There are 136 colleges and universities in what is called the Football Bowl Series–what used to be known as Division I. I’m sure fans and supporters of 120 of them have some personal reasons why they passionately care about them and, indeed, one of them may very well win it all once again come January. But as far as the typical fall weekend goes, you’d probably lose any objective debate that would contest the conclusion that only 16 of those schools and one uber-conference–the Southeastern–really matter to the sport’s most dedicated fans.
Yesterday was a shining example of this reality, with the only three battles between two ranked schools exclusively involving SEC schools. And as a reminder of how strong this quartet (yes. I Googled it; that’s even a word for a group of 16)is none of them featured either Alabama or Georgia. And this point was amplified by THE ATHLETIC’s ever-trusty Jason Kirk and Alex Kirshner in their eminently readable UNTIL SATURDAY recap that dropped mere minutes ago:
After a busy Week 9 in the SEC, just look at that conference’s potential Playoff debuts:
- No. 3 Texas A&M is just about in after obliterating No. 20 LSU 49-25 on a once-vaunted Saturday night in Death Valley. The Aggies are undefeated and will likely be playing for seeding when they visit No. 22 Texas in a month. These remain the Aggies who beat expectations.
- No. 8 Ole Miss is in such a good spot that it would take some real Ole Miss shenanigans for the Rebels to miss out. They won 34-26 at No. 13 Oklahoma, moving to 7-1 before a pretty light closing stretch (schedule here). Will Lane Kiffin leave for Florida or elsewhere during that run? Not today’s issue. His fun chirping with an OU lineman is, though.
- No. 10 Vanderbilt won the “College GameDay” game at home against No. 15 Missouri by a 17-10 score and less than a yard. Beating either Texas or Tennessee and sweeping Auburn and Kentucky would do the job. It’s no gimme, but 7-1 Vandy is right at the door step. At this point, every new day is arguably the greatest day in program history. (The lesson of this team: Just hire a sportswriter to build your roster. Any athletic directors interested in contracting us for this purpose, email untilsaturday@theathletic.com.)
Understandably, AGGIES WIRE’s hometown clarion
For the first time since 1992, Texas A&M is 8-0, after demolishing LSU 49-25 in one of the crazier second halves you’ll watch all season, and for those who didn’t watch, it’s essential to know that the Aggies actually trailed 18-14 going into halftime, thanks to starting quarterback Marcel Reed’s two interceptions. Well, thanks to head coach Mike Elko’s legendary second-half adjustments, the Aggies came out swinging.
After giving up a safety, a touchdown, and a field goal in the disastrous second quarter, LSU held all the momentum heading into halftime. Still, Texas A&M didn’t get the message, storming out of the locker room with an impressive 9-play, 56-yard drive that resulted in Marcel Reed’s third touchdown of the game to take a 21-18 lead.
After Texas A&M’s defense continued to harass quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, who was sacked seven times, including two from senior edge Cashius Howell, transfer wide receiver KC Concepcion returned the punt 79 yards for his second punt return TD of the season, as the lead mounted to 28-18, while the Tigers’ chances looked bleak.
Things got ugly quickly, as the Aggies continued to shred LSU’s defense through the air and on the ground, as Reed found freshman running back Jamarion Morrow for a 24-yard touchdown on a well-timed screen. After two more A&M touchdowns, Texas A&M led 49-18 before the Tigers’ garbage time score with under a minute left in the fourth quarter.
As a result, the storm clouds are eddying into an even darker pall over one once-vaunted head coach, another highlight that K and K amplified:
Hot-seat Coach of the Week: the generally unlikable Brian Kelly. At a certain threshold of fan-vs.-coach toxicity, you cannot categorically rule out a change, 34-14 record be damned. At 5-3 with trips to Alabama and Oklahoma still to go, LSU is in that zone, if the endlessly audible boos and all of social media are any indicators.
The buyout is more than $50 million. Surely there is some Cajun businessperson who spent all last night canvassing for those funds after the blowout home loss to the Aggies. Writing from Baton Rouge, Chris Vannini notes the Tigers’ predicament: Pay their way out of this corner, or risk falling further behind Texas A&M, which paid even more to get rid of Jimbo Fisher.
But you could probably eliminate at least one viable replacement from any list of alternatives–as can another struggling SEC school, thanks to some opportunistic reporting from NEWSWEEK’s Matt Audilet:
Lane Kiffin and the No. 8 Ole Miss Rebels improved to 7-1 with an impressive 34-26 road victory over the No. 13 Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday afternoon. This seventh win of the year comes amid a firestorm of coaching rumors surrounding Kiffin, who’s been consistently named as a top candidate to replace Billy Napier as the Florida Gators’ new head coach in Gainesville. Amid the swirling coaching search rumors, Kiffin landed some major contract news with Ole Miss on Saturday.
According to the details of his current deal with the Ole Miss Athletic Foundation, Kiffin gets an automatic one-year contract extension for notching his seventh win of the season in Norman. The added year is worth $9 million with $7.2 million guaranteed, according to USA Today reporter Steve Berkowitz. Kiffin has already made $150,000 in bonus money so far this season.
Meanwhile, yet another high-profile leader earned a stay of execution of his own in yet another surprisingly close SEC tilt other than the three spotlight matches–or so would claim YAHOO! SPORTS’ Kirk Bohls:
Arch Manning had his best game as Texas’ starting quarterback Saturday, but his night ended with some uncertainty. Manning, arguably college football’s most scrutinized QB, helped the Longhorns overcome a 17-point, fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime in an eventual 45-38 overtime victory at Mississippi State. But Manning left the game with an undisclosed injury after being hit at the end of a run on the first play of overtime. Backup Matthew Caldwell came in and threw the winning touchdown pass to Emmett Mosley V.
“I thought Arch battled his tail off.” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “I wish we played a littl ebetter ound him at times… but man, he’s a warrior and he battles. He competes, he takes hits and he gets back up. … I think he grew up a lot tonight.”
All to make that Lone Star Shootout alluded to above between the Aggies and Longhorns all the more appetizing and anticipation-worthy. Not to mention the jockeying for position between the newbies and the rank and file that will precede it as we turn the corner in November.
Now that bodes to be a truly religious experience.
Courage…