Here it is again, the Friday before a game of SEC battles that will represent, can you believe it, the midway point of the season for the Hogs. How quickly the college football season zooms by! Maybe Ken Starr and Baylor will sue the months of September, October, and November for not being long enough? haha. Moving on. Last week I was 5-1 with my own crystal ball having failed you guys in saying that South Carolina would beat Auburn in a close one. I should have known better. It is now in the SEC by-laws, I believe, that Auburn is entitled to win all the close games they play. So, Hogs, don't flirt around with a close game against the Tigers. Get up on them quick and stay up on them, at a considerable distance! With that said, on to my SEC picks for this coming weekend.
KENTUCKY at SOUTH CAROLINA or No Joke Flathead vs. The OLD (not Ole) Ball Coach (SEC NETWORK 12 PM Eastern) - Vegas says South Carolina by 21 points. I suppose Vegas has some faith in Connor Shaw (Gracia has been yanked once again) and probably even less faith in the Kentucky offense without Randell Cobb. Can you even name the current Kentucky quarterback? I can't! I think South Carolina at home gets a good enough game out of Shaw, but not 21 points better than Kentucky. South Carolina will under-perform again this week, but the change will be that they will win. Kentucky is that bad.That is no surprise that Kentucky is bad. Arkansas doesn't play them this year. Joker just needs to hang on until we arrive on Kentucky's schedule again. Somehow, Kentucky will be good that year. Arkansas, yeah, 2-4 record against Kentucky. Uggh.
MISSISSIPPI STATE at UAB or The Team That Nearly Lost to LA Tech vs. The Team That Has Watched A Lot Of LA Tech vs. MSU Tape (SPORTSOUTH 12 PM Eastern) - Vegas says MSU by 19 points. Did you catch that? Our Bulldogs are going on the road for this one. Dan, talk to your A.D. As long as you are taking road trips to play teams like UAB, you are never going to move up in the SEC pecking order. The UABs of the world are suppose to come play you at your place. I think MSU will pay for this by having their share of struggles, especially on offense, but UAB is not a Western Division team of the SEC, so the Bulldogs should still pull out a win. Say by ten to fourteen points, but not nineteen or over. Something is rotten in the State of Starkville right now. I just hope they don't get it corrected until after we play them.
FLORIDA at LSU or The Team That Made Us Feel Better About Losing To Alabama vs. The Team That We Hold Out Hope For Beating Alabama (CBS 3:30 Eastern) - Vegas says LSU by 13.5. I would be much more excited about this game if Florida's John Brantley were playing in it. Instead, the Gators are going to start their wet behind the scales freshman quarterback at Death Valley. I think I can hear Troy Landry saying right now, "Shoot em, Tigers!" And they will. LSU covers and then some, I believe. The buildup to November the 5th will grow. And debates will rage from Gainsville to Fayetteville about which team has the better defense right now, LSU or Alabama. My inclination right now, it is Alabama.
GEORGIA at TENNESSEE or Vince Dooley's Least Favorite Weekend of the Season (ESPN 7 PM Eastern) - Vegas says Georgia by two points. I don't know what to make of this Tennessee team right now. They crushed Buffalo last week. No big deal. They lost to Florida the game before that. Well, they did mount something of a comeback in that one, but no comeback of the Arkansas variety. Maybe the Hogs can take care of Auburn in time for us to switch over to this one, for I have a feeling it is going to be close like Vegas says, but I think the Vols are going to win this one by a field goal and thus make the SEC East even more muddled than it already is.
Yeah, the one you are most curious about, haha. : ) Just what might happen in Tuscaloosa?
VANDERBILT at ALABAMA or Dr. Jekyll vs. Mr. Hyde in a Houndstooth Hat (ESPNU 7 PM Eastern) - Vegas says the Tide by 29 points. This really is a game that represents two very different SEC personalities. It is the perennial loser school vs. the perennial winner. If Vanderbilt were to somehow win this game, I think it would go down as probably THE greatest regular season upset in SEC history. As great of a story that would make, it ain't going to happen. Some Vanderbilt student just corrected the grammar in that last sentence, haha. But there are not enough corrections Vanderbilt can make to keep that Tide defense at bay. Nick Saban puts his hands together and says, "Release the hounds." And they are going to feast on Commodores all game long. Bama rolls big this weekend. And you don't need to be as smart as a Vanderbilt graduate to predict that.