5 Georgia @ 1 Texas
Georgia with a huge win in an extremely unique game. This shows the good side of realignment where two all-time programs play each other in a primetime top 5 matchup.
For Georgia, they don’t look as dominant as they have the past three years. But they still look like the best team in a loaded SEC. Even with Carson Beck not playing his best, they thoroughly outplayed Texas. Their strength continues to be an absurd defense with future NFL players all around it.
Texas’s season is very much still alive. If this is their only loss, they easily still make the playoff. It’ll be interesting to see how they handle everything internally.
Sark removing Quinn Ewers so early was kind of ridiculous. But once you put Arch in, stick it out instead of taking him out right away. Now you hurt both QBs confidence and create a controversy moving forward. They need to pick one and commit to them moving forward. I think Ewers is the guy right now due to his experience. He’s still shaking off rust from injury. The remainder of the schedule is not easy since it’s the SEC, but they should be able to right the ship and Quinn should get back to playing well.
7 Alabama @ 11 Tennessee
Bama is in a tough spot now. They really have no way to make the conference championship game. Their one avenue to the playoff is to win out, look impressive, and hope their resume is good enough to get an at large bid. This is exactly why great teams like them can’t afford brutal losses to teams like Vandy. The SEC is so good, you’re nearly guaranteed to lose 1 or 2 games to great teams. Any extra losses just tank your season.
Tennessee finds themselves in a pretty good spot moving forward. Their one tough remaining opponent is Georgia. If they can pull that off they are likely in the SEC Championship. Even if that is the one loss they have, this Bama win gives them a strong case for the playoff.
24 Michigan @ 22 Illinois
The emphatic nail in Michigan’s already brutal season. They lose by 14 points to a team that had 80 yards passing. They are in rebuild mode and I’m betting they’ll be back to great in a couple years. Illinois is sneaky good this year. They have a big next game vs Oregon. If they pull off the upset, they have a clear rode to the Big 10 Championship.
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