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

Will Alabama roll against Texas A&M? Week 4 predictions

On paper, it doesn’t look as though the most interesting Saturday in the SEC’s calendar. Alabama and Georgia are expected to both roll. In four out of eight of the games, the favourites are 20+ point favourites. In 6 of eight games, teams are double-digit favourites. Which leaves Florida’s trip to Tennessee and South Carolina’s game with Vanderbilt as the only (potentially) close games of the SEC Week, if Vegas is anything to go by. Anyway, at least all the SEC games aren’t dumb non-conference games, unless you believe Arkansas should be in another conference… So here we go (in order of interest from a College Football fan’s point-of-view, not a betting fanatic (although comes into it): No.13 Mississippi State

Read more

Alabama, Georgia rule the roost: SEC Team Rankings After Week 3

Right, now we’re a quarter of a way through the season (sniff, sniff), we’re going to start our SEC rankings. There’s no surprise who’s going to be No.1 and No.14, but in between…..(we apologise in advance)… Alabama (3-0): While the most annoying thing about Alabama might well be the team’s head coach and his Napoleonic tendencies, the Tide’s way of evolving from a slow-moving ‘three yards and a cloud of dust’ offense to something that moves at such speed that Usain Bolt’s struggling to keep with it is awesome to watch. Although the opposition is hardly vaunted, the way the Tide managed to shut up a high-octane Ole Miss offense was highly impressive. Georgia (3-0): The game that stood out for

Read more

LSU continues to impress after Week 3

OK, we failed to produce a prediction for Week 3 due to ‘technical difficulties’ (we stupidly forgot to press the ‘post’ button), so here were our predictions. We said Auburn would beat LSU by 7. We said Alabama would beat Ole Miss by 21. We said Notre Dame would beat Vandy by 10. We said Missouri would beat Purdue 31-17. We thought Arkansas would be North Texas by 10, and Florida beating Colorado State by 24. We had Texas A&M, Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky waltzing away. Straight up, we went 9-2. Against the spread, it was a little uglier. Anyway, here we go after the mass celebrations in Baton Rouge and, er, Denton, TX (HOW ABOUT THAT TRICK PLAY?), here’s

Read more

Arkansas Preview 2018: Can Chad Morris resurrect the Hogs?

So much for the #winning. Bret Bielema is now out after never finishing higher than 3rd in the SEC West, and finishing 7th in three out of seven years in his reign. Oh, and he went 11-29, which probably didn’t help him. Anyway, Chad Morris has been ‘prized’ away from SMU, and he’s an exciting prospect for an offensethat depended on a heavy line but really went nowhere (94th in the country) and a defense that went nowhere too (102nd last year). So what do we think will happen in 2018? OFFENSE Giant QB Cole Kelley (he’s 6-7) is loved by just about everybody, and we really like him, too. He threw for 1,038 yards and 8 TDs, and if

Read more

Florida 2018 Preview: Can Dan Mullen improve Florida?

Trainwreck doesn’t cover just bad Florida’s 2017 season was. There was a bit of a smile when they beat Tennessee on a Hail Mary in one of the plays of the season, but that was it, save for Jim McElwain’s nudist battle with a shark. Dan Mullen arrived to the pomp and circumstance (and some new Jordans), but he’s had to deal with non-stop disciplinary crap – something that must be weighing on Gator Nation. You know, that and the rise and rise of one of their most hated enemies. OFFENSE Every time we think about UF’s offense, we get squeamish. The Gators were 110th in total offense, good enough for the second-worst in the SEC behind Tennessee (the third-worst

Read more

Auburn 2018 Preview: Can War Eagle fly to the promised land?

Georgia and Alabama both had something in common when they played the National Championship Game last season: They were both comprehensively beaten by Auburn. There is an argument that the Tigers could have won the SEC Championship Game if running back star Kerryon Johnson – who had ripped the Dawgs apart in the win at Jordan-Hare – hadn’t been hurt. With the team obviously deflated, the season finale bowl loss to UCF wasn’t pleasant for Gus Malzahn, either. Anyway, it’s 2018 now, and Johnson gone, but QB Jarrett Stidham is staying. As seeems usual on the plains, it should be an interesting season… OFFENSE As mentioned ad infinitum, Stidham got engaged this summer and took part in a camp or two.

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

Mississippi State 2018 Preview: New coach, new offense?

If you’re a fan of offense, then Mississippi State got one of the hires of the season when they brought in Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead to replace Dan Mullen as its new head coach. When he was in Happy Valley, he made Saquon Barkley a top-five NFL draft pick, Trace McSorley one of the best quarterbacks in college football, and a juggernaut, lightning-quick offense that jumped from 42nd to 19th from 2016 to 2017, and ranked 12th against conference in touchdowns. Moorhead immediately comes across as a pretty affable guy – something that we’ll find interesting how this translates to the cowbells and stress that comes with a SEC job. It might not be his first job (before he got

Read more

LSU Preview: Can Ed Orgeron save his job?

Thanks to the firing of 50% of the SEC coaches, Ed Orgeron is on the hottest seat in the SEC. In fact, after a season when LSU was awful offensively, failed to beat Alabama, didn’t even figure in the SEC West AND was upset by Troy to boot, it’s a small miracle that he stayed in Baton Rouge for the 2018 season. Yes, the 9-4 record may have stood out with a 6-2 record in the SEC, but if you look deeply into the season, the Tigers were more unimpressive than impressive all season long – particularly on points-scoring side of the ball. Despite all of this, LSU had seven picks in the 2018 NFL Draft (yes, even Danny Etling was

Read more
1 12 13 14 15 16 59