The last week of the regular season in the Southeastern Conference is colloquially known as "Rivalry Week," but it largely became blowout week, as the favored teams won, handily in most cases, in every matchup. The stage is set for the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta, and the last bowl eligible team from the conference stepped into place as well. We'll end the regular season by looking back at this week's games, as well as my preseason predictions to see who exceeded expectations, who underachieved, and where I was just flat out wrong. Let's start the Rundown!
1. SEC Dominates the ACC.
Rivalry Week featured four matchups between SEC and ACC teams, and many analysts expected that the ACC could regain some badly needed respect by winning at least two of the marquee games. The fourth-ranked Florida Gators faced off against tenth-ranked Florida State in Tallahassee. Everyone from Jimbo Fisher on down talked about how the BCS computers, which hated the 'Noles, were penalizing FSU unfairly for their one-point loss to N.C. State and the fact that the ACC is weak overall. Well, that talk appeared to be well-founded, as the Seminoles' vaunted defense allowed 37-points to what has been a largely anemic Florida offense. The twelfth-ranked Gamecocks of South Carolina played a close game against (11) Clemson, also on the road, before pulling away with a 27-17 victory, even without their best two offensive players. Georgia, ranked third in the BCS, manhandled their rival Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech 42-10. And Vanderbilt traveled to Wake Forest and crushed the Demon Deacons 55-21 to win their eighth game of the year. Following news this week that Maryland, a founding member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, is leaving to seek greener pastures in the Big Ten, this weekend's evidence that the gap between the ACC and the nation's premier conference is as wide as ever has to be unwelcome.
2. Alabama Finally Clinches the SEC West.
Although the final outcome of the Iron Bowl was largely expected, the Tide clinched the SEC West crown and a spot in the championship game in yesterday's win over Auburn. The defending national champions were my preseason favorite to win the West, but the media in Hoover this summer predicted that LSU would repeat as division champs. Congratulations to the Alabama players and coaching staff on a record-setting run. This Alabama senior class has tied the BCS-era record for wins in a four-year span, going 46-5 over the last four seasons. In addition, Alabama has set an SEC record for wins over a five-year span, with 58. In all, on the field, since Alabama hired Nick Saban, the team's record is 65-13, an astonishing 83.33 winning percentage, and the percentage is 89.23 after his first year. When you keep in mind that Paul "Bear" Bryant's winning percentage at Alabama was 82.4% over his career, it becomes clear that this is a golden era in Crimson Tide football history. The Tide will have a chance to win its 23rd SEC championship on Saturday with a potential 15th national championship on the line.
3. Haters Gonna Hate: The SEC is in the Title Game Again.
While Notre Dame's win over USC last night means that we won't see another all-SEC BCS National Championship Game, the winner of the conference championship game in Atlanta is assured of a berth in the title game in Miami. Even more disconcerting to the rest of the nation is that, if the four-team playoff which will replace the BCS was in place today, there would be a strong case to include at least two SEC teams, and perhaps as many as three by the end of next Saturday. As it currently stands, either Alabama or Georgia will face the Fighting Irish come January with the opportunity to extend the conference's unprecedented championship streak to seven. The national media, or at least ESPN, is likely hoping for an Alabama-Notre Dame faceoff given the ratings bonanza that will likely occur if arguably the two greatest college football programs of all time play for a third time in a bowl with the national title on the line. Georgia, however, has also played Notre Dame once for the national title, and the Bulldogs, unlike the Tide, actually won the game. Either way, I like the chances of either SEC team against the Irish.
4. Nine SEC Teams are Bowl Bound.
It won't be clear until next Sunday who is going where, but nine SEC teams are bowl eligible at season's end. Due to the berth in the title game, Florida will likely take the SEC champion's spot in the Sugar Bowl, while the Capital One, Cotton, Chick-Fil-A Bowls and Outback Bowls will have to select between four two-loss teams, including the conference runner-up, LSU, Texas A&M, and South Carolina. That could go a number of different ways, depending on who the runner-up turns out to be. The Music City Bowl and the Liberty Bowl will likely choose between Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, both at 8-4, while the BBVA Compass Bowl gets 6-6 Ole Miss. The SEC and Big 12 both lead the nation with nine bowl teams.
5. The Good
(4) Florida 37, (10) Florida State 26
Florida took on the top-ranked and barely-tested Florida State defense and wore them down, scoring 24 points in the fourth quarter to beat the Seminoles into submission. The Gators also forced five turnovers, four of them from quarterback E. J. Manuel.
(12) South Carolina 27, (11) Clemson 17
The Gamecocks started Dylan Thompson at quarterback for an injured Connor Shaw, and Thompson threw for over 300 yards and three touchdowns in a career day for the backup. The Carolina defense bottled up all of Clemson's offensive weapons and Steve Spurrier became the winningest coach in South Carolina history, all with a smug look on his face.
(9) Texas A&M 59, Missouri 29
The matchup between SEC newbies and former Big XII foes was out of reach early as Johnny Manziel made a final statement for the Heisman Trophy. Manziel broke Cam Newton's SEC record for total offense, surpassing 4600 yards for his freshman season in the blowout.
(3) Georgia 42, Georgia Tech 10
I think it says something about the offense that the Yellow Jackets run that they led the Bulldogs in yardage, first downs, and time of possession by fairly large margins and yet were down 28-3 at halftime and were completely outclassed. I think that the Paul Johnson triple-option era may be just about over.
Ole Miss 41, Mississippi State 24
Bo Wallace threw for five touchdowns, three to Donte Moncrief, as the Rebels won their first Egg Bowl since 2008. The Rebels, under new coach Hugh Freeze, have tripled their win total from 2011 and will make it to a bowl for the first time in three years.
Vanderbilt 55, Wake Forest 21
The Commodores won their sixth straight game for the first time since 1955, hammering the homestanding Demon Deacons behind the running of Zac Stacy. Stacy finished with over 1,000 yards rushing for the second straight season, and became Vandy's first 3,000-yard rusher in school history.
6. The Bad
(2) Alabama 49, Auburn 0
Auburn failed to show up in Tuscaloosa and Alabama scored 49 points against an array of tackling dummies to wrap up the worst Iron Bowl blowout since the rivalry was renewed in 1948. Alabama scored touchdowns on its first seven possessions before resting the starters for the championship game next weekend.
Tennessee 37, Kentucky 17
Move along. Nothing to see here.
7. The Ugly
(7) LSU 20, Arkansas 13
Have you ever had a wrestling match against a little brother or cousin and pretty much held him off while he struggled and fought without expending any effort until you got tired and decided to go ahead and finish him off? That pretty much describes this game. Arkansas outgained LSU by more than 150 yards, but had 12 penalties and turned the ball over twice to bring an ignominious end to the John L. Smith era.
Check out my Preseason Follow-Up to see how I did predicting the 2012 season.
Check out my analysis of Why the SEC Wins So Many National Titles.
And see my Preview of the SEC Championship.
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