This Is Big Week In SEC Football

The Southeastern Conference football schedule this weekend pits the top two teams in the Eastern Division against one another and the top two teams in the Western Division. In the East, the winner is all but assured of being in Atlanta for the SEC Chamionship Game, but that is not necessarily the case in the West game.

Alabama hosts Mississippi State in the headliner game of the Western Division, but unlike the teams playing in the East – Georgia vs. Florida in Jacksonville – the Tide and Mississippi State have the tough games of their SEC schedules ahead of them.

Georgia and Florida meet in the Worlds Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party at 2:30 p.m. CDT with television coverage by CBS. Bama and the Bulldogs will be on ESPN beginning at 7:30 p.m. CDT.

A Florida victory against Georgia would clinch the Eastern Division for the Gators and the berth in the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 1.

Here are some notes on SEC football:

The SEC has seven teams ranked in the BCS Rankings, Harris Interactive, Associated Press and USA Today Top 25 polls this week. Alabama is the top-ranked team in all four rankings, followed by Florida, which is second in the BCS and third in AP, USA Today and Harris. LSU is sixth in all four rankings, Georgia is 10th in the BCS, 11th in Harris and USA Today and 12th in USA Today. Mississippi State is 11th in the BCS, 12th in USA Today and Harris and 13th in AP. South Carolina is 13th in the BCS, 16th in USA Today and Harris and 17th in AP and Texas A&M is 20th in the BCS, 21st in USA Today and Harris and 22nd in AP.

In terms of wins and losses, Alabama is the highest ranked undefeated team in all four polls, LSU is the highest ranked one-loss team in the polls and South Carolina is the highest ranked two-loss team in all polls.

An SEC team has now been ranked first in 12 straight BCS rankings. The SEC has been 1-2 in 13 of the last 26 BCS rankings, dating back to the beginning of the 2009 season.

There have been nine SEC vs. SEC games this season decided by five points or less. That is the most of any conference this season and the 29 per cent of games decided by five points or less (9 of 31) is tied for third among all FBS conferences – Mountain West (35.3 per cent, 6 of 17); Big Ten (33.3 per cent, 7 of 21); Sun Belt (29 per cent, 4 of 17).

Georgia is fourth in the nation in yards per offensive play (7.17). In games against FBS winning teams, Mississippi State has the nation’s top yards per offensive play average (7.53).

Georgia leads the SEC in touchdown efficiency in the red zone (77.8 per cent, 21 of 27). Alabama is second (74.2 per cent, 23 of 31) and Ole Miss is third (73.9 per cent, 17 of 23).

Every SEC team has scored more rushing touchdowns than passing touchdowns in the red zone with the exception of Mississippi State (10 rush, 10 pass), Kentucky (6 rush, 7 pass) and Tennessee (10 rush, 12 pass).

There have been 77 play stoppages for Instant Replay in 61 games using SEC replay this season. Of those 77 stoppages, 30 plays have been overturned. Since the advent of replay in 2005, there have been 856 stoppages and 254 overturns. The average length of replay is 1:29 this season and 1:34 since 2005.