SEC Roundup – Week 9

Oct 26, 2013; Columbia, MO, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Steve Spurrier speaks to media after the game against the Missouri Tigers at Faurot Field. South Carolina won 27-24. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Another fun week of SEC football. It wasn’t exactly a slate of great games, but any football weekend is a good one for me – I’ll miss them when they’re gone. The game of the week going in and on the field was South Carolina/Mizzou. The Missouri FG kicker really hurt their chances missing one late in the 4th and then the chip shot in the 2nd overtime…as well as their 3rd & 4th down defense when the Gamecocks were wayyyyy behind the chains late in the game. I was kind of hoping SC would lose the game simply because their chances to win the East would be nil and perhaps they wouldn’t be as motivated this week to face MSU. Oh well, we’re gonna have to learn how to beat teams at their best…this is the SEC.

Power Rankings

1. Alabama, 8-0 (5-0) – They are awesome and it looks like they’ll be carrying the torch for the conference once again, and probably to another national title barring something unforeseen.

2. Missouri, 7-1 (3-1) – I’m gonna keep the Tigers here because they barely lost that game to South Carolina, and they’ve got some good wins plus other than Auburn they are the only one-loss team.

3. Auburn, 7-1 (3-1) – They wiped FAU clean on Saturday, now they have Arkansas next week. They should win that one and could be 9-1 when Georgia comes to the plains.

4. Texas A&M, 6-2 (3-2) – Bowl eligible now after beating Vandy pretty good. Johnny Manziel is just unreal.

5. LSU, 7-2 (3-2) – They’ve played every week but finally get a bye in Week 10. I think they’re a better team than the hiccup in Oxford – we’ll see if they can give the Tide a run for their money in two weeks.

6. South Carolina, 6-2 (4-2) – Big win against Missouri. They looked awful for three quarters but managed to come back and win it, a credit to their team. Now they have a shot to win the East as they just have two SEC games left (MSU, UF) and Mizzou has four including Ole Miss and A&M.

7. Ole Miss, 6-3 (2-3) – I am moving the Rebs down two spots after beating Idaho 59-14, but this is a MSU blog and things like that can happen from time to time.

8. Georgia, 4-3 (3-2) – The Bulldogs had the week off and they needed it. It will be interesting to see if they can be Florida for the third year in a row.

9. Florida, 4-3 (3-2) – I don’t really know the temperature of Will Muschamp’s seat in Gainesville but if he loses to UGA again, something that never happens to the Gators over the last 25 years, I would have to imagine things will get pretty toasty for him.

10. Mississippi State, 4-3 (1-3) – Yep, this is a homer pick. The Dawgs didn’t look that good against Kentucky, but I’m gonna give them the benefit of the doubt and jump them over UT and Vandy who were blown out. Hopefully they’ll play SC at least close and prove they’re worthy of this ranking.

11. Tennessee, 4-4 (1-3) – The Vols fell to Bama again. This time 45-10 and it was never a game. They’ll have to re-group because a trip to Columbia, MO is up next.

12. Vanderbilt, 4-4 (1-4) – Vandy’s kind of a hard team to figure out. They’ve got an off weak coming up to prepare for Florida, then UK, UT, and Wake Forest. They have a chance to win any of those games or they could lose them all you never know.

13. Kentucky, 1-6 (0-4) – The Wildcats showed a little something in Starkville. They don’t have much but they have been fairly close in some games, and really could’ve won against MSU if they had gotten a couple of breaks.

14. Arkansas, 3-5 (0-4) – The Hogs could probably beat UK, but they need to be last after getting pummeled in SEC play so far. They had an off week to re-group with Auburn at home and Ole Miss on the road the next two weeks. We’ll see if they look any different coming off the bye.