DiderotsGhost
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We've seen many sportswriters make their SEC predictions over the past few weeks. I figure it's time to make our own.
If there's already a thread on this, I apologize. Or maybe I don't. Got to do something to pass the time between now and football season! At the end of the year, we can all laugh about how horribly wrong we were.
Here are my predictions:
SEC East
1. Georgia
2. South Carolina
3. Florida
4. Tennessee
5. Missouri
6. Kentucky
7. Vanderbilt
SEC West
1. Alabama
2. Auburn
3. Mississippi State
4. LSU
5. Ole Miss
6. Texas A&M
7. Arkansas
Conference Championship: Georgia over Alabama
Here's my analysis of each team.
SEC East
Georgia: Definitely one of the most talented teams in the SEC. They've been held back largely by Todd Grantham's terrible defenses over the past few years. With so many offensive weapons, if they see any improvement on the defensive side with Jeremy Pruitt, then they are a legit contender this year.
South Carolina: I can't think of any superstars on this team, but Spurrier knows how to win.
Florida: Theoretically, one of the most talented teams in all of college football. I don't know whether we'll see another disastrous season like 2013 or a stellar run like in 2012. My guess is somewhere in the middle and Florida comes up with 8 wins.
Tennessee: Maybe I'm wearing orange-colored glasses, but I do think we're better than Mizzou, UK, and Vandy. I expect this year's campaign to be similar to last year's, with some major struggles, and a couple of upsets along the way. I wouldn't be shocked if we lost to Utah State and then upset a team like Oklahoma or Ole Miss. We've got the talent to win, but lack the experience to be consistent.
Missouri: Am I the only one who thinks all these predictions that Mizzou will be a 9 or 10 win team are off? Seems like all the sportswriters are basing their predictions for Mizzou off last year, but they've lost a ton of talent.
Kentucky: Mark Stoops actually seems like a good coach and recruiter, but Kentucky is still way behind most of the other SEC East teams. I do expect them to jump Vandy --- if not this year, then next.
Vanderbilt: Vandy is destined for a fall. Derek Mason looked like a good hire on paper. He's been a great DC and has recruited at another institution that stresses academics (Stanford). From what I've seen, though, he seems to be struggling a lot as the head man. Vandy's recruiting has fallen off a cliff (they are #61 on 247 right now; right behind Kansas) and every media appearance I've seen with Mason has been unimpressive. Maybe I'm wrong and we still haven't seen him coach a game yet, but I get the sense that he was more cut out to be a DC than an HC.
SEC West
Bama: Unfortunately, they are loaded at almost every position again. The only question mark is QB.
Auburn: Tough to see Auburn falling that much. They got very, very lucky several times last year. They finished 11-1 in the regular season, but could've easily been 8-4 or 9-3. Still, can't deny they have a lot of talent and Malzahn is one hell of a coach!
Miss State: I'm going to jump on the bandwagon here and pick Miss State to be the most improved team in the West. Really difficult to rank the middle of the SEC West.
LSU: Loses as lot of talent from last year. Replaces it with some really awesome talent. LSU is the West team I have the most difficulty picking, b/c I could see them winning the West or going 7-5, depending on how some of their newcomers fare.
Ole Miss: Another trendy pick to finish 2nd or 3rd in the West. I'm going to hold back and put 'em 5th.
Texas A&M: A&M and Vandy are my two big picks to crash this year. If you watched any of A&M's games last year, their defense was ATROCIOUS! Take a glance at last year's schedule and they gave up 30+ points to almost every SEC team they played. Most of their wins came in shootouts, with Johnny Manziel doing the grunt-work, but Johnny Football is no longer there. Sumlin is a mastermind on offense, and they'll still be good this year on offense, but you can't win in the SEC by being good on only one side of the ball.
Arkansas: I was shocked by how bad Arkansas was last year, relative to how well Bielema did at Wisconsin. Not sure what to expect this year, but tough to imagine Arkansas moving up too high given how loaded all these other SEC West teams are right now.
If there's already a thread on this, I apologize. Or maybe I don't. Got to do something to pass the time between now and football season! At the end of the year, we can all laugh about how horribly wrong we were.
Here are my predictions:
SEC East
1. Georgia
2. South Carolina
3. Florida
4. Tennessee
5. Missouri
6. Kentucky
7. Vanderbilt
SEC West
1. Alabama
2. Auburn
3. Mississippi State
4. LSU
5. Ole Miss
6. Texas A&M
7. Arkansas
Conference Championship: Georgia over Alabama
Here's my analysis of each team.
SEC East
Georgia: Definitely one of the most talented teams in the SEC. They've been held back largely by Todd Grantham's terrible defenses over the past few years. With so many offensive weapons, if they see any improvement on the defensive side with Jeremy Pruitt, then they are a legit contender this year.
South Carolina: I can't think of any superstars on this team, but Spurrier knows how to win.
Florida: Theoretically, one of the most talented teams in all of college football. I don't know whether we'll see another disastrous season like 2013 or a stellar run like in 2012. My guess is somewhere in the middle and Florida comes up with 8 wins.
Tennessee: Maybe I'm wearing orange-colored glasses, but I do think we're better than Mizzou, UK, and Vandy. I expect this year's campaign to be similar to last year's, with some major struggles, and a couple of upsets along the way. I wouldn't be shocked if we lost to Utah State and then upset a team like Oklahoma or Ole Miss. We've got the talent to win, but lack the experience to be consistent.
Missouri: Am I the only one who thinks all these predictions that Mizzou will be a 9 or 10 win team are off? Seems like all the sportswriters are basing their predictions for Mizzou off last year, but they've lost a ton of talent.
Kentucky: Mark Stoops actually seems like a good coach and recruiter, but Kentucky is still way behind most of the other SEC East teams. I do expect them to jump Vandy --- if not this year, then next.
Vanderbilt: Vandy is destined for a fall. Derek Mason looked like a good hire on paper. He's been a great DC and has recruited at another institution that stresses academics (Stanford). From what I've seen, though, he seems to be struggling a lot as the head man. Vandy's recruiting has fallen off a cliff (they are #61 on 247 right now; right behind Kansas) and every media appearance I've seen with Mason has been unimpressive. Maybe I'm wrong and we still haven't seen him coach a game yet, but I get the sense that he was more cut out to be a DC than an HC.
SEC West
Bama: Unfortunately, they are loaded at almost every position again. The only question mark is QB.
Auburn: Tough to see Auburn falling that much. They got very, very lucky several times last year. They finished 11-1 in the regular season, but could've easily been 8-4 or 9-3. Still, can't deny they have a lot of talent and Malzahn is one hell of a coach!
Miss State: I'm going to jump on the bandwagon here and pick Miss State to be the most improved team in the West. Really difficult to rank the middle of the SEC West.
LSU: Loses as lot of talent from last year. Replaces it with some really awesome talent. LSU is the West team I have the most difficulty picking, b/c I could see them winning the West or going 7-5, depending on how some of their newcomers fare.
Ole Miss: Another trendy pick to finish 2nd or 3rd in the West. I'm going to hold back and put 'em 5th.
Texas A&M: A&M and Vandy are my two big picks to crash this year. If you watched any of A&M's games last year, their defense was ATROCIOUS! Take a glance at last year's schedule and they gave up 30+ points to almost every SEC team they played. Most of their wins came in shootouts, with Johnny Manziel doing the grunt-work, but Johnny Football is no longer there. Sumlin is a mastermind on offense, and they'll still be good this year on offense, but you can't win in the SEC by being good on only one side of the ball.
Arkansas: I was shocked by how bad Arkansas was last year, relative to how well Bielema did at Wisconsin. Not sure what to expect this year, but tough to imagine Arkansas moving up too high given how loaded all these other SEC West teams are right now.
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