Top 5 college football winners, #7: Mississippi rising

As of right now, Ole Miss QB Bo Wallace is the best QB in the SEC – and he has wins over the other top QBs to prove it.

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When the 2014 college football season started it looked like either Alabama or Auburn – two rivals from the state of Alabama – would go undefeated (or have at most 1 loss between them) all the way to the Iron Bowl for an epic rematch from the 2013 classic that rocked the college football world.  As fate would have it, the neighboring state of Alabama may control the fate of the college football rankings from here on out.

The Mississippi State Bulldogs and Ole Miss Rebels, two schools that have never won a national championship and have had only minimal success in the SEC despite being members for over 80 years, are now the #1 and #3 ranked teams in the nation.

A combination of a great home atmospheres, great QB play from Bo Wallace (Ole Miss) and Dak Prescott and exceptional defense have given the two Mississippi teams complete control over the SEC conference. And when the two teams finally play each other at the end of the season, the winner of that game could most likely find themselves playing in their first National Championship game.

Georgia – “No Gurley, no problems.” That was the catchphrase of anyone who saw the complete drubbing the Georgia Bulldogs laid on the Missouri Tigers to take a commanding lead in the SEC East division. If the Bulldogs can beat Kentucky and Florida in back-to-back weeks in the beginning of November, they’ll pretty much have the division wrapped up.

Baylor – QB Bryce Petty looks like the best thing to happen to the Big XII since Robert Griffin III.  The Bears overcame a 21-point deficit from a resilient TCU team, but ultimately it was Petty’s 6 TDs that made it impossible for the Horned Frogs to pull the upset.

Mississippi State – For the first time in AP history, a team has gone from unranked to #1 in the polls in only 6 games.  The Bulldogs pulled off arguably the greatest upset in school history by topping the #2 Auburn Tigers after beating the Aggies the week before and LSU the week before that.  Forget the Iron Bowl, the Battle of the Golden Egg (or the “Egg Bowl”) between the Bulldogs and the Ole Miss Rebels will determine the winner of the SEC West title this year.

Oregon – The Ducks win over the UCLA Bruins by a 42-30 win (that wasn’t even as close as the final score indicates) put the Ducks back in the driver’s seat for the Pac-12 North division title. The Ducks should have smooth sailing for the rest of October before the tie-breaking game in November against the Stanford Cardinals.

Ole Miss – Beating Nick Saban and Kevin Sumlin-coaches teams in back-to-back weeks is the sign of a true contender.  It’s a shame that the loser of the Mississippi State/Ole Miss game at the end of the season will likely knock the loser out of the college football playoffs, because both of those teams would be a great sight to see against the FSU Seminoles.