It’s been 282 days since an SEC West team lost a game outside its own division.
Since Florida State beat Auburn 34-31 in the BCS title game on Jan. 6, the West has won whenever it’s gone outside the rugged waters of college football’s toughest division.
A lot.
SEC West teams are 26-0 against the rest of college football.
The ultimate test of the division’s strength could come Saturday.
Arkansas, the SEC West’s last place team and one that is on a 15-game conference losing streak, will play SEC East frontrunner and 10th-ranked Georgia.
The Bulldogs are 3.5 point favorites in Little Rock.
“When you turn the film on against Arkansas you don’t see an 0-15 team,” Georgia offensive tackle Kolton Houston said. “You see that top notch SEC West talented team. Unfortunately in their past, they haven’t been able to win, but they had Texas A&M beat and they really had Alabama beat, too. They’re a very physical team, they’re really hungry. They’re hungry for that SEC win. They’re going to come out playing their lights out so we’ve got to try to match their intensity and get a W.”
Georgia (5-1, 3-1 SEC) is ranked No. 10, but is the only SEC East team ranked in the top 25.
The SEC West has five teams ranked, including four in the top seven: No. 1 Mississippi State, No. 3 Ole Miss, No. 6 Auburn and No. 7 Alabama. Texas A&M is No. 21.
That leaves only LSU and Arkansas from the West outside the top 25.
“I think we stack up very well against them,” defensive lineman Sterling Bailey said. “The West, there’s some good teams out there, but I feel like over here in the East, we have some pretty good teams here as well.”
Arkansas (3-3, 0-3) is playing its third straight top 10 team after losing to Texas A&M in overtime, 35-28, and at home to Alabama, 14-13.
“They were up on Alabama, they were up on Texas A&M and they kind of shot themselves in the foot and that’s why they lost,” offensive guard Greg Pyke. “They’re definitely a very good team.”
“There’s always pride when you play any SEC game,” tight end Jay Rome said. “We want to win.”
Out of conference wins by SEC West teams include Alabama against West Virginia, Arkansas over Texas Tech, Auburn on the road at Kansas State and LSU against Wisconsin.
The four games between East and West so far: Florida losing to Alabama and LSU, Vanderbilt falling to Ole Miss and South Carolina getting drilled by Texas A&M.
Two other cross-division games are on tap this week: Kentucky at LSU and Tennessee at Ole Miss.
“There’s only one game that matters the most: when the Eastern Division champion plays the Western Division champion,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “Whoever wins that one game has won the SEC so I don’t really know if it’s that important to compare. I think we’re all playing pretty good teams.”
The West, of course, has placed a team in the national title game each of the last five seasons with Alabama winning in the 2009, 2011 and 2012 seasons and Auburn in 2010 and reaching the title game in the 2013 season.
Georgia is 30-13 against SEC West teams under Richt.
“Right now all we can do is focus on the East,” Rome said. “December is a long way away and we have a lot of games in between there. The only thing that we can focus on right now is each week and winning each week one week at a time.”
It’s been 282 days since an SEC West team lost a game outside its own division.
Since Florida State beat Auburn 34-31 in the BCS title game on Jan. 6, the West has won whenever it’s gone outside the rugged waters of college football’s toughest division.
A lot.
SEC West teams are 26-0 against the rest of college football.
The ultimate test of the division’s strength could come Saturday.
Arkansas, the SEC West’s last place team and one that is on a 15-game conference losing streak, will play SEC East frontrunner and 10th-ranked Georgia.
The Bulldogs are 3.5 point favorites in Little Rock.
“When you turn the film on against Arkansas you don’t see an 0-15 team,” Georgia offensive tackle Kolton Houston said. “You see that top notch SEC West talented team. Unfortunately in their past, they haven’t been able to win, but they had Texas A&M beat and they really had Alabama beat, too. They’re a very physical team, they’re really hungry. They’re hungry for that SEC win. They’re going to come out playing their lights out so we’ve got to try to match their intensity and get a W.”
Georgia (5-1, 3-1 SEC) is ranked No. 10, but is the only SEC East team ranked in the top 25.
The SEC West has five teams ranked, including four in the top seven: No. 1 Mississippi State, No. 3 Ole Miss, No. 6 Auburn and No. 7 Alabama. Texas A&M is No. 21.
That leaves only LSU and Arkansas from the West outside the top 25.
“I think we stack up very well against them,” defensive lineman Sterling Bailey said. “The West, there’s some good teams out there, but I feel like over here in the East, we have some pretty good teams here as well.”
Arkansas (3-3, 0-3) is playing its third straight top 10 team after losing to Texas A&M in overtime, 35-28, and at home to Alabama, 14-13.
“They were up on Alabama, they were up on Texas A&M and they kind of shot themselves in the foot and that’s why they lost,” offensive guard Greg Pyke. “They’re definitely a very good team.”
“There’s always pride when you play any SEC game,” tight end Jay Rome said. “We want to win.”
Out of conference wins by SEC West teams include Alabama against West Virginia, Arkansas over Texas Tech, Auburn on the road at Kansas State and LSU against Wisconsin.
The four games between East and West so far: Florida losing to Alabama and LSU, Vanderbilt falling to Ole Miss and South Carolina getting drilled by Texas A&M.
Two other cross-division games are on tap this week: Kentucky at LSU and Tennessee at Ole Miss.
“There’s only one game that matters the most: when the Eastern Division champion plays the Western Division champion,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “Whoever wins that one game has won the SEC so I don’t really know if it’s that important to compare. I think we’re all playing pretty good teams.”
The West, of course, has placed a team in the national title game each of the last five seasons with Alabama winning in the 2009, 2011 and 2012 seasons and Auburn in 2010 and reaching the title game in the 2013 season.
Georgia is 30-13 against SEC West teams under Richt.
“Right now all we can do is focus on the East,” Rome said. “December is a long way away and we have a lot of games in between there. The only thing that we can focus on right now is each week and winning each week one week at a time.”
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