SEC West – Page 2 – Syndication Server

CFP hopes are alive in Tuscaloosa, unless Texas A&M ends them

Alabama’s Week 6 matchup against Texas A&M determines a lot in the race for the SEC and the CFP

Alabama football’s single loss in the 2023 season came at the hands of Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns, which dropped the Crimson Tide in the rankings. Since then, there have been steady improvements, but many don’t see Alabama as a contender for the College Football Playoff.

With the loss being to a non-conference opponent, Alabama is still in the lead to represent the SEC West in the conference championship game. Competing in that matchup would be huge in the Tide’s push to make the four-team playoff.

Another SEC West team with only one non-conference loss stands in their way: Texas A&M.

A Week 6 matchup takes place between the Tide and the Aggies in Kyle Field, one of the most daunting environments in college football.

ESPN’s Heather Dinich states that Alabama’s improvements are noticeable and the team is moving in the right direction.

“Milroe throws a nice deep ball, but nobody is going to mistake him for the nation’s most prolific passer — especially when he only threw it 12 times on Saturday. If this is Bama’s identity, though, then embrace it and continue to make it better. No two-loss team has been to the CFP, which makes this Saturday’s game between Alabama and Texas A&M critical. They each have a nonconference loss and are squarely in the mix to win the SEC West. The winner will have a huge edge.”

This Saturday poses a massive challenge for the offense, which serves as a great opportunity to prove to the nation, including poll voters and playoff committee members, that they are one of the best four teams in the nation.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow AJ Spurr on Twitter @SpurrFM.

Week 6 in the SEC West will have major implications on who will be playing for the SEC title in Atlanta

The SEC West is up for grabs, and the Aggies are in a prime position to claim their first SEC West title since entering the conference.

For the first time in decades, the SEC West appears to be wide open for the taking. SEC fans have become accustomed to Alabama or LSU competing for that top spot in the West, deservedly so.

Well, the 2023 season has thrown a monkey wrench into the status quo with week six being one of the most pivotal weekends for many teams jockeying for positions in the league rankings.

The SEC as a whole has been very exciting, but with Texas A&M being in the West I want to focus on this division for now and how competitive it’s been through the first half of the regular season. Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT. The 12th-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide will come to Aggieland to face an unranked Aggie team that’s trending in the right direction.

Leaving out that I closely follow Texas A&M, this game is the game of the week, even with Georgia and Kentucky playing later the same day. Both teams are on a three game-winning streak and 2-0 in conference play. Also, however, winning this game will be the only SEC West team without a conference loss putting them in the sole position of first place.

Shifting away from the Aggies for a second, another major game that will help provide more clarity in the West is the LSU versus Missouri matchup. the Tigers to this point in the season have been very solid on offense, but their defense has been one of the worse in the conference. They have given up 155 point this season which is second worse right behind Vanderbilt at 200.

Next weekend's SEC slate could be an all-timer

Rankings listed below indicate current ranking in each SEC division

#2 Kentucky at #1 Georgia
#1 Alabama at #2 Texas A&M
#3 LSU at #3 Missouri

#6 Arkansas at #4 Ole Miss
#7 Vanderbilt at #4 Florida pic.twitter.com/HYWDy1ZbnO

— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) October 1, 2023

Serial complainer Lane Kiffin also has Ole Miss in prime position to jump a few spots with a convincing win over a struggling Arkansas team that is in desperate need of a SEC victory. Anything can happen, but the combination of QB Jaxson Dart and RB Quinshon Judkins in the Kiffin system will just be way too much firepower for the Razorbacks.

The SEC has been very exciting, and I’d venture to guess we’ll see a lot more movement considering how much parody now exists the NCAA’s premier conference. The Aggie’s are in prime position to remain in the conversation of being the SEC West representative, but they must take care of business against a well-coached Alabama team.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Jarrett Johnson on Twitter: @whosnextsports1.

Latest AP Poll still has Crimson Tide outside of the top 10

Crimson Tide move up in Week 6 AP Poll after a dominant victory over Mississippi State Bulldogs

If the past two games are any indication of how Alabama football will play the rest of the season, this Crimson Tide team could very well contend for an SEC title and College Football Playoff berth. Jalen Milroe has put the quarterback controversy to rest after back-to-back wins over Ole Miss and Mississippi State where he has looked much better as a passer and been special as a runner.

Alabama travels to College Station this weekend in a sneaky difficult game against the Texas A&M Aggies. The last time the Tide traveled to College Station in 2021 they were upset by Jimbo Fisher’s squad in a hostile night game environment. The Aggies are coming off of massive back-to-back wins in the SEC West against Auburn and Arkansas.

It won’t be a Top 25 matchup, however, as the Aggies sit just outside of the Top 25 in the Week 6 AP Poll. The Crimson Tide moved up a spot again this week to No. 11 as they jumped the Utah Utes who lost to the Oregon State Beavers. The top five had no movement with Georgia, Michigan, Texas, Ohio State and Florida State each holding firm.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.

Alabama vs. Mississippi State has major SEC implications, but not likely to be an upset

Alabama vs. Mississippi State listed as a game with major SEC West title implications.

Alabama takes on Mississippi State in a Week 5 road matchup with major SEC West title race implications. While the Bulldogs are not expected to upset the Crimson Tide, the team could give Saban’s squad some trouble.

As the SEC West race narrows down to only a few teams, every single game matters. Even if Alabama wins, fans, analysts, and other teams will be watching to see if the Tide are actually back, or if the inconsistencies and weak offensive play persist through the fifth week of the season.

ESPN’s Bill Connelly (subscription required) writes this of the matchup after listing it as SEC West title race matchup to watch.

“It’s hard to make a strong case that Bama will struggle in Starkville. The Tide do have a pretty lengthy injury list — among others, leading tackler Deontae Lawson is questionable — but for all of Bama’s early-season offensive struggles, Mississippi State’s defense currently ranks 117th in success rate allowed and 101st in points allowed per drive. Plus, there’s the whole ‘Bama’s won its past seven games in Starkville by an average score of 32-9’ thing.”

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama football as the 2023 season progresses.

USA Today’s College Football Week 4 winners and losers include the Crimson Tide

Alabama football was one of the biggest “winners” in Week 4

The first three games of the Alabama Crimson Tide’s 2023 football season were littered with penalties, missed assignments and turnovers. Between the home loss to Texas and a struggle win on the road against USF, many people have questioned the making of this Alabama team. Finally, the Crimson Tide responded to the critics and looked like the team we had all hoped to see this off-season with a 24-10 victory over SEC West foe Ole Miss.

The Rebels took a 7-6 lead into the halftime interval, but it was all Alabama in the second half. The offense finally seemed to find it’s gear when Jalen Milroe delivered a 33-yard strike to Jalen Hale in the back of the endzone for the Tide’s first of two touchdowns. Milroe completed over 80% of his passes for 225 yards and showed signs of vast improvement. Jace McClellan also ran for over 100 yards behind the offensive line that looked the best they have all season. The Alabama defense was again phenomenal as they surrendered only 10 points to an Ole Miss offense who has been arguably the best in the country to start the year. Outside of the Texas game, the Alabama defense has only given up two scores on the year.

For the Tide’s stellar performance in Week 4, USA TODAY graded Alabama as one of the Week 4 Winners saying, “This is going to be a pulling-teeth type of season for No. 12 Alabama given the state of the offense, which may have been better in a 24-10 win against No. 16 Mississippi but remains mystifyingly poor behind new coordinator Tommy Rees. It’s clear the Crimson Tide’s best method for success moving forward is to turn back the clock and embrace the sort of defense-and-ball-control game plan that has been phased out of the SEC. The defense stepped up against the Rebels, giving up just 301 yards on 4.6 yards per play, while Jalen Milroe completed 17 of 21 throws with a touchdown and one mindbogglingly bad interception in his first game back in the starting lineup. It wasn’t pretty, but Alabama got the job done in a crucial SEC West matchup.”

Gauging where LSU stands in the SEC West after two weeks

Here’s how yesterday’s results impacted LSU’s place in the SEC West.

It was a chaotic week in the SEC West.

LSU had it easy with Grambling, but over in Tuscaloosa, the Crimson Tide dropped their first game at home since [autotag]Joe Burrow[/autotag] rolled into town in 2019.

In Starkville, Mississippi State messed around with Arizona before grabbing the win in overtime.

Down the road in New Orleans, Ole Miss beat Tulane 37-20 in a top-25 showdown. But Tulane was without star QB Michael Pratt and that game was closer than the final suggests.

And down in South Florida, Texas A&M’s defense revealed itself to be a liability as the Aggies took their first loss of the year.

Let’s dive in and take a look at what this all means for LSU as the Tigers begin conference play this week.

One prediction has Alabama losing 2 games, but winning the SEC West

One full-season projection for the Alabama Crimson Tide predicts 2 regular-season losses, but an appearance in the SEC Championship.

In 2022, Alabama football lost two games by a combined total of three points. Some fans and analysts from around the country saw that and said Nick Saban’s dynasty might be on its last leg. While there wasn’t a conference championship appearance or a College Football Playoff berth last season, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

The Crimson Tide lost a decent amount of talent to the draft and the transfer portal, which some critics have pointed to as a big reason why the program can’t possibly bounce back in 2023. However, this is exactly why Saban and his coaching staff land top recruiting classes every year. It’s a matter of reloading, not rebuilding.

The upcoming season poses many challenges. This team, however, seems up to the task. How might they perform? Well, for now, we can only rely on predictions from fans and analysts until the season gets underway.

College Football News recently put together projections for every FBS team and had Alabama winning the SEC West and finishing the regular season record at 10-2.

Those two losses, they project, come at the hands of Texas A&M and Auburn, both games are on the road in 2023.

Last season, Alabama fell to Tennessee and LSU. College Football News has both of those games tabbed as wins for Alabama this year.

The SEC championship would consist of a historical one that has brought some amazing games: Alabama vs. Georgia.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama football and SEC news as the 2023 offseason winds down.

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ESPN releases projections for Texas A&M and the SEC West

ESPN’s Bill Connelly leveraged the SP+ rankings to compile his win projections for Texas A&M and the rest of the SEC West.

With talkin’ season and the SEC media days in the rearview mirror, it offered the opportunity for the media to unveil their preseason projections. Now, it’s time for the worldwide leader in sports to do the same.

ESPN’s Bill Connelly compiled his picks for the SEC division’s final results using his SP+ rankings, which have become a staple throughout the college football season. In his SEC West outlook, Connelly illustrated his belief in Texas A&M bouncing back from their underwhelming 5-7 campaign a season ago, which included a 2-6 record versus SEC competition.

As a reminder, ESPN’s SP+ rankings take into account returning production, recent recruiting, and recent history. The Aggies sit atop the SEC in returning production this season, highlighted by key positional units such as their offensive line, which should take a significant leap in performance.

While their trials in 2022 were ultimately a result of injuries and inexperience, identifying the root causes of last season and working to correct them should only add further belief in the Aggies’ chances of bouncing back in 2023. Of course, staying relatively healthy for the long haul of the season will be paramount to not produce a repeat of last season.

Here’s a look at ESPN’s SEC West projections ahead of the 2023 season.

What do the oddsmakers say about the SEC west race?

Vegas still has Alabama favored in the West despite LSU’s 2022 title.

LSU and Alabama won’t see each other until early November, but the game is already circled as one with national title and SEC implications.

Last year, it was the game that decided the SEC West, just as it has so many times in the past.

BetMGM has an early betting line posted, putting LSU as a 7.5-point underdog.

It’s significantly better than where LSU entered the Bama game last year when the Tigers were a double-digit underdog at home. Now, that line is down to one possession despite the game being played in Tuscaloosa.

LSU’s getting plenty of hype, but Alabama is still the favorite in the West. Both according to the odds and the votes at SEC media days.

Alabama’s national title odds are +600, second only behind Georgia. LSU is slotted a few spots back at +1100.

[gambcom-standard rankid=”3011″ ]

To win the SEC, Alabama is second at +260 while LSU is third at +450. That’s a decent margin separating the two.

Teams like Texas A&M and Ole Miss have talent, but the West is still a race between Alabama and LSU.

And again, LSU likely will fight an uphill battle to win it.

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Alabama is the favorite to win the SEC West, but there’s an interesting twist

Alabama received the most first-place votes, but five other teams were voted on as potential winners of the SEC West.

Alabama football failed to make the College Football Playoff in 2022, but that isn’t the most disappointing part of the season. It was the inability to even make the conference championship game that should be considered the biggest disappointment. Playing in that game may have given the Tide an opportunity to prove that they belonged in the playoffs.

In 2023, the goal is to win it all, but there will be a series of small goals along the way. The sum of it all should result in winning another national title.

Down the road, the goal will be to make the SEC championship game by winning the West.

During 2023 SEC media days, members of the media voted on the final standings of each division and the conference overall.

Alabama received 165 first-place votes to win the West, while LSU came in second with 117 first-place votes.

While the Crimson Tide is clearly the favorite to win the West, every other team, except for Ole Miss, received first-place votes. Is the West as open as it appears in these votes? Not likely.

After all, Vanderbilt received eight votes to win the entire conference. Is it bias, someone trying to be funny, or is there a genuine belief that the SEC is up for grabs?

It’s not a secret that Alabama will have a lot of young, inexperienced talent on the field in 2023. However, Saban and his coaching staff, which is mostly a new crew, have been preparing all offseason to ensure that the team is put in the best position possible to make a run at a national title.

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