SEC's stranglehold loosened in second College Football Playoff poll
America, George Clinton and Funkadelic told us, eats its young. So too, does the SEC, it's just a matter of whether that's going to cost the conference the possibility of having two teams in the first College Football Playoff.
We already saw the first of the casualties claimed with Tuesday's release of the second selection committee rankings.
Mississippi State continued to hold the stop spot, with Auburn at No. 3 and Alabama at No. 5. Florida State was once again No. 2, while Oregon vaulted up to fourth and TCU joined the Crimson Tide as the first two teams out.
After holding three of the top four spots a week ago, the SEC saw Ole Miss fell from fourth to 11th and Georgia dropped from 11th to 20th. LSU was the only other SEC teams in the top 25, ranking 16th.
The Rebels' loss to Auburn brought some clarity to the West's contenders and so too, unexpectedly, did Georgia stumbling to unranked Florida.
The Bulldogs' loss may have hurt the most. The West could place an undefeated (Mississippi State) or one-loss (Alabama, Auburn or Mississippi State should it get tripped up) representative in the SEC Championship Game, one that would be a playoff contender even with a loss. The same could have been said for Georgia, had entered Atlanta at 11-1.
But now the league's hopes all sit with the West as Missouri, at 7-2 with a home loss to Indiana on its resume, leads the East.
Week 10 provided a small dose of chaos, and everyone on the outside looking in can take solace that the schedule dictates that the SEC is far from finished.
Saturday, Alabama heads to LSU and then a week later hosts Mississippi State. Even if the Tide get out of Baton Rouge with a win, that clash with the Bulldogs is going to take one of the league's contenders out of the running for the time being.
Auburn, which faces Texas A&M at home on Saturday, then takes on a Georgia team that will have running back Todd Gurley back on the field.
Of course, Alabama and Auburn still have to meet in the Iron Bowl and Mississippi State has that regular-season finale against down, but still dangerous Ole Miss on the road.
The SEC claimed three of the top four spots in the first poll, and that stranglehold loosened this week, with that domination falling to half of the playoff field.
Given what lies ahead, it's beginning to look like having more than one team in the new postseason is will be difficult -- and the SEC will have only the strength of the nation's best division to blame.
