Topics for Discussion: The Temperature of Will Muschamp's Seat and the Shape of the SEC West

Will Muschamp: On the hot seat or on the hottest seat? After needing three overtimes to defeat Kentucky last week, Florida looked completely overwhelmed in a 42-21 blowout at Alabama that might have been even more lopsided than the score makes it look. A less generous Alabama team might have won the game by 30 or 40. The Kurt Roper offense looks less and less like a solution, and Muschamp's defense surrendered the most yardage in program history. Does Muschamp even make it to the end of the year at this rate? Or can he pull this team out of the tailspin and do what he needs to in order to save his job?

How far can Mississippi State take this thing? It still might be a bit much to talk about the Bulldogs as leading contenders for the SEC West, and it is still too much to talk about Dak Prescott as a Heisman leader, but both Mississippi State and its quarterback started to play up to the preseason hype Saturday. The Bulldogs churned out 570 yards of total offense against LSU, while Prescott went 15-of-24 passing for 268 yards and two touchdowns, adding another 105 yards rushing and a touchdown on 22 attempts. With back-to-back home games against Texas A&M and Auburn starting in two weeks and a game against Alabama hanging back near the end of the season, where does State belong in the SEC West pecking order?

Flip side: Where does LSU go from here? Obviously, the Tigers are going to cruise against New Mexico State next week, but this is a team that still has trips to Auburn and Texas A&M on the schedule along with home games against Alabama and Ole Miss. What are the reasonable goals for the Bayou Bengals this year? And is it finally time to hand the ball to Brandon Harris, who was 6-of-9 passing for 140 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in relief of a less-effective Anthony Jennings?

And what do you make of Arkansas? Nobody noticed it because of a crowded time slot, but the Hogs thoroughly destroyed Northern Illinois, ringing up a 52-14 win on 427 yards of total offense and Korliss Marshall's 97-yard kickoff return. Arkansas now returns home to face Texas A&M, which hasn't won a game by less than 24 points all season. Can the Razorbacks pull the upset? And can they ruin the season of one of the SEC West contenders -- if not against the Aggies, then perhaps one of the other high-profile teams?

Missouri-South Carolina: Who you got? The Gamecocks looked less than impressive in their sloppy 48-34 win at Vanderbilt, which included the most offensively prolific game for the Commodores all season. Missouri, meanwhile, dishonored the conference by losing to a bad B1G team at home. (And make no mistakes about it despite what Andre Ware said; the Hoosiers are a bad football team.) So does South Carolina keep its high-wire act going for another week? Or do the Tigers get off the mat and win the one of the latest SEC openers on the docket?