The Florida Gators may have been off this week, but there was plenty of action going on around them, and they got some help in the standings as they prepare for the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs.
The Kentucky Wildcats are improbably at the top of the SEC standings with a 5-1 record. They have a half-game lead on the Georgia Bulldogs, who sit at 4-1. The Wildcats haven't played the toughest of SEC schedules, but there is no easy schedule in the conference. Their five wins came against Texas A&M, South Carolina, LSU, Oklahoma, and Vanderbilt.
The rubber hits the road for them after their bye this week. They travel to Tennessee before taking on Florida and Missouri.
Georgia was also off this week and is second in conference with a 4-1 record. Georgia has beaten Alabama, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. They lost to Auburn last week and have Florida, Ole Miss, Missouri, and South Carolina still left on the docket.
Alabama is third at 4-2 by virtue of having an extra win over a host of teams, including the Gators, tied at 3-2. The Tide has blown out Kentucky and South Carolina, but they had back-to-back losses to Georgia and Tennessee before getting right against Texas A&M. They still have LSU, Vanderbilt, and Auburn on the schedule.
The Gators are 3-2 in the conference, with their losses coming against South Carolina and Missouri.
They are currently in a four-way tie at 3-2 with Ole Miss, LSU, and Tennessee. The loss to Missouri is starting to look like an outlier after the Tigers were blown out by Ole Miss last week after having also dropped a game to Mississippi State.
If it seems like every conference team the Gators have played is in the upper half of the SEC, you'd be right. The good news is Florida controls its own destiny to a certain extent, with Oklahoma sandwiched between the two conference leaders, Georgia this week and Kentucky on November 14th, followed by Vanderbilt.
South Carolina claimed another victim on Saturday with their 27-24 comeback win against Tennessee. The loss knocked the Vols into a logjam of two-loss teams. The Gamecocks are 2-3 and look like a dangerous team on any given Saturday.
The Gators have the tiebreaker over both Ole Miss (3-2) and Texas (2-2), having beaten them both. The Longhorns did Florida a favor by beating the Rebels in Austin on Saturday night. They jumped out to a huge lead and then found themselves tied 24-24 in the fourth, before pulling out the 34-27 win.
With only four SEC games played, Texas still has plenty of work to do against Mississippi State, at Missouri, at LSU, Arkansas, and Texas A&M. Ole Miss hosts Auburn and Georgia the next two weeks before traveling to Oklahoma and finishing with the Egg Bowl.
Oklahoma is the other two-loss team in the conference, but they don't seem like a big threat for the SEC title right now. That said, their two losses came against the conference leaders, Kentucky and Georgia. They knocked off Texas and beat Mississippi State 23-15 on Saturday.
Of the three-loss teams, South Carolina could be the most dangerous. They've already claimed two good victories, and they'll finish the season at Oklahoma, vs. Texas A&M, at Arkansas, before hosting Georgia.
SEC Standings:
1 Kentucky Wildcats 5-1
2 Georgia Bulldogs 4-1
3 Alabama Crimson Tide 4-2
4 Florida Gators 3-2
5 Ole Miss Rebels 3-2
6 LSU Tigers 3-2
7 Tennessee Volunteers 3-2
8 Oklahoma Sooners 2-2
9 Missouri Tigers 2-2
10 Texas Longhorns 2-2
11 Mississippi State Bulldogs 2-3
12 Auburn Tigers 2-3
13 South Carolina Gamecocks 2-3
14 Arkansas Razorbacks 1-3
15 Texas A&M Aggies 1-4
16 Vanderbilt Commodores 0-5
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