The competition in the SEC was phenonemal this past week. A great week to watch some very important games that influenced who’s going to be making the trip to the Georgia Dome. With two weeks left in the season, four teams could potentially make that trip.
Missouri controls their destiny, but they must win two straight games against opponents from the West in the form of Ole Miss and Texas A&M. The “Iron Bowl” will be played with some serious implication this year, as the winner will travel to Atlanta. Gus Malzahn has created a serious contender that beat Georgia on what some would call “the greatest play in SEC history.” If you haven’t seen it by now, then you need to complete your homework.
South Carolina was able to hold on against Florida to create a school record and national best, 16-game winning streak at Williams-Brice Stadium. Connor Shaw is now 15-0 as starting quarterback at home, with two games left in the Brice to finish out his career as a Gamecock. Florida fans need to be patient with Will Muschamp, as you have to give him credit for his gameplan that kept the Gators in the game as long as they were.
South Carolina is hoping for a Missouri loss that many are expecting to happen. Depsite whether Mizzou wins or loses, South Carolina’s next couple of games are extremely important. We can assume that Clemson and South Carolina will beat both of their in-state opponents this week (Citadel for Clemson, Coastal Carolina for South Carolina).
This sets the stage for the November 30th meeting between the two rivals to be a top ten matchup. This creates BCS Bowl implications for both teams to have a shot at an at-large bid. Clemson will have a much better chance than South Carolina to achieve BCS status with Florida State basically having to win out to appear in the BCS Championship Game, the Tigers would be next in line to play in the Orange Bowl. Winning these next two games are vital for South Carolina, if they’d like to have consideration for a BCS Bowl. They will just have to wait for the Missouri results to see if they need to warm up the buses for a trip to Atlanta.
So, lets talk Heisman.
I think the past couple weeks Johnny Manziel has masterfully snuck back into the conversation. There’s not a quarterback in the game that makes more on an impact on his team’s performance. There’s a huge question mark next to Jameis Winston’s name now, and we will have to wait for the full scoop on his investigation. Until that investigation proves anything newsworthy though, Winston is the front runner. Mariota’s stock plummeted with the loss to Stanford, and Bryce Petty’s has risen with each extravagant stat line. AJ McCarron can be counted out, as he just isn’t statistically there. Aaron Murray would have been in this conversation had Georgia been relevant this season, but now with the Bulldogs being eliminated from the East race, he’s just going to be absent. If Auburn can find a way to beat Alabama, either Nick Marshall or Tre Mason may jump on the board. Mike Davis might find a way to get some attention if he can produce statistically, and the end of the Gamecocks’ season proves to be significant. Other than those names, the only name that would get much consideration if all the elite teams find ways to lose would be Derek Carr out of Fresno State just because he is having a phenomenal statistical year. Fresno State not getting much attention or playing much competition is what ultimately hurts Carr.
With an amazing amount of to be determined games on the books for the next two weeks, the final season of the BCS-era should be nothing short of an amazing finish for fans of the game.
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