SEC football: Mid-term grades for every team: Alabama, LSU head of the class

The SEC football season is roughly halfway complete for most teams. That means it’s time to give each program their mid-term grade.

The weather across the southeast is starting to cool which means the mid-point of the college football season has arrived. This is the time of the year where SEC fans really want to see their favorite teams start to play their best football.

Every team in the conference has played at least six games to date. That gives us a pretty good idea of where every program stands in relation to their preseason expectations. Read on to discover what mid-term grade each SEC program deserves. The list is presented in alphabetical order.

Alabama Crimson Tide – A

Nick Saban’s team came into the season with high expectations and they’ve met every challenge in front of them so far. The Crimson Tide’s 6-0 record has them well-positioned to compete for another SEC title and College Football Playoff berth. The only valid criticism of Alabama is they haven’t played an extremely tough schedule to date. That will change when they host LSU on Nov. 9. The Iron Bowl three weeks later also should provide a test for Tua Tagovailoa and the Crimson Tide. The good news for Alabama fans is they’re stocked with NFL talent at every position. You can’t argue with the performance of the No. 1 team in America. It’s an easy A for Alabama.

Arkansas Razorbacks – D+

It’s important to remember Arkansas didn’t come into the season with high expectations. The Razorbacks are very much in the midst of a rebuild. Their 2-4 record is pretty ugly, but they do deserve credit for playing some pretty close conference games. The downside to their first-half performance is their only wins came against Portland State and Colorado State. The loss to San Jose State also significantly hurts their mark. The lows have been really low for the ‘Hogs. On the flip side, this is a team that’s played both Texas A&M and Kentucky really tough in recent weeks. The Razorbacks are trending in the right direction, but they still deserve a D+ when you consider all of their early stumbles.

Auburn Tigers – B+

Everything was going perfect on The Plains until they suffered a bitter road loss to Florida. You can’t kill a team for losing in the Swamp even if they arguably had the more talented roster. That’s especially true when you consider the reality of breaking in a true freshman quarterback for the Tigers.

As it stands, Auburn is the forgotten team in the SEC West with their 2-1 record in conference play. They’ll get their chance to get back into the race when they play at LSU, host Georgia and compete against Alabama in the Iron Bowl down the stretch. Gus Malzahn’s team doesn’t look like a national contender at the moment, but they have a chance to win their way into the College Football Playoff down the stretch. Add it all up and Auburn deserves a high-quality grade. Winning at Florida would have earned them an A, but the slip up only slides their mark down to a B+ for the season.

Florida Gators – A-

It’s not a surprise Dan Mullen has the Gators heading in the right direction, but he is a little bit ahead of schedule in year 2. Florida also gets extra points for withstanding the loss of starting quarterback Feleipe Franks. Lesser teams would have crumbled after losing their veteran starting quarterback, but the Gators have stood tall.

The only blemish on the team’s resume to date is losing at LSU this past weekend. Florida was clearly the second-best team on the field in Baton Rouge, but the Tigers are one of the best teams in the country. The Gators don’t lose too many points for a respectable loss in Death Valley.

Florida still has three tricky games left to maneuver in the regular season. They still have to play Georgia on a neutral field, travel to Missouri and host an emotional finale against Florida State. Winning two of the three would be a successful season for Mullen. The Gators deserve an A- at the moment and have a chance to raise their final grade.

Georgia Bulldogs – B

Kirby Smart‘s team looked primed for another SEC title until disaster struck at home against South Carolina last weekend. There’s no reason this team should have slipped up against the undermanned Gamecocks. It was a brutal loss for a team with legitimate College Football Playoff aspirations.

The only high-quality win on the ‘Dawgs resume is a six-point home win against Notre Dame. Defeating the Fighting Irish in front of a raucous crowd in Athens is the outcome Georgia should have expected. They don’t get extra credit for handling their business in a non-conference game. Georgia still has plenty of chances to raise their grade moving forward, but as it stands, all they can hope for is a solid B at their mid-term.

Kentucky Wildcats – C-

The Wildcats came into the year primed for a letdown after losing luminaries like Josh Allen and Benny Snell. In the aftermath of heavy departures, Mark Stoops’ team has avoided disaster, but they’ve also failed to score any real quality wins to date. Kentucky’s best win to date is a 24-20 victory over Arkansas at Kroger Field. That’s not good enough to push their grade over a C. Failing to be competitive in losses at Mississippi State and at South Carolina push them down to a C-. There’s time for Kentucky to salvage a good season, but they’re running out of time.

LSU Tigers – A

Ed Orgeron deserves legitimate coach of the year consideration for the job he’s done with this team. LSU has the most dynamic offense they’ve enjoyed in years. Joe Burrow has emerged as a legitimate Heisman candidate. If anything, the offense is making up for some defensive deficiencies in Baton Rouge.

Wins over Texas and Florida on the young season quality LSU for an easy A. Based on their resume alone, they have a strong argument to be ranked ahead of Alabama in the national polls. Of course, they’ll need to knock off the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa later this year if they want to make that dream a reality. It’s hard to imagine LSU getting off to a better start to the seasons. Orgeron and his team get an easy A at the mid-term, but there’s still a lot of work to do before their season comes to an end.

Ole Miss Rebels – C+

Matt Luke’s team has dealt with an up and down schedule, but no one in Oxford should be too displeased with the team’s 3-4 start. It’s exactly the record a team with this much talent deserves to be through seven games.

The one game that really rankles Ole Miss fans is the opening loss at Memphis. It was a virtual home game for the Rebels and they just couldn’t get their offense on track in a 15-10 loss. Otherwise, things have gone according to plan. Conference wins over Vanderbilt and Arkansas were expected, but converting them was still a solid accomplishment for the program.

Other than their final non-conference game against New Mexico State it’s likely Ole Miss will be underdogs in every game down the stretch. If this team finishes with five wins it would be a major accomplishment. Even so, they get a slightly above average grade for their work to date.

Mississippi State Bulldogs – D+

Things were going according to plan for fans in Starkville until last weekend’s shocking loss at Tennessee. That dropped the Bulldogs to 3-3 on the season, but their 1-2 start in the SEC doesn’t bode well for Joe Moorhead and company moving forward.

The bad news for Mississippi State is they still have to play Alabama and LSU down the stretch. The good news is they may be favored in three of their last four games. That won’t matter if the quarterback situation doesn’t get some clarity. Senior Tommy Stevens was awful against the Volunteers. It’s time to give the job over to freshman Garrett Shrader permanently.

Through six games, the Bulldogs are one of the SEC’s most disappointing teams. There’s time to turn things around, but if things go south expect to hear a lot of rumblings about Moorhead’s job security this offseason.

Missouri Tigers – A-

No one expected Missouri to hit the halfway mark of the season in sole possession of first place in the SEC East. The Tigers have benefited from a favorable SEC schedule to date, but home wins against South Carolina and Ole Miss have Barry Odom‘s team atop the standings for the moment.

The only loss worth criticizing right now is the ugly out of conference showing at Wyoming. With that said, losing an opener isn’t enough to really hammer a non-elite team for. The Tigers also deserve credit for bouncing back and reeling off five wins in a row after the loss to the Cowboys.

No one should expect Missouri to play in the SEC Title game given the tough schedule they have remaining, but we can’t grade on the future, only on what’s already occurred. As such, Missouri gets one of the best evaluations in the SEC at the mid-term.

South Carolina Gamecocks – C-

Will Muschamp‘s team has been the very definition of inconsistency this season. Cynical Gamecock fans might also say they’ve been the very epitome of mediocrity. 3-3 won’t win Muschamp much support in Columbia.

Last week’s double-overtime thriller at Georgia was clearly South Carolina’s best moment of the campaign. Unfortunately, they’ve also suffered from some ugly lows. Losing narrowly to North Carolina on a neutral field is not acceptable for a team with this kind of talent. Allowing Missouri to defeat them handily on the road also isn’t a great look for the Gamecocks.

The fan base is energized after the unlikely victory at Georgia, but there’s nothing about this team indicating they’re above average. The loss to North Carolina pushes their mid-term grade down to an ugly C-.

Tennessee Volunteers – D-

Fans on Rocky Top are experiencing some optimism after an upset home victory over Mississippi State on Saturday, but the overall season’s results are still pretty grim in Knoxville. The loss to Georgia State in the opener was inexcusable for Jeremy Pruitt and his staff. The narrow loss to BYU a week later wasn’t a significant improvement.

The Volunteers weren’t expected to win at Florida or at home versus Georgia, but playing one reasonably close game out of the pair would have been nice. Instead, Tennessee was trounced in both games. The Vols will likely be favored at home against UAB and Vanderbilt down the stretch, but it’s hard to see where any other wins might come from. A 4-8 finish is going to infuriate fans in Knoxville. The win against Mississippi State has quieted the murmurs about Pruitt’s job status temporarily, but they should resurface after a loss to Alabama next week.

Texas A&M Aggies – C

This has been a forgettable year for Jimbo Fisher’s team to date. Their 3-3 record means the Aggies have gone exactly according to plan. They’ve lost as underdogs against Clemson, Alabama and Auburn and they’ve won as heavy favorites over Texas State, Lamar and Arkansas. When you win and lose every game as expected you deserve the average grade of C. The good news is they should be favored in their next four games. The bad news is they’ll travel to Georgia and LSU to close their season. This team has 7-5 written all over it. Fisher is still in the process of rebuilding the program, but it’s going to be hard to claim this season is a step forward.

Vanderbilt Commodores – F

Vanderbilt wins the prize for being the SEC’s most disappointing season to date. No one thought this would be a banner year for Derek Mason’s squad, but going 1-6 in their first seven games is completely unacceptable. Being blown out at home to UNLV last week showed the Commodores just how far away from respectability they are.

It’s hard to envision a scenario where Vanderbilt bounces back and salvages anything worthwhile out of this season. It could very well mean the end of the Mason era in Nashville. The Commodores have been inept in all facets of their football operation this season. Vanderbilt is a tough job, but Mason isn’t getting the most he can out of the program.

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