SEC Power Poll: Why no team ‘should feel confident’ they have a spot secured in Atlanta

Projections for the SEC Championship are indeed aplenty, but first, a look at the unbeaten and one-loss teams remaining in the league standings:

When Texas plays at Vanderbilt, it will represent what could serve as another elimination game as far as the SEC title matchup is concerned.

A sampling of AJC SEC Power Poll voters indicates they are as intrigued as anyone at this juncture of the season.

Shehan Jeyarajah, CBS Sports said: “No one in the SEC should feel confident that their slot in Atlanta is safe. Georgia still has losable games against Ole Miss and Tennessee. LSU plays Texas A&M and Alabama in successive weeks.

“My long standing belief has been that Georgia and Texas are on a collision course in the SEC Championship Game and I’ll stick with that for now. More specifically, though, the winner of Texas-Texas A&M and winner of Georgia-Tennessee are heading to Mercedes-Benz Stadium.”

Anwar Richardson, Texas OrangeBloods adds: “LSU has the clearest path to the SEC Championship game, especially if it defeats Texas A&M this weekend. After Texas A&M, LSU will play against Alabama, which is destined to lose at least two more games this season, Florida, Vanderbilt, and Oklahoma, a team that is currently in disarray. Even if LSU loses to Texas A&M, the Tigers can still make the title game with one conference loss.

“Georgia still has Ole Miss and Tennessee in back-to-back weeks, but I believe the Bulldogs are good enough to beat both of them.”

Aaron Torres, FoxSports: “It might not seem probable, but I still like a rematch of Texas and Georgia in the 2024 SEC title game.”

While LSU is sitting 6-1 and undefeated in league play, they have tough games ahead, including this weekend’s showdown at Texas A&M.

Josh Ward, Knoxville WNML-Radio: “Updated SEC title game prediction: Georgia-Texas rematch …. If you gave me a cop-out option, I might say Georgia will play the winner of the Texas-Texas A&M game on Nov. 30. Anything could happen in that game at Kyle Field — the first game between the Aggies and Longhorns in 13 years.

“LSU has a great shot, especially if the Tigers can win at Texas A&M this weekend. LSU will still be in a good position if it can split the next two games against Texas A&M and Alabama. The first half of the season tells us the final six weeks will feature a wild race to Atlanta.”

Significant risers: Mobility is harder to come by as the week’s play out, but Georgia’s 30-15 win at Texas to move up one and reclaim the top spot was a biggie. LSU jumped up two spots by winning 34-10 at Arkansas, and Florida moved up two and is rising after handling Kentucky 48-20.

Big falls: Down goes Alabama, dropping three spots to No. 6 after a 24-17 loss at Tennessee. Oklahoma fell two spots after a decidedly disappointing 35-9 home loss to South Carolina.

AJC SEC Power Poll

Note: The parenthetical after the current ranking denotes last week’s ranking.

1. (2) Georgia — 144 points — Highest vote 1, Lowest vote 1

2. (1) Texas —133 points — Highest vote 2, Lowest vote 3

3. (5) LSU — 120 points — Highest vote 3, Lowest vote 5

4. (4) Texas A&M — 118 points — Highest vote 2, Lowest vote 5

5. (6) Tennessee — 114 points — Highest vote 3, Lowest vote 6

6. (3) Alabama — 92 points — Highest vote 6, Lowest vote 9

7. (7) Ole Miss — 89 points — Highest vote 6, Lowest vote 9

8. (8) Vanderbilt — 77 points — Highest vote 5, Lowest vote 11

9. (10) Missouri — 73 points — Highest vote 7, Lowest vote 12

10. (11) South Carolina — 63 points — Highest vote 8, Lowest vote 12

11. (9) Arkansas — 58 points — Highest vote 8, Lowest vote 12

12. (14) Florida — 51 points — Highest vote 9, Lowest vote 13

13. (13) Kentucky — 31 points — Highest vote 13, Lowest vote 15

14. (12) Oklahoma — 28 points — Highest vote 12, Lowest vote 15

15. (15) Auburn — 23 points — Highest vote 12, Lowest vote 16

16. (16) Mississippi State — 10 points — Highest vote 15, Lowest vote 16

SEC Power poll voting panel

This week’s SEC games

Oklahoma at Ole Miss (-20), noon, ESPN

Arkansas (-8) at Mississippi State, 12:45 p.m. SEC Network

Missouri at Alabama (-13), 3:30 p.m. ABC

Texas (-17) at Vanderbilt, 4:15 p.m., SEC Network

LSU at Texas A&M (-3), 7:30 p.m., ABC

Auburn at Kentucky (-3), 7:45 p.m. SEC Network