Tag: Mark Stoops

Looking ahead to Cocktail Parties: Post-Week 8 SEC rankings

Alabama’s fun to make fun of for one major reason: The fanbase. If you are nasty about the Crimson, Alabama fans take it so damned personally. I mean, this blog on Twitter just mentioned the fact that Alabama had played only one team of any note this season (Texas A&M), and comparing it to the amount of ranked teams LSU teams played, and Bama fans hit Crazytown. Of course, when the two teams clash in Week 10 it’s going to be something special. But if we’re talking about this year’s schedule for Alabama so far, it sucks.  So why do we think they are the best team in the SEC? Because if I’m honest, I don’t see anyone beating them. LSU will be missing the best

Read more

Is Mizzou, Arkansas or Vandy the worst teams in the SEC? Week 8 Standings

eorWorking out an order for who are the best teams in the SEC is hard work. While No.1 (Alabama) is easy, then it becomes a headache. LSU has a claim because it battered No.2 Georgia last week. Florida has a claim because it beat LSU. Kentucky has a claim because it beat Florida. Georgia will have a claim if it beats Florida (although it will strengthen LSU’s position at the moment). Texas A&M has a claim because it beat Kentucky. Those out of the running include Auburn, Mississippi State, and Tennessee. But it’s even more difficult at the bottom to work out the crappiest. Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Missouri (all winless in the SEC) can all battle it out for the

Read more

Florida rises while Alabama still rules: SEC Week 7 Rankings

Chomp….Chomp….Chomp…..It’s the sound of the Florida Gators on the rise again. The Gators beat LSU in a classic CBS match-up on Saturday afternoon, and they are suddenly looking like they might compete for the East. You know, if the buzzsaw of UGA and Alabama ever slows down…. Alabama: Nick Saban’s not happy with the defense giving up 31 points to Arkansas. The bettors who bet Alabama would beat Arkansas by more than the spread aren’t happy with the defense giving up a last-second, doesn’t-matter touchdown. And the offense is still humming, people. Georgia: The Dawgs were slow to get going, but boy did they accelerate well in an easy win over Vanderbilt. The offense looked balance (238 through the air, 219

Read more

How will Dan Mullen’s return to Starville go? Week 5 SEC predictions

There’s nothing more fun than a head coach returning to his former team. Especially when it’s the SEC, where there is probably going to be a little more than polite booing directed at Dan Mullen as he takes his Florida Gators to ClangaVille to face Mississippi State. But other games are also intriguing on the SEC schedule. There’s LSU vs Ole Miss, which seems destined to be close even though Vegas thinking differently, and weirdly, Kentucky vs South Carolina because the Wildcats – right now – are the SEC’s Cinderella story. Then there’s the sorry tale of Tennessee, who have to travel to Georgia. Eesh. Missouri has the week off. So here we go with our SEC predictions: Florida (-7.5)

Read more

Kentucky: The third best team in the SEC? (Week 4 rankings)

A third of the college football season has gone (sniff!), and Alabama is looking absolutely unstoppable. On the other end, Tennessee and Arkansas are competing for the worst teams in the league, although at the most, Tennessee’s looking pretty good for that. Anyway, here’s our thoughts: Alabama (4-0): Unless they screw up mightly, this Alabama team is unstoppable. They are so talented, so well-coached, and so frightening. Their first game against anyone remotely good was close until it….wasn’t. Oh, and Tua should be getting his New York hotel tickets as soon as possible. Georgia (4-0): It wasn’t pretty against Missouri in the least, but the Bulldogs came off victorious. Kirby Smart’s got to make sure this team keeps its focus,

Read more

Kentucky impresses the most in Week 4

Did you hear the one about an unbeaten Kentucky? No, this isn’t a joke. First the Wildcats go to The Swamp and win for the first time in 31 years against the Gators, and then they taken on ranked Mississippi State and beat them too. A lot of people will drone on about Alabama’s impressive victory over Texas A&M, but the simple question is this: When are they NOT impressive? Kentucky: The victory over Mississippi State was fantastic. They ruined Mississippi State’s offensive all night long, and then put the game on Benny Snell’s back, who came away with four touchdowns. Kentucky is good, folks. Alabama: It was close against Texas A&M until the Crimson Tide pressed their foot on

Read more

Kentucky 2018 Preview: Will the Wildcats stay middling?

Mark Stoops is under pressure, but a different kind of pressure. Kentucky Football hasn’t had a coach with a winning percentage since Blanton Collier’s seven-year period between 1954 and 1961, but Stoops has led the program to back-to-back winning seasons – the first time that has happened since Rich Brooks had four straight (2006-2009). Now, with the coaching situation in Lexington more settled than most of his competition in the conference, Stoops is expected to step up a little. During SEC Media Days questions were asked about beating Florida – a team that it hasn’t beaten in 31 years, as well as the potential of pressing on from back-to-back 7-6 years. OUTLOOK There’s a lot of love for RB Benny

Read more

SEC Media Day quotes: Texas A&M, LSU, Kentucky

It was the first day of SEC Media Days on Tuesday, and there were a couple of changes: Firstly, the crazy train rolled up to Atlanta rather than Hoover, Alabama, and second, there seem to be 401 new head coaches. Thankfully, they are all used to crazy people, so walking in the first shouldn’t have been too much of a problem. On the first day of FinebaumStock, Texas A&M’s head coach Jimbo Fisher, LSU’s Ed Orgeron and Kentucky’s Mark Stoops took the stage to face off against such questions as: “Do you feel good about your team this year?” and “What’s it like coming to the SEC?” and “How much pressure is there to beat Alabama win the SEC West?”. Anyway,

Read more

Who’s on the 2016 SEC Hot Seat? Clue: Les Miles is one

So the SEC season is close to arriving around Labor Day weekend, and we can’t wait. No – we can’t, can’t wait. Instead of giving you the team by team analysis  – as we’ve done for the last few years – we’re going to give you a 1-14 on who’s on the SEC hot seat. If you don’t agree, tweet me on @SECblog. Please. All comments helpful and (maybe) retweeted! Anyway, so here we go… Les Miles (LSU) – After last year when an emotional Les Miles avoided the bullet after his team stopped a three-game losing streak by beating Texas A&M in a thunderous night in Death Valley, a lot is expected for this team. If they finish 9-3 like

Read more

Can Texas A&M upset Alabama? SEC game previews

It’s been a helluva week in college football. Spurrier’s out, Sark’s out, Grier’s out (for a year) and Tunsil’s out (until next week). Oh, and it’s one of the biggest weeks for games, too. In the SEC we’ve got our fair share of ’em. Some of them look less than they might have (Georgia vs Missouri), and some of them look far bigger than Preseasoners like us would have predicted (LSU vs Florida). And some games are and were always going to be pretty monstrous (Alabama vs Texas A&M). And some are pretty big now, because the HBC is gone golfing (South Carolina vs Vanderbilt). So here are our game predictions (and rankings) for the games out there this weekend

Read more
1 2 3 4 5