The 2011 SEC Season in Review

Alabama was crowned BCS National Champions

First of all,  I would like to apologize for how long it has taken me to get to this post. I have planned to do it for a while, but soon after college football season ended my schedule got cranked up and busy. So here it is...

Let's take a look back at the season that was in the SEC. In June I made predictions for the final standings in both the SEC East and the SEC West. My biggest projection success was predicting LSU to win the SEC and win the SEC West, which they did. However, I also believed that the Tigers would win the National Championship, but they did not. Alabama was able to sneak into the title game and upset the Bayou Bengals. Here were my full predicted standings:

West:

1. LSU

2. Arkansas

3. Alabama

4. Auburn

5. Mississippi State

6. Ole Miss

East:

1. South Carolina

2. Georgia

3: Tennessee 

4. Florida

5. Kentucky

6. Vanderbilt

As you can see, I did pretty well with my West predictions, the only mistake was flip-flopping Arkansas and Alabama. Arkansas losing Knile Davis before the season was a huge blow, and Alabama's defense was much more dominant than I expected, which allowed the Tide to finish second in the West and win the National Championship.

The East, on the other hand, was somewhat of a disaster. Georgia ended up winning the East, and South Carolina was really hurt by losing its star running back Marcus Lattimore in the middle of the season. The rest of the standings were pretty far off. To me, Tennessee was the biggest surprise, as I had them finishing third and the Vols ultimately ended up in last place. However, a lot of that had to do with injuries to QB Tyler Bray and top wide receiver Justin Hunter.

I finished with a 89-19 record for the season. I had a terrible bowl season, only predicting four of the eight games correctly. However, my overall season record wasn't half bad. For comparison's sake, without the three non-conference games I had an 87-18 record. ESPN blogger Chris Low finished with an 89-16 record and Edward Aschoff finished with an 86-18 record. So at least I beat one of them!

A quick prediction for the 2012 SEC Championship game: LSU vs. Georgia. LSU is returning a lot of key contributors and are loaded once again. Georgia has a soft schedule that will be very advantageous for the Bulldogs to reach the SEC Championship against LSU for the second season in a row (note: I reserve the right to change my prediction prior to the season). 

Overall, it was a fun season of SEC blogging and I hope that you enjoyed reading it. I have had 1,376 views since last June, averaging roughly 50-60 hits per post. I also have had 48 page views from Russia and 20 from Germany. Apparently SEC football is big over there too! That all being said, thanks to all those who read now and again. I hope I have given you some entertainment and insight throughout the course of the football season. 

I'm struggling with where to go with the future direction of my blog. I don't know whether to keep doing it they way I did this season, primarily cover one team more in depth, or just add more weekly posts other than the just the SEC predictions. I would love to hear your feedback. If you don't mind, vote in the poll I created at the top of the page. Also, if you want to, leave a comment below or tweet me with your suggestions/reviews of what you thought of the blog this year and what you would like to see in the future. Thanks!

A Look at Week 10 in the SEC

   My picks were 5-0 last week. Georgia beat Florida in the game of the week and were able to stay alive in the race for the SEC East, but will need some help from other SEC teams to overtake South Carolina and reach the SEC Championship game. South Carolina pulled out a win in Knoxville, which is never an easy task, and Arkansas scraped by a surging Vanderbilt team.

   Now on to Week 10. Everything has been building up to this week, and it's finally here...

Game of the Week

Nick Saban (left) and Les Miles (right) have been preparing for
this epic showdown all season

#1 LSU at #2 Alabama (8:00 PM, CBS): Clash of the Titans. It's what we have all been waiting for. This game has been billed as the "game of the century" by many. While I don't necessarily agree with that, it definitely is one of the most anticipated regular season matchups in recent memory. There are reports that media credential requests are currently around 600. That is a huge number. Alabama's press box only seats around 150. That goes to show the importance and hype of this monstrous meeting of two SEC giants. In essence, this game could be considered the de facto national championship, as whichever team wins this game will have a good chance to go undefeated the rest of the way until the actual National Championship in January. Alabama has one big edge being the home field team. These teams to be very evenly matched as they both feature similar strengths. Both are very strong on defense (Alabama is ranked first nationally in total defense, LSU is fourth), and both feature solid rushing attacks (both are in the top 30 in rushing yards per game). However, LSU seems to be more complete. With two seasoned quarterbacks in seniors Jarrett Lee and Jordan Jefferson leading the way, LSU's offense has the edge over Alabama. Couple strong quarterback play with talented receivers Reuben Randle and Odell Beckham, LSU can throw on you if they need to, and I don't have as much confidence in Alabama's ability to do that. I think this game will show just how much the Crimson Tide misses Julio Jones and what he was able to do for the Tide's offense that they lack this year. Their only big time receiver is Marquis Maze, who will be the focus of the vaunted LSU secondary.
   LSU is also more tested than Alabama. LSU dismantled Oregon in the season opener, who by the way are 7-1 on the season and ranked #8 in the nation. They also beat West Virginia, Florida, and Auburn easily. Alabama has signature wins over Penn State, Arkansas, and Florida, and although they are impressive, they are not as quite as impressive as LSU's victories.
    Alabama does have a very good running back in junior Heisman candidate Trent Richardson. Richardson is tied with Auburn's Michael Dyer as the top rusher in the SEC and has looked quite impressive over the course of the season. However, LSU has two quality backs in sophomores Michael Ford and Spencer Ware who will run over and around you at any given moment.
    I chose LSU to win the National Championship this summer, and there is no way I am deviating from that prediction now. I expect this game to be a defensive slug-fest and very low scoring, but "The Hat" Les Miles will find a way to pull out the victory in then end.
    Prediction: LSU 17-13

Top Tier Games
#9 South Carolina at #7 Arkansas (7:15 PM, ESPN): This game features a top ten matchup with two teams that have been somewhat struggling as of late. South Carolina was able to eek out wins against Mississippi State and Tennesse, and now no longer have running back Marcus Lattimore. However, freshman Brandon Wilds filled in admirably in his absence last week against Tennessee and was able to run for 137 yards on 28 carries. He is no Marcus Lattimore, but Wilds is definitely a threat to an Arkansas defense that is giving up 131 yards per game on the ground. Arkansas narrowly escaped getting beat by both Ole Miss and Vanderbilt, two teams who would seem to be over-matched against Arkansas on paper. However, expect Arkansas to play up to their competition this week.This will be South Carolina's first real test without Lattimore and it will not go as well as the game against Tennessee. Home field advantage gives Arkansas the edge, and the Razorbacks will be able to pull out a victory against the Gamecocks.
    Prediction: Arkansas 27-13

Vanderbilt at Florida (12:15 PM, SEC Network): Vanderbilt has played its last two SEC opponents, Georgia and Arkansas, very close and look to be a team that is on the rise. Junior quarterback Jordan Rodgers, while not throwing for a lot of yards, has averaged just over 80 yards rushing since he took over as the starter three games ago. Junior running back Zac Stacy has added the running threat that Vandy needed and has really come on strong, averaging 141 yards rushing over the last three games. However, Florida had running back Jeff Demps and quarterback John Brantley return from injury against UGA last week, and both made and a noticeable difference in the production of the offense. Demps had a long catch for 72 yards and Brantley threw for 245 yards and a touchdown. Those two re-additions combined with Florida's home field advantage in The Swamp will allow them to win this game.
    Prediction: Florida 24-14

The Rest
Ole Miss at Kentucky (3:30 PM, ESPNU): The battle for the worst team in the SEC is on. Ole Miss has looked somewhat better the last two weeks, playing Auburn close in the first half and requiring Arkansas to come back from a 17 point deficit to beat them. Kentucky has not showed any glimmer of hope at any point in their season.
    Prediction: Ole Miss 21-17


New Mexico State at #18 Georgia (12:30 PM, CSS): Georgia had to suspend tailbacks Isaiah Crowell, Carlton Thomas, and Ken Malcome after all three failed drug tests and also have tailback Richard Samuel out with an injury. That only leaves former walk-on Brandon Harton and walk-on Kyle Karempelis as the only ones left to handle all of the carries. But it is New Mexico State after all, so that won't matter. 
     Prediction: Georgia 31-13


Middle Tennesse at Tennessee (7 PM, FSS): This game will be a much better scenario for freshman quarterback Justin Worley to get his feet under him than last week against South Carolina turned out to be. The Vols turned to Worley for the first time last week, and he completed 10 of 26 passes for 105 yards and two interceptions. Hopefully he will be able to find more of a rhythm against the Blue Raiders as the Vols roll to victory.
     Prediction: Tennessee 31-13


UT Martin at Mississippi State (7:30 PM, CSS): Mississippi State was able to get their first SEC victory against Kentucky last week, but still need a few more victories to become bowl eligible. Most likely the Egg Bowl against Ole Miss will determine whether or not the Bulldogs have a postseason this year. MSU wins easily over UT Martin as they inch closer to a bowl berth.
    Prediction: Mississippi State 34-16
*All Times Eastern

Lucas's Week 9 Record: 5-0
Lucas's Season Record: 60-9


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A Look at Week 9 in the SEC

    Last week's games were very underwhelming. Everyone that was expected to take care of business, did. I did not expect Auburn to get blown out like they did, but I guess that's what happens when you have a very young team and start a new quarterback against the best team in the country. Both Alabama and LSU remain unscathed going into their bye weeks and are primed for the matchup that everyone has been talking about on November 5th. I also did not expect Arkansas to struggle as much as they did against Ole Miss. Ole Miss was leading 17-0 at one point and the Razorbacks had to climb back to win 29-24. I think it's safe to say that Arkansas was underestimating the Rebels.

    I was 5-0 last week, but most of the games had heavy favorites and that made it a fairly easy week to pick. On to Week 9....

Game of the Week

Georgia's Aaron Murray

Florida vs. #22 Georgia (3:30 PM, CBS): Florida comes into this game with questions about the health of starting quarterback John Brantley. He has missed the last two games after suffering a leg injury to Alabama. He had the bye last week to recover, and Florida head coach Will Muschamp expects him to play Saturday. That will provide a big boost for the Gators as they take on Georgia. The Bulldogs have been playing better each week and their defense has been shining as of late, only giving up 12.6 points per game over their last five games. That's a vast improvement from a team who allowed Boise State and South Carolina to put up a combined 80 points. Brantley hasn't played in three and a half weeks and is most likely not going to be 100 percent even if he does play. Georgia's defense will carry them and sophomore quarterback Aaron Murray will do just enough for the Bulldogs to pull out a close one. 
    Prediction: Georgia 24-21


The Others

USC's Alshon Jeffery

#13 South Carolina at Tennessee (7:15 PM, ESPN2): There is no doubt that South Carolina will look like a completely different team without stud sophomore running back Marcus Lattimore, who was lost for the season after hurting his knee against Mississippi State two weeks ago. That fact alone will cause this game to be much closer than it would have been otherwise. However, Tennessee has decided to start true freshman quarterback Justin Worley and pull his redshirt instead of playing struggling senior Matt Simms for another game. South Carolina's defense is solid, and their stellar defensive line should take advantage of the Vols' true freshman as he throws his first collegiate passes Saturday. I expect a big game from South Carolina's junior wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, who will be facing a very weak Tennessee secondary.
    Prediction: South Carolina 28-17

#10 Arkansas at Vanderbilt (12:21 PM, SEC Network): Arkansas surprisingly struggled with Ole Miss last weekend and had to come from behind to earn the victory. Don't expect them to make the same mistake twice. The Razorbacks will try to rebound from their poor performance against the Rebels and beat the Commodores on the road. Vanderbilt pounded Army 44-21 behind junior quarterback Jordan Rodgers, who had 186 yards passing and almost 100 yards rushing. Rodgers has provided a much needed spark to Vanderbilt's offense, but it is their defense that will struggle the most this week. It's not likely that the 'Dores will be able to stop quarterback Arkansas Tyler Wilson and his multitude of options through the air.
    Prediction: Arkansas 35-17

Ole Miss at #23 Auburn (7:00 PM, ESPNU): The Rebels made it tough on Arkansas last weekend and will try to continue their improvement against Auburn. Auburn was thrashed by #1 LSU, and will not want to let that loss bleed into this game. Look for Auburn to come out mad and hungry for a victory after being humiliated by LSU. It remains to be seen whether star wide receiver Emory Blake will be playing after missing the last few weeks with an ankle injury, but it shouldn't matter for the Tigers' chances to win this game. Head coach Gene Chizik is 18-2 at home during his Auburn tenure. This game could look very simliar to their matchup in 2009 when Auburn beat Ole Miss 33-20 and dominated most of the game after getting destroyed by LSU 31-10 the week before. I expect Clint Moseley to find his groove against the Ole Miss defense and Auburn will get its sixth victory of the season and thus become bowl eligible.
    Prediction: Auburn 28-13

Mississippi State at Kentucky (7:00 PM, FSN): One of these teams will get its first SEC victory this weekend. Kentucky beat up on FCS opponent Jacksonville State 38-14 last week and Mississippi State lost on a last second Alshon Jeffery touchdown to South Carolina 14-12 in their last game two weeks ago. Mississippi State has shown more the first half of the season, and Kentucky lacks any semblance of a passing game. Mississippi State is the better of two bad teams.The Bulldogs will get their first conference win.
    Prediction: Mississippi State 24-17

Lucas's Week 8 Record: 5-0
Lucas's Season Record: 55-9

Week 2 in the SEC

Well, I ended up being 10-2 with my picks last week, but I missed 2 out of the 3 most difficult games to pick. I knew they would be hard games to predict, and I waffled on them for a while and ended up missing them. But hey, if I go 10-2 every week I will be pretty happy.

Week 2 brings a little bit more excitement than Week 1 did. There should be more close games on the docket for the second week of the season. So without further delay, here is what to expect this week...

Georgia vs. South Carolina is the game of the week

Marquee Matchups:

Georgia vs. South Carolina (4:30 PM ET, ESPN): Do not underestimate how big this game is in determining the SEC East. As I said in my Summer SEC East Predictions, this game will most likely decide where both teams end up finishing in the standings. South Carolina unexpectedly struggled for a little bit last week against ECU because Steve Spurrier surprisingly decided to start Connor Shaw over Stephen Garcia. However, once Garcia was inserted into the lineup the Gamecocks' offense immediately started producing. He ran for a 32 yard touchdown on his first drive and after that SC had no problems moving the ball. Georgia, on the other hand, got routed by Boise State in their season opener. Georgia looks to have a lot of problems. The most obvious being their defense. Kellen Moore absolutely carved up their secondary going 28-34 with 261 yard and 3 touchdowns. The second biggest problem for the dogs is their running game. Outside of an 80 yard touchdown run by Brandon Boykin, UGA only had 72 rushing yards on 22 attempts from their top two running backs. Something needs to improve there for them to be successful this season. Look for South Carolina to carve up Georgia's defense with Alshon Jeffrey and Marcus Lattimore.
        Prediction: 28-17 South Carolina

Will Auburn's defense step up
this week?

Auburn vs. Mississippi State (12:21 PM ET, SEC Network): Auburn struggled last week against Utah State, needing an onside kick in the 4th quarter to pull out a victory. It remains to be seen whether that was a one game fluke or a foreshadowing of what's to come for the tigers. Part of their problem this season is their youth. On Saturday Auburn played 22 true and redshirt freshmen against a senior-laden Utah State team, and that proved to be a problem mostly on defense. However, they did show the resiliency of the 2010 National Championship team by coming from behind to win yet again. Mississippi State on the other hand, looked pretty good against Memphis. I don't know how much you can take from that game, being that Memphis was a 1-11 team last year, but nonetheless MSU looked disciplined on defense and solid on offense. This may sound crazy, but I think that Auburn will pull out the victory against the bulldogs this weekend. Last week will serve as a wake up call that work needs to be done for Auburn's young team, and they will make their biggest improvement of the season between last Saturday and this Saturday. That combined with the fact that this game is at Jordan-Hare Stadium means that Auburn will upset MSU for the victory. I think that the homefield advantage will be too much, but if this game was in Starkville there is no doubt the MSU would win the game.
       Prediction: 34-31 Auburn

Second Tier Matchups: 
Penn State vs. Alabama (3:30 PM ET, ABC): In all honesty, this won't be that close. Alabama has a suffocating defense and that is all they will need to beat Penn State at Beaver Stadium. Alabama's quarterbacks did not look great last week against Kent State throwing 4 interceptions, but it was pretty clear that A.J. McCarron deserves to be the starter. He doesn't need to do more than manage the game and Alabama will pull out the victory.
       Prediction: 27-10 Alabama

Tennessee vs. Cincinnati (3:30 PM ET, ESPN2): This game is going to be won by a very slim margin. Tennessee seems to be on the upswing as a program, but Cincinnati has a vaunted offense that will put up points in a hurry. They are returning QB Zach Collaros, who threw for over 3,100 yards last year, RB Isaiah Pead, as well as big time playmaker DJ Woods. Cincinnati looks a lot like a poor man's Oregon, and if you remember the ducks had no problem destroying UT last year 48-13. Cincy's explosive offense put up 72 points against Austin Peay last week and will be too much for the Vols this week.
       Prediction: 31-27 Cincinnati

The Rest:
Arkansas vs. New Mexico (7:00 PM ET, ESPNU): 41-13 Arkansas
LSU vs. Northwestern St. (8:00 PM ET): 35-7 LSU
Ole Miss vs. Southern Ill. (6:00 PM ET): 24-17 Ole Miss
Florida vs. UAB (7:00 PM ET, FSS): 31-6 Florida
Kentucky vs. Central Michigan (12:00 PM ET, ESPNU): 14-10 Kentucky
Vanderbilt vs. UConn (7:30 PM ET, CSS): 21-17 UConn

Lucas' Season Record: 10-2

A Look at Week 1 in the SEC

So it's been a while since I last posted an article mainly because I didn't have much to write about until football season cranked up. Well here it is, Week 1 and you can smell football in the air.

Unfortunately, there are not a whole lot of good games in the SEC this week as most schools are looking to gain some experience and pick up an easy win. Here are my thoughts on the first games of the new 2011 season in the SEC:

LSU faces Oregon in the biggest game of opening week.

Big out of conference games:
#4 LSU vs. #3 Oregon (Sat. 8:00pm EST, ABC): This is possibly the biggest match up in all of college football for week 1. This is one of the tougher games to predict, but look for LSU will challenge with dominating defense. LSU's recent QB change will be a big distraction in preparing for this game, and Oregon has a lot of talent returning from a runner up National Champion finish in 2010. Oregon's offense proves to be too much.
              Prediction: 31-27 Oregon.

#5 Boise State vs. #19 Georgia (Sat. 8:00pm EST, ESPN): This is easily the second biggest game of the weekend. This game will come down to the wire as Georgia tries to cope with the loss of AJ Green and break in a freshman running back while Boise State boasts the experience of their Heisman candidate in Senior QB Kellen Moore. In the end, the SEC will show its power as UGA will come out victorious, but it won't be easy.
              Prediction: 24-21 Georgia

Potential to be close games:
Ole Miss vs. BYU (Sat 4:45pm EST, ESPN): If there was any other SEC team playing BYU I would say there is no chance that it's not a blowout, but then again it's Ole Miss. BYU, the newest independent school in college football, is going to provide a big test for Ole Miss.
              Prediction: 20-17 BYU

#23 Auburn vs Utah State (Sat 12:00pm EST, ESPN2): Your immediate reaction is to write this game off as a blow out, but then you have to look at Auburn's depth chart. They are starting only 3 seniors on offense and 1 on defense, and only 2 of those 4 have started a game previously. Also, over half of their starters are only freshmen or sophomores, with countless other underclassmen littering the two deep. That tells me that this game is going to be up and down as a young Auburn team gets some valuable first game experience. Auburn will probably have some big plays, but give up some big plays as well.
              Prediction: 35-24 Auburn


Not that exciting, but somewhat intriguing: 
#12 South Carolina vs. East Carolina (7:00pm EST, FSN): The two schools could be considered bordering state rivals, and ECU has been a decent non-AQ school in the past. But who are we kidding? Skip Holtz doesn't coach ECU anymore and this isn't going to be very close. However, it could be fun to watch Marcus Lattimore and Alshon Jeffrey torch ECU's defense.
              Prediction: 38-17 South Carolina

Laughers:
#2 Alabama vs. Kent State (Sat 12:21pm EST, SEC Network): Prediction: 63-7 Alabama
#15 Arkansas vs. Missouri State (Sat 7:00pm EST, PPV): Prediction: 49-10 Arkansas
Mississippi State at Memphis (8:00pm EST, FSN): Prediction: 42-10 MSU
Tennessee vs. Montana (Sat 6:00pm EST, PPV): Prediction: 35-10 Tennessee
#22 Florida vs. Florida Atlantic (Sat 7:00pm EST, ESPNU): Prediction: 35-13 Florida
Kentucky vs. Western KY (Thurs 9:15pm EST, ESPNU): Prediction: 31-14 Kentucky
Vanderbilt vs. Elon (Sat. 7:30pm EST, CSS): Prediction: 28-7 Vanderbilt

Are you ready for some football?!? I know I am!

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