While the SEC West is generally acknowledged as the best division in college football (although some Pac-12 South fans might disagree), the SEC East is just the opposite. Out of the seven teams, only Georgia is ranked. The current leader, Missouri, lost to an abysmal Indiana team and got blown out by Georgia earlier in the season. The ACC Coastal and Big Ten West divisions are the only Power Five divisions that could rival the SEC East for this dishonor.
SEC East Analysis
Let’s start at the bottom with the Vanderbilt Commodores. Vanderbilt is coming off of a 42-28 victory over Old Dominion at home, which is their largest margin of victory in their three wins this season. They managed to defeat Massachusetts by three points at home and Charleston Southern by one point at home earlier in the season. A 30-point loss to Temple in the first game of the season prepared Commodore fans for a poor year. Vanderbilt would have to defeat Florida, Mississippi State, and Tennessee in order to become bowl eligible, so it is safe to say that their postseason aspirations are slim.
The 4-5 Tennessee Volunteers haven’t fared much better than Vanderbilt, but a win over South Carolina this weekend might have given them a chance at a bowl game. That being said, they do not have an impressive win and they were blown out in a few games. In order to become bowl eligible, they will need to win at least two of their next three games against Kentucky, Missouri, and Vanderbilt. There’s a chance to sneak into a weak bowl game, but this team is still mediocre at best.
After losing to Tennessee, the South Carolina Gamecocks have officially hit rock bottom. This was a team that was ranked ninth in the preseason AP Poll. At 4-5, South Carolina is arguably the most disappointing team in college football this year and their chances of even playing in a bowl game are far from guaranteed. South Alabama should be an easy win, but beating Florida or Clemson on the road is going to be difficult for this South Carolina team.
The Kentucky Wildcats are 5-4, but they have not beaten an opponent with a record above .500 so far. With Georgia, Tennessee, and Louisville left on their schedule, that elusive sixth win is definitely not guaranteed. However, even if Kentucky does become bowl eligible, they have two wins against mid-majors and one win against an FCS team, so even a 6-6 or 7-5 Kentucky team would not improve the credibility of the SEC East. In fact, if they upset Georgia this week, the SEC East will have no ranked teams left.
After an upset on the road against Georgia, the Florida Gators are in great position to become bowl eligible, as they still have Vanderbilt and Eastern Kentucky on the schedule. A win over South Carolina would give them their seventh win, but a loss against Florida State is highly likely. With two blowout losses and cheap victories over Eastern Michigan and Eastern Kentucky, a 7-4 Florida team would still not be impressive. Maybe if Florida played some decent non-conference opponents, their 4-loss season wouldn’t look as bad.
At this point, the Georgia Bulldogs are in a strange situation. They have a strong win over a ranked Clemson team, but a loss against a weak South Carolina team and a blowout loss against a weak Florida team hurt their credibility. While they remain the only ranked SEC East team, one more loss would knock them out of the picture completely, as they are on the fringe right now. Auburn comes to town in two weeks, so it is likely that the SEC East will lose their only ranked team soon enough.
The Missouri Tigers sit atop the SEC East, but their resume is still extremely weak. They are 7-2, but Georgia blew them out and a poor Indiana team defeated them in their own house. Wins against South Dakota State, Toledo, and UCF have inflated their record, and wins over mediocre SEC East foes South Carolina, Vanderbilt, and Kentucky barely boost their resume. If they could defeat Texas A&M, Tennessee, and Arkansas, they could probably sneak back into the rankings, but their glaringly weak schedule is not impressing anybody.
From what we have seen so far, all signs point to the winner of the SEC East getting obliterated by the winner of the SEC West in the SEC Championship Game. None of the seven teams are contenders for the College Football Playoff, and only one is even ranked. The ACC Coastal is probably the worst division, but I would slot the Big Ten West ahead of the SEC East, as four of the seven teams in that division have two losses or less. The Big 12 doesn’t have two divisions, but if the conference was split, it would be difficult to imagine either of the divisions being worse than the SEC East. Is it really possible that one-half of the vaunted SEC could be the second-worst division out of all the Power Five divisions? It certainly is.
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