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SEC Football Rankings And Reactions, Week 11
Week 11 SEC rankings and reactions: Alabama kept on rolling, while Arkansas pulled off a shocker in Death Valley over LSU.
November 16, 2015
SEC Football Rankings Week 11
1. Alabama (9-1)
W, at Mississippi State, 31-6: There’s no one playing better in college football right now. Go ahead and call the SEC overrated, go ahead and call out the loss to Ole Miss, go ahead and try to knock the Crimson Tide in any way possible, but this team just crushed a good Mississippi State team on the road, right after it took away LSU’s mojo, right after beating Georgia, Arkansas, Texas A&M and Tennessee. Now comes the week off vs. Charleston Southern before the showdown with Auburn.
2. Arkansas (6-4)
3. LSU (7-2)
L, Arkansas, 31-14: This could hit the skids in a big hurry. The Tigers weren’t exactly lifeless against Arkansas – they were simply outplayed. Were they overrated after beating Mississippi State in their opener and getting by a struggling Florida offense without its starting quarterback? Maybe, but a win at Ole Miss can turn this right back around. Lose in Oxford, and with Texas A&M to follow this could be a disastrous November.
4. Florida (9-1)
W, at South Carolina, 24-14: Big Ten haters say Iowa, anti-SEC types say Florida. The Gator offense just doesn’t do much with Treon Harris under center, but it helps to play Vanderbilt and South Carolina. It’s fine for now, but the Florida Atlantic game needs to be all about how to get Harris sharper with the passing game before dealing with Florida State. All that matters is getting to 11-1, and then leave it up to the D against, most likely, Alabama.
5. Ole Miss (7-3)
UP NEXT: LSU: Don’t forget about the Rebels. It doesn’t look like Alabama is going to gack against Auburn, but – duh – it’s a rivalry game on the road against a team with nothing to lose. If the Crimson Tide lose, and Ole Miss beats a struggling LSU and gets by Mississippi State on the road, it’s in the SEC championship game. It’s as easy as that.
6. Tennessee (6-4)
W, North Texas, 24-0: It might have been a sleepwalking effort over one of the worst teams in college football, but the Vols are bowl eligible. That might not seem like much, but now they’re rolling with three straight wins and winnable games at Missouri and Vanderbilt is off. There’s no SEC title, and there’s no playoff run, but the Vols can still finish No. 2 in the East – at least by tie-breaker over Georgia – and could roll up the bowl pecking order with a little bit of help.
7. Georgia (7-3)
W, at Auburn, 20-13: Think of it this way. How happy would Georgia fans have been at the beginning of the season if they were told their Dawgs would end up beating the preseason SEC favorite on the road? It still might not be pretty, and this might not be the season everyone was hoping for, but there’s still a chance at a ten-win season by beating Georgia Southern, Georgia Tech, and winning the bowl game. But, Georgia fans already know this, be very, very careful of the GSU option attack.
8. Mississippi State (7-3)
L, Alabama, 31-6: Mississippi State ran right into the Alabama buzzsaw. Dak Prescott gave it a shot, and he threw for 300 yards, but there’s no one playing stronger than the Crimson Tide right now. There still isn’t a signature win – beating Auburn on the road doesn’t really count – and now there’s a shot at one going to Arkansas. The Bulldogs still have a chance at a great season by winning out – getting ten wins after beating the Hogs, Ole Miss and taking the bowl game would be terrific.
9. Auburn (5-5)
L, Georgia, 20-13: The Tigers weren’t awful in the loss to Georgia, but they couldn’t get the offense going in the second half and now they’ve lost three of their last four. They have the Idaho fail-safe next week before dealing with Alabama, so they’ll get to six wins and a bowl, but it would’ve been really, really nice to have built off the Texas A&M win to go on a decent late run. This is a reset button season, but as all AU fans know, beat Bama in two weeks and everything else will be forgotten.
10. Texas A&M (7-3)
W, Western Carolina, 41-17: The offense still hasn’t been able to get its groove back. Western Carolina was never going to be a problem, but it would’ve been a plus if everything was humming perfectly going into a dangerous game – don’t laugh – against Vanderbilt. The Commodore defense has been outstanding – there can’t be any looking ahead to the LSU regular season finale. A ten-win season is still possible, but with the inconsistencies, that’s going to be a tall, tall order.
11. Vanderbilt (4-6)
W, Kentucky, 21-17: As tough as everything has been, the Commodores are one stop, one big Florida kick away from being right in the mix for a bowl appearance. The offense still can’t do much of anything, but the defense stuffed Kentucky time and again on the way to a nice win to keep hope alive. Texas A&M is hardly rocking and rolling – the Vandy D could rise up and pull off the stunner at home. Do that, and the Tennessee game is for a bowl game. At the very least, this continues to be a competitive team with plenty of hope for the future – if there’s any offense.
12. Kentucky (4-6)
L, at Vanderbilt, 21-17: It’s not like the Wildcats didn’t have their chances. Time and again they had their scoring shots, and they had their red-zone moments, but the loss on the road to Vanderbilt might have been a season killer. On a five-game losing streak, and a sure-win over Charlotte up next, the season is half-empty – UK could totally collapse for the second year in a row and finish with six losses in their final seven to once again miss out on a bowl. Or the season is half-full, and the Wildcats could beat their hated rival – Louisville – on the road and get a 13th game to boot.
13. Missouri (5-5)
W, BYU, 20-16: After all the drama and all the big things happening around the university and the program, yeah, go ahead and dance, Gary Pinkel. The Tigers actually got a little bit of offense and a decent passing game from Drew Lock – throwing for 244 yards – and Russell Hansbrough had a little bit of room to move. Can the Tiger defense get it done and step up with a win over Tennessee in the home finale or come up with the stunner at Arkansas? This doesn’t look like a bowl team, but it’s one more ugly win away from being one.
14. South Carolina (3-7)
L, Florida, 24-14: The effort still appears to be there, and there’s still a lot of work being done to try moving the ball, but losing five of the last six games is a painful run with too many close fights. The bowl hopes are gone, but with Citadel up next, at least there should be one more fun moment. Of course, if the Gamecocks bookend their season by beating the two combatants in the ACC championship – and ruin Clemson’s season – then everything else about this weird year might melt away.
