Despite the PAC-10 making a surge in the rankings at the beginning of the season, the SEC remains the top conference in college football betting heading in to week nine. Following the defending national champion Crimson Tide losing to division rival South Carolina State to fall out of the top spot in the nation, and Oregon’s rise in the PAC-10, it appeared as though the SEC’s spotlight may have had a bit of its glow fall on to other conferences. Ohio State was representing the Big Ten at number-one, with the Ducks not far behind, and Oklahoma climbing fast from the Big-12, suddenly the SEC appeared vulnerable. Perennial power Florida was a shadow of itself after losing Tim Tebow to the betting on NFL draft, while the Crimson Tide had lost for the first time since the 2009 Sugar Bowl. Arkansas and South Carolina State already had losses, and nobody had projected before the season that LSU and Auburn would get past week five undefeated. Much has changed since week six however, particularly in the PAC-10, where despite the Ducks being undefeated, every other team has at least one loss. Number-13 Stanford and number-15 Arizona are the conferences other ranked schools, with only Oregon State better than .500 in conference play beyond the ranked teams, and even they are 3-3 overall. Ohio State and Oklahoma have dropped to number 10 and 11 respectively, without much hype beyond them in their respective conferences. Suddenly, it seems as though the SEC will have solid sports betting representation in the national title game once again. The football betting Tigers are on top of the BCS rankings after a close 24-17 win over LSU pushed them to 8-0 on the season. Beyond Auburn, number-seven Alabama and number-12 LSU both have just one loss this season, and they both came within the conference. Number-20 South Carolina State is 5-2 overall, with both of their losses coming within the SEC. There is still that logjam near the top of the SEC West, with a couple of possible scenarios that could finish the season. The first possibility includes Auburn having the chance to run the table and earn their spot in the national title game. In order for that to happen, the Tigers will have to give the Crimson Tide at least their second loss of the season, which would mean that Alabama would likely have no chance of defending their title. A more intriguing situation comes up if Alabama and Auburn both go undefeated until the final week of the season, when they are scheduled to meet in a massive SEC showdown. Should Oregon have even one loss at that point, the Crimson Tide could face a situation where they could win and be in, with most of the top schools in the country having one loss. Alabama’s loss to South Carolina State was a major setback, but not one that head coach Nick Saban and company can’t overcome.
