ATHENS — The SEC football season has reached its pivot point with contending teams on the verge of separating themselves.
Indeed, with an eye-popping 10 SEC teams in the AP Top 25, something has to give.
Georgia and Kentucky stand atop the league with 5-1 records, followed by a glut of six teams — Alabama, Texas, Ole Miss, Tennessee, LSU and Missouri — with two losses in conference play.
The College Football Playoff Selection Committee sort those teams out for its first rankings release on Tuesday night.
Surely the CFP committee will consider the SEC I 10-2 in non-conference games against other Power 4 league teams, while the Big 12 is 6-7, the ACC is 6-11 and the Big Ten is 4-10.
But come next Saturday, the ultimate separation of powers begins with the following key games:
Texas at Missouri (Noon)
Alabama at LSU (3:30 p.m.)
Kentucky at Tennessee (6:15 p.m.)
Georgia at Ole Miss (7:30 p.m.)
One week later, there’s more SEC cannibalism set to take place among current 1- and 2-loss SEC teams on Nov. 14 when Missouri plays at Georgia and Texas plays at LSU.
Seven of the eight SEC teams enter their games on Saturday coming off wins, Tennessee the sole exception, and the Vols are coming off a bye week.
Here’s a look at the SEC football stock report, with a surprising team topping the list:
STOCK SOARING
South Carolina has won three games in a row, two of them against ranked teams (Tennessee, Florida) and two of the three on the road (Florida, Oklahoma).
Gamecocks quarterback LaNorris Sellers is on fire, most recently passing for 301 yards and rushing for 96 yards in a 42-25 road win at Oklahoma.
Keeping in mind that two of South Carolina’s first three losses came in overtime (Kentucky, Mississippi State), it’s not a stretch to say the Gamecocks are as dangerous as any team in the league.
Georgia football is back up to No. 2 in the polls, but more importantly, the Bulldogs finally flexed the physical defense many anticipated this season.
Linebacker Chris Cole is emerging as a top-five NFL Draft pick with his sideline-to-sideline range and sound open-field tackling.
Mike Bobo has his Georgia offense is second in the SEC in third-down conversion rate (51.6 percent), despite a dialed down game plan intended to bring physicality that became even more conservative in the second half after UGA built a 24-0 halftime lead.
Kentucky fans might be doing a double take at the standings, after all, the Wildcats basketball program tips off its regular season on Tuesday.
First-year Wildcats coach Will Stein has been flying under the radar despite his team’s gaudy No. 8 ranking and overtime win over what was a Top 10 LSU team on Oct. 10.
Kentucky has a challenging finishing stretch consisting of games at Tennessee, home vs. Florida, at Missouri and home vs. Louisville.
STOCK UP
LSU is coming off two wins and a bye week entering game week for Alabama at Tiger Stadium.
For all of Lane Kiffin’s complaining about the Tigers playing the Tide at 3:30 and not 7:30, it’s worth noting Alabama has won six of the past seven games at LSU when the game is played at night.
The Tigers are gaining strength, as linebacker Whit Weeks could return from a leg injury that has sidelined him since Week 4 and play against Alabama, and quarterback Sam Leavitt had a valuable Saturday off to rest a hamstring injury he has been playing through.
Texas breezed past a Kamario Taylor-less Mississippi State on Saturday (31-3) to complete its sweep of Magnolia State teams, having knocked off Ole Miss (34-27) the week before.
Arch Manning completed 16 of 20 passes for 220 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions in the win over the Maroon Bulldogs.
STOCK DOWN
Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea won’t be winning SEC Coach of the Year honors over Kirby Smart this season, as he somehow did the past two years.
The Commodores are reeling, back to being the bottom team in the SEC with an 0-5 conference mark as freshman quarterback Jared Curtis takes his lumps.
Curtis, a long-time commit to Georgia who flipped to the hometown Commodores right before signing day, is 12th in the SEC in passing efficiency (134.0) and has thrown as many interceptions (8) as touchdowns (8).
Mississippi State started the season with quarterback Kamario Taylor healthy and making headlines, but with Taylor shut down for the remainder of the year with a toe injury that will require surgery, the season has been lost.
Coach Jeff Lebby’s Bulldogs opened the season with a promising 38-13 road win over Minnesota and followed that with wins over current Top 25 teams South Carolina (41-34) and Missouri (31-24) .
Taylor was injured in the win over Missouri and was not the same version of himself in a 56-23 loss to Alabama the next week, or two weeks after that hen he attempted just five passes before exiting a 23-15 home loss to Oklahoma on Oct. 24.
