COLUMBIA, Mo. — Here is the status report on the Southeastern Conference: If you’re the Flavor of the Week one Saturday, you might be spoiled meat the next.
Florida, rocketing from unranked to No. 8 nationally four games into Jon Sumrall’s tenure, found that out here, getting blasted by Missouri, 45–17. Mississippi State, which has its highest ranking in four seasons at No. 16, got a reality check at home from Alabama, 56–23. Last week, after rising to No. 4 in the polls, Mississippi learned that lesson against the Gators, losing 52–28. Before that, it was then-No. 7 LSU getting its comeuppance against the Rebels, 32–24.
Beware the big-win hangover. Because the next opponent is ready, waiting and capable of inflicting a buzzkill beatdown. If you’re a little off, the scoreboard will tilt heavily against you.
“This league’s tough,” said Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz, after what was his biggest win in seven seasons on the job. “You have to have a bounce-back factor. You go on the road, it’s going to be an extreme challenge. … Every team’s got really good players and really good coaches and really good schemes. And if you’re not on your A game, then things can happen.”
After losing at Mississippi State last week, Mizzou (4–1) regrouped and relocated its A game, beating a top-10 team at home for the first time in 16 years.
Quarterback Austin Simmons shredded a vulnerable Florida secondary for 340 passing yards and two touchdowns. Running back Jamal Roberts trampled the Gators for 211 rushing yards and three TDs. The Missouri defense reduced the nation’s No. 2 rusher, Jadan Baugh, to a nonfactor, holding him to 13 yards on the ground—his fewest since the third game of his career, in 2024. The Tigers outgained the Gators by a jaw-dropping 235 yards.
Drinkwitz’s postgame message to Sumrall: Your turn to bounce back next week.
In a conference where it just means more, the swings are extreme and the schedule can set up teams for great victories and dispiriting defeats. Riding high after beating LSU and Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss ran into a Swamp ambush. Saturday it was the Gators’ turn, going from a week of “Florida is back” hype into a raucous homecoming atmosphere at Faurot Field.
“I just want to start by thanking the fans for an unbelievable atmosphere,” Drinkwitz said. “I appreciate the home field advantage that was created today. I thought our crowd was outstanding.”
Pretty much every team in the league can whip up a home frenzy that lifts up its team and rattles the visitors. There simply are more hard places to play in the SEC than anywhere else.
Florida collapsed here, getting punched in the mouth for the first time this season after previously never trailing against an FBS opponent. The Gators gave up 35 consecutive points in one stretch, leaving Sumrall disgusted and dismayed.
“Embarrassing performance in every phase,” he said. “Starts with the coaching, starts with me. I told the guys in the locker room just now, I expect everybody to be a man, which means be accountable for your actions and own it. I’m going to start that way right now. I’m sick to my freaking stomach with what we just did. Like, livid.”
If Missouri can bottle what it put on the field Saturday, the Tigers could be one of them. Drinkwitz was dragging a 7–19 record against ranked teams into this game, something he’s heard about often—especially after the loss at Mississippi State last week. Now 8–19, he had some thoughts on that Saturday.
“That’s just noise that people create on social media for no reason,” he said. “It has nothing to do with anything. It’s people searching for crap to talk about. And it had nothing to do with this game. That’s the hot take world right now. Try to find things that you can poke holes in our program about. Great, that’s fine. Do what you want to do, but it doesn’t faze us any.
“Just so everybody in here is aware, players, coaches, teams are allowed to improve and a game doesn’t define the season.”
As the grind continues in the SEC, the losses will continue to pile up. Will anyone escape unscathed? Seems unlikely. Which means, as we work our way to the first College Football Playoff rankings early next month, you’re going to hear a lot of SEC talk about strength of schedule.
In years past, it has been at times a tiresome refrain. No league has tried harder to excuse losses, sometimes disingenuously. But this season, with the SEC looking considerably better than the other conferences—and finally playing nine league games—those assertions will have to be taken seriously.
Are there five, six or even seven playoff-caliber teams in the league? Maybe. The last three unbeatens—Texas, Georgia and Alabama—currently top the list. (One of them will lose next week, when the Bulldogs play the Crimson Tide.) The stack of one-loss teams runs seven deep—Florida, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Missouri, Tennessee and LSU.
Those 10 play a whole bunch more games against each other in the weeks to come. Texas and LSU play five of them; Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri and Kentucky play four; Alabama, Tennessee, Florida and Mississippi State play three. So prepare yourselves, everyone from outside the SEC: It seems quite likely that there will be multiple 9–3 teams from that conference in the playoff hunt.
Which SEC teams can maintain consistency of effort and focus will decide a lot. Kirby Smart’s Georgia teams generally are wired for that—after the Bulldogs, we’ll see who else can sustain it across the breadth of the season.
“This is a really emotional league to play in,” noted Simmons, who transferred to Mizzou from Ole Miss during the offseason.
The lows are humbling. The highs are intoxicating. As darkness fell and the dome atop Missouri’s administration building, Jesse Hall, glowed in victory, Columbia was on tilt—much the way Gainesville, Fla., was last week and Oxford, Miss., the week before.
“It’s going to be an awesome scene tonight downtown,” Drinkwitz said. “I’m not going to be out, but good God almighty, it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
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