SEC
SEC proves strength in dominating polls with Ole Miss, Alabama tumbling
League has most teams from conference in Top 25 and in Top 10 of those heading into final week
There’s no point in arguing a lot over who should be No. 1 at this stage of the season. The playoffs will let everybody prove it on the field now.
The odds are really good the SEC will be in that mix when everything is said and done. The league simply dominated the latest rankings that came out Sunday with the Texas Longhorns the highest-ranked team from the league at No. 3.
After a loss at Ole Miss a couple of weeks ago, Georgia has worked back to No. 6 while Tennessee has rebounded from losses to Arkansas and Alabama to No. 8. All three are positioned to be the playoffs if they keep winning.
Texas will be at Texas A&M, Georgia closes out against Georgia
Alabama fell out of the Top 10 down to No. 13 and Ole Miss fell from No. 9 to No. 15 (AP)/16 (Coaches) polls. South Carolina jumped all the way to 16/14 after they hung another win up Saturday, blasting Wofford.
Oregon is still No. 1, but they will face No. 2 Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game assuming the Buckeyes get past Michigan next week.
After the SEC had eight teams ranked in the latest poll, The Big Ten was next with five. To save you some math, that means those two conferences make up over half of the Top 25 right now and will likely join for at least half of the College Football Playoff rankings Tuesday night.
If this was the NBA uses ping pong balls for lottery positions, the odds are definitely good those two conferences would be the odds-on favorites.
Upsets, like this weekend around the league, are what keeps everybody entertained. The SEC had all of that and more with Oklahoma just simply overwhelming Alabama and Auburn winning in four overtimes over Texas A&M. Nobody should have been surprised.
Oh, it’s okay to be surprised at those scores in particular but not about the upsets. It seems there’s been one or two of those every single week of the season. Somehow you don’t get the feeling it’s going to end anytime soon.
Conferences in Polls
SEC: 8 (Nos. 3, 6, 7, 13, 15, 16, 20, 24).
Big Ten: 5 (Nos. 1, 2, 4, 10, 22).
Big 12: 4 (Nos. 14, 17, 19, 23).
ACC: 3 (Nos. 8, 9, 12).
AAC: 2 (Nos. 18, 25).
Mountain West: 2 (Nos. 11, 21).
Independent: 1 (No. 5).
Here’s how each poll ranked 1-25:
AP Poll
1. Oregon (11-0)
2. Ohio State (10-1)
3. Texas (10-1)
4. Penn State (10-1)
5. Notre Dame (10-1)
6. Georgia (9-2)
7. Tennessee (9-2)
8. Miami (10-1)
9. SMU (10-1)
10. Indiana (10-1)
11. Boise State (10-1)
12. Clemson (9-2)
13. Alabama (8-3)
14. Arizona State (9-2)
15. Ole Miss (8-3)
16. South Carolina (8-3)
17. Iowa State (9-2)
18. Tulane (9-2)
19. BYU (9-2)
20. Texas A&M (8-3)
21. UNLV (9-2)
22. Illinois (8-3)
23. Colorado (8-3)
24. Missouri (8-3)
25. Army (9-1)
Coaches Poll
1. Oregon (11-0)
2. Ohio State (10-1)
3. Texas (10-1)
4. Penn State (10-1)
5. Notre Dame (10-1)
6. Georgia (9-2)
7. Miami (FL) (10-1)
8. Tennessee (9-2)
9. SMU (10-1)
10. Indiana (10-1)
11. Boise State (10-1)
12. Clemson (9-2)
13. Alabama (8-3)
14. South Carolina (8-3)
15. Arizona State (9-2)
16. Ole Miss (8-3)
17. Iowa State (9-2)
18. Tulane (9-2)
19. Texas A&M (8-3)
20. BYU (9-2)
21. UNLV (9-2)
22. Army (9-1)
23. Memphis (9-2)
24. Missouri (8-3)
25. Illinois (8-3)
