Trigger warning: we ain’t in them.
We’re now 90% of the way through the regular season (at least, we are... others still have two games to play), and Auburn sits at 5-4. Not the record we’d hoped to have, but three out of the Tigers’ four losses have come to top ten teams. The other, well... you’re welcome for the retirement gift, Will Muschamp.
Let’s see what the new AP Poll looks like with the first weekend of December out of the way.
POLL ALERT: No. 1 Alabama makes 210th consecutive poll appearance, third-longest streak; Buffalo ranked for 1st time.
— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) December 6, 2020
Full poll >> https://t.co/1bR5Dltou5
More coverage >> https://t.co/2qlqr09CPm pic.twitter.com/i0F8CnOql7
Sigh... it’s all about Alabama.
AP TOP TEN
- Alabama
- Notre Dame
- Ohio State
- Clemson
- Texas A&M
- Florida
- Cincinnati
- Indiana
- Miami
- Iowa State
Other SEC teams in the rankings are Georgia (#12). That’s it. You can see the chasm between the top of the conference and everyone else in 2020. How’d everyone in the conference fare over the weekend?
ALABAMA: You knew this one was coming. Alabama beat LSU 55-17, taking no mercy at all and showing that the 2020 Tigers might be the worst defending national champ of all time. You really can’t defend Alabama, you can just hope to hold them to 40 points and maybe have an Ole Miss effort on offense. Not sure there’s anyone that can hang with them. Maybe Clemson on their best day, maybe Ohio State in the same vein. That’s about it.
ARKANSAS: The Hogs may have returned to earth a little bit after their solid start to the season. They gave up 27 fourth quarter points in a 50-48 loss to Missouri yesterday, and the Tigers shredded them for more than 650 yards. The run game was working, but not enough to milk the clock with a two touchdown lead in the final frame. They’re going to get better, and be annoying as hell.
AUBURN: Defense sucked. Offense was average. I wrote about it, and it was a very apathetic loss to many in the Auburn community. No fun.
FLORIDA: Florida is going to throw the ball like crazy, and they did all over Tennessee yesterday for more than 400 yards and 4 scores. Kyle Trask to Kyle Pitts is one of the most dangerous combos in the land, but the Gators still have issues. They’re not great running the ball, and the defense still has trouble. They’re locked in for the SEC title game in two weeks, but they’re not going to be able to outscore Alabama.
GEORGIA: DNP due to COVID.
KENTUCKY: If the acts following the game — Mark Stoops firing OC Eddie Gran and QB coach Darin Hinshaw — are any indication, then the Cats still have issues even after blowing out South Carolina. They gave up 210 rushing yards to Kevin Harris, and rolled up almost 500 yards of offense on their own, but the Gamecocks had 46 players yesterday.
LSU: Yikes. The fall is brilliant for Ed Orgeron. LSU is an absolutely abysmal football team, with no redeeming qualities, and they’re paying back the absolute jackpot season they hit last year. With the impending legal issues, this could turn out to be a spectacular fall from grace if they can’t find something — ANYTHING — to turn the team around.
MISSISSIPPI STATE: Off week, we get them next Saturday and then they’ll finish with Missouri. They’ll likely just finish with two wins in Mike Leach’s inaugural season.
MISSOURI: Improving. Eli Drinkwitz is showing that his offense can work in the SEC and he’s having little trouble posting points. The fourth quarter yesterday was masterful, and the Tigers’ scoring drives in the final frame (FOUR full scoring drives in the fourth quarter) were 0:34, 2:07, 1:26, and 0:43 in duration. The HUNH isn’t dead, and Missouri is good at it.
OLE MISS: Off week, they’ll have LSU and Texas A&M to finish the year. That game against A&M could be hilariously fun as they make a bid to ruin a possible Playoff slot for Jimbo. Always, the offense is dangerous, and Lane Kiffin with nothing to play for is one of the scariest things imaginable.
SOUTH CAROLINA: Well, they lost with 46 players and then turned around and hired... Shane Beamer as head coach? Color me meh as fast as you can. I get that you can’t just hire a Nick Saban to come coach for you, but at least try. You fire Will Muschamp and get a guy with no head coaching experience. Man, it just seems like a huge settle, and it’s going to be hard to see them catching up to anyone in the SEC East.
TENNESSEE: Poor Jeremy Pruitt. Couldn’t even slice through Florida’s terrible defense for some points, while he watched his secondary get torched all night long. True, they didn’t just get blown out, and scored to make it respectable in the end, but Pruitt can’t go about losing every game he ever plays to Georgia, Florida, and Alabama and expect to keep his job. Fulmer didn’t lose to that trio all that much. He won’t tolerate it.
TEXAS A&M: They can run the ball, now, that’s for sure. Kellen Mond didn’t make mistakes (only took him four years), but they’re just not spectacular. They’re the most blah top five team I can remember, and if we’d pulled the win out yesterday I wouldn’t have been surprised in the slightest. If they do end up going to the Playoff somehow, they’re going to get trounced by one of the other top four teams.
VANDERBILT: DNP due to COVID, mercifully.
from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2020/12/6/22157880/saturday-sec-recap-and-rankings
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