SEC Selection Update – Week Eight
The Big Ten got much of the spotlight last weekend thanks to Michigan State’s
upset of Wisconsin. The SEC didn’t have quite the same fireworks, since the
conference seems to largely be in a holding pattern until a packed Nov. 5
weekend.
SEC Results
Vanderbilt 44, Army 21
Kentucky 38, Jacksonville State 14
Alabama 37, Tennessee 6
LSU 45, Auburn 10
Arkansas 29, Mississippi 24
The most anticipated matchup of the weekend was Auburn at LSU, especially with
three Bayou Bengals suspended for off-field issues. Although the defending
national champions stayed competitive through the early part of the game, LSU
eventually proved too much for them on both sides of the ball. In Tuscaloosa,
Tennessee offered a similar challenge to Alabama before being overwhelmed by the
Tide. Now ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the BCS poll, respectively, LSU and Alabama
are on a collision course…but that’s not the most important game on our
schedule.
It’s entirely possible that either LSU or Alabama could lose on Nov. 5 and then
lose once more before the season ends (LSU meets Arkansas and ‘Bama visits
Auburn in the final week of the season). It’s also possible that the winner of
that epic 1 vs 2 game suffers a letdown or loses to the SEC East champion in
Atlanta. Those things are possible. They are not, however, likely, and so our
selection committee has prepared as if both the Tigers and Tide will be
receiving BCS berths at the end of the year as they are currently the best two
teams in the conference.
That means our current options include No. 10 Arkansas and No. 13 South
Carolina, who will meet in Fayetteville on November 5 in a game that will play a
big part in our ultimate selection.
We aim for a team with at least nine wins in the Capital One Bowl. If we leave
LSU and Alabama off the list for BCS dreams, that means we have six teams still
in the mix: South Carolina (6-1), Arkansas (6-1), Georgia (5-2), Auburn (5-3),
Florida (4-3) and Vanderbilt (4-3). It’s a tall order for the Tigers, Gators or
Commodores to run the table, so we may see that list trimmed even further over
the next few weekends.