How are teams from Texas to Oklahoma feeling midseason? SEC Vibes Rankings

We’re halfway through the SEC football season, and we can sum up the state of things by asking ourselves: When Texas hosts Georgia this week, will it be caught looking forward to its trip to Vanderbilt?

We’re joking. At least we think we did. But in the first half of the season, here is where things stand:

• Before the season, the SEC counted five teams that were considered legitimate College Football Playoff contenders, all ranked in the top 11 of the preseason AP poll. Only one of them – Texas – meets expectations. Two of them – Ole Miss and Missouri – are already on the brink. Georgia and Alabama would now make the field, but all four of those teams appear to be playing their way out of it.

• Four other SEC teams were between No. 13 and No. 20, and three of them — LSU, Tennessee and Texas A&M — are right in the middle of the pack.

• Oklahoma, the preseason No. 16 seed, is now all but out and hanging with the conference’s other desperadoes in hopes of salvaging something in the second half.

• And then there’s the great feel-good story: Vanderbilt, with Arkansas as a strong supporting character in this year’s critically acclaimed tale, “It’s Not Always About The Playoff.”

The midseason state of SEC sentiment, which, as usual, is not a pure assessment of the quality of each team, but rather the feelings surrounding each program — both within the team and among the fan base — and the perception outside. It’s an extremely subjective ranking, based partly on records, but also on expectations, momentum and just general sentiment:

1. Texas (6-0, 2-0 SEC)

Beat Oklahoma 34-3

Last week: 4

Steve Sarkisian’s team dominates. Questions still remain, as the best wins come against Michigan and Oklahoma, two teams on the fringe of the rankings. The questions can be answered this week, but when a team has basically punched its ticket to the playoffs six games into the year, things are going well.

2. Vanderbilt (4-2, 2-1)

Won at Kentucky 20-13

Last week: 1

Just give Clark Lea the Coach of the Year award now. And let him sign all his players to contracts that prevent them from being poached, especially Diego Pavia, who will get an extra year of eligibility. However many years he wants. Mr. Sankey, this program has endured so much, let it happen.

3. Texas A&M (5-1, 3-0)

Bye

Last week: 2

We still don’t know how serious this team is as a CFP contender; All we know is that the timing is good for this. But LSU and Texas at home and on trips to South Carolina and Auburn also remain 8-4. First up is only the second real away game of the season (lower Mississippi State). The Aggies performed well in their first game in Florida.

4. LSU (5-1, 2-0)

Beat Ole Miss, 29-26 (OT)

Last week: 11

Now The was a big lead, a win in the rankings, and some legitimacy for a record burnished by “eh” victories over unranked opponents. And if the Tigers are true contenders, the next three weeks are a chance to prove it: at Arkansas, at Texas A&M and at home at Alabama. After that we will know a lot more.

5. Arkansas (4-2, 2-1)

Bye

Last week: 3

Sam Pittman and his program enter the second half feeling much better than many expected. But now a reinvigorated LSU comes to its stadium, one of four ranked opponents in the last six games. The mood is good, but ripe for volatility.

6. Tennessee (5-1, 2-1)

Beat Florida 23-17 (OT)

Last week: 8

Is it a step forward for the program that Tennessee is now finding ways to win games when it isn’t playing well instead of just beating up teams with its high-octane offense? That is certainly the optimistic view. But it could be that the defense is starting to see through Josh Heupel’s system.

7. Alabama (5-1, 2-1)

Defeat South Carolina 27-25

Last week: 7

Since taking a 30-7 halftime lead against Georgia, the Crimson Tide have lost their lead (but they recovered and won) and their last two games have come down to the final minute, losing one of them became. They were especially lucky that South Carolina couldn’t make a few good plays to get into field goal position. Kalen DeBoer football is fun, but it is what it is to Fun. Very un-Saban-like.

8. Georgia (5-1, 3-1)

Beat Mississippi State 41-31

Last week: 6

Georgia has failed to close the gap in its last three wins. Yes, just win, but Kirby Smart says you’re either elite or you’re not, and right now it’s the latter, so no one will be surprised if Georgia falls convincingly at Texas. But considering it’s still Georgia and has all this talent, no one will be shocked when it finally puts it all together.

9. Missouri (5-1, 1-1)

Won at UMass, 45-3

Last week: 12

Six years ago, Missouri athletic director Jim Sterk went to his football coach Barry Odom and told him they had a home game scheduled with UMass in 2024-25. Odom responded, “I don’t care, until then I’ll be coaching UNLV where my quarterback will be leaving the team because of a failed NIL deal.” To which Sterk responded, “What is NIL? Well, I don’t care because I’ll be retired by then.” But first he hired Eli Drinkwitz, told him about his move to UMass in 2024 and said, “You’re going to suffer a bad loss at Texas A&M, and that will be a huge confidence booster. “Trust me.” And it was. I hope you enjoyed this background.

10. Ole Miss (5-2, 1-2)

Lost at LSU, 29-26 (OT)

Last week: 5

This season has been all about the playoffs, and now the Rebels are on the precipice and almost certainly need to win to make it. That’s still doable — Georgia is the only top-20 opponent still on the schedule — but the home loss to Kentucky may be one of the most consequential playoff episodes of the season.

11. South Carolina (3-3, 1-3)

Lost at Alabama 27:25

Last week: 15

The Gamecocks reflect their quarterback. Something exciting will happen; You just don’t know whether it will be good or bad. Who knows if it puts them in a bowl, but it keeps them interesting.

12. Kentucky (3-3, 1-3)

Lost to Vanderbilt, 20-13

Last week: 9

If you said before the season that the Cats would lose at home to South Carolina And Vanderbilt, one might assume that Mark Stoops has already been put on the rails out of town. But the win at Ole Miss and the near-win over Georgia wipe that out, at least in terms of sentiment. We’ll check back after the next two: Florida and Auburn at home (two big weeks for the spirit of all three programs).

13. Auburn (2-4, 0-3)

Bye

Last week: 13

Much of the attention on the Plains is already focused on next year thanks to a strong recruiting class, and Hugh Freeze and company deserve credit there. But if 3-9 is still a plausible record, a scenario that could make some of these recruits change their minds, some wins have to come along the way. It would help to steal one in Missouri.

14. Florida (3-3, 1-2)

Lost at Tennessee, 23-17 (OT)

Last week: 14

Sigh. Even if the Gators continue to show fight and improve, they can’t get the deal done. As the game came to an end, you looked at Billy Napier and wondered: Is it fair to say that he might just be saving his job? But then the ending where it wasn’t a two-man game at the end and the win and the offense went down in overtime…again, sigh.

15. Mississippi State (1-5, 0-3)

Lost at Georgia 41-31

Last week: 16

The team, which loses 24 points at home to Toledo, stays closer in both Texas and Georgia. Makes sense. Well, it may feel a little better, but as Bill Parcells said, you are what your record says.

16. Oklahoma (4-2, 1-2)

Lost to Texas, 34-3

Last week: 10

When a coach is asked at halftime about making a quarterback change, things don’t go well. And offense didn’t go well for the Sooners all season, as they sat on their defense for a while. But it could only do so much. There are now four ranked teams on the program for the last half of the season. Brett Venables, who went 10-3 in his second year, is virtually guaranteed not to reach that mark in his third year. The only question is whether he can avoid his first year (6-7).

Is Oklahoma the worst team in the SEC? No, of course not. But the atmosphere that comes with the rivalry game remains subdued this week.

(Top photo by Quinn Ewers: Ricardo B. Brazziell / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)