SEC midseason grades: Kentucky's 'A+' is best in class, while Texas and Texas A&M disappoint

Individual grades on the midseason report card for every team in the SEC There are a ton of good teams in the SEC, but is there an elite team capable of winning multiple College Football Playoff games this season and ending the league's national title drought in January? As expected, this conference is beating itself up a bit with the move to a nine-game league schedule through the first half of the regular season. The SEC is one of two conferences within the Power Four without an unbeaten team entering Week 8, a product of the league being closer to the NFL model than any other nationally. There are nine SEC teams in the latest AP poll, but only two are situated inside the top 10.

Handing out midseason grades for every squad is a lesson in futility since any team in the league could take out any other the rest of the way — well, maybe not Arkansas or Vanderbilt. We've included every school's preseason and current ranking to reflect expectations and actual results. The Crimson Tide's once handsome start is beginning to fizzle, much like Keelon Russell's significance in the Heisman race. Alabama's sophomore quarterback has been quiet over his last two outings since the multi-touchdown explosion at Mississippi State on Oct. 3 pushed his team toward the