We’re hitting what former Auburn coach Pat Dye used to call “Amen Corner” during the football season. Here is where things stand in the SEC after Week 10.
1. Alabama (8-1): Saturday’s showdown with LSU was a line-of-scrimmage game, and Alabama thoroughly dominated that battle. The only evidence you need is that LSU’s superstar running back Leonard Fournette ran for just 31 yards on 19 carries. Alabama is clearly the class of the conference right now.
2. LSU (7-1): The Tigers were simply beaten at their own game Saturday. Alabama dominated a solid LSU offensive line, Derrick Henry ran for 210 yards and three touchdowns, and Fournette never got going. The Tigers are clearly a step behind Alabama, which has beaten LSU five straight times.
3. Florida (8-1): It wasn’t pretty -- obviously, since they needed an Austin Hardin field goal with 2:22 to play to win -- but the Gators beat Vanderbilt 9-7 to clinch the SEC East title. Florida’s offense is shaky, but coach Jim McElwain has done a phenomenal job.
4. Mississippi State (7-2): The Bulldogs aren’t getting much attention, but Thursday’s 31-13 win over Missouri was their sixth victory in the past seven games. Dak Prescott is the best quarterback in the league, and the team with the best QB usually wins.
5. Ole Miss (7-3): The Rebels no longer control their own destiny in the SEC West after Saturday’s overtime loss to Arkansas. They’re still in decent position to make a good bowl, though, with games remaining against LSU and Mississippi State.
6. Arkansas (5-4): With four wins in their past five games -- including Saturday’s 53-52 overtime win at Ole Miss -- the Razorbacks are over .500 for the first time since Week 1. They could make a leap in these rankings if they pull off another road win at LSU next weekend.
7. Tennessee (5-4): Don’t look now, but an 8-4 finish seems likely for the Volunteers. This was a disappointing season on Rocky Top, and yet the Vols seem likely to close the season with a five-game winning streak.
8. Texas A&M (6-3): The Aggies have lost three of their past four games and nearly lost to South Carolina. After getting shut down by Auburn on Saturday, the wheels appear to have fallen off for Kevin Sumlin’s team.
9. Georgia (6-3): The embattled Bulldogs are still a mess at quarterback, but Jeremy Pruitt’s defense did a fine job against Kentucky on Saturday. They’ll play in a bowl, but the final three games don’t look like gimmes.
10. Auburn (5-4): Gus Malzahn’s team looked better last week in a loss to Ole Miss. They picked off three Kyler Murray passes Saturday and controlled the game throughout in a 26-10 win over Texas A&M. Playing in a bowl game now seems probable when it looked anything but for the past couple weeks.
11. Kentucky (4-5): With four straight losses, including a 27-3 defeat against Georgia on Saturday, Kentucky hardly looks like a bowl team. It appears as if another late-season slide will have Wildcats fans focusing solely on basketball season once again.
12. South Carolina (3-6): Shawn Elliott has the Gamecocks playing with some fire, but they still lost for the second time in three games since he took over for Steve Spurrier as head coach.
13. Vanderbilt (3-6): Vandy still lost the game, but the Commodores gave Florida all it could handle Saturday. If Vandy could do anything at all on offense, it would be truly dangerous.
14. Missouri (4-5): Missouri has a slightly better record than Vanderbilt, but the Commodores won their head-to-head meeting and just played Florida to the wire. The Tigers, meanwhile, have lost four straight and seem to be imploding.