State of the East

Well, with Kentucky's loss to Florida, and Tennessee's meltdown against Alabama, it looks like a two loss team will be representing the East in the SEC Championship game. Who knows, the way things have been going, it could even be a three loss team. Florida and South Carolina control their destiny, while Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia all need help.

Tony Barnhart sized up the East in the AJC on Saturday night, ranking the teams by their chances to win the East. He ranked them like this:

1) Florida
2) South Carolina
3) Kentucky
4) Tennessee
5) Georgia

I really can't disagree with that list. Neither Florida nor South Carolina have lost to anyone on that list. Kentucky looks like they could be better than Tennessee or Georgia, and the Vols stomped us.

Here's the thing with the Dawgs. Obviously, we need to win out. If that happens, we would still need South Carolina and Tennessee to lose again. They play this weekend, so a loss for one of them is guaranteed. After that South Carolina still has Arkansas and Florida. Tennessee still has Arkansas, Vandy, and Kentucky. So, the odds that the winner of the South Carolina vs. Tennessee game will lose again are pretty good.

So, getting the help we need after winning out is not beyond the realm of possibility. I actually think it's highly likely that both South Carolina and Tennessee will lose again. The problem is that whole winning out thing. Unfortunately, I think that is beyond the realm of possibility.