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For 12 hours every Saturday, SEC fans can plop themselves on the couch and tune into football games all day. No one wants to waste their time watching a boring game, though, so we ranked all seven games that SEC teams are playing in this weekend (Auburn played Thursday night, while Alabama, Mississippi State and Florida are off). These rankings are subjective, but factor in league impact, how exciting and how close the games will be. Games are ranked on a 1-5 Georgia Dome scale (the site of the SEC Championship Game), with 5 being the most watchable game and 1 being the least.
5 GEORGIA DOMES
None this week.
4 GEORGIA DOMES
Arkansas at No. 6 Texas A&M (3:30 p.m. ET/CBS): Texas A&M finally get its first test of the season in a complete clash of styles. The Razorbacks and Aggies both put up points in bunches, but do it very differently. It will be a blast to see if Bret Bielema’s pound-the-rock, control-the-clock strategy can slow down Kevin Sumlin’s air raid attack.
Missouri at No. 13 South Carolina (7 p.m. ET/ESPN): ESPN’s College Game Day thinks this is the place to be, and so do we. Despite Missouri’s ugly loss to Indiana a week ago, the Tigers are still undefeated in the SEC (they haven’t played a game, but that’s besides the point), which means they’re still in contention for the SEC East crown. Meanwhile, South Carolina showed a week ago that they don’t plan on stopping anyone on defense, even Vanderbilt. This one could be a shootout, and it comes with major divisional implications.
3 GEORGIA DOMES
Tennessee at No. 12 Georgia (Noon ET/ESPN): The Volunteers may appear to be overmatched with their young team going up against Georgia’s powerhouse running game, but that didn’t matter a year ago when these two teams slugged it out in an overtime battle. Add in that Tennessee has already faced a tough road test in Oklahoma and this one could be closer than the spread (Georgia at -17) indicates.
2 GEORGIA DOMES
Vanderbilt at Kentucky (Noon ET/SEC Network): These might be the two worst teams in the SEC, but that doesn’t mean this can’t be entertaining. The Commodores broke kickoff returns for touchdowns twice against South Carolina, while Kentucky played Florida down to the wire in a triple-OT thriller two weeks ago.
Memphis at No. 10 Mississippi (7:30 p.m. ET/FSN or ESPN3): The Rebels get a chance to shake off the rust from their bye week against Memphis before taking on Alabama in a week. The Tigers have been putting up points while playing some very good defense, so Ole Miss will have to be on their game to avoid upset. The Rebels are 21-point favorites, though, and have the potential to blow this one open.
1 GEORGIA DOME
New Mexico State at No. 17 LSU (7:30 p.m. ET/SEC Network): Similar to Georgia a week ago, LSU is coming off its first loss of the season and will be looking to pound out their frustration on an outgunned Aggies team. This might be interesting to LSU fans for the personnel issues the Tigers have to work out, but the rest of the conference’s fans shouldn’t bother tuning in.
Louisiana Tech at No. 5 Auburn (4 p.m. ET/SEC Network): Auburn should be able to get its fast-paced attack back on track against Louisiana Tech, but it’s unlikely the Bulldogs will be able to keep up. This one should give the Tigers a chance to get Sammie Coates more comfortable after returning from injury in that tough road win over Kansas State last Thursday.
A former freelance journalist from Philadelphia, Brett has made the trek down to SEC country to cover the greatest conference in college football.
