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SEC Debate: What’s the biggest surprise in the conference?

By Christopher Smith

Published: Oct 13, 2014 · 1:31 PM EDT

We’ve played seven of 14 regular-season weeks. Halfway.

Now is the perfect time for the SDS staff to debate the most noteworthy shocker.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST SURPRISE IN THE SEC HALFWAY THROUGH THE REGULAR SEASON?

Jon Cooper (@JonSDS): SEC East turmoil

Most on this particular debate will talk about the state of Mississippi, and rightfully so, but I’m going with the SEC East. While the SEC West is stronger than any division in college football history, the lack of star-power in the East is the biggest surprise. Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina and Missouri are all down, and Georgia isn’t the Georgia that can win an SEC Championship. As long as Tennessee continues to struggle, the East will always have the perception of being down. But the gap is getting wider. The West has the best players, the best coaches and all the championships since 2009, and the East has, well, not much to show for it. The West has won 26 games over non-SEC West teams this season, and that includes East teams. Kentucky is now right in the mix for the Eastern Division Championship. Credit Mark Stoops for building his program, but it says more about the division. Let’s not forget that Vanderbilt has posted back-to-back nine-win seasons, and the Commodores have fallen off the map and could be the country’s worst FBS team.

Brad Crawford (@BradCrawfordSDS): SEC East turmoil

The Magnolia State’s unprecedented start is the dominant storyline and rightfully so considering Ole Miss and Mississippi State appear to be Playoff frontrunners, but the biggest surprise — at least in my opinion — has been the SEC East and its rapid elimination by attrition. Kentucky’s a triple-overtime loss away from being this division’s frontrunner? Todd Gurley could be suspended for the season? The unpredictability of college football is what makes the game great and even the best prognisticators had no idea South Carolina would be the SEC’s most overrated team. The Gamecocks, preseason division favorites, are 3-3 for the first time since Steve Spurrier’s first season in 2005 on the verge of a cataclysmic 6-6 season unless South Carolina can split remaining seesaw games against Auburn, Tennessee, Florida and Clemson. Mizzou’s average, Florida’s continuing to struggle and Vanderbilt is … well, Vanderbilt.

Jordan Cox (@Jordan_Cox): Mississippi State

It was just last season that Dan Mullen was on the hot seat, and he now has his team 6-0 and No. 1 in the country. Mullen has gotten his team, and the entire State fan base, to buy in. He’s gone from potentially being fired for 8-4 seasons to his name being tied to marquee jobs such as Michigan and Florida. Can the magic in Mississippi continue? We’ll see, but what’s happened in Starkville is nothing short of spectacular.

Ethan Levine (@EthanLevineSDS): Kentucky’s 5-1 start

It would be easy to say the SEC’s biggest surprise has been Mississippi State’s rise from unranked to No. 1, and that may be true, but the Kentucky Wildcats’ unthinkable 5-1 start cannot be overlooked. Kentucky won just four games the last two seasons combined, yet this year it’s one triple-overtime loss in the Swamp away from a perfect 6-0 record. Head coach Mark Stoops is only midway through his second season in Lexington, but he has instilled his culture in the program and it’s already paying off in a big way. Kentucky has risen to the top of the SEC East on the backs of a second-year head coach, a first-time starting quarterback and a core of young skill players trying to prove their worth. The Cats are almost certain to reach a bowl game, and a trip to Atlanta as the East champs is well within their reach. If you’d told Kentucky fans their team would win five games all season, they’d have seen it as progress. Kentucky has already outdone those expectations, and the sky is the limit for the SEC’s best underdog story of 2014.Jason Hall (@JasonHallSDS): Magnolia State success

Entering the season, Ole Miss was teetering in the Top 25 while Mississippi State was unranked. Now, both teams are in the top three and could face off in the College Football Playoff.

Brett Weisband (@WeisbandSDS): SEC West parity

Before the season, it wouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone if an SEC West team represented the conference in the College Football Playoff. No one suspected that this division would be as good as it is top to bottom. Mississippi State and Ole Miss were considered dark horse teams before the season with a chance at making noise, but seeing them both rise into the top three is a shocker. Arkansas, maybe the best 3-3 team in the country, is capable of giving all of their divisional brethren headaches. LSU, struggling all over despite their 5-2 record, might be the division’s worst team. It’s not out of the question that the West could blank the East the rest of the way.

Drew Laing (@DrewLaingSDS): Magnolia State success

We knew coming into the season that Ole Miss and Mississippi State were improved and could possibly contend in the SEC. But with how these schools have disappointed high expectations in the past, I’m not sure too many believed they would rise up to the challenge. Surprisingly they have enormously exceed expectations and are at the top of the college football world and are arguably two of the most complete teams in the conference.

Christopher Smith

An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.