Via The Athletic

Stock Up: SEC

The Tennessee Volunteers upset the Alabama Crimson Tide (we’ll get more into that later), sending them to third in the Associated Press Poll. The SEC now owns four of the top seven teams in the rankings (Number one Georgia, number three Tennessee, number six Alabama, number seven Ole Miss), with six total in the Top 25 (#19 Kentucky, #24 Mississippi State) and two others receiving votes (LSU, Arkansas). The dominance and parity of the SEC this year has some fans ecstatic and some dreading a possibility of, however slight, four SEC teams in the CFB playoff?? Absolutely mayhem would need to occur throughout the college football landscape, but it should be safe to say SEC diehards will have to wait until the expanded playoff format for that to happen.

Stock Down: Pac-12

The Pac-12 always seems to rain on their own parade. With Utah taking down Pac-12 darling USC on Saturday, the UCLA Bruins has become the only likely chance the conference has at the College Football Playoffs. Oregon and USC are still remaining on the schedule, and most people have already written off a loss somewhere on their schedule in typical Pac-12 fashion. 

Stock Up: Syracuse

So much for being the flukiest undefeated team in the country. Syracuse took care of NC State and moved up the rankings for another week. They will face their biggest test of the season, squaring up with fellow undefeated and fifth-ranked Clemson AT Death Valley. If the Syracuse Orange can pull this win off, they will most likely dethrone Clemson as the Atlantic division champion for the second year in a row (after Clemson won six championships in a row from 2014-2020). Syracuse has all the tools to do it behind a stingy defense and quarterback Garrett Shrader, but it all starts with the Clemson Tigers this week.

Stock Down: James Madison

The run at an unprecedented undefeated season for James Madison in their first season in the FBS has come to an end. After being ranked for the first time at the number 25 spot, JMU lost in a shootout to Georgia Southern. It’s a disappointing loss, with a win over Applachian State and four others by 22 points or more to start 5-0 now tarnished. This will not have much impact other than record though, considering JMU is not allowed to be ranked in the CFB rankings, play for the Sun Belt championship, or go to a bowl game due to NCAA transition rules. There are still some intriguing matchups on the schedule, with games against Louisville and Coastal Carolina still left to be played. Even with this first loss, Jame Madison has shown they are going to be an impact team within the Sun Belt and Group of Five, so let’s all enjoy this extraordinary first season. 

Stock Skyrocketing: Jalin Hyatt

Have yourself a day, Jalin Hyatt! The junior wide receiver absolutely shined with 207 receiving yards and a program record five touchdowns. Hyatt has been known for hooking up with Vols quarterback Hendon Hooker on the go-route this season, and his blasting speed was on display this week. He torched the Alabama Crimson Tide secondary throughout the night, and those five touchdowns came on just six receptions. Hyatt was the electric reason for a 52-49 barnburner win in Neyland Stadium for the Vols, and he will be in the nightmares of Crimson Tide defensive backs for the next thirty years. Speaking of those Bama DBs…

Straight Dead: Alabama Defensive Backs Room

The Alabama Crimson Tide look to rebound from their first loss in 15 years to the Tennessee Volunteers next week against a Mississippi State Bulldogs team ranked 24th in the country. They might have to do so with a secondary recruited off the street, because no one knows how drastic the measures Nick Saban has taken against them are yet. After allowing 385 yards and five touchdowns through the air to Hendon Hooker (and the 207 yards and all five touchdowns Jalin Hyatt contributed by his lonesome) and the rest of the Tennessee offense, Nick Saban could not have been pleased to lose in a game where the Tide offense scored 49 points of their own. The amount of penalties committed, a program record 17 with a good amount coming from this unit, definitely poured gasoline on the flames of Saban’s temper. May everyone keep the Tide secondary in their thoughts over the next few days.