Week 6 Preview: The big game’s in Death Valley, actually

I got in an argument after I posting a quick 1-14 SEC ranking on my Twitter page in which I ranked Georgia as third, with Tennessee on top and Alabama as second.

Anyway, Week 5 is finished now. Sorry to have not done my ratings, but in between looking after a toddler and having one of the worst laptop chargers in Christendom, Week 6 has caught up with me way too quickly.

Anyway: Week 6 is going to be fun, isn’t it?

CBS thought they had hit the jackpot by scheduling their only night game between Alabama and Texas A&M before the season. And then Texas A&M became really, really poor, and Alabama’s a 24 point favourite, and if Saban’s in the mood, it could be even worse than that.

Also fuming are LSU fans, who would normally welcome Tennessee to a war in Death Valley at night. In fact, everyone would have wanted to see this one at night. But nope, ESPN wanted a game to go to war with, er, Fox’s Michigan at Indiana (and even themselves with Texas v Oklahoma on ABC).

And we’re all pissed off that we have to watch Auburn’s trip to Georgia as the 3.30 ET game, but we’re quietly thanking the Good Lord it’s not going to be Gary Danielson.

Anyway, here are our previews – in terms of what we’re interested in.

1.  No.8 Tennessee (-3 O/U 65) at No.25 LSU: Let’s not bulls fhit ourselves: LSU didn’t deserve to win at Auburn. They got all ‘Les Milesy’ in the usual crazy game, and came away with the victory. Tennessee on the other hand, have beaten two ranked teams, and their offense is going to be light speeds faster than what LSU experienced against Auburn. No-one but Josh Heupel knows whether Cedric Tillman’s going to be back after his high ankle sprain. As for the crowd? I expect it will be obnoxious and deafeningly loud. Because LSU’s answer to an early kick-off will be to get drinking earlier. PREDICTION: Tennessee wins by 5 in a classic. Tennessee 35, LSU 30.
2.  Texas A&M at No.1 Alabama (-24 O/U 51): Everyone’s predicting Alabama to smash the Aggies so hard that that the Yell Squad will become the Mute Squad after the game. Nick Saban’s not letting anyone know how Bryce Young’s truly doing, saying that he’s going to be a ‘Game-Time decision‘. The fact of the matter is that even if Young’s not playing, Jaden Millroe’s going to be lightning as a runner (he’s not a bad passer either), and Alabama will be able to rely on an excellent line to help Jahmyr Gibbs drive up the yards against a Texas A&M side that gives up 4.41 yards per carry (97th in the country). On A&M’s side, it looks as though QB Max Johnson – who we thought was pretty great against Arkansas before he was hurt against Mississippi State – is going to be out for the game. We hope Devon Achane’s going to do something, otherwise it’s going to be a Danielson gag-fest. PREDICTION: Alabama 48, Texas A&M 10
3.  Auburn at No.2 Georgia (-29 1/2 O/U 49 1/2): Last week Auburn was unlucky to lose their game against LSU, and Georgia was lucky to win their game at Missouri. Georgia will be hoping to break their miserable game record streak (currently standing at two) against at Auburn team that’s expected not only to lose but loose badly. While we expect Georgia to win, what could be interesting is whether Georgia can do what they didn’t do well against Missouri – stop the run. The Dawgs give up 3.46 runs/game (43rd nationally) and may be the weakest run defense that Auburn has faced so far this year. PREDICTION: Georgia wins, but not as comfortably as many would expect. Georgia 31, Auburn 14.
4. Arkansas at No.23 Mississippi State (-9 O/U 57.5). Arkansas may be fun to watch with KJ Jefferson at the helm at QB, but boy are they awful to watch if you love your defense. They are one of the worst defenses in terms of yards given up, hurt by a truly appalling pass defense (111th in the country). And with that, we expect MSU to shred Arkansas, led by Will Rogers who leads the SEC in pass completions and pass completion percentage and (obviously) passing touchdowns. PREDICTION: A touchdown or two in garbage time makes this game respectable, but MSU again impress. Mississippi State 41, Arkansas 28.
5.  South Carolina at No.13 Kentucky (-6.5 O/U 46.5): Kentucky is one of those very dull, very solid programs. They lost a coin-flipper against Ole Miss in one of the more underrated-fun games of last week. We’re still not sold on Will Levis, but Saturday could be his breakout game against a South Carolina defense that isn’t that good. We also expect Spencer Rattler to be running for his life against a nasty Wildcat defense. PREDICTION: Kentucky breezes. Kentucky 35 South Carolina 17.
6.  Missouri at Florida (-11 O/U 54): Missouri shocked us all by taking it to Georgia for 90% of the game last Saturday, but came up short. What was interesting was how the Tigers shredded the Bulldogs’ rushing defense at time – something rather unexpected on both sides. Now they face a Florida team that comes off an easy win against Eastern Washington in The Swamp. Both sides don’t like each other – but that was more Dan Mullen than anything else. Now Mullen’s out, we hope for a more chilled affair. The game should be fun though. PREDICTION: Florida by 7 in a good one. Florida 38, Missouri 31.
7.  No.9 Ole Miss (-17 O/U 61) at Vanderbilt: For the first time in ages, we can truly say that Vanderbilt’s offense is not awful (50th out of 131 schools). Having said all that, we can say for the upteenth time that Vanderbilt’s defense is pretty dreadful (114th out of 131 schools). Ole Miss’ offense ranges from fine to good, led by future NFLer Zach Evans. We expect him to run wild. And we expect Vanderbilt to score a few points too. PREDICTION: Ole Miss 44, Vanderbilt 24.