Monday, August 30, 2010

Moral Victory! predictions for the rest of the SEC

So we're picking Vanderbilt to go 6-6. Go ahead and say we're smoking something funny.

Here's how we think the league will fare:

SEC WEST

1. Alabama, 11-1 (7-1): Huge wins at home over Penn State, Florida and Auburn, but a late-season loss to LSU in Baton Rouge.

2. Auburn, 10-2 (6-2): Flying high at 8-0 after wins at home over Arkansas and LSU, but drop a shocker to Ole Miss in Oxford and then the Iron Bowl in Tuscaloosa.

3. LSU, 9-3 (5-3): Highlights include a season-opening victory over UNC in the Georgia Dome and a huge victory over Bama in Death Valley, but lowlights include road losses to Florida, Auburn and Arkansas.

4. Arkansas, 8-4 (4-4): A season-ending home win over LSU can't overshadow a drubbing by Alabama in Fayetteville and losses at Georgia, Auburn and South Carolina.

5. Ole Miss, 7-5 (3-5): An up and down year for Houston Nutt, who's gamble to take QB Jeremiah Masoli doesn't crap out but doesn't exactly come up big either. An Egg Bowl victory over Miss State and an upset over Auburn can't quite erase the sting of a home loss to Vandy, a heartbreaker in Knoxville, and demoralizing losses at Alabama, Arkansas and LSU.

6. Miss State, 5-7 (1-7): Dan Mullen still a year away but manages a road win over Top 25 Houston and an SEC victory against Kentucky.

SEC EAST

1. Florida, 11-1 (7-1): Yet another SEC championship berth, which ends in the Gators avenging their regular season loss to Alabama.

2. South Carolina, 9-3 (5-3): Spurrier's finest season as a Gamecock, with expected losses to Alabama and at Auburn and Florida but wins over everybody else.

2. Georgia, 9-3 (5-3): The Dawgs start the season with a loss at South Carolina and a must-win over Arkansas in Athens, but losses to Florida and at Auburn gall UGA fans.

4. Vanderbilt, 6-6 (3-5): After three straight wins early in the season (at Ole Miss and UConn and at home against Eastern Michigan), the Commodores find themselves in a 3-6 hole before finishing strong with wins at Kentucky and at home against Tennessee and Wake Forest.

5. Tennessee, 5-7 (2-6): The Vols have a brutal schedule with losses to Oregon, Florida, LSU, Georgia, South Carolina and of course Vanderbilt. SEC wins are over Ole Miss and Kentucky, both in Knoxville.

6. Kentucky, 4-8 (0-8): The Wildcats run of bowl bids ends with a series of bad breaks.

2 comments:

Steven said...

Really like your SEC predictions, particularly for the West. I also predicted Vandy would go 6-6. Overly optimistic? Perhaps, but what's the harm in hoping?

DIMON KENDRICK-HOLMES said...

That's right. Now's the time to be optimistic. And if I was a Kentucky fan and this were a UK blog, I'd probably predicted them to go 8-4 instead of 4-8.