For the last couple of weeks, I noted that the SEC East was inching its way back towards respectability. In 2009, the West went 12-7 against the East; in 2010, the dominance was much more pronounced, with the West going 16-3, and Ole Miss being responsible for two of the three losses. Last year, the SEC West went 13-6 against the East, with Ole Miss and MSU being responsible for five of the losses. In all three years, the West was the clear dominant division: any uncertainly was eliminated in the SEC Championship Game, as the West won the three games by a combined 130-40.

But with Florida’s victory over LSU this weekend, the plate tectonics in the Southeastern Conference appear to have shifted. The Gators also beat Texas A&M, leaving the East Division 2-1 so far this season against the mighty West, with Mississippi State’s win over Kentucky being the West’s first interdivision win of 2012. But more importantly, according to the SRS, three of the best five teams in the conference reside in the East, along with two of the three highest ranked teams in all the polls. The two worst teams have been Auburn and Arkansas, both West members. Alabama may be the class of the conference, but we may not find out much more until the SEC Championship Game. In 2012, the Crimson Tide only face Tennessee and Missouri from the East, which may make it difficult to judge the conference’s elite until December. Florida already won both of its two interdivision games, leaving South Carolina’s trip to LSU being perhaps the last referendum on the top of the two divisions until the championship game (USC’s other East opponent is Arkansas).

Anyway, here are the SRS Ratings after six weeks. As always, thanks to Dr. Peter Wolfe.

Here’s a look at the Week 6 game-by game results, sorted by SRS rating:

Quick thoughts….

• South Carolina’s blowout win over Georgia replaced Oregon’s 49-0 win against Arizona as the top performance of the season.
• Purdue had looked like a potential sleeper team in September, but Michigan crushed any Boilmaker dreams on Saturday. Perhaps more importantly, for SRS purposes, this finally makes Alabama’s blowout over Michigan look impressive, as the Wolverines jumped up to 19 after ranking 40th last week.
• Notre Dame, Oregon and West Virginia continue to impress each week. All of those teams have their detractors, but it’s getting harder and harder to bet against any of them in 2012.
• Ohio State separated itself as the class of the B1G with a dominant victory over Nebraska. At 6-0, the Buckeyes would be a legitimate national championship contender if, you know, they were eligible for that sort of thing. As we all know, watch out for them next year, and a pre-season top-three ranking is likely if Ohio State can maintain this level of play.
• The worst performance by a BCS school this week goes to Auburn, who somehow lost by 17 at home to Arkansas. The best performance by a non-BCS school again comes from Louisiana-Monroe, who has jumped into the top 25 of the SRS standings.