Entering the weekend, there was a doomsday scenario in which the SEC East could finish in a six-way tie. After the noon results, that scenario has been tossed out the window and onto the curb.
In Gainesville, Florida jumped out to a 14-0 halftime lead and cruised to a 20-7 win over South Carolina and their former head coach Will Muschamp. Approximately 550 miles north in Knoxville, Tennessee outscored Kentucky 28-23 in the second half to pull away in a 49-36 win.
With the win, the Gators improved to 5-2 in conference play with one more league game remaining (Nov. 19 at LSU). The Vols, meanwhile, pushed their record to an even 3-3 in the league, with games left against Missouri (Nov. 19) and Vanderbilt (Nov. 26).
With UK finishing SEC play at 4-4, and with the best Georgia can finish at being 4-4, the race to be Alabama’s sacrificial lamb the East’s representative in the conference championship game has been whittled to just UF and UT. And, remember, the Vols own the head-to-head tiebreaker.
So, the remaining scenarios?
FLORIDA WINS THE EAST IF...
- they beat LSU, or
- they lose to LSU and Tennessee loses at least one game
TENNESSEE WINS THE EAST IF...
- they win their remaining two games and Florida loses to LSU
Prior to the start of the 2016 season, most thought that the East race would come down to the Vols and Gators, although how the two teams got here comes as a little more than a mild surprise.