SEC Division titles on line this weekend

Two divisions, four contenders.

That’s what the final weekend of the season comes down to after Ole Miss fell out of contention in the West Division with a 30-0 loss at Arkansas and Missouri remained the East leader with a 29-21 victory at Tennessee Saturday.

It will be either Alabama or Mississippi State representing the West in the SEC Championship game, Missouri or Georgia the East.

With Alabama stepping out of conference play to whip Western Carolina 48-14, Mississippi State stayed right with the Crimson Tide with a 51-0 thrashing at Vanderbilt.

Both teams are 6-1 in SEC play going into Thanksgiving weekend.

Alabama is host to Auburn Saturday night needing a victory to wrap up a berth in the title game.

The Crimson Tide holds the tiebreaker over Mississippi State by virtue of its victory over the Bulldogs, but Mississippi State will get the division title and berth with a win at Ole Miss Saturday afternoon if Alabama loses to Auburn.

“It’s no secret how big of a game this is for us — the tradition, the whole community,” Tide cornerback Cyrus Jones said. “It’s just big for us to come in and prepare like we are supposed to, to come out and put a good effort on the field.”

The Bulldogs believe they got their mojo back with the rout of Vandy.

“I think we got back to that team we were earlier in the year,” quarterback Dak Prescott said.

Ole Miss dropped out of the picture after losing for the third time in SEC play in its last four games. Until stumbling at Arkansas, the Rebels were in position for a share of the division and their first appearance in the championship game with a win over the Bulldogs and a loss by the Tide.

“We’ve been a good team this year but we haven’t been elite at times,” coach Hugh Freeze said, “and that’s where we want to get to.”

In the East, Missouri needs to beat suddenly hot Arkansas at home Friday in its regular season finale for a second consecutive division crown.

With a 6-1 SEC mark, the Tigers must win because Georgia, which has already finished conference play at 6-2, holds the tiebreaker for the berth in the championship game.

Mizzou coach Gary Pinkel said the talk in the locker room after the win over Tennessee that his players are thinking about Arkansas, not the “what ifs” of the division race or the success the Tigers have had in 2014.

“Thinking about those things really don’t help you play better,” Pinkel said. “This isn’t the time to be talking about the year and your program.”