Crazy SEC East could finish in six-way tie; plus more random notes

Random notes for Thursday:

▪  How crazy is this? The SEC East could end up in a six-way tie for first with six teams at 4-4.

Here’s how: This weekend, Tennessee beats Kentucky, Georgia beats Auburn, Vanderbilt beats Missouri and South Carolina beats Florida. On Nov. 19, LSU beats Florida, Vanderbilt beats Ole Miss and Tennessee beats Missouri. On Nov. 26, Vanderbilt beats Tennessee.

Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt would all finish 6-6. And I have no idea who would go to Atlanta.

▪  If Florida loses one of its last three games, the SEC East champ will have at least three losses for the first time since 2010.

▪  Kentucky is the only SEC East team to beat an SEC West team — the victory coming Oct. 22 when the Cats beat visiting Mississippi State 40-38. Overall, the East is 1-9 against the West.

▪  Given all the drama and departures after last season, UK women’s basketball coach Matthew Mitchell has executed a nice rebound by signing five top-100 players in the early signing period.

▪  Presidential/sports analytics guru Nate Silver said Hillary Clinton’s chance of winning the presidency was the equivalent of an NFL kicker making a 37-yard field goal. There have been a lot of missed chip-shot field goals this season.

▪  Kentucky is 5-4 despite being ranked 124th out of 128 FBS teams in turnover margin. That’s tough to pull off. After committing a pair of turnovers in last Saturday’s 27-24 loss to Georgia, the Cats have committed at least two turnovers in every game this year and at least one turnover in 17 straight games dating to last season.

▪  Auburn running back Kamryn Pettway is the best player you don’t hear much about. Over his last four games, Pettway has rushed for 770 yards on 121 carries.

▪  Pro Football Focus ranks UK running back Benny Snell as the third best true freshman in the country. Snell ranks behind Houston nose tackle Ed Oliver and Clemson defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence.

▪  John Wall and the Washington Wizards are off to a tough start. The Wizards are 1-5 for the third time in 10 years. The ex-UK guard was also fined $25,000 for bumping an official.

▪  Couple of interesting SEC men’s basketball openers on Friday night. Under new coach Bryce Drew, Vanderbilt plays Marquette in Annapolis. Meanwhile, Georgia is at Clemson.

▪  Mike Leach and Washington State football whipped Arizona 69-7 last Saturday for their seventh straight win to go 7-2. After playing California at home, the Cougars travel to Colorado on Nov. 19. Washington and Washington State meet Friday, Nov. 25 in Pullman.

▪  With South Carolina now 5-4, Will Muschamp is making a run at SEC Coach of the year. After all, the Gamecocks won just three games last season. An now you can’t say that Kentucky has failed to beat a team with a winning record.

▪  Just when the news could not grow any more weird comes a report that the Hula Bowl, once a staple of the college All-Star games, is returning. But the game will be played in Raleigh, N.C., before being moved to Hawaii in 2019. The plan is to alternate the game between the two sites.

This story was originally published November 9, 2016 at 6:59 PM with the headline "Crazy SEC East could finish in six-way tie; plus more random notes."