SEC College Football Playoff bubble watch Week 6: Alabama, Tennessee, Mizzou all fall

College Football Playoff bubble watch for the SEC

These are the Saturdays we as college football fans live for. Just when you think a rather weak schedule is not going to be compelling, it always delivers. Always. Five of the top 11 teams in the country lost and an increasingly flawed Miami team nearly made it six. It just so happens that three of the top 11 teams who lost reside in the SEC. Alabama, Missouri and Tennessee all lost on Saturday.

Missouri's loss at Texas A&M was a referendum defeat for Eliah Drinkwitz's staff. He was outclassed by a far better coach in Mike Elko, and it showed. Alabama losing on the road to Vanderbilt in Nashville shocked the college football world. Then again, have you ever seen Diego Pavia play? The man is a legend and we are living in his world. As for Tennessee, the Vols couldn't beat a feisty Arkansas team.

As we attempt to turn the page on the week that was, I will do the heavy lifting so you won't have to. I am not only providing y'all with a delicious 12-team projected College Football Playoff bracket, but I am also going to rank every team in SEC by placing them into playoff status teams. Some teams are locks and some are not, while others reside somewhere in the in between. Are you in or are you out?

Let's start by unveiling who would be my 12 teams in the College Football Playoff field after Week 6.

Projected College Football Playoff field

1. Texas Longhorns (5-0) (SEC champion)
2. Ohio State Buckeyes (5-0) (Big Ten champion)
3. Iowa State Cyclones (5-0) (Big 12 champion)
4. Miami Hurricanes (6-0) (ACC champion)
5. Alabama Crimson Tide (4-1) (SEC runner-up)
6. Georgia Bulldogs (4-1) (SEC at-large)
7. Penn State Nittany Lions (5-0) (Big Ten runner-up)
8. Oregon Ducks (5-0) (Big Ten at-large)
9. Clemson Tigers (4-1) (ACC runner-up)
10. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-1) (National independent at-large)
11. Tennessee Volunteers (4-1) (SEC at-large)
12. Boise State Broncos (4-1) (Mountain West champion/Group of Five champion)

Now, let's break down where every SEC team stands after Week 6 regarding the playoff picture.

SEC College Football Playoff bubble watch after Week 6

College Football Playoff locks

Texas Longhorns (5-0)

Admittedly, I don't feel comfortable about having the Texas Longhorns in the No. 1 spot to begin with in the national landscape. I nearly put undefeated Ohio State over them, but for now, the Longhorns get the benefit of the doubt. For my money, they need to win Red River next week, and win it comfortably, for me to feel great about their chances of getting to Atlanta. This is still a good team.

Alabama Crimson Tide (4-1)

I am not going to ding Alabama too bad after losing to Vanderbilt on the road. Vandy is much better than even I realized. That team should win around seven or eight games. As for the Crimson Tide, they still have that Georgia win in their back pocket, but need another resume booster, or two, to ensure their future inclusion. At 9-3, the Crimson Tide will be a borderline candidate, but one that will get in.

Georgia Bulldogs (4-1)

It will get swept under the rug after what happened elsewhere this weekend, but that was a big win for Georgia. Auburn is a traditional rival, and Georgia played good enough to win convincingly, while still allowing some room for improvement. The Dawgs' schedule is beyond brutal, but if this team goes 9-3 or better, they will be getting in and will likely be the one team nobody wants to face in round one.

College Football Playoff bubble teams

Tennessee Volunteers (4-1)

I am dinging Tennessee hard for its loss to Arkansas. I may have been a tad too critical of Nico Iamaleava on the latest edition of Three Yards and a Cloud of Punt on False Start, but he has a long way to go. This was the third best team the Vols will play this year. If they play like this vs. Alabama or Georgia they will get smoked. Iamaleava is not seeing the field well. He panics like Bo Nix used to do.

Texas A&M Aggies (5-1)

Don't look now, but the Texas A&M Aggies are very much alive to make the playoff. After losing at home to Notre Dame in Week 1, the Aggies have rattled off five wins in a row, including a drubbing of hapless Mizzou. This is playing under Mike Elko how we all wished the Aggies would have under Jimbo Fisher. Coaching matters. If this team splits between LSU and Texas, they should get in at 10-2.

LSU Tigers (4-1)

I don't know what to make of LSU honestly. They might be halfway decent, or they might be fraudulent. Right now, I think the neutral-site loss to USC on Labor Day Weekend is not the worst thing in the world, even though the Trojans are more fool's gold than pyrite. This team usually gets better under Brian Kelly as the season progresses. They could afford one more loss, but not two.

College Football Playoff bubble about to pop

Ole Miss Rebels (5-1)

Give Lane Kiffin and his staff a lot of credit. The Ole Miss Rebels could have wallowed in the mire after losing a dumb one at home to Kentucky last week. Instead, they beat the brakes off the team who beat the brakes of Kentucky in South Carolina, exposing Shane Beamer's team for what they really are. Unfortunately, Ole Miss may not get in even if the Rebels split with Georgia and LSU to go 10-2.

Missouri Tigers (4-1)

It was a Paul Finch Satin Kimono fitting in College Station for the Missouri Tigers. Through six weeks, that was the most embarrassing loss in SEC play, arguably by far. Texas A&M may have been a 2.5-point favorite, but Missouri looked like a middling bottom-tier team that belonged in the Big 12. You can't look like non-2022 TCU and be expected to be taken seriously. This team might already be out.

Oklahoma Sooners (4-1)

The bubble is probably going to burst this weekend at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas. Oklahoma plays hard defensively under Brent Venables, but the Sooners lack speed, explosiveness and power offensively to compete in a revamped SEC. Steve Sarkisian is going to suplex Venables into a vat of cooking oil to get him extra crispy. I would be utterly shocked if Oklahoma won Red River on Saturday.

Fun, but not College Football Playoff caliber

Arkansas Razorbacks (4-2)

Yessir! I think it is safe to say that Sam Pittman is officially off the hot seat in Arkansas. The Razorbacks played with great composure on Saturday night to get the huge home upset over Tennessee. This was all about coaching, executiion and belief. While the Oklahoma State loss looks worse by the week, as the Pokes are on quit watch, Arkansas is comfortably a bowl team, but that's it.

Vanderbilt Commodores (3-2)

Fact: Diego Pavia drinks for free for the rest of his life in Nashville. The Giant Slayer. The Live Dog. Whatever you want to call him, He is him! Give Clark Lea a ton of credit for instilling belief that his alma mater can hang with anyone. It was an upset of the ages for the Commodores. While they are not a playoff team, they could win around eight games this season, possibly finish the season in the top 25.

Not a College Football Playoff team in 2024

Florida Gators (3-2)

There is a chance that Florida just might do this, but do the Gators want to? I am talking about going 6-6 and giving Billy Napier one more season to prove himself. This schedule is brutal, but the Gators have won all the games they should, but have come up dead in the ones they shouldn't have. Beating UCF was huge, but they can't slip up vs. Kentucky or Florida State. They also must steal a game, too...

South Carolina Gamecocks (3-2)

I am kind of done with Shane Beamer, to be honest with you. The Tevin Downey of the SEC. All sizzle and no steak. I don't want him to tag team the Ferrigno Estate with me. I don't want him coaching my football team. South Carolina will occasionally win Redcoat games, but they need to evolve beyond their guerrilla warfare tactics to be taken seriously. At 3-2, do you see three more wins on their slate?

Kentucky Wildcats (3-2)

Kentucky is 3-2, but needs to hold serve to get to bowl eligibility. The Vanderbilt game could be a huge trap game for the 'Dores. Even if the Wildcats don't get it, they could get to six wins with victories over Florida, Auburn and Murray State, and that doesn't even count a potentially winnable game over Louisville. This team has a definite ceiling, but they are the furthest thing from an easy out.

Auburn Tigers (2-4)

Auburn played about as well as the Tigers could this year, and they still lost by three scores to Georgia. The Tigers are 2-4 on the season and are running out of runway to get to a bowl game. They still have to play Alabama, Missouri, Texas A&M and Hugh Freeze's worst nightmare in Diego Pavia and the Vanderbilt Commodores. This team may win four games. If that is the case, is Freeze out of here?

Mississippi State Bulldogs (1-4)

The Mississippi State Bulldogs could be eliminated from bowl contention before Halloween. Their next three games are at Georgia for Bulldog, Bulldog, home vs. Texas A&M and home vs. Arkansas. Yes, the Bulldogs get UMass after that, but they finish the year with at Tennessee, home vs. Missouri and at arch rival Ole Miss. This may be a 2-10 team, possibly the worst team in the entire Power Four.

I may have been too harsh on the number of playoff locks out of the SEC this week, but I don't care.