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Each week across the SEC, we see something or somebody that makes us stop and reevaluate what we thought we knew. There’s always new wrinkles, teams or players who exceed expectations or leave us disappointed. Each week, we try to figure out what people, places and things around the conference are overrated and which ones are underrated. Here’s how it looks after eight weeks of SEC football.
OVERRATED
Texas A&M Offense: It’s beginning to look like the Aggies built a reputation against the weakest part of their schedule, including a season-opening win against Arizona State that wasn’t as impressive as it seemed in the moment. Texas A&M has quarterback issues and when a team can limit freshman Christian Kirk, like Ole Miss did on Saturday, it’s a big struggle for the Aggies to move the ball and put up points. A&M needs more balance and a quarterback who is a threat to both run and pass to reach its peak effectiveness.
The Significance of Ole Miss’ Loss to Memphis: After the Rebels lost in the Liberty Bowl, there were some that said Alabama’s loss to Ole Miss was bad enough to keep it out of the College Football Playoff. It’s time to calm down a bit. Memphis is really good and experienced and was fired up over the opportunity to host a rival that looks at it as a little brother. Ole Miss showed what it is capable of by dominating Texas A&M. It’s quite possible that by season’s end, both Memphis and Alabama are deserving of playoff bids while Ole Miss heads to a nice bowl game.
Missouri: This team spent multiple weeks in the Top 25? The Tigers haven’t scored a touchdown in 13 quarters and perhaps their best offensive play on Saturday at Vanderbilt was a fake punt run for 26 yards. Mizzou’s defense is good but not nearly good enough to overcome the offensive struggles. The back-to-back SEC East champions might not make it to a bowl game in 2015.
UNDERRATED
Mississippi State: That wasn’t a terrible Kentucky team the Bulldogs throttled on Saturday night, and Dak Prescott is playing his way back into the Heisman Trophy conversation. Mississippi State has two losses, both to teams that were ranked and one of them is a 2-point heartbreaker to current No. 4 LSU. The Bulldogs should take care of Missouri after the bye and set up a matchup against Alabama that’s going to be tougher than many Crimson Tide fans might have anticipated a few weeks ago.
Arkansas’ Schedule: The Razorbacks are going to be disappointed with their record by the time the season ends, but man, this wound up being one tough schedule for Arkansas, which has been playing some pretty good football in recent weeks. The early-season loss to Toledo doesn’t look as bad with the Rockets in the Top 25 and competing for a New Year’s Six bowl game, and the Hogs gave Texas A&M and Alabama all they wanted. Arkansas has three more games against ranked teams that is going to make it tough to get six wins, but don’t be surprised if they knock off somebody before the season is over.
LSU: Sure, the Tigers are ranked No. 4 in the AP Poll, which is probably just about right at this point, but doesn’t it seem like LSU is just quietly hanging around and taking care of business while most of the national championship talk centers on other teams? Heisman frontrunner Leonard Fournette is bringing plenty of national attention to Baton Rouge, but it seems like as a team people might be sleeping on the Tigers. If they keep winning, they will become impossible to ignore.
Shane Mettlen is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers Texas A&M, Missouri and Alabama.
