Welcome to the upside down.

Through two months of the college football season, the SEC’s practically standing on its head wearing jerseys inside out in what’s been a September and October trip to crazy town. The balance of power swung back to the East Division for the first time in years as 11 of the 14 league teams were ranked at some point in the season.

Teams with preseason hype fell completely off the cliff (Texas A&M) while five teams unranked in August found themselves in the top 25 at some point in the season. Of course, Tennessee headlines that group and practically every other ranking as the Vols went from receiving votes before the season to the No. 2 ranking entering Saturday’s trip to top-ranked Georgia.

The list of SEC anomalies goes on from there.

• Only five of 14 teams have winning records in league play including just two in the East with Georgia (5-0) and Tennessee (4-0).
• Over the past 10 years, teams from the West have four of the five best overall records but all seven have at least one loss through October while Georgia and Tennessee are Nos. 1 and 2 in the AP poll. The West Division’s last undefeated team lost in October when LSU beat Ole Miss. That, combined with the fact Alabama’s lone SEC loss came to an East team, means the Tide can clinch the division Nov. 12 in Oxford if paired with a win over LSU on Saturday.
• Speaking of the 52-49 Vol win over the Tide, it not only ended Alabama’s 15-year rivalry winning streak but also a string of 27 straight regular-season wins over SEC East teams. South Carolina in 2010 was the last team from that side of the league to beat the Tide before the postseason.

While Auburn (3-5, 1-4 SEC) became the first to fire its coach Monday, the Texas A&M tailspin has been more of the story.

From a preseason No. 6 ranking to a week 2 loss to Appalachian State, briefly righting the ship with wins over then-No. 13 Miami and No. 10 Arkansas, and the current four-game losing streak is echoing through the league. The wisdom of Jimbo Fisher’s fully guaranteed $95 million deal is being questioned just months after signing the top recruiting class in history.

The Aggies (3-5, 1-4 SEC) aren’t alone in the wild momentum swings within the season.

• Florida (4-4, 1-4) went from unranked to No. 12 after a Week 1 win over preseason No. 7 Utah but won just one game against a Power 5 team since, 24-17 over Missouri.
• That same Missouri team has been at the center of considerable wackiness. Twice it came inches away from beating Auburn in the ultimate 17-14 gag job that gave Bryan Harsin his only (and last) SEC win of his second (and last) season with the Tigers. A week later, it led No. 1 Georgia almost all night before the Bulldogs found just enough offense to escape Columbia a 26-22 winner. And then last week, it ended then-No. 25 South Carolina’s four-game winning streak with a 23-10 road win.
• LSU’s been on a ride of its own from a Labor Day special teams meltdown in a 24-23 loss to Florida State and a 40-13 blowout delivered by Tennessee to a recent turnaround. A 45-35 road win at Florida followed by a thorough 45-20 beating of then-No. 7 Ole Miss has the Tigers up to No. 15 in the AP poll.
• Arkansas got as high as No. 10 after beating 2021 playoff team Cincinnati and South Carolina before losing three straight to Texas A&M, Alabama and Mississippi State.

As the calendar flips to November, the SEC has five teams ranked in the AP poll including three of the top six.

Alabama’s among that group but hasn’t always met the No. 1 ranking it held twice. Earning 54 of the 63 first-place votes in the preseason, inconsistent play finally caught up with them at Tennessee on Oct. 15. Still, it was a field goal away from a win in what ended in a 52-49 loss. A week earlier, it lost its No. 1 ranking for a second time following a win.

The narrow escapes over Texas (20-19) and Texas A&M (24-20) were enough to knock the Tide off the top spot. Still, the Tennessee loss won’t be fatal in the SEC West if it can beat LSU on Saturday and Ole Miss on Nov. 12.

In the East, Tennessee could essentially clinch the divisional title with a win at Georgia on Saturday. The Vols have Missouri, South Carolina and Vanderbilt to close the season, needing two losses among them if they beat the Bulldogs to lose the ticket to Atlanta.

But, for all the chaos, it could again be Alabama-Georgia in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in early December if the Tide does its job and the Bulldogs beat Tennessee and either Mississippi State or Kentucky.

There’s a lot to still play out in these next four Saturdays, but for all the carnage along the way, the two August frontrunners stand in position to end the drama early.

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.