Go West, Young Man

The day began with a Rebel upset, gained momentum with a hard-fought victory on the Plains and ended with a “rolling tide” of unyielding Western aggression.

When it was over, the third and fourth-ranked college football teams in America had been knocked off and no doubt remained as to which division ruled the most powerful conference in all of college football.

It’s the SEC West, baby, which apparently has a lot more to boast about this year than just the defending national champions.

We honestly can’t remember the last time Florida, Georgia and Tennessee all got beat in the same week - and to three “SEC Less” foes, no less.

These three programs have lived atop the SEC’s power pyramid, and the winner of their head-to-head showdowns has invariably found itself competing for a national championship - like the one Florida won two years ago.

But the shocking Ole Miss upset of the No. 4 Gators in the “Swamp,” Auburn’s workmanlike win over hapless Tennessee and the utter decimation of preseason No. 1 Georgia by the Crimson Tide, in particular, have signaled that the balance of power is shifting.

Want another indication? For the first time we can remember, Vanderbilt sits atop the SEC East with a 2-0 conference record and a No. 21 national ranking.

That’s right … Vanderbilt.

In addition to the rise of the West, parity is at an all-time high.

With the possible exception of Mississippi State, it certainly appears that any SEC team is capable of beating any other SEC team on any given Saturday … a level of parity the conference hasn’t seen in a long, long time.