DISCLAIMER: Remember, folks – we’re not here to hate on the SEC. The SEC packs a powerful brand of college football, has some of the greatest rivalries and traditions in the game and will forever dominate the BCS-era National Title trophy case. The “SEC is AWESOME Theory” is centered around the statistical advantage the SEC has gained and continues to gain via a financially driven media machine that produces biased polls, rankings and marketing.

A shortened dose of the Theory for consumption in time for the early holiday games [Ed note: Yes, it’s the day after Thanksgiving, but I’m still going to leave this post as is ~Tex] – let’s do some AWESOME.

The AWESOME Games:

(1) Alabama 48 / (NR) Western Carolina 14 – The Tide beat the FCS Catamounts as they should have, but the game was not without controversy as Bama only led the directional Carolina squad by a field goal with about eight minutes left in the 2nd quarter. As we all recall, the CFP Committee was quite clear in their commitment to consider “game control” as a major attribute for teams during ranking determination. Can you consider the #1 team in the land to be “in control” of a game against a Division II foe if they lead by three points with half time approaching? What exactly is the threshold? Here’s thing – in reality, I find it perfectly acceptable for any team to struggle with any other team on any given day. There’s weather factors that might come into play. There are off-the-field concerns for football programs that we may never find out about. It could have been a rough week at practice or the student-athletes may have been consumed with the stress of midterm exams, etc.

You just don’t know, and you certainly can’t quantify these matters.

So no, I don’t fault the Tide at all for a cold start against Western Carolina. What I do fault is the negative treatment of other teams for similar struggles. Sure, Alabama took control of the game in the second half and dominated WCU the rest of the way to pull away with more than a four touchdown victory. But where do you draw the line? How do you quantify the exact boundaries of a subjective theoretical quality such as “game control”? You just can’t. Alabama is one of the best teams in the country but it’s not because of being a complete team (see last week’s Theory column) or having better “game control” than any of the other top teams in the country.

(4) Mississippi State 51 / (NR) Vanderbilt 0 – how do you follow-up a deflating five-point loss to Alabama? A 51 point trouncing of the hapless Commodores is about as good as you can get. It will all come down to the Egg Bowl for the Bulldogs, to see if they can truly place the icing on top of their amazing season with a spot in the playoffs. Unfortunately, a victory for them over Ole Miss must be accompanied by some victorious War Eagles in the Iron Bowl. Outlook? I like their chances, but the further and further that Texas A&M and LSU fall from grace the more that I wonder exactly how elite Dak & Co. might truly be. Are they one of the best teams in the country? You could definitely argue that, but I’d hesitate to put them in over a TCU, Baylor, Ohio State or some of the two-loss squads without some serious discernment. If the Bulldogs triumph, punch their ticket to Atlanta thanks to Auburn and then take the SEC crown? No doubt whatsoever – but a BIG “if”.

(8) Ole Miss 0 / (NR) Arkansas 30 – Arkansas continues to play spoiler for the AWESOMEST conference’s AWESOMEST division by blanking – BLANKING – Bad Bo Wallace and the Ole Miss Rebs. This is the Mississippi squad we’ve come to expect in previous seasons. Incredible talent, a lot of potential coupled with some epic games but an ultimate let-down towards the end of the season. There is ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with that and they deserve a lot of praise for their early wins over Texas A&M and Alabama. But as the season draws to a near and the final resume “body of work” comes into focus, I can’t help but think about their supersonic rise to the top and what their defeat of Alabama really, REALLY Says about the Tide.

(10) Georgia 55 / (NR) Charleston Southern 9 – Georgia brought home the big win against Charleston Southern (as expected) and it was another great showing by Dawg fullback Nick Chubb. UGA is also still alive in the hunt for the SEC-east title, which I believe to be the most important factor for the national landscape. The east has been ridiculed all season, no thanks to astronomically disappointing season from the Gamecocks. If you recall, they were in the AP’s preseason Top 10 and facilitated the fraudulent 12-spot, one-week rank swap with the Aggies…who were later exposed by Mississippi State and Ole Miss in consecutive weeks.

The Alachua County Lizards didn’t help matter with their own bizarre season. They took three overtime periods to overcome Kentucky before losing three out of four weeks to Alabama, Missouri and LSU – then DOMINATED the Bulldawgs – then LOST to the very Gamecocks i lament above. The SEC-east in one word? Schizophrenic. But so are a TON of other conferences in any given year, so when the ESPN gang covering the Tennessee/Missouri game called the SEC_east “mediocre”, it really rubbed me the wrong way. Their argument was that the east was inferior to the west due to the topsy-turvy season they’ve endured.

But what ABOUT that west?

Were the Mississippi teams supposed to have done what they’ve done? Was the Week 1 shocker in Columbia to be expected? How about the four losses by LSU? or the record, Georgia easily handled Missouri…who capped off Texas A&M…who beat Arkansas…who blanked Ole Miss…who beat Alabama. The transitive theory doesn’t always translate so well in college football, but can you really say that the SEC-east is so clearly mediocre in comparison to the SEC-west?

(14) Auburn 31 / (NR) Samford 7 – Remember when Ohio State lost to Navy by 17 points in Week 1 and dropped three whole spots? For the record, a 24-point victory over a FCS team earns you a one-spot drop. You know, in case you were wondering. Be that as it may, the Tigers are now the only thing that remain in between Saban & his padawan and their chance at the SEC title in Atlanta. Yes, they deserve to represent the west just as much as any other team in their division (even the Razorbacks whom they beat by one single point), but I can already sense the entitlement of inevitability.

(20) MIZZOU / (NR) Tennessee – Tennessee almost delivered the SEC-east title to the Bulldogs until they completely fell apart in the second half. Check that – Missouri played a really solid game and seems to be well on their way towards solidifying their presence as a dominant force in the east. They must now meet with the giant slayers of the west, the Razorbacks. This will be a very interesting test of the Theory.

Your echelon migrations and overall AWESOME presence:

Last Week (CFP)

#1 – #5: 2 SEC Teams 
#6 – #10: 2 SEC Teams 
#11 – #15: 1 SEC Team 
#16 – #20: 1 SEC Team 
#21 – #25: 0 SEC Teams 

This Week (CFP)

#1 – #5: 2 SEC Teams (-)
#6 – #10: 1 SEC Team (-1)
#11 – #15: 1 SEC Team (-)
#16 – #20: 2 SEC Teams (+1)
#21 – #25: 0 SEC Teams (-)

The AWESOME Games to Watch

(1) Alabama / (15) Auburn – not representing the battle of titans we once thought it would be, the Iron Bowl will still have a huge impact on the CFP Committee’s final deliberations. The final  outcome won’t be known until after the Conference title games are played, but an Auburn upset will really throw this situation its head. According to everything we’ve been told, Alabama should win this game and win handily. But this IS the Iron Bowl and the Auburn Tigers have absolutely nothing to lose since they have been mathematically eliminated from the title, both conference and national , respectively. They will be looking to prove their prowess and take down the team they hate more than anything in the world…and vice versa.

(4) Mississippi State / (19) Ole Miss – State must win this game and hope for a Bama let-down if they want  a chance at the Awesome Belt. Interestingly, if both Mississippi State and Alabama win, there will be only ONE team in the Top 25 that Alabama beat during their 2014 regular season campaign – the Bulldogs. Texas A&M, LSU and Auburn will all presumably no longer be ranked. Notice that list doesn’t include the Rebels. That’s because they’ll drop out of the Top 25 with their fourth loss and the distinction of being an unranked team to have beaten the Tide. Of course, the CFP Committee’s Jeff Long made it clear that all games will consider the rankings of the teams when the two teams actually played – so Alabama should be covered.

Wonder why the Committee is making this all clear now?

(9) Georgia / (16) Georgia Tech – whenever there’s an SEC/ACC match-up, there’s a chance to check for Theory confirmation. The Dawgs shouldn’t necessarily roll over the Wreck for yet another state title. Georgia Tech has had a pretty incredible season and but for an uncharacteristic loss to Duke a few weeks ago, would be a Top 10 team. That being said, Nick Chubb is a force to be reckoned with and Georgia seems hell bent as well as tasked (along with Missouri to some extent) as being the chosen ones to vouch for the east’s man-card. Of course, if Missouri loses to Arkansas, the Bulldogs head to Atlanta win or lose.

(17)  Missouri / (NR) Arkansas – are the Razorbacks legit? They can drive a stake into the SEC-east with a victory over the Tigers.

 

These are the games that will determine who plays for the SEC title of AWESOMENESS – will every team in the SEC have two losses? Will the die be cast for one loss suckers in non-SEC conferences to be left out in the cold when it comes time for the big dance?

Enjoy the games, everybody – and have a safe Thanksgiving!