Here’s how the SEC power rankings shake out heading into Rivalry Week where the Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn will decide who plays Georgia in the SECCG.
This marks the final week of the 2017 college football regular season in the SEC. All 14 member institutions will be playing big rivalry games during Thanksgiving Weekend. In the SEC East, there are obviously four major in-state rivalry games with in-state schools.
Florida plays Florida State in the Sunshine Showdown. Georgia plays Georgia Tech in Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate. South Carolina plays Clemson in The Palmetto Bowl. Kentucky plays Louisville in the Battle for the Governor’s Cup.
In-state rivals Tennessee and Vanderbilt will clash for their first SEC win of the season. Hard to imagine one of these two teams is going 0-for in SEC play. Missouri will take on its cross-divisional rival in Arkansas in the Battle Line Rivalry.
Now to the SEC West. Mississippi State plays Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl Thanksgiving Day. LSU plays Texas A&M in an emerging SEC West rivalry. Finally, there is the Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn.
With rivalry weekend rapidly approaching, let’s power rank the SEC heading into the final week of the 2017 college football regular season.
This has not been the year that Derek Mason would have hoped for with the Vanderbilt Commodores football program. Vanderbilt went from making a bowl game a year ago to being eliminated from being bowl eligible last week with a division loss to Missouri.
The Commodores have to play in-state rival in Tennessee on the road. If Vanderbilt doesn’t beat the Volunteers in Knoxville, the ‘Dores will have gone 0-for in SEC play this year. Could that be enough to oust Mason? It’s strange to see this Vanderbilt defense play this badly under his watch.
Tennessee will not be eligible to play in a holiday season bowl this year. The Volunteers just lost by 20 points at home in a night game versus the No. 20 LSU Tigers. Tennessee already fired former head coach Butch Jones. This program has not won an SEC game all year. How embarrassing.
However, the Volunteers have one last shot at not going 0-for in SEC play. They get to host an in-state rival in Vanderbilt in Week 13, a team that hasn’t won an SEC game this season either. Frankly, there is not enough Jack Daniels or Nashville hot chicken in the world to make you want to watch more than a second. This football game will take the SEC back 30 years.