Ranking 10 SEC Winners, Losers from College Football Week 8 Games
John Canady
Host · Writer
Another week of college football has come in gone with several pivotal outcomes impacting the future in the SEC. Following Week 8, here’s a look at the top winners and biggest losers from this past weekend.
1) Alabama Crimson Tide
Alabama continued their convincing turnaround with yet another impressive win over Tennessee. The Crimson Tide knocked off the Vols’ in dominant fashion and now put themselves in prime position to make a run for not only the SEC championship, but the College Football Playoff. Bama has all the momentum on their side down the stretch of the season and Kalen DeBoer’s squad doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
Verdict: Winner
2) Georgia Bulldogs
The Georgia Bulldogs have quietly redeemed themselves since their early loss at home to Alabama. Fresh off a statement win against a top ranked Ole Miss team, Kirby Smart’s group looks like a true contender to make a run. The offense is firing on all cylinders and the defense can keep them in any game. Moving forward, UGA should be viewed as a top contender.
Verdict: Winner
3) Vanderbilt Commodores
Vanderbilt’s early season success was countered by plenty of noise suggesting the Commodores were pretenders and the noise intensified following the team’s loss to Alabama. However, Clark Lea’s team stayed to course and find themselves fresh off a huge win over LSU making it clear that Vandy is a force to be reckoned with in the SEC.
Verdict: Winner
4) Oklahoma Sooners
Looking to bounce back from their upset loss to Texas last week, Oklahoma faced a tough test in Week 8 on the road against a South Carolina team that steamrolled the Sooners at home last season. Not only did Brent Venables’s team answer the call, but they looked like the contending team they did before John Mateer’s thumb injury. Moving forward, OU has a chance to prove their one loss against the Longhorns may have been a fluke, especially if they can continue winning in dominant fashion.
Verdict: Winner
5) Texas A&M Aggies
Texas A&M remains as the lone undefeated team in the SEC following a close call against a desperate Arkansas team on Saturday. The Aggies barely outlasting the Razorbacks isn’t a sign to celebrate, but considering they find themselves as the lone team in the conference left with the chance at a perfect season, A&M has to find themselves on the winning side of this list.
Verdict: Winner
6) Bobby Petrino
After being handed the interim head coach tag following the firing of Sam Pittman, former head coach Bobby Petrino found himself with a prime opportunity to prove he’s the man for the job. Although he hasn’t found a win since taking the interim job, the Razorbacks have looked vastly more competitive than they did in weeks past. Again, when it comes to Petrino, there’s no moral victories involved. However, it can’t be overlooked that in back to back weeks, Arkansas has taken ranked opponents to the wire. For that, Petrino lands on the list.
Verdict: Winner
7) Billy Napier
Billy Napier led the Florida Gators to a win on Saturday adding yet another victory under his belt. However, knocking off an in-conference opponent wasn’t enough to protect the head coach from facing the consequences of yet another abysmal start to a season the team entered high expectations with. Considering Napier now finds himself looking for a job, he finds himself on the losing side of Week 8.
Verdict: Loser
8) Texas Longhorns
The Longhorns narrowly avoided disaster in Lexington knocking off Kentucky 16-13. Considering the hype Texas entered the season with to contend for a championship, it’s incredibly disappointing to see the production Steve Sarkisian’s squad has put on the field up to this point in the season. Regardless of the win, narrowly escaping an underwhelming opponent lands them as a loser from Week 8.
Verdict: Loser
9) Shane Beamer
Shane Beamer’s job at South Carolina may seem safe from the outside looking in, but there’s no doubt that the frustration of the fanbase will eventually cause for his seat to get hot. The Gamecocks once again dropped the ball against a conference opponent, and this time it came in embarrassing fashion against an Oklahoma team, after Beamer vouched to fix the issues after their loss to LSU. Until proven otherwise, Beamer and USC remain as one of the biggest losers not only from Week 8, but the whole season.
Verdict: Loser
10) Arch Manning
There’s no denying that Arch Manning hasn’t lived up to the hype he entered the season with. On Saturday, the former five-star looked arguably the worst he has all season long. Throwing more incompletions than he did completions is alone a disappointing performance for Manning, but the fact that he did it against a struggling defense like Kentucky’s only makes it worse.
Verdict: Loser
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