NCAAF - SEC Bets - Week 10

10/30/2023

Week 9 of the college football season passed without too much drama in the SEC. The only contest decided by just one score was the primetime matchup between Tennessee and Kentucky, which the Vols won 33-27. That game, as well as the other four, went more or less as most people expected going into the weekend.

I would like to add the Georgia looked about as good as they have all season against Florida in their first game without Brock Bowers. They should remain strong championship contenders if they can continue to get the job done down the stretch.

The first rankings by the College Football Playoff Committee were unveiled this Tuesday, and Georgia was the highest rated SEC team at #2 overall behind Ohio State. Michigan and Florida State round out the rest of the top four, with Pac-12 schools Washington and Oregon at #5 and #6.

There are six total SEC programs present in the committee's initial rankings, all of which landing in the top 17. They are as follows:

#2 Georgia
#8 Alabama
#10 Ole Miss
#12 Missouri
#14 LSU
#17 Tennessee

Oddly enough, four of those teams will be facing off against each other this week, but we'll get to that in a moment. First, let's take a look at the two sets of BSSR SEC rankings by Ryne and myself.

My rankings actually didn't change at all from Week 9 to Week 10, but it's bound to fluctuate a little bit by next week. Ryne's lone change was swapping Auburn and Florida in the 9 and 10 spots.

So on to the games of Week 10. The season is about to get really interesting for the top three contenders in the East, who will all play a sort of round robin against each other over the next three weeks. It will start with Georgia versus Missouri this week, before Missouri hosts Tennessee next week, and then Tennessee hosts Georgia the following week.

All three teams would have a great chance of making the SEC championship if they were to win out, but Georgia still sits in the driver's seat with their undefeated record. If they win, they're in. Missouri could spoil that plan this weekend and control their own destiny, whereas Tennessee would need to win out AND for Georgia to lose one more game.

There's also a massive game in the West race this weekend when LSU travels to Alabama for a primetime showdown. Though it's very difficult to win in Tuscaloosa, the Tigers must win to keep their SEC championship hopes alive. An LSU win creates a three-way tie for first in the West between them, Bama, and Ole Miss, whereas an Alabama victory would all but secure an SEC West title for the Crimson Tide with their remaining schedule.

Speaking of Ole Miss, they have a tough test with an unranked but talented Texas A&M team coming to town. Like LSU, every game is a must win from here on out if they want a chance to represent their division in the SEC title game.

There are two other matchups that are objectively less significant but intriguing nonetheless. Arkansas at Florida and Kentucky at Mississippi State should both be fairly close games where we'll get to see how each team responds from losses in their most recent affairs.

This week was essentially a wash in the BSSR SEC Betting Challenge, as everyone but Jacob went 10-5 overall. Jacob still only lost one game on the field at 9-6 for the week. With an 11 game lead on 2nd place, Micah just has to avoid a catastrophic collapse over the last few weeks to secure his first BSSR SEC Betting Challenge crown. I'm not trying to speak it into existence, but it would be real shame if that collapse were to happen...

Now, let's look at our experts' picks for all eight games of Week 9. From now on, the CFP rankings will be used to denote teams inside the top 25 instead of the previously used AP rankings.

UConn at #17 Tennessee (TENN -35.5, O/U 53.0)