Topics for Discussion: Chaos Edition

So, um, who's the favorite in the SEC West again? Here's what happened to the teams in the West in the chaos that was Saturday: LSU defeated Florida in yet another death-defying late victory; Auburn defeated Kentucky by a field goal; Alabama lost by two touchdowns at South Carolina; Arkansas won by seven against Texas A&M in Jerry Jones' Death Star; Mississippi State won at Houston; and Ole Miss had the good sense not to play anyone. No one in the division, we should note, has more than two SEC losses. Is Alabama still the team to beat in the West? Can we rule the two Missisippi teams out?

Is South Carolina now the favorite in the SEC East? With the win against Alabama and Florida's loss to LSU, the Gamecocks have a half-game lead in the division. Even if Florida wins out -- no sure bet -- South Carolina only needs to split its games at Kentucky, at Vanderbilt, vs. Tennessee and vs. Arkansas to go into Gainesville with the SEC East on the line. Can Florida win out against a slate that goes vs. Mississippi State, vs. Georgia and at Vanderbilt? (One would hope, but I'm asking just in case anyone out there is feeling bold.)

We're halfway through the season; what's been the biggest surprise? You've got plenty of candidates, from Georgiapocalypse to the Alabama loss to the offensive issues at Florida. Don't forget Ole Miss' loss in Week 1 to Jacksonville State, which I don't think anyone saw coming, or LSU's bizarre 6-0 start. Then there's Cam Newton's nascent Heisman campaign. And we just thought the offseason was eventful.

We have to put together a BlogPoll ballot out of all this mess: How would you do it? Specifically, tell me how you would rank these teams presented in alphabetical order: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, LSU and South Carolina. If you think someone else needs to be in between them, feel free to point that out.

Will the SEC be able to fill all of its bowl slots? Part of this depends on whether you think that there will be two BCS berths from the SEC or not. There are nine slots to fill one way or the other, from the Sugar Bowl to the Birmingham Bowl. Another BCS team would make that 10. Vanderbilt has three losses and Georgia and Tennessee both have four. Seven losses might be enough to keep a team from going to a bowl this year.