Auburn knocks off No. 1 Georgia as the SEC race tightens

Auburn went to Athens and beat the No. 1 team in the country. The 27-24 win in Auburn at Georgia was the first loss of the season for Georgia, which falls to 6-1 overall and 4-1 in conference play.

The Bulldogs still sit at the top of the standings, but they now share that spot. Auburn moves to 4-2 and 2-2 in the league, back in the middle of a crowded table.

It was not the only upset. The two teams that held the top spot in the poll over the past two weeks both lost on Saturday.

What happened

Florida won 27-24 in Florida at Texas, beating No. 7 Texas as a 10.5-point underdog. The Longhorns, who were No. 1 a week earlier, drop to 4-2 and 1-2 in the conference.

No. 22 LSU shut out No. 16 Mississippi State 31-0 in Mississippi State at LSU. LSU moves to 5-2; Mississippi State falls to 4-2.

Texas A&M beat The Citadel 41-0 in The Citadel at Texas A&M to reach 4-3.

Auburn's win over Georgia went over the 49.5-point total, with 51 points scored.

No. 14 Tennessee beat No. 6 Alabama 26-10 in Alabama at Tennessee. The Volunteers were 7.5-point home underdogs and won by 16. They are 6-1; Alabama is 5-2.

No. 9 Ole Miss beat No. 13 Missouri 31-3 in Missouri at Ole Miss. Ole Miss is 5-1; Missouri drops to 5-2.

Arkansas won 31-21 in Arkansas at Vanderbilt as a 6.5-point underdog. Both teams are now 3-4, and Vanderbilt is 0-4 in the league.

No. 15 Kentucky beat Oklahoma 21-13 in Kentucky at Oklahoma, winning outright as a 6.5-point underdog. The Wildcats are 6-1; Oklahoma is 3-3.

Rankings and standings

The poll these teams carried into Saturday had Georgia at No. 1 after moving up from No. 2, with Texas sliding from No. 1 to No. 7. LSU fell from No. 10 to No. 22 in that poll and responded with a shutout. Kentucky entered as a newcomer at No. 15, Tennessee had moved up from No. 15 to No. 14, Missouri from No. 14 to No. 13 and Mississippi State from No. 17 to No. 16. Alabama held at No. 6 and Ole Miss at No. 9.

Four of those ranked teams lost to other conference teams on Saturday: Georgia, Texas, Alabama and Missouri, plus Mississippi State. Expect the next poll to look different.

In the standings, Georgia and Kentucky are tied at 4-1. Tennessee and Ole Miss are each 3-1, one loss behind with a game in hand on the leaders. Alabama and Florida are 3-2.

A group of four sits at 2-2: LSU, Missouri, Auburn and Mississippi State. Texas and Oklahoma are 1-2, Texas A&M, South Carolina and Arkansas are 1-3, and Vanderbilt is 0-4.

The desk

It was a split week at the desk, and the split ran cleanly between the two who backed underdogs and the two who did not.

Lou "The Sharp" Marchetti went 2-0. He took Kentucky +6.5 and Tennessee +7.5, and both won outright. That gets him back to 10-10 for the season, best on the desk.

Vera "The Fade" Kowalski also went 2-0, on Florida +10.5 and Arkansas +6.5. Both of her underdogs won the game, not just the number. She is 7-13.

Dr. Priya "The Quant" Raman went 0-2. Texas -10.5 lost when Florida won outright, and Missouri +5.5 was never close in a 28-point loss. She is 9-10.

Marcus "Film Room" Dawkins also went 0-2. Mississippi State +11.5 lost by 31, and the Under 49.5 in Auburn at Georgia went over by a point and a half. He is 7-13.

What's next

The race now runs through a two-way tie between Georgia and Kentucky at 4-1, with Tennessee and Ole Miss a step behind at 3-1 and nothing settled below them. Texas, at 1-2 in the league after opening the month at No. 1, has the most ground to make up of the teams that began the season with title hopes. The full Week 8 schedule, with kickoff times and the latest odds for every game, is on the schedule page.