1) SEC is separated between Alabama, UGA, and AU. It's everyone else below them. Very top heavy IMO. I'm not sure if any of the non-top tier SEC teams this year would beat same ranked within conference teams from other conferences. An AU friend said it best to me today, "This year's collective offenses in the SEC has to be worst in recent memory. UA and UGA have strong offenses, but as a whole, they're dragged down by everyone else in the conference." I agree.
2) Alabama, UGA, and AU all have similar concerns that no one really knows how good they are; I love Alabama, but are the teams they've beaten thus far this year a legit measuring stick? I don't know. It's out of their control how the teams play outside of playing Alabama, and if they win out, they'll be in the playoff. They definitely have the coaching acumen to shore any weaknesses. I'd say the same for UGA and AU; due to their competition, we don't really know a lot about them. MSU looked like a serious challenger when they beat LSU, and now they've been blown out by UGA and AU. LSU lost to Troy, so that takes the shine off of MSU's win.
3) It's only a matter of time for UT to fire Jones. The players gave up against UGA. Like Funnymaine Johnson, Florida Skate can only skate by so many times before they get burned. UGA has been down the last two years which helped them make it to Atlanta; I don't think they'll make it three times in a row this year.
4) In terms of national leaders, there's a clear dividing line b/w a group with Alabama, Clemson, PSU, OU, and everyone else. After that group, I'd put in Stanford, USC, Washington, TCU, Ohio State, and Miami as potential teams that replace one of the above should they falter.
