SEC Football teams with their hands on the panic button in Week 5

Panic has already set in for several SEC Football fanbases, but all it takes is one good Saturday to turn around fortunes. The other side of coin is true, too, with teams nowhere close to slamming the panic button could be reaching for it after the results of this weekend.

Conference play is in full force, so these losses mean more than any out of conference slip-ups. In an ultra competitive SEC, one loss might not tank your playoff aspirations, but it could be the difference in whether or not you are playing in Atlanta for the conference championship.

Several teams and fanbases are in need of a win this weekend. If they don't come, then they'll either be reaching for the panic button or slamming it with both fists.

3. The Alabama-Georgia Loser

Surprise! I bet you didn't expect that either of these teams would make the list. But that's how big of a game it will be when the two meet in Tuscaloosa on Saturday night. A win gives you an early edge in conference play and pads your playoff resume. A loss might not mean much for playoff chances, but the narratives, oh the narratives, they'll be flying.

For Alabama, it's the first marquee matchup of the Kalen DeBoer era coinciding with a massive recruiting weekend. Those recruits are in Tuscaloosa waiting to see if Alabama is still Alabama, or if what they've heard from other schools is true. A loss would give credence to the notion that Georgia is the new king, and DeBoer losing his first opportunity on the big stage would awaken the worst part of the Tide fanbase who are hoping for a reason to complain.

For Georgia, Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs want to prove that the issues they had in the past were with Nick Saban, not Alabama. Smart is 1-5 in his career as a head coach against the Crimson Tide, and Georgia's long winning streak and chances for a three-peat as national champions were ended the last time these two met in Atlanta last December.

Losing to Alabama again, albeit in a tough road environment, would not sit well with the Athens faithful. With road games left at Texas and Ole Miss, along with a home game against Tennessee, losing on Saturday would mean Georgia would probably need to win out to have any chance of making it to Atlanta.

2. The Texas A&M-Arkansas Loser

The Aggies did not look impressive in last week's 26-20 win over Bowling Green. They missed chances to put the game away and let the Falcons hang around for far longer than they should have.

This has all the makings of a trap game albeit a rivalry. With a potential Top-25 matchup against Missouri on the horizon next week, Texas A&M could be looking ahead. A loss would drop them to 3-2 under first year head coach Mike Elko, and almost certainly be the end of any outside hopes of a playoff run.

For Arkansas, theRazorbacks scored a huge road win over Auburn last week that boosts their hopes of getting to a bowl game. The Hogs weren't super impressive, however, and greatly benefited from a lot of self-inflicted wounds by the Tigers.

Winning this game would put Arkansas at 4-1, and with a home game against LA Tech and a road tilt with hapless Mississippi State left, they should be able to eek out the two more necessary wins. But a loss would put that in doubt, meaning Sam Pittman's crew would need to pull another upset somewhere.

1. The Auburn-Oklahoma Loser

Brent Venables will start feeling the pressure in Norman if the Sooners drop to 3-2. Last week's loss to Tennessee wasn't all that damaging of a result, but the struggles at QB and the benching of highly touted Jackson Arnold for freshman Michael Hawkins has exasperated things.

It doesn't help that Oklahoma boosters can point to a native son in Josh Heupel and how well he has done at Tennessee. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some back-channel conversations being had to gauge the potential interest of Heupel in returning home this past weekend.

Venables can get the Sooners back on track with their first SEC win this weekend, but a second straight loss would be tough, particularly with a brutal schedule featuring a neutral site game against Texas, road games against Ole Miss, Missouri, and LSU, and a home game against Alabama left to go.

Losing this one would make 5-7 look pretty realistic, and could lead to a quick decision on the future of the program.

Panic has already set in on the Plains, and Hugh Freeze's curious comments in the days following Auburn's home loss to Arkansas hasn't exactly eased anyone's minds about the direction of the program.

Freeze is running out of players to throw under the bus. He needs a win. Badly. A home loss to Oklahoma would make even getting to a bowl game murky for the Tigers, much less the grand improvement that was promised. Being 2-3 as they head into three consecutive road games against Georgia, Missouri, and Kentucky - with a home game against Texas A&M and a road game in the Iron Bowl also left- would make reality set in even further than this team could very well lose seven or eight games.

I didn't think there was any way Freeze could be on the hot seat in his second season, but a 4 or 5-win season in year two of his tenure would test the patience of the boosters and cause them to start checking the couch cushions for change to pay for another buyout.