What even is the point here?

I don’t want to go full-on nihilist here but hey, there’s games to discuss while the SEC-SoCon Challenge marches on elsewhere.

The Mississippi St. Bulldogs (somehow) remain ranked heading into this week. Nobody really knows why, considering they’re 6-4 and 2-4 in conference. Someone has to fill up the rankings sheet, I suppose, but State certainly hasn’t looked great lately. They were, of course, trucked by the Alabama Crimson Tide (who hasn’t been though) and are 2-2 against ranked opponents this season. But eight wins is still within reach for Joe Moorhead in his first season in Starkville. That counts for something right?

Year Zero has been looking like Year Zero for Chad Morris at Arkansas. But to his credit, the Hogs have been playing well, lately. No, seriously. Even if you rule out the fact that they’re winless against the conference, their numbers, especially those on defense, have been looking great lately. Their run defense has been wonderful all season, minus showings against ‘Bama, the Ole Miss Rebels and Vanderbilt Commodores. In fact, last week, they held the typically stout LSU Tigers to just 164 yards on the ground after 48 attempts by the Bayou Bengals to run the ball.

They have held their opponents to under 4.0 yards per carry in all but those three aforementioned games above. In the SEC, where defense is boss, that’s a nice sight to see. But it might not stay that way (their entire front seven, minus Hayden Henry, are juniors or seniors and their backups, minus Bumper Pool, are redshirt sophomores or juniors or, in one case, a grad transfer) so they’ll have to cling to that as much as they can.

And speaking of run defense? Well, State runs the ball pretty effectively. They’ve averaged 5.7 yards per carry and have scored 19 touchdowns on the ground. Guess where this game will probably be won!?

If nothing else, sit back, relax, and try to enjoy some SEC West football to start your morning, folks. You could go and watch the SoCon games, we won’t judge, but this should at least have your attention for most of the game.

HOW TO WATCH

TV: ESPN

Watch Online: WatchESPN

Time: Noon ET/11 a.m. CT