SEC West Update: Where LSU stands among top tier

It’s always a busy week in the SEC West with some of the biggest brands in college football squaring off and the race at the top got even more interesting. Four teams are fighting for a chance to go to Atlanta for the SEC title game and we gained more clarity on how the conference is shaking out as we head into the back half of the season.

Here’s an updated look at the seven SEC West teams along with what’s ahead for LSU.

SEC West Update

Alabama

SEC Record: 3-0

W Ole Miss, W Mississippi State, W Texas A&M

Next up: Arkansas

It was a resounding win from the Tide on the road over the Aggies and it was on the back of another strong defensive effort and Jalen Milroe’s best game of the season. As the only undefeated team left in the SEC West, Alabama is in the driver’s seat, but there are still games against Tennessee and LSU on the schedule. The good thing for Nick Saban is the fact both of those games are at home. There’s a plausible chance Alabama runs the table in SEC play, which seemed unlikely as Alabama’s non-conference slate was littered with shaky performances and a home loss. 

LSU

SEC Record: 3-1

W Mississippi State, W Arkansas, L Ole Miss, W Missouri

Next up: Auburn

Brian Kelly’s LSU team improved to 3-1 in SEC play with a win over Missouri and bounced back nicely from the loss to Ole Miss. Now the schedule eases up for the Tigers as they continue to ride the best offense in the conference, led by the star quarterback in Jayden Daniels.

Ole Miss

SEC Record: 2-1

L Alabama, W LSU, W Arkansas 

Next up: Bye

After dominating Arkansas on the line of scrimmage, Ole Miss backed up its win over LSU with another home victory over Arkansas and now heads into the bye week with Auburn and Vanderbilt as its next two games. Lane Kiffin has his team playing well enough to be competitive in the SEC West and that’s something Rebel fans will never complain about.

Texas A&M

SEC Record: 2-1

W Auburn, W Arkansas, L Alabama

Next up: @ Tennessee

The Aggies’ defensive line is still one of the best in the country and Max Johnson has been serviceable in place of Connor Weigman so far, but there’s a clear ceiling to this Texas A&M team which has been the on full display in the two losses this year and even in the conference wins. There’s a case Texas A&M is the second best team in the SEC West, but with three more road games against ranked SEC teams on the schedule, there’s a high possibility for a couple more losses on the Aggies schedule.

Auburn

SEC Record: 0-2

L Texas A&M, L Georgia

Next up: @ LSU

Auburn was on a bye and now heads to Baton Rouge in what is a pivotal game for Hugh Freeze’s team. So far this year, the defense has been exceptional, keeping it in the game against Georgia and Texas A&M, but the inconsistencies at quarterback and overall talent deficiencies give Freeze an uphill battle within the conference.

Arkansas

SEC Record: 0-3

L LSU, L Texas A&M, L Ole Miss

Next up: @ Alabama

Watching Arkansas get bullied by Ole Miss was disheartening for Razorback fans to watch and now Sam Pittman’s team is staring down the barek of an 0-4 start with Alabama on deck. The schedule has not been favorable, but this is an incomplete team that’s reliant on KJ Jefferson to save them and to this point the offense has not been able to.

Mississippi State

SEC Record: 0-3

L LSU, L South Carolina, L Alabama

Next up: Bye

The Bulldogs beat Western Michigan 41-28 on Saturday, but it wasn’t a performance that inspires much confidence in this team to turn it around in the second half of the season. Zach Arnett is going to have to win some of the battles at the bottom of the conference or else it could be a short stay as Mike Leach’s replacement.

LSU’s remaining schedule

Auburn

Army

@ Alabama

Florida

Georgia State

Texas A&M

The Missouri win was huge for a multitude of reasons, but the most apparent reason was because it ends a stretch of four road games in six games to start the season. Now. LSU ends the year with five of its last six games at home and with several favorable matchups. Through six games, LSU has faced three top 30 offenses in EPA, for the remainder of the season, LSU faces none.

LSU goes from facing Jordan Travis/Keon Coleman, Jaxson Dart, KJ Jefferson, and Brady Cook/Luther Burden to Peyton Thorne, Jalen Milroe, Graham Mertz, and Max Johnson. The Tigers’ defense has not been good, but the schedule sets up for some positivity in the back half of the season.

Still, the goal for this LSU team was to win the SEC West again and at this point it will require an undefeated run in the second half of the season. A loss to Alabama would give the Tide and the Rebels the tiebreaker over LSU and put the Tigers out of the picture. The next three weeks are Auburn, Army, and Bye, then we’ll get to see if LSU can beat Alabama for the second straight year or if it has reached its ceiling as a 9-3 or 8-4 team.