Missouri Tigers And The State Of The Rest Of The SEC

Sep 27, 2014; Columbia, SC, USA; Missouri Tigers quarterback Maty Mauk (7) throws a pass against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the second quarter at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Chaos. The good kind.

That’s what we’re about to see in the Southeastern Conference. As September turns into October and competition for the College Football Playoff really starts to heat up, wins are at premium in the south. While the nation’s best teams may indeed lie in the SEC, only one can win the conference. What we may come to find is that these teams are so good, it’s impossible to predict what may happen, although we can try.

The SEC has 8 teams in the A.P. Top 2, and five in the top 12. So where do we go from here? This weekend, in what is the fifth glorious week of football on Saturdays, may be the most exciting of all of 2014. And in that, it may also be the most telling. But we have a lot of football to play. Here’s where are and what we know about the conference, starting with Mizzou’s.

Missouri Tigers:

Mizzou really hurt itself with its loss two weeks ago to wheels-off Indiana. But a critical win last Saturday in the conference opener against South Carolina, in what turned out to be among one of the best SEC games in years, showed the Tigers still have a beating heart. While not the prettiest of wins, Mizzou looked tough with its back against the wall, a much needed quality in the SEC. With that, the Tigers have total ownership of the east division lead.

Things don’t get any easier moving forward. A week off will be nice, before arguably the toughest test of 2014 visits Mizzou with Georgia rolling through Columbia. Florida has seen better years, but will still be a tough opponent to face on the road. Things lighten up as the underbelly of the conference visits the Tigers before big match ups at Texas A&M and at home with Arkansas. The team is a little battered up and the key here will be getting injured players back– like offensive lineman Anthony Gotti– and the rest of the team staying healthy.

Here’s how the rest of the SEC looks:

Georgia Bulldogs:

While Missouri leads the division with its record, the Bulldogs are probably the top dog in the division in terms of who is overall the most talented. One cannot fault them for a loss to South Carolina and the team looked impressive in wins over Clemson and Tennessee. Running back Todd Gurly is a frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy in the eyes of almost anyone you ask.

They score points and make big plays in the special teams which is a valuable quality in this conference. The team’s biggest question is on defense, where they have had trouble slowing down teams like Tennessee– who at sometimes looked to drive the ball down the field at will against Georgia last week. Other times, Georgia’s pass rush swarmed the Volunteers young quarterbacks. What is needed from Georgia’s defense is consistency moving forward.

The schedule isn’t easy for UGA. Mizzou and Florida are bookended by weaklings, Vanderbilt and Kentucky but the team’s toughest challenge will be a mid-November date with Auburn between the hedges.

South Carolina Gamecocks:

Sep 27, 2014; Columbia, SC, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks quarterback Dylan Thompson (17) drops back to pass against the Missouri Tigers during the second quarter at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

South Carolina certainly feels football heartbreak right now. Not only did they look to have Mizzou seemingly beaten with 7 minutes to play before letting slip away, but it was also their second loss. Now S.C. has a big hole to to dig itself out of. It dropped from the rankings for the first time in three years which was another tough consequence of the loss. The team has played pretty well, although they didn’t exactly look like the offensive juggernaut that we thought they’d be against the Tigers.

Thankfully, South Carolina has already played some of its toughest games, with Georgia, Texas A&M and Mizzou already out of the way, but they too must play Auburn. The Gamecocks will have to win out if they stand any chance at playing for the East division title.

The Rest:

The Florida Gators may have a loss on their hands already, but they’re not out of the conversation yet. They have not looked like an especially good football team, really. But they’re technically alive for the division title. They’ll have to get through Missouri, Georgia, South Carolina and LSU. Not that it impacts the SEC contention but the Gators still have to face Florida State to end the year. This all doesn’t bode well for a team that needed three overtimes (and a really bad officiating error) to beat Kentucky.

The Tennessee Volunteers are on their way back into relevancy. Led by the big time wide receiver, Marquez North, whom everyone is pinning as a sure-fire NFL star, and thanks to the efforts of coach Butch Jones, the Vols are a year away from contending for the East. Watchout for quarterback Justin Whorley, he may be a Heisman contender in the future.

Then there’s Kentucky and Vanderbilt. They’re not doing very well.

So, how about the Wild-Wild West? Things are about to get wilder this week, in what many are calling one of the best weeks of college football on the 2014 slate. But things may start to work themselves out this Saturday– at least somewhat. Here’s what’s going on out west:

Alabama:

Alabama is probably in the best spot as of right now. Thanks in part to tpast years performance, the rankings and the voters, and the gurus are keeping this team at the top of all SEC teams. Yes, they Crimson Tide have struggled against West Virginia, and they don’t know who their quarterback is, but Alabama is as talented as anyone in the country. Wide recevier Amare Cooper is a Heisman candidate and the Bama defense is sturdy. The team’s first real test comes this week when they visit No. 10 Ole Miss, with College GameDay going to the Grove. This will be one of many games where the undefeated SEC west team’s start canceling each other out. I like Bama’s talent over Auburn’s to get through that terrifying SEC West slate.

Auburn:

Aug 30, 2014; Auburn, AL, USA; Auburn Tigers quarterback Nick Marshall (14) looks for a receiver during the second half against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Jordan Hare Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

Auburn hasn’t done much, so it’s hard to really gauge how this team compares to last year’s championship runner up. Its best win came against Arkansas, who we’re having trouble gauging as well. The best team the Tigers beat was a ranked Kansas State team at their house. But Auburn didn’t look all of that sharp in that game.

The jury is still out on Auburn. QB Nick Marshall is supposed to be Heisman-worthy this season, but so far has only completed 41 passes in five games, with 6 touchdowns and 1 interception. For perspective, Missouri’s Maty Mauk has completed 89 passes and leads the SEC with 15 touchdowns. Like the rest of the SEC West, Auburn has a super tough schedule too. LSU visits Jordan-Hare this weekend with current fellow unbeatens, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and of course Alabama, await them. The team also has Georgia and South Carolina looming as well. Making it through all of that unscathed is no easy task and I  expect them to falter somewhere along the way.

Texas A&M:

I think this team is the most overrated team in the SEC and perhaps in college football (although Notre Dame might hold that honor). The Aggies got to their No. 6 overall rating thanks to demolishing South Carolina in the season opener. But we all know that the first game of the year is not a good way to measure how good a team is. Yes, their comeback from two touchdowns against Arkansas was impressive, but that’s kind of our point. The team should never have been down two touchdowns to Arkansas. The team has talent, especially at quarterback. But it is to young and inexperienced and the defense is just not strong enough. This team won’t survive those West division teams.

M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I–S:

We’re going to see how good these two undefeated teams really are this weekend. Ole Miss gets Alabama at home and Mississippi State gets Texas A&M in Starkeville. I love Ole Miss, with quarterback Bo Wallace and think they can challenge Nick Saban’s group at home. They too won’t see things get any easier if they somehow get through the Tide, it’s a tall order for still a relatively new to the party program to get through the rest. Mississippi State has been known to knock off teams already this season (looking at you, LSU) so don’t count them out for games to come. We’re putting the A&M Aggies on upseet alert this weekend.

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The Rest:

LSU put itself in a pretty bad spot by losing toe Mississippi State. While the Bulldogs are a pretty talented team, so its no knock on them, the Tigers should have won that game at home. Now, they must do the same merry-go-round as everyone else, but do it with a loss already on their record. That in itself makes the odds of getting to Atlanta very, very slim.

Arkansas was supposed to finish last in the SEC West this year– and they may still, as they are still looking for their first conference win since 2012. But there is a dramatic difference between this year’s last place team and last year’s last place team. Head coach Brett Bilemma has the program heading in the right direction, and boy can that team run the football, which is a refreshing thing to see. Arkansas record, if it does in deed go negative, will be more of a reflection of how good the division is and not how bad Arkansas is.