Oklahoma, which already can claim victory against Tennessee this season. But if Oklahoma State doesn’t stumble unexpectedly, it should be in the College Football Playoff conversation to enter the final month of the regular season.

UCLA at Arizona (8 p.m. ET, Saturday): Great news for SEC fans here. One of these teams has to lose. The No. 9 Bruins and No. 16 Wildcats both are 3-0, so the winner of this game will have something like an inside track to at least win the Pac-12 South. Oregon’s one loss came at No. 2 Michigan State, so the Ducks still are in position to compete for a playoff spot by winning out. But, at least after this game, the options will start to thin in the Pac-12. As beat up as UCLA is right now, losing several top players to season-ending injuries, perhaps the SEC should root for the Bruins to win on the road, assuming they will fall once or twice later in the season anyway.

Utah at Oregon (8:30 p.m. ET, Saturday): Two losses by the end of September would do in those Ducks for this season, right? That’s easier said than done. Utah, while 3-0, has beaten Michigan, Utah State and Fresno State by an average of 12.7 points. That’s good enough for a No. 18 national ranking. But as long as the Utes’ passing game remains lethargic, it’s difficult to have confidence in them marching into Autzen Stadium and coming away with a win. By the same token, are the Marcus Mariota-less Ducks good enough to finish the season as one of the four best teams in college football?

USC at Arizona State (10:30 p.m. ET, Saturday): This is another win-win for the SEC here. The Trojans and Sun Devils each incurred early-season losses. The loser may already be eliminated from College Football Playoff contention. Arizona State has looked pretty mediocre all season, and USC is deservedly a favorite of nearly a touchdown as of Wednesday night. The SEC would love to see the Trojans fall yet again, as that offense may be the most dangerous in the entire Pac-12.