This may not please Phyllis from Mulga, but it is the truth.

The best two teams in the SEC are from Mississippi, not Alabama.

People in Baton Rouge probably aren’t too happy to hear it, either.

Phyllis is the Alabama fan who called into “The Paul Finebaum Show” last week to let the world know the Crimson Tide dynasty was not over despite rumors to the contrary.

Maybe Phyllis is right, but for now Alabama and others from the SEC are taking a back seat to the ride Mississippi is on.

Hard as it is to believe, Mississippi State is the top-ranked team in the country and Ole Miss is third.

As for Alabama, which needed a missed extra point and several other Arkansas mistakes to beat the Razorbacks last Saturday, the Crimson Tide are the fourth-ranked team in their own division and second in their home state, a spot behind Auburn.

Rebuilding LSU needed a dropped pass in the end zone by Florida and then a late interception to beat a Gators club that is on the verge of imploding. Otherwise, LSU would have three consecutive losses.

Even Texas A&M has come back down to earth after yet another fast start.

All this means halfway through the season is the state of Mississippi is burning with excitement over college football. And that is a good thing.

Everybody wants to root for the underdog, until that underdog takes a bite out of your club.

College football has been made up over the years by power clubs battling each other for supremacy. The game’s old guard has been hard to knock out.

Not now.

All this didn’t start with Mississippi but rather before now.

Three years ago when Missouri and Texas A&M were invited into the mighty SEC, the traditional fans bragged it would take about a decade for the newcomers to be important in the league. They even used the two Mississippi schools as examples.

Well, Missouri played in the SEC title game last season and A&M was the most exciting team with perhaps the most exciting player in the nation to watch the past two seasons.

Now this, Ole Miss and Mississippi State on the verge of a historic showdown in the Egg Bowl.

It is true that there is still a long, long way to go and both teams have to finish what they have started before their big end-of-the-regular season game is a winner-take-all affair with national implications.

Still, it is always good to get new blood into the action.

Change, for lack of a better word, is good.

And don’t think this is just an SEC West thing. Kentucky heads to LSU this week and has looked like the top cats over the past few games.

The SEC is not alone in this. Baylor is a fresh face on the national scene out of Texas. So is Texas Christian.

It’s hard to believe that the Texas Longhorns are at best fourth in their own state, and even saying that will lead to an argument from Texas Tech fans.

This fairy tale story in Mississippi may not have a happy ending. There are more than a few villains lurking in the forest.

Yet this has been fun to watch as the teams have done more than just leave their marks the season. They have turned the most traditional of elite conferences upside down.

It may not make Phyllis and those like her who back the old powers happy, but it’s been fun for the rest of us.

Anyway, everybody loves an underdog. Maybe even Phyllis from Mulga.

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Jim Gazzolo is managing sports editor. Email him at jgazzolo@americanpress.com(MGNonline)