SEC standings by toughest remaining road opponents: Georgia will be tested, Texas has it easy
By Austen Bundy
The SEC is considered the toughest conference in college sports (by some, I hear you Big Ten fans). And as college football Week 3 rolls around with conference play getting in full swing, fans will be interested to see what kind of prospects their schools have in a loaded SEC.
As of this writing, South Carolina tops the conference (due to it being the only team with an SEC win after just two weeks). But what if we looked at the SEC in a different light?
What would the SEC standings reflect if it was ranked based on teams' toughest remaining road opponents? Well, we've got the answer to that.
SEC standings by remaining toughest road opponents
Rank | School | Road opponents |
|---|---|---|
1 | Mississippi State | No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Texas, No. 5 Mississippi, No. 7 Tennessee |
2 | No. 1 Georgia | No. 2 Texas, No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Mississippi, Kentucky |
3 | Auburn | No. 1 Georgia, No. 4 Alabama, No. 6 Missouri, Kentucky |
4 | Kentucky | No. 2 Texas, No. 5 Mississippi, No. 7 Tennessee, Florida, Ohio |
5 | South Carolina | No. 4 Alabama, No. 15 Oklahoma, No. 22 Clemson, Vanderbilt |
6 | No. 15 Oklahoma | No. 5 Mississippi, No. 6 Missouri, No. 16 LSU, Auburn |
7 | No. 4 Alabama | No. 7 Tennessee, No. 15 Oklahoma, No. 16 LSU, Wisconsin |
8 | South Carolina | No. 4 Alabama, No. 15 Oklahoma, No. 22 Clemson, Vanderbilt |
9 | Florida | No. 2 Texas, No. 7 Tennessee, Mississippi State, Florida State |
10 | No. 7 Tennessee | No. 1 Georgia, No. 15 Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, Arkansas |
11 | Vanderbilt | No. 6 Missouri, No. 16 LSU, Auburn, Kentucky |
12 | No. 6 Missouri | No. 4 Alabama, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, UMass |
13 | No. 5 Mississippi | No. 16 LSU, South Carolina, Arkansas, Florida, Wake Forest |
14 | Texas A&M | South Carolina, Mississippi State, Auburn, Florida |
15 | No. 16 LSU | South Carolina, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Florida |
16 | No. 2 Texas | Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Arkansas |
College Football Playoff implications: Georgia's gauntlet, Texas cruises
Based on remaining road opponents, Mississippi State tops the SEC standings. The Bulldogs have four Top 10 foes left to travel to, leaving some fans in Starkville already looking ahead to basketball season.
Right after them, No. 1 Georgia will have an opportunity to prove it is, indeed, top dog. Three of its final four road opponents reside in the Top 10 and they will definitely all be pseudo playoff games with the losers' chances of qualifying for the expanded 12-team field shrinking drastically.
No. 2 Texas, on the other hand, has a smooth path to the SEC championship game and presumably the College Football Playoff. It has zero remaining ranked opponents on the road (the Red River Rivalry doesn't count, it's played in a neutral location).
As long as it doesn't slip up, Texas should remain a Top 5 squad for the remainder of the season. However, that weak of a lineup could hurt it if there is any sort of tie-breaker to try and clinch an at-large bid, given it doesn't win the SEC outright.
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