Who is the best team in the SEC?

You can make a credible case for a handful of teams after Week 11. No. 16 Ole Miss beat No. 3 Georgia 28-10 at Oxford a few hours before No. 11 Alabama hit the road and easily dispatched #15 LSU 42-13.

You probably remember that Georgia beat Texas on the road earlier this season. Alabama beat Georgia. And Ole Miss now has a win against Georgia but has losses against Kentucky and LSU.

The top of the SEC is a mess. The conference title race could get really, really tricky. And it will also affect the College Football Playoff. Four SEC teams were in the projected playoff bracket when Tuesday’s inaugural rankings were revealed.

After this weekend, there is a plausible scenario in which Texas or Texas A&M finishes the regular season at 7-1 in the conference and there are as many as seven teams tied for second place at 6-2.

As you can imagine, there isn’t really a way to resolve a six- or seven-way tie. Especially in a conference that has no divisions and is too big for each team to play each other. The 16-team SEC could show us this season what tiebreaker life will be like in the mega-conference era of college football.

In case you’re wondering, the SEC’s tiebreaker rules span six tiers. The first tiebreaker is the head-to-head record and the second is the record of teams tied against common opponents. This second tiebreaker will likely be enough to break the tie. But otherwise, the record against the common best opponent(s) in the conference constitutes the third tiebreaker.

So how could this scenario work? Let’s explain it for you.

LSU (6-3 overall, 3-2 SEC)

The Tigers need to win all three of these games and will be favored in all of them. It is very plausible that they could win. Florida was dominated by Texas on Saturday and fell to 4-5 on the season. Vanderbilt lost to South Carolina on Saturday and Oklahoma lost a wild game to Missouri.

Missouri (7-2, 3-2)

The Tigers somehow pulled out a 30-23 victory over Oklahoma on Saturday in a wild fourth quarter. Each team had a fumble return for a touchdown in the final two minutes of the game and Missouri DL Zion Young’s fumble recovery with 22 seconds left provided the winning margin.

Mizzou will be an underdog in South Carolina and will likely need starting quarterback Brady Cook back on the field to have a chance in this game. The other two are very winnable. Like LSU, Mizzou needs three wins over the next three weeks.

Alabama (7-2, 4-2)

The Crimson Tide will be the big favorites in these two games. Oklahoma and Auburn have a combined SEC record of 2-10. We can edge Alabama at 6-2 in the conference with two wins.

Ole Miss (8-2, 4-2)

The Rebels picked up their biggest win of the Lane Kiffin era on Saturday against the Bulldogs. And they, too, will be heavy favorites over the final two weeks of the season after being out in Week 12. It will be a surprise if Ole Miss isn’t 6-2 in conference play.

Georgia (7-2, 5-2)

The Bulldogs are one of two teams in the SEC with only one conference game remaining. A win against Tennessee in Week 12 will move Georgia to the No. 1 team at 6-2 and they will watch the conference race unfold over the final two weeks of the season.

Texas (8-1, 4-1)

The Longhorns will be heavy favorites in the first two games heading into what could be a win-win matchup against Texas A&M in the final week of the season. If Texas and Texas A&M enter the final week of the season at 6-1 in conference play, the winner is guaranteed a spot in the SEC title game.

Texas A&M (7-2, 5-1)

The Aggies and Longhorns will play this game for the first time since Texas A&M was a member of the Big 12 in 2011. Texas A&M was off Saturday before a game against New Mexico State in Week 12 and will be favored on the road against Auburn. .

Tennessee (8-1, 5-1)

The Tennessee scenario is also simple. If the Vols win both of these games, they will likely play in the SEC title game against the winner of Texas and Texas A&M. If they lose one, then the chaos scenario we described above could then come into full effect. And unless you’re a Tennessee fan, don’t you want chaos?

One factor complicating Tennessee’s path to the SEC title could be the health of quarterback Nico Iamaleava. He left Saturday’s win over Mississippi State at halftime with what the school called an upper-body injury, although coach Josh Heupel said after the game that the Iamaleava’s absence was a precautionary measure.

Here are the rest of this week’s winners and losers.

Winners

UCLA: The Bruins are on a three-game winning streak after beating Iowa 20-17. UCLA has lost five straight games after opening the season at Hawaii with a win and now has a good chance at bowl eligibility with three games remaining. Friday night’s win was ugly; each team turned the ball over three times and UCLA was penalized nine times to Iowa’s two. But the Bruins rushed for 211 yards and Ethan Garbers threw two touchdowns.

Call: The Bears earned their first ACC win with a 46-36 victory over Wake Forest on Friday night. Fernando Mendoza threw for 385 yards and two scores while rushing 10 times for 51 yards and a touchdown. The Golden Bears are 5-4 after a four-game losing streak at midseason and should be bowl eligible with a home game against Stanford remaining on the schedule.

Jacksonville State: The Gamecocks avoided disaster on Saturday. Jacksonville State trailed Louisiana Tech by six late in the fourth quarter and hit a 49-yard Hail Mary as time expired when Tyler Huff found Cam Vaughn in the end zone. JSU was ready for a walk-off win, right? No. The PAT missed and the game went to overtime. Tre Stewart’s 11-yard run in overtime ended up being the game-winning score as Louisiana Tech failed to score on its possession.

Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets are headed to back-to-back bowl games for the first time in a decade after their upset 28-23 win over Miami. The win brought Georgia Tech to 6-4 as the Yellow Jackets used their running game to good effect against the Hurricanes. The defense also proved huge, as Miami failed to convert its first three fourth-down attempts and Cam Ward was sacked with less than two minutes remaining.

Losers

Iowa State: The No. 17 Cyclones went from undefeated and atop the Big 12 to needing help to make the Big 12 title game in the span of two weeks. A week after losing to Texas Tech at home, Iowa State lost 45-36 at Kansas on Saturday. Iowa State’s defense gave up 532 yards to the Jayhawks as Jalon Daniels looked like the player he was in 2022. ISU still has games against Cincinnati, Utah and Kansas State. This game against the Wildcats could mean a lot, but Colorado has to lose for it to matter.

Pitt: The No. 18 Panthers likely lost a chance at the ACC title with a 24-19 home loss to Virginia on Saturday night. The Cavaliers scored 14 straight points in the third quarter to take the lead and hang on for the rest of the game. Pitt quarterback Eli Holstein had to leave the game in the third quarter due to injury and his replacement Nate Yarnell threw two interceptions in the second half while going 4 of 12 for 44 yards.

Cincinnati: The Bearcats are also on a two-game losing streak after a 31-24 loss at home to West Virginia. Quarterback Brendan Sorsby threw an interception and fumbled twice as the Bearcats allowed 17 points in the second quarter. After a terrible first season in the Big 12, Cincinnati is firmly entrenched in the middle of the conference and only needs one win to make a bowl game. But the final three games of the season will be against Iowa State, Kansas State and TCU.

Oregon State: Life in the temporary Pac-12 is much better for Washington State than it is for Oregon State. The Beavers dropped to 4-5 overall after a 24-13 home loss to San Jose State on Saturday. SJSU quarterback Walker Eget threw for 395 yards on just 18-of-35 passing while Nick Nash had six catches for 161 yards and Justin Lockhart had five catches for 128 yards. It’s fair to say that Oregon State really needed to beat the Spartans to have a realistic chance of making a bowl game. The Beavers have Air Force, Washington State and Boise State remaining on their schedule. They will be underdogs in the last two clashes.