SEC West teams are 91-39 against their East counterparts since the 2009 season, including 7-0 in the SEC Championship Game.
The West was especially dominant last season, going 13-2 against the East, and started 9-1 this season, including Arkansas' 31-10 victory over division champion Florida.
It was the first time since the Razorbacks joined the SEC that they defeated the Gators. Arkansas had been 0-9 in conference play against Florida.
"Pretty big," Florida Coach Jim McElwain said after the Arkansas game about the gap between the West and East. "As the Florida Gators, it's our responsibility to close it."
The Gators did their part Saturday, winning 16-10 at LSU. Vanderbilt helped the East, too, pounding Ole Miss 38-17.
Including Georgia's 13-7 victory over Auburn on Nov. 12, the East now has a three-game winning streak against the West and is 4-9 in cross-division games this season.
Georgia Coach Kirby Smart was part of helping the West dominate the East as Alabama's defensive coordinator the previous seven years.
"I think it's great for our conference," Smart said of the East rallying in recent games. "I think if you ask the commissioner and the people at the SEC office, they would want balance.
"That's the way the conference was divided, to hopefully have balance. Certainly it hasn't been that way as statistics indicate, but I think that's the goal of the East, is to close that off.
"You do that through development and recruiting, good game plans, building and moving on. I think the East has started to do that, but it's not like the West is going to stop.
"There's certainly a lot of pride on both sides of it and the only way you catch that up is through hard work. So we'll see it goes."
Kentucky provided the East's first victory over the West this season when the Wildcats beat Mississippi State 40-38 on a last-play field goal.
Arkansas' game at Missouri on Friday will be the final East-West regular season matchup before Florida plays Alabama in the SEC Championship Game.
Razorbacks Coach Bret Bielema said Arkansas' staff uses statistics about the West teams doing well against the East and having several nationally ranked teams in recruiting, but doesn't stress it in game preparations.
"During the game itself that week you will talk about representing the West and players will say it, but for the most part it's who you're playing," Bielema said. "I guarantee this -- we didn't do anything in the Florida preparation that was dependent on the record of the West versus the East and the same will carry over to this [Missouri] game.
"The SEC is so deep and so talented we kind of cannibalize one another. ... I know the teams in this division in the West and I'm fairly confident in the East as well will compare [favorably] to the rest of the nation. I'm pretty sure we would hold our own.
"That's a good thing and as postseason plays out, you'll get the chance to witness that."
Florida, which lost to Alabama 29-14 last season in Atlanta, was the last East team to win the SEC championship, beating Alabama 31-20 in 2008.
Don't coach
A week after Ole Miss rallied to win 29-28 at Texas A&M with true freshman quarterback Shea Patterson starting in place of injured Chad Kelly, the Rebels traveled to Vanderbilt and lost 38-17 to fall to 5-6.
Ole Miss, which began the season ranked in the top 15 nationally, needs to beat Mississippi State to become bowl eligible.
"I frequently get asked by a lot of young guys that want to get into coaching what my advice would be and I tell them all the time, 'If you could do anything besides this, you need to do it,' " Ole Miss Coach Hugh Freeze said after the Vanderbilt game. "It's a brutal roller coaster on you and your family, and the young men that you work with.
"The last two weeks have been a great example. The emotional highs of winning on the road, and then the disappointment of being outcoached tonight and outplayed. They wanted it more ... every facet of the game."
VanGorder consulting
Brian VanGorder, Georgia's defensive coordinator from 2001-04, is back with the Bulldogs as a consultant after being fired as Notre Dame's defensive coordinator Sept. 25 when Duke beat the Fighting Irish 38-35 to drop them to 1-3.
VanGorder joined Georgia's staff last week, Coach Kirby Smart said, specifically to assist the Bulldogs in preparations for Saturday's game against Georgia Tech.
VanGorder faced the Yellow Jackets' triple-option offense last season when Notre Dame beat Georgia Tech 30-22 and he's helping with the game plan this week.
"He's been very helpful," Smart said. "He's very knowledgable. I've got a lot of respect for Brian. Always have."
Smart said as a consultant VanGorder has been been watching game film and practice and offering opinions.
VanGorder also was an SEC defensive coordinator at Auburn and has extensive NFL experience as an assistant with the Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Jets.
Tough stretch
LSU was scheduled to play South Alabama at home last Saturday to get a break from SEC play between road trips to Arkansas and Texas A&M.
Instead the Tigers swapped Florida for South Alabama in a rescheduled SEC game because concerns over Hurricane Matthew postponed the LSU-Florida game Oct. 8.
LSU plays at Texas A&M tonight, which will be the Tigers' third SEC game in a 13-day span.
"It is a challenge," LSU Coach Ed Orgeron said. "You play a game on the road against a tough Arkansas team after an Alabama loss and then you come back and play Florida and you have fourth-and-inches on the goal line and have a chance to win and don't execute the play.
"But our team is resilient. Our players are focused and have great leadership. We have outstanding assistant coaches. We feel like we're ready to go."
Bobby and Kentucky
Kentucky is 14-14 against Louisville, but 0-6 when Bobby Petrino is coaching the Cardinals.
Petrino will try to go 7-0 against Kentucky in his second stint with Louisville when the teams play Saturday. His only loss to Kentucky came in 2008 in his first season as Arkansas' coach when the Wildcats beat the Razorbacks 21-20 after trailing 20-7 in the fourth quarter.
Petrino is 7-1 all-time against Louisville, including a 35-26 victory in 2013 in his lone season at Western Kentucky.
Two-minute drill
• Tennessee's 63-37 victory over Missouri was the most points the Vols had scored since they beat Arkansas 63-20 in 2000.
• The SEC has four of the five Butkus Award finalists for the nation's top linebacker with LSU's Kendall Beckwith, Vanderbilt's Zach Cunningham, Florida's Jarrad Davis and Alabama's Reuben Foster. Iowa's Josey Jewell also is a finalist.
• Alabama freshman Jalen Hurts has 803 rushing yards to break the Tide's season record by a quarterback. Steadman Shealy had held the record since 1979 when he rushed for 791 yards.
• Florida quarterback Austin Appleby's 98-yard touchdown pass to Tyrie Cleveland at LSU last week was the second-longest pass play ever for the Gators. Cris Collinsworth threw a 99-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Gaffney against Rice in 1977.
• Auburn's 55-0 victory over Alabama A&M was the Tigers' first shutout in 114 games since they beat Louisiana-Monroe 34-0 in 2008.
SEC TOP TO BOTTOM
Rank;(previous);record;comment
1;(1)Alabama;11-0;23 consecutive victories
2;(3);Auburn;8-3;QB guessing game vs Alabama
3;(7);Florida;8-2;Survives Death Valley with goal-line stand
4;(4);Tennessee;8-3;Victory over Vandy might be Sugar sweet
5;(5)Texas A&M;8-3;Trying to finish strong against LSU
6;(2);LSU;6-4;Coaching search now shifts into high gear
7;(6);Arkansas;7-4;Hoping to win back-to-back SEC games
8;(9);Georgia,7-4;3-game winning streak since Vandy loss
9;(10);South Carolina;6-5;Would love to knock off Clemson
10;(11);Kentucky;6-5;Bowl eligible for first time since 2010
11;(14);Vanderbilt;5-6;Can get bowl eligible by beating Vols
12;(8)Ole Miss;5-6;Lot riding on Egg Bowl
13;(12);Mississippi State;4-6;Rawleigh just gained 10 more yards
14;(13);Missouri;3-8;Winning SEC East titles not so long ago
PLAYER TO WATCH
VANDERBILT JUNIOR LINEBACKER ZACH CUNNINGHAM
The SEC's best defensive player is from Alabama, but he doesn't play for the Crimson Tide.
Cunningham, from Pinson, Ala., is a big reason why Vanderbilt can get bowl eligible if the Commodores beat Tennessee on Saturday night in Nashville. He leads the SEC and ranks fifth nationally with 109 tackles -- including 16 1/2 for lost yardage -- and has three fumble recoveries.
Among Cunningham's most memorable plays this season are tackling Georgia's Isaiah McKenize for no gain on a fourth-and-1 play from the Vanderbilt 41 with 57 seconds left that clinched the Commodores' 17-16 victory and leaping over an Auburn offensive lineman to block a field goal attempt.
GAME OF THE WEEK
No. 13 Auburn at No. 1 Alabama
WHEN 2:30 p.m. Saturday (CBS)
WHERE Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
RECORDS Alabama 11-0, 7-0 SEC; Auburn 8-3, 5-2.
LINE Alabama by 17
Alabama has clinched the SEC West, but ending the Crimson Tide's 23-game winning streak is plenty of incentive for Auburn.
To have a shot to upset Alabama, the Tigers need to rely heavily on their SEC-best rushing offense, which is averaging 297.8 yards per game and 5.7 per carry.
The problem for Auburn is that Alabama has the SEC's best rushing defense, holding opponents to averages of 68.9 per game and 2.2 per carry.
Auburn quarterback Sean White, who has been bothered by a shoulder injury and didn't play last week against Alabama A&M, is practicing some this week, but Tigers Coach Gus Malzhan said Wednesday that he's not sure whether White, John Franklin or Jeremy Johnson will start against Alabama.
BY THE NUMBERS
24.2 -- Average yards per punt return by Texas A&M's Christian Kirk, who has scored three touchdowns on his 11 returns this season
22-25 -- Field goals made and attempted by Auburn kicker Daniel Carlson this season
9 -- SEC Championship Game appearances for Florida, which will play Alabama next week in Atlanta
740 -- Yards of total offense for Missouri against Tennessee, the most ever allowed by the Vols. Tennessee still won the game 63-37
OVERHEARD
"We let them do the talking and we did the playing. We turned this place into The Swamp."
-- Florida QB Austin Appleby on the Gators' 16-10 victory at LSU after the teams' rescheduled game was moved from Gainesville to Baton Rouge amid talk from some Tigers that the Gators were afraid to play them.
"It's like the Red Sox versus the Yankees, except it's more intense because it's in-state."
-- Mississippi State Coach Dan Mullen, who grew up in New Hampshire, on the Egg Bowl rivalry against Ole Miss.
"We've got one of the better defenses in college football this year and that'll definitely help trying to contain the guy. We're got to keep him off balance."
-- Auburn Coach Gus Malzahn on facing Alabama QB Jalen Hurts.
Sports on 11/24/2016