Week 6 of the college football season knocked the SEC down a peg as three of the conference's top-10 teams lost in a humbling Saturday of action for a proud league. Alabama was stunned by Vanderbilt, Tennessee squandered a second-half lead at Arkansas and Missouri looked inept against Texas A&M.
The wreckage left Texas standing above the heap in the league as the Longhorns were spared from the day's carnage with a bye week. A couple of Big Ten teams also fell victim to the chaos as No. 10 Michigan and No. 11 USC each fell to unranked teams as well.
In total, five of the top-11 teams in the Week 6 AP Top 25 poll lost. Is it time to press the panic button on all of them? While the expansion of the College Football Playoff from four teams to 12 provides teams with more margin for error, there were some deeply concerning signs.
Where should fans of each of the highly ranked teams that lost be on the panic meter? Here, we break down the causes for concern on a scale of 1-10.
Alabama
Trust the Crimson Tide to get it right
Panic meter: 4
Result: 40-35 loss at Vanderbilt
Given the wildly unexpected nature of the Vanderbilt loss, some Alabama fans may be panicking. But this team has enough elite talent and a good enough coach to overcome an embarrassing blunder and reach the College Football Playoff. Alabama already has a win over Georgia in the bag, and you best believe that will count for a lot come CFP selection day on Sunday, Dec. 8. There are defensive concerns that need to be addressed after Vandy quarterback Diego Pavia wreaked havoc, but the Crimson Tide can still take another loss without having to stress about whether or not they'll be in the playoff. First-year coach Kalen DeBoer owns a 108-13 career record as a head coach, and he'll keep this thing from sliding off the rails.
Tennessee
What happened to Josh Heupel's offense?
Panic meter: 7
Result: 19-14 loss at Arkansas
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel seems to have suddenly lost the offensive touch in Year 3 on the job, and that's a fair reason to be worried. After opting for a conservative approach in a Week 4 win at Oklahoma, the Volunteers got stuck in neutral during their loss at Arkansas. Choosing to rely on a strong defense is one thing, but it's starting to look like the Vols don't trust their offense to execute against defenses with a pulse. Considering how much of this program's trajectory is tied up in quarterback Nico Iamaleava being successful, his timid performance against the Razorbacks was deeply concerning.
Missouri
Tigers exposed as fraudulent
Panic meter: 10
Result: 41-10 loss at Texas A&M
Missouri rode into the 2024 season as a top-10 team after finishing 11-2 in 2023 with a Cotton Bowl victory over Ohio State. But Texas A&M exposed Mizzou as fraudulent on Saturday in a complete evisceration of the Tigers. While a relatively manageable schedule should allow Missouri to finish with a respectable record, Saturday's performance illustrated that Mizzou is absolutely not an SEC title contender or realistic candidate for a CFP bid. Warning signs appeared during narrow home wins over Boston College and Vanderbilt last month, and this dud of a performance laid Mizzou's shortcomings bare.
USC
Trojans not ready for Big Ten
Panic meter: 8
Result: 24-17 loss at Minnesota
USC is just three games into a stretch of seven straight weeks of Big Ten competition, and the Trojans have already lost twice. This squad could honorably claim a moral victory for taking Michigan down to the wire in a Week 4 road loss, but there's no pride to be found in faltering as more than a touchdown favorite at Minnesota. Are these Trojans physically tougher than last year's team? It seemed that way in September. But their resolve is going to be tested after a rough start to life in a new league. The Lincoln Riley era is starting to feel like smoke and mirrors in Year 3.
Michigan
Are we really surprised?
Panic meter: 5
Result: 27-17 loss at Washington
Michigan fans seemed to have fairly realistic expectations entering the 2024 season. With coach Jim Harbaugh gone to the NFL and 13 players from last year's national title-winning team taken in the NFL Draft, the Wolverines harbored only faint hopes of defending their title. Now, after falling to 4-2, those faint hopes have all but evaporated. The question now is where the season finishes. Four of the Wolverines' final six opponents are ranked, and Michigan plays three of those teams on the road. Saturday's continued offensive struggles suggested that 8-4 might be the best-case scenario. While that's disappointing, realistic Michigan fans understood that regression was inevitable.