Georgia and Kentucky share the SEC lead as six two-loss teams crowd in behind them

Kentucky is no longer alone in first place in the SEC. Georgia beat Florida 27-8 on Saturday and moved to 5-1 in conference play, matching the Wildcats, who were idle. Both teams are 7-1 overall. As SB Nation's A Sea of Blue lays out, either one would reach Atlanta by winning the rest of its conference games.

The chase pack is unusually crowded. Alabama and Ole Miss are 4-2 in the league. LSU, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas are 3-2 and have four conference games left, so all six two-loss teams still have a realistic path if a leader stumbles. Kentucky has only three SEC games remaining: at Tennessee, home against Florida and at Missouri, plus a nonconference game against Louisville. Georgia also has three: at Ole Miss, home against Missouri and at South Carolina.

That puts both leaders in road games against contenders this week. Missouri also plays both of them before the season ends, which makes the Tigers a likely factor in the title race. In its Week 10 power rankings, the same SB Nation site keeps Georgia first and Kentucky second. It describes a Georgia defense that is carrying the team while the offense keeps searching for consistency. It also says a win in Knoxville would be the biggest résumé item yet for first-year coach Will Stein.

What it means for Saturday

Kentucky goes to No. 16 Tennessee on ESPN having won seven straight since a 45-17 home loss to Alabama in September. The Wildcats have survived a lot of close games along the way. They beat No. 10 LSU 35-34 and South Carolina 35-34 on the road, and they won 31-21 at No. 9 Texas A&M and 21-13 at Oklahoma. Tennessee is 6-2 and 3-2 in the league, and it is also coming off a bye. A Tennessee win would leave Georgia alone in first and move the Volunteers into the group a game back.

The board for Kentucky at Tennessee has the Volunteers favored by 6.5 points. Novig prices Tennessee at -208 on the moneyline and Kentucky at +203. Fanatics has the best Kentucky price at +210. On the spread, Novig has Tennessee -6.5 at -120 and FanDuel has the same number at -110. The total is mostly 50.5, though Hard Rock Bet lists 51.5. The 12 venues are fairly close, with sportsbook hold between 3.5% and 5.8% on the moneyline.

Georgia has the tighter matchup. The Bulldogs play at No. 12 Ole Miss on ABC against one of the two 4-2 teams. Their only loss was 27-24 at home to Auburn, and they followed it with the win over Florida. They have already won one close road game in the league, 20-17 at No. 6 Alabama. A Georgia loss would pull Ole Miss level with the Bulldogs at 5-2.

The Georgia at Ole Miss board has Georgia favored by 3.5 points. Novig has the Bulldogs at -163 on the moneyline and Ole Miss at +150. FanDuel's -108 on Ole Miss +3.5 is slightly better than Novig's -111. The total is 56.5, and hold across the 12 venues runs from 3.6% to 6.3% on the moneyline.

The markets expect the leaders to split: one road favorite and one road underdog. If that happens, Georgia would lead alone heading into the final three weeks.