Joel Klatt ranks two-loss teams in the SEC after Week 12

The SEC has a mess of teams atop of their standings with five that currently have an overall record of 8-2. So, with several of those projecting to win out to be at 10-2, how will we determine the best amongst them, especially with them each having wins over and losses against one another?

Joel Klatt did that ranking in an exercise during his show on Monday. In doing so, he assessed where Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Texas A&M rate against one another’s best going into the final two weeks of the regular season.

“You’ve got to parse out all of the two-loss SEC teams. You’ve got Georgia, Ole Miss, Alabama, and Tennessee. They’ve all kind of beat each other so you’ve got to have some way to differentiate one from the other. You can’t just use head-to-head because then you just go in a circle. You just go in a circle,” said Klatt. “So what did I use? Here’s what I used. I said who are you at your best? Let’s take everybody’s ceiling, let’s rate the ceilings, and then place them in my rankings based on their ceiling. Well, then it starts to be a lot more clear.”

With that, Georgia was No. 1 from those five for Klatt. The ‘Dawgs have proven to be the top team amongst that group when at their very, very best. It just hasn’t been as obvious at times as he noted the schedule that they’ve had to play this season.

“Georgia at their best is better than all of these teams,” said Klatt. “Georgia at their best can go and beat Texas on the road. None of the other teams have won on the road, really, with any substance over another great team. That win on the road, they handled Tennessee in that game at home. And, remember, they’ve just had to play more of these than everybody else. Their schedule is the only reason that they are 8-2. If you would’ve swapped schedules with Texas? They’re absolutely, at minimum, a one-loss team. I truly believe that. I mean, heck, they’ve played four games against the top six teams in the SEC, three of them on the road. So the schedule has been very difficult.”

“So, at their best, their ceiling? I put Georgia up there at the top,” Klatt stated.

From there, Klatt had Ole Miss at No. 2. He rated them that was considering the Rebels’ best was able to beat Georgia by 18 points two weekends ago.

“Then I went with Ole Miss because they’re the only team that thoroughly dominated Georgia for really an entire game,” Klatt continued. “Maybe it was weather-related, you know, whatever it was, maybe it was environment-related. But they played great in that game. So, at their best, Ole Miss is right behind Georgia.”

After that, Alabama went in at No. 3. Klatt noted that the Tide were also able to beat Georgia while also playing well at other points over the their first four games and then their most recent three.

“Behind Ole Miss, at their best, is Alabama,” said Klatt. “Alabama was great for a half against the Bulldogs. They were tremendous on the road against LSU, although that win on the road in Baton Rouge is starting to lose its luster just a little bit with the way that LSU’s season is going down the tank.”

Tennessee then took the final spot at No. 4 from Klatt. Although beating ‘Bama themselves, he thinks that’s about the best that the Volunteers could offer so far this season with that being a bit below the wins of the trio ahead of them in his rating.

“Next, I put Tennessee in there and it’s because their win over Alabama was really their ceiling and it was at home by one score,” explained Klatt. “So, everybody else’s ceiling is just a little bit above Tennessee.”

As for Texas A&M, Klatt technically had them at No. 5 but also not truly a part of this conversation in the Southeastern Conference. He just doesn’t see them on that same level as the other four in the debate despite having the same exact record.

“A&M isn’t really in that equation because, well, let’s face it. A loss at South Carolina where they were totally dominated? Their best win was a comeback win over LSU, which has fallen off the map. So A&M doesn’t really get into this discussion,” Klatt said. “These other four? Their ceiling is a lot better or a lot higher.”

With that said, the Aggies could make for even more disorder in the league if they ended the season with a win over the only other team ahead of these five in the Texas Longhorns. That would, assuming everyone else wins out too, make for six teams that could finish overall at 10-2 – which would be quite the calculation ahead of the SEC Championship as well as the selection of the College Football Playoff.

The Crimson Tide, Bulldogs, Rebels, Volunteers, and Aggies still have a pair of games apiece to justify themselves for each. This is just how Klatt views them as of today with the resumés and eye tests that we have at the moment.

“You can go around and around and around and I just went to ceilings. I went to their high-end and said who do I think is best? That’s how I fell on that ranking,” Klatt said. “Is it right? I don’t know. I don’t know but that’s the way that I landed on them.”