ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

The SEC race has essentially boiled down to two games. Florida and Georgia square off this Saturday in a game likely to decide the Eastern Division title, while Alabama can clinch the Western Division title by winning at LSU on Nov. 8. Who's the best team in the conference right now? That's a close call among Alabama, Florida and Georgia. All three teams appeared to be on the scent of a title this past weekend. Here's a look at what we learned in the SEC in Week 9:

One sweet cocktail party: OK, I know we're not supposed to call it the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party anymore. But if you can't get excited about this Florida-Georgia showdown, then you've probably got embalming fluid running through your veins. Florida and Georgia both staked claims over the weekend as the best team in the country, and they enter their much anticipated matchup Saturday playing their best football of the season. The Gators already had plenty of incentive after losing last season and watching the entire Georgia team dance in their end zone after scoring the first touchdown. If you like speed and enjoy watching explosive playmakers, Jacksonville is the place to be on Saturday.

Holding that line: Championship teams almost invariably have to overcome adversity. Georgia has looked disaster in the face with regard to its offensive line all season and only gotten stronger. The Bulldogs more than held their own up front against LSU last weekend and have played admirably when you consider what they've lost on the offensive line. Two true freshmen are starting along with a redshirt freshman, and they're on their fourth different combination of the season. Their best lineman, tackle Trinton Sturdivant, went down in the preseason with a knee injury, but they've just plugged along. Georgia offensive line coach Stacy Searels gets my award at this point as the SEC's position coach of the year.

Knowshon is Knowshon: His start this season against SEC defenses wasn't the best, but Knowshon Moreno has reminded us all the last few weeks why he's one of the most feared running backs in the college game. He's rushed for 436 yards the last three weeks and averaged 6.1 yards per carry. He lit up LSU for 168 yards on Saturday and broke the game open late in the third quarter with a 68-yard touchdown run. He also had a 47-yard run in the first half to set up a Georgia touchdown. When Moreno is getting the ball 20-plus times a game, the Bulldogs are awfully tough to beat. And with Matthew Stafford starting to hook up with freshman A.J. Green on a consistent basis down the field, Moreno is just going to be that much more dangerous.

Getting it done as a team: Just about every coach you ask in the SEC would tell you that Alabama nose tackle Terrence Cody has been the most dominant defensive presence in the league this season. Well, Cody was at home Saturday night resting his sprained right knee, and all Alabama did was go out and play -- according to coach Nick Saban -- its most complete defensive game of the season. The Crimson Tide held Tennessee to 173 total yards and a meaningless touchdown in the fourth quarter. More importantly, Alabama's defense twice found its back to the goal line following special-teams breakdowns and didn't budge. The Vols started at the Alabama 5 and the Alabama 32 in the first half following a fumbled punt and a blocked punt, but could manage only a field goal. Cody's a great player, but this is an Alabama defense that leans on each other and plays as a team.

LSU's defense a fraud? The defending national champions have faced two teams this season that are currently nationally ranked and have given up more than 50 points in both of those games. The Tigers followed up a 51-21 loss to Florida two weeks ago with a 52-38 loss to Georgia. The latter was at home, too, where LSU had won 30 straight games played on Saturday. It's also the first time in school history that LSU has given up 50-plus points twice in the same season. Simply, this defense is a shadow of the one that carried the Tigers to the national title a year ago. They've been shredded by the only real offenses they've faced this season. Florida had 475 total yards and Georgia 443 yards. Even more disconcerting for the Tigers is that they're giving up chunks of yardage on big plays and really haven't been able to cover anybody in the secondary.