The Southeastern Conference has three football teams in this week's Associated Press top 10, and it's the only league with two members in the top five.
Yet No. 1 Alabama, No. 4 Georgia and No. 10 Auburn are the only SEC teams in the Top 25, creating quite a chasm for a conference that not long ago claimed seven straight national championships with four different members: Alabama, Auburn, Florida and LSU. The SEC last had only three AP Top 25 representatives in December 2009 with Alabama, Florida and LSU.
"I've never seen the league at this point where you have so much separation," former Auburn and Ole Miss coach and current ESPN analyst Tommy Tuberville said. "Obviously you've got Alabama at the top, and everybody is gunning for them, just like they have these last six or seven years. I think Auburn is catching Alabama's talent to some degree on defense, but I think there is still a little question mark offensively as far as consistency.
"Georgia is getting better and better. They made the correct hire in Kirby Smart. Not only is he one of their own, but he knows what he's doing. He understands it."
Alabama, Auburn and Georgia are the only undefeated teams in SEC play entering October's second Saturday, with each owning a 3-0 league record. Alabama has won its three by the average score of 51-7, while Auburn's average is 48-16 and Georgia's is 39-6.
The Crimson Tide had outscored SEC foes 149-6 until Texas A&M rallied from a 24-3 deficit midway through the third quarter last Saturday night to lose only 27-19. The effort was the best of the season for Kevin Sumlin's Aggies, who must buck their recent trend of collapsing down the stretch in order to get closer to the league's top tier.
"These guys are a close group, and they believe in each other," Sumlin said last Saturday night in a news conference. "They continue to play with great effort. They don't always do exactly right, but you can't question how hard these guys play.
"The challenge for us is to go back to work like we've gone back to work every Monday to get better. We lost this game, but as a team we've gotten better every week."
Texas A&M had been undefeated in league play until Alabama arrived, as had Florida until last week's 17-16 loss to visiting LSU. Unlike Alabama, Auburn and Georgia, however, Jim McElwain's Gators had topped Tennessee (26-20) and Kentucky (28-27) in dramatic fashion before pulling away late against Vanderbilt (38-24).
"Florida is knocking on the door," said Tuberville, who led Auburn to a 13-0 season in 2004, won six straight Iron Bowls and was a recent guest of "Press Row" on Chattanooga's ESPN 105.1 FM. "They just can't keep a quarterback healthy. They're not as good on defense as Georgia, but they've got a couple of pretty good running backs who can make some plays.
"I think it will be a good game at the Cocktail Party here in a few weeks."
Auburn (two) and LSU (one) are the only programs other than Alabama to win SEC titles this decade, but LSU ventured to Florida last weekend having already been hammered 37-7 at Mississippi State and having been stunned 24-21 by Troy of the Sun Belt Conference.
"This shows the kind of football team we can be," LSU coach Ed Orgeron said after the win in Gainesville, "but we have to pay attention to the details. It all starts with leadership and with practice. It all starts with playing within our identity and playing with true grit."
LSU has a chance to put a dent into the league's top three Saturday afternoon, when Orgeron's Tigers host Auburn. Alabama and Georgia are 30-point home favorites this week against Arkansas and Missouri.
Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee have winning records overall in the SEC East, but that is partly the result of eking out victories against the likes of Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, Louisiana Tech and Massachusetts. Mississippi State has a winning overall mark in the SEC West, but its two losses were to Georgia and Auburn by a combined 80-13.
Five SEC teams - Arkansas, Missouri, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Vanderbilt - are entering mid-October without a conference conquest, though that is guaranteed to be reduced by at least one Saturday when Vandy plays at Ole Miss.
"Other than the top three, it's been really rough out there watching some of these games," Tuberville said. "It doesn't look like SEC football. It looks like, because of a grab bag of things that are happening at each school, that some teams can't get a grip on getting better.
"There is no consistency with a lot of the last eight or nine teams on the board."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.