#uga vs ole miss

[mysteriouslyhertriumph]

No. 16 Ole Miss pull off upset over No. 3 Georgia in SEC thriller

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[thecollegefootballguy]

2021 Top Games of the Week: Week 6

Conference play has once again blessed us with a number of high profile games. I’m salivating just looking at them. This season is getting weird and I’m loving it, let’s hope things keep going this way.

The Top Ten Games of the Week

10. Stanford 3-2 (2-1) at #22 Arizona State 4-1 (2-0)

Stanford is once again showing themselves to be the premier agents of chaos in the PAC-12 by once again ruining a season for an undefeated Oregon team. The Cardinal of course still look extremely beatable and should be underdogs against Arizona State. The Sun Devils are currently leading the PAC-12 South and are attempting to capitalize on beating UCLA last week.

9. #14 Notre Dame 4-1 at Virginia Tech 3-1 (1-0)

Notre Dame is attempting to rebound after their disappointing loss to Cincinnati last week. Blacksburg isn’t the easiest place to get a win. Virginia Tech could use their own pick-me-up after their loss to rival West Virginia knocked them out of the rankings a few weeks back. 

8. LSU 3-2 (1-1) at #16 Kentucky 5-0 (3-0)

Don’t you just love that Kentucky is the ranked team here and LSU isn’t? The Wildcats are suddenly looking like they dark horse for the SEC East. Can UK keep the momentum up?

7. #11 Michigan State 5-0 (2-0) at Rutgers 3-2 (0-2)

Michigan State's stock is really starting to rise after their impressive 5-0 start. The Spartans have had a few close calls but nobody has succeeded in taking them down. Rutgers played Michigan close, but was unable to hang close to Ohio State last week. Can the Scarlet Knights beat MSU?

6. #9 Michigan 5-0 (2-0) at Nebraska 3-3 (1-2)

Is Michigan back? Maybe. The offense is looking good for the most part. The Wolverines are in the mix for the Big Ten East and can’t afford even a single cross-division loss. Nebraska was written off by many early but the Cornhuskers have been playing solid football since that Illinois game. The Huskers can reenter the conversation with an upset in Lincoln.

5. #1 Alabama at Texas A&M

Boy, this one looked a lot bigger a few weeks ago before Texas A&M collapsed. The Aggies are still very good and will pose a challenge to Alabama, but the Crimson Tide still look like big favorites.

4. #13 Arkansas 4-1 (1-1) at #18 Ole Miss 3-1 (0-1)

No, the SEC West’s two breakout teams of this young season weren’t able to beat up on big bad Bama or UGA. Still, these programs are clearly moving in the right direction and are challenging the existing pecking order. Do the Hogs and Rebels have what it takes to play the conference race out the full length of the season?

3. #6 Oklahoma 5-0 (2-0) vs #21 Texas 4-1 (2-0)

The Red River Shootout is once again going to play a big role in the Big 12 race. Oklahoma is undefeated, but though the Sooners came into the year with high expectations they’ve so far looked lucky more often than they’ve looked good. Texas was humiliated by old SWC rival Arkansas in Week 2 and have been out for blood ever since. The Longhorns could really use a win in Dallas one of these years.

2. #2 Georgia 5-0 (3-0) at #18 Auburn 4-1 (1-0)

Yeah I still hate it, but for the time being the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry is now an October fixture instead of the penultimate game of the year. Oh well, it should still provide plenty of intrigue. Georgia looks like one of the best teams in the country, one of the few true standouts. The Bulldogs seem destined for a big year. Auburn looks like Auburn.

1. #4 Penn State 5-0 (2-0) at #3 Iowa 5-0 (2-0)

Boy I did not have this on my 2021 bingo card. I don’t know what’s more shocking, that Iowa hosting Penn State is a top 5 game or that both teams are GOOD. The Nittany Lions and Hawkeyes have so far taken all comers and made many of them look silly. The winner is in the lead position for the league’s Playoff spot.

-

5 3 G5 Games of the Week

The G5 mostly has terrible games this week so I’ll keep it short.

3. Florida Atlantic 3-2 (1-0) at UAB 3-2 (1-0)

Two of Conference USA’s frontrunners face off in an early cross-division test.

2. Northern Illinois 3-2 (1-0) at Toledo 3-2 (1-0)

After several years back in the wilderness, Northern Illinois looks to be back on track. The Huskies were a fixture in the MAC West before a recent dry skid. Toledo was one of their main adversaries for league dominance. Can NIU reclaim the old magic and once again deny the Rockets?

1. Wyoming 4-0 (0-0) at Air Force 4-1 (1-1)

The Mountain West is seeing a shakeup with Boise State foundering. Wyoming and Air Force are both in the mix and both looking good. Can the Cowboys remain one of the few undefeated G5 programs left standing?

-

FCS Games of the Week

5. #14 Southeastern Louisiana 3-1 (1-0) at #25 Nicholls 2-2 (1-0)

It’s the 31st playing of the River Bell Classic between these two in-state rivals.

4. #9 Delaware 3-1 (2-0) at #18 Rhode Island 4-0 (2-0)

The undercard CAA game.

3. #16 Northern Iowa 3-1 (1-0) at #5 North Dakota State 4-0 (1-0)

The undercard MVFC game.

2. #11 Villanova 3-1 (1-0) at #3 James Madison 4-0 (2-0)

James Madison and Villanova are once again in the thick of things in the CAA race. Both teams are undefeated in FCS play.

1. #8 Southern Illinois 4-1 (2-0) at #2 South Dakota State

The top Missouri Valley game also features two highly ranked teams without a loss at the FCS level.

[auburnfamilynews]

Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Down go the champs

SEC football is back in all it’s glory. For some schools, football being back was awesome as they watched their teams start the 2020 campaign with a W. For some, it was fun to see their favorite programs play but disappointing to start the year off with an L. Then there were LSU fans....

The Bayou Bengals became the first defending champs to lose their season opener since 1998 when Notre Dame fell to Michigan. Turns out replacing a Heisman winner, both coordinators, most of the offensive line, top three wide receivers, top running back and the majority of defensive starters is kind of a big deal.

Also, it turns out Mike Leach and his Mississippi State Bulldogs are ready for SEC defenses.

With one data point now available there were some shakeups to this week’s rankings. Let’s take a look. Also a quick note, I decided to drop FEI because it doesn’t appear those rankings are being updated on a weekly basis.

#1.) Alabama 1-0 (—)

SP+: 3 | FPI: 2

Last Game: 38-19 W @ Missouri

I admit that I watched exactly 2 snaps of this game so I don’t have much to offer in the form of analysis. It appears the Crimson Tide took care of business and then cruised to the finish line. Najee Harris scored three touchdowns, Mac Jones was efficient and Jaylen Waddle is still impossible to cover. Not sure there’s a ton to takeaway from this game for either team except that the Tide aren’t going to be surprisingly bad. We will learn more this weekend when the Aggies come to town.

Next Game: vs Texas A&M

#2.) Georgia 1-0 (—)

SP+: 4 | FPI: 6

Last Game: 37-10 W @ Arkansas

Per 247 Composite, there are sixteen former 5-star recruits on Georgia’s 2020 football roster. That’s the most of any program. More than Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson. It’s more than Auburn, Florida, Texas A&M and Tennessee combined. They opened the season with a road trip to Fayetteville to take on a Hog program stuck in the mud. A program with only four more 4-star players than UGA 5-stars.

And yet...

Hilariously, Arkansas took a 7-5 lead into halftime. Redshirt D’Wan Mathis did not look ready for collegiate football and it took the insertion of walk-on Stetson Bennett for the Dawgs to finally take care of business. The offensive line did not look it’s former dominant self either. The biggest question facing UGA heading into 2020 was whether or not this offense could take the next step. So far, it ain’t looking good....

But it might not matter. After allowing a 7 play 91 yard touchdown drive, UGA’s defense allowed only a field goal while picking off Franks three times including taking one back for six points. That’s why I still have them in the #2 spot over the Gators. This offense might not be great again but this defense is good enough to prevent a total meltdown. This weekend will tell us a lot about what this Dawg team is capable of accomplishing this fall.

Next Game: vs Auburn

#3.) Florida 1-0 (—)

SP+: 8 | FPI: 9

Last Game: 51-35 W @ Ole Miss

The University of Florida Fighting Kyles lit up the scoreboard in Oxford over the weekend. Kyle Trask threw for 416 yds and SIX touchdowns Saturday. WR/TE/Freak Kyle Pitts caught 8 of those passes for 170 yards and 4 touchdowns. Needless to say, Ole Miss fans won’t be naming any kids Kyle in the near future.

But while the offense was spectacular, that Gator defense had some serious struggles. I expected Ole Miss to put some points on the board but I didn’t see 600+ yards coming. The main concern I had about this UF team heading into 2020 was whether or not this defense was good enough to slow folks down. As of now, that question remains unanswered. It will be interesting to see how they look against an ok South Carolina team this weekend.

Next Game: vs South Carolina

#4.) Auburn 1-0 (+1)

SP+: 6 | FPI: 7

Last Game 29-13 W vs Kentucky

Auburn had the 2nd best win of the weekend taking down a veteran, physical Kentucky squad. The Wildcats controlled the first half for the most part but the Tigers dominated the 2nd half and were able to come away with a somewhat comfortable win.

Bo Nix looked good in his 2020 debut and Seth Williams is gonna be a problem for a lot of defenses this fall. Defensively, Auburn got knocked around early but settled down in the 2nd half. The big question is still the offensive line which performed admirably in their season debut but must improve if the Tigers are going to end that awful drought in Athens on Saturday.

Next Game: @ Georgia

#5.) Mississippi State 1-0 (+7)

SP+: 38 | FPI: 35

Last Game: 44-34 W @ LSU

Ok so I got a lot of apologizing to do to State fans. I thought this State team would be pretty bad this year. Sure Leach added an outstanding grad transfer at QB in K.J. Costello over the off-season but cmon... This Mississippi State team isn’t exactly overflowing with talent especially at the skill position (sans Kylin Hill). And that defense lost some major contributors and are switching to a brand new scheme. They will be luck to win 3 games I thought...

Welp....

Turns out this team is ready to create mayhem in the SEC. Costello carved up that vaunted DBU secondary and if he hadn’t kept turning the ball over this game might have been a legit blowout. Costello set the single game SEC passing record throwing for 623 yards and 5 touchdowns. Three State players crossed the century mark including star tailback Kylin Hill.

I don’t know how this season goes for Mississippi State but it’s definitely going to go much better than I expected. Gotta give an immense amount of credit to Leach and his coaching staff. They came out ready to go and made a massive statement this past weekend.

Next Game: vs Arkansas

#6.) Tennessee 1-0 (+1)

SP+: 24 | FPI: 30

Last Game: 31-27 W @ South Carolina

I picked Tennessee to lose this game but the Vols were able to make less mistakes than the Cocks and a few more big plays to escape with the W. It wasn’t necessarily an impressive performance but it was effective. The Dawgs look vulnerable and Tennessee has more talent than Kentucky. Can Jeremy Pruitt capitalize and make that final game of the year against UF the de facto SEC East championship?

Next Game: vs Missouri

#7.) Texas A&M 1-0 (-1)

SP+: 19 | FPI: 19

Last Game: 17-12 W vs Vanderbilt

Technically, Texas A&M won Saturday. But if anyone ventured over to the SEC Alternate channel to watch this cluster of a game, you probably didn’t come away super impressed with the supposed top challenger to the Tide in the West.

Turns out Kellen Mond is still Kellen Mond. That offensive line is still pretty bad and losing all that WR production is not easily replaced. I don’t think things are going to go well in Tuscaloosa this weekend....

Next Game: @ Alabama

#8.) Kentucky 0-1 (—)

SP+: 43 | FPI: 27

Last Game: 13-29 L @ Auburn

For one half of football, it looked like the Wildcats had a shot at living up to the preseason hype. Maybe this is the year they could go on the road into an SEC West venue against a ranked opponent and get the W. Then the 2nd half kicked off...

A disastrous 4th quarter resulted in a frustrating L for Big Blue Nation and they don’t get to lick their wounds. An explosive Rebel attack is set to visit Lexington and if Terry Wilson doesn’t get those turnovers cleaned up they could very well be 0-2 this time next week. I still think though this is top 3 team in the SEC East. We will see if they can get right against the Lane Train.

Next Game: vs Ole Miss

#9.) LSU 0-1 (-5)

SP+: 25 | FPI: 13

Last Game: 34-44 L vs Mississippi State

Turns out you can’t just easily replace literally your whole organization following a national championship. Weird huh?

It didn’t take long for LSU fans to learn that the Myles Brennan and Bo Pelini hype ain’t for real. The Tigers new QB struggled much of the day and wasn’t helped by drops and a porous offensive line. Pelini refused to switch out of his man defense and allowed Mike Leach to put on a clinic on how to beat it over and over again. There are some serious problems on this LSU team and I don’t know if they can all get fixed in the coming weeks.

Fortunately, a trip to play a not very good Vanderbilt team should get Ed O back to .500. However, if LSU wants any shot at a repeat they gotta find a way to adjust to this new world.

Next Game: @ Vanderbilt

#10.) Ole Miss 0-1 (-1)

SP+: 44 | FPI: 37

Last Game: 35-51 L vs Florida

I honestly didn’t wanna move Ole Miss down a spot it just kinda happened. The Rebels showed they are exactly who I thought they were over the weekend. An explosive but inconsistent offense paired with a very bad defense. The Rebels are going to give DCs around the SEC headaches but they are going to need some stops on the other side of the ball if they wanna string together any Ws. Big opportunity to make a statement this weekend against a frustrated Kentucky team.

Next Game: @ Kentucky

#11.) South Carolina 0-1 (—)

SP+: 34 | FPI: 40

Last Game: 27-31 L vs Tennessee

South Carolina has mastered losing to Tennessee in frustrating fashion. They fought to the bitter end but a punt off the backside of a blocker ended any opportunity of a dramatic finish. Offensively, South Carolina looked ok. It’s clear outside of Shi Smith this team is lacking in terms of play makers. This Saturday is a must win for Coach Boom.

Next Game: @ Missouri

#12.) Missouri 0-1 (-2)

SP+: 48 | FPI: 42

Last Game: 19-38 L vs Alabama

As I said above, I didn’t really watch this game so I got nothing really to say about this Mizzou squad other than they covered and that’s all that really mattered.

Next Game: @ Tennessee

#13.) Vanderbilt 0-1 (+1)

SP+: 110 | FPI: 68

Last Game: 12-17 L @ Texas A&M

They did their darndest to pull the stunner but then they are also Vanderbilt so of course it didn’t happen. I was impressed overall with the Dores performance though and rewarded them with what will likely be their highest ranking of the season. No way LSU loses this game too right?

Next Game: vs LSU

#14.) Arkansas 0-1 (-1)

SP+: 75 | FPI: 59

Last Game: 10-37 L vs Georgia

For one half of football, Arkansas stood toe to toe with one of the giants of the SEC. Hog fans rejoiced that maybe just maybe Sam Pittman was going to do the impossible. Then reality hit like a train in the 2nd half...

Outside of a few skill players on offense and the best named linebacker in the country in Bumper Pool, this program is devoid of SEC caliber talent. Feleipe Franks is still not a great quarterback. With Mississippi State not being the dumpser fire as hoped, I am not sure there’s a W on this schedule for the Hogs....

Next Game: @ Mississippi State

War Eagle!

from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2020/9/28/21458459/sec-power-rankings-week-2

[skyanfeeds]

College football Power Rankings after Week 5  ESPN

Georgia Is Making Its Case for Being the Best Team in College Football  Bleacher Report

AP Top 25 Takeaways: Amid chaos, 'Bama, UGA are drama-free  The Washington Post

Alabama Crimson Tide, Georgia Bulldogs separate from the pack in Week 5  ESPN

Ole Miss vs. Alabama 2021: Time, TV schedule and online streaming  Red Cup Rebellion

View Full Coverage on Google News

[racingtoaredlight]

College Football 2020 Season Week 12 TV Watch Em Ups: this is really still way too much football

Would you believe that I am not good at conveying accurate information? I know, it came as a shock to me, too! But it turns out this is week 12 of the college football season. Somebody else can leaf back through these posts but I’m not sure from this distance that I even made it as far as week 1 with the number listed correctly. But I’ve gotta trust what’s in front of me.

It doesn’t matter anyway. The long game for me has always been waiting for the season to be called off entirely and it’s becoming more and more clear that some version of this grotesquerie is going to make its way to the very bloody end of the playoffs. So even in my safest gambling prognostications I am utterly useless and wrong. (Maybe two consecutive days without my pills was a bad idea...) Here’s where things stand at postin’ time:

Saturday, November 21

Matchup                                             Time (ET)                       TV/Mobile

Georgia Southern at Army                12:00pm                        CBSSN

What a miserable way to open a post. Let’s skip this one.

Illinois at Nebraska                            12:00pm                           FS1

Still loling at Penn State. A great capper to Nebraska hanging on to beat Penn State last week would be to turn around and earn Lovie Smith another chance to win four more games in 2021.

LSU at Arkansas                                12:00pm                         SECN

This appears to be a mistake as LSU suspended their football program for the 2020 season.

6 Florida at Vanderbilt                       12:00pm                          ESPN

Florida hasn’t had a complete fuck up yet in 2020. Something seems really off about that.

9 Indiana at 3 Ohio State                   12:00pm                          FOX

Indiana has been the feel good story of 2020 college football so far. Maybe the only feel good story. They’re going to lose this game but show enough pluck and fight and courage to stick pretty close to the top 10 before taking a soul shattering dive at home against Maryland next week. Or they’ll just lose to tOSU by 60.

4 Clemson at Florida State                12:00pm                          ABC

Bobby Bowden built Florida State into a powerhouse by taking road matchups against anybody dumb enough to take that win for granted. There is a whole “sod graveyard” at FSU commemorating the biggest of those wins. So there’s a decent chance the +35.5 line for this game (or +36.5 depending on where you bet) is the most anybody has ever been favored as a road team in Tallahassee. I’ve mentioned before in these posts that FSU is maybe at the lowest point of any of Florida’s big three programs in my lifetime. There is actually no maybe. This program is a total shambles right now.

East Carolina at Temple                     12:00pm                            ESPN+

Eh, sure. Fine.

Arkansas State at Texas State           12:00pm                           ESPNU

Not sure if any of you caught the whole Farhad Manjoo controversy on twitter yesterday but basically he wrote an article for the New York Times about how many people he’s been exposed to in terms of COVID risk lately and how dangerous it could be for him to now fly home to his parents house for Thanksgiving. After going through all of the math and demonstrating pretty well what a horrible idea it would be for him to celebrate Thanksgiving with his parents he concludes by saying that he’s going to go ahead and celebrate Thanksgiving with his parents anyway. This game here, Arkansas State at Texas State, is about the same level of completely worthless risk of death and it’s still going to be played. I might start referencing that dumb Farhad Manjoo article/idea more regularly in watch em up posts.

Appalachian State at 15 Coastal Carolina         12:00pm           ESPN2

Coastal Carolina is going to win a national championship against BYU because every other program is too close to an 100% infection rate to keep playing. BYU doesn’t believe in shit like COVID and Coastal Carolina used up all of their budget fielding a team in the first place.

Stephen F. Austin at Memphis             12:00pm                          ESPN+

There it is, the 100th game to kick off at noon this Saturday! Congratulations, everybody!

Rice at North Texas                               2:00pm                            ESPN3

Rice has had a football program for a really long time for some reason.

FIU at WKU                                            2:00pm                             ESPN3

...

North Alabama at 8 BYU                      3:00pm                        BYUtv/ESPN3

One of sports great rivalry games.

UTSA at Southern Miss                        3:00pm                            ESPN+

Mmm, another classic.

Western Carolina at Eastern Kentucky        3:00pm                   ESPN3

Thank god this one isn’t cancelled.

UCLA at 11 Oregon                               3:30pm                            ESPN2

Chip Kelly is still at UCLA, right? It would be kind of funny if he beat Oregon but also might go more or less unnoticed. Oregon has to be the least hyped team in the country to feature maybe four 2021 first round picks and a clear path to a conference title. The Pac-12 came so close to actually doing the right thing and not playing this year.

Iowa at Penn State                                3:30pm                              BTN

When I said that Indiana is the feel good story of the season so far I forgot that Penn State hasn’t won yet. Rockeye Chalkeye Hawkeyes or whatever Iowa’s chant is. Let’s keep it fucking going.

California at Oregon State                    3:30pm                              FS1

Not a single feeling.

10 Wisconsin at 19 Northwestern         3:30pm                             ABC

For my money this is close to as unappealing as a top 20 matchup is liable to ever be. That’s only partially explained by the sham quality of this season overall.

San Diego State at Nevada                    3:30pm                             CBS

This is good stuff normally but I might just skip this entire day of watching.

Middle Tennessee at Troy                       3:30pm                           ESPN3

{URGE TO DO LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE INTENSIFYING}

Georgia State at South Alabama            3:30pm                           ESPNU

I am boiling over with apathy at the thought of this one.

7 Cincinnati at UCF                                  3:30pm                            ESPN

The people’s champs are not particularly great this year but maybe they can do us all a solid and derail the train that is Ohio State, Jr. The line isn’t crazily tilted towards the Bearcats (-5)  so maybe it’s a real possibility?

Virginia Tech at Pitt                                  4:00pm                            ACCN

Don’t let anybody convince you that the players aren’t wearing masks on the field during game action here. You’ve just gotta believe.

Kansas State at 17 Iowa State                4:00pm                            FOX

I should be interested in this one and yet...

Kentucky at 1 Alabama                            4:00pm                            SECN

For the record I agree that Mac Jones is really good and I also put him at about the 15th best player on the Tide this year. So, no, he wouldn’t be in the lead for RTARLsman 2020 if that were happening.

Abilene Christian at Virginia                     4:00pm                       RSN/ESPN3

UVA is completely inscrutable this year. Even more than usual. But they have been an absolute pleasure to watch in short bursts because their uniform game has been exceptionally sharp.

 Tennessee at 23 Auburn                            7:00pm                           ESPN

Missouri at South Carolina                            7:30pm                   SECN Alt.

The SEC is putting their messiest foot forward in primetime this week.

Michigan at Rutgers                                        7:30pm                     BTN

Great conference matchup between two programs that peaked in the 19th century and will never be national champions again.

21 Liberty at NC State                                     7:30pm              RSN/ESPN3

This Liberty being ranked thing is hilarious but I’ll be pretty happy if NC State wrecks them.

14 Oklahoma State at 18 Oklahoma              7:30pm                     ABC

Bedlam, baby! In primetime! Why!

Mississippi State at 13 Georgia                     7:30pm                     SECN

I don’t root for the UGAs often but I’ll be deeply in their corner this week. I want Mike Leach out of a job by the end of next season.

Arizona at Washington                                    8:00pm                      FOX

Pretty sweet uniform matchup, if nothing else. It is nothing else.

20 USC at Utah                                                10:30pm                    ESPN

I should really want to watch this game but I really don’t.

Boise State at Hawaii                                      11:00pm                  CBSSN

Maybe Boise will be tired from travel but they have no business winning by less than 20. Hawaii is not running that GoGo shit and they deserve to burn for it.

GAMES OF THE WEEK

Charlotte at 15 Marshall                                  Postponed

Wake Forest at Duke                                       Postponed

ULM vs. Louisiana Tech (in Shreveport, LA)    Canceled

Ole Miss at 5 Texas A&M                                 Postponed

Central Arkansas at 24 Louisiana                   Canceled

Michigan State at Maryland                            Canceled

San Jose State at Fresno State                      Canceled

UNLV at Colorado State                                  Canceled

Arizona State at Colorado                              Canceled

Washington State at Stanford                        Canceled

Navy at USF                                                      Canceled

[junker-town]

Transfer QBs who could face their old teams, ranked by ZEST

At this point, it might be hard to avoid some of these teams linking up in bowl season.

Though major college sports do not have the dreaded TRANSFER EPIDEMIC that the suits like to use as a scare tactic, it is true that highly rated QB recruits are pretty likely to end up changing schools. There’s only one football to snap at each school, after all

With a real flurry of big names sailing through the Multiversal Transfer Portal of late, let’s review some of the popping-est potential bowl season reunions for 2019 or 2020 or so.

This is far from an exhaustive list (apologies to everyone yearning to see Kansas’ Peyton Bender vs. Washington State, Indiana’s Jack Tuttle vs. Utah, and so forth), and I very well might’ve missed a really good one, so throw any other heat in the comments as well.

8. USF vs. Alabama, Arizona State, and Oklahoma (in order)

Blake Barnett, 2015’s No. 1 QB recruit, threw 19 passes for the Tide and five for Arizona State before landing at USF. Why is Oklahoma also here? Because that’s where the guy who replaced him at Bama now resides (see No. 1 on this list). Barnett makes the list because of his high pedigree and breadth of options.

7. UCF vs. Notre Dame

2017 Irish starter Brandon Wimbush lost his gig to Ian Book. But if these two teams were to meet in a big bowl game, I think the internet might not even notice the reunion, since it’d be too busy pondering whether it hates the ancient blueblood school or the loudmouth upstart school more.

6. Washington vs. Georgia

Freshman Jacob Eason was UGA’s future until subsequent freshman Jake Fromm became UGA’s future. I don’t know if BEEF FACTOR would be super high here, partly since this transfer meant a move back home to Seattle for Eason.

Teams try to avoid agreeing to bowl games that have too much personal distress on the line (this is why the inevitable Texas-Texas A&M reunion ain’t coming in some mid-tier bowl), but the New Year’s Six games are a different story. Washington could win the Pac-12. Georgia could win the SEC. This is plausible.

5. Miami vs. Ohio State

New Canes QB Tathan “Tate” Martell was a Tebow-esque goal line QB for the Buckeyes as a redshirt freshman. Adding some considerable spice: Martell and new Ohio State QB Justin Fields might have some degree of personal animosity as well, publicly visible via social media subs.

4. Missouri/Northwestern combo vs. Clemson

What a journalism school that would be, and we’d never hear the end of it. Before Trevor Lawrence pushed Kelly Bryant to Mizzou, the two of them pushed former five-star Hunter Johnson back to the Midwest.

Lawrence vs. Bryant was a major story line throughout most of the 2018 calendar year, and it’s quite clear Clemson made the right choice, but there’d be some tension to this one.

3. Ohio State vs. Georgia

Five-star Fields leaves his home state after a freshman season in which his role was limited to little more than handing off and running one of the costliest fake punts of all time. If Fields ends up winning big at Ohio State, and if we were to learn that fake punt happened to be the last straw before his transfer, then it’d go down as easily the costliest.

Another potential Playoff reunion.

2. Michigan vs. Ole Miss

Shea Patterson’s Oxford exit in the wake of NCAA sanctions went beyond normal paperwork squabbling and institutional pettiness. The school objected to Patterson becoming eligible immediately at Michigan, but the NCAA decided it liked the idea of Patterson playing more than it liked the idea of agreeing with Ole Miss.

Also, this can actually happen in some bowl game, now that Ole Miss’ ban is done.

1. Oklahoma vs. Alabama

When Jalen Hurts saved Bama’s season in relief of Tua Tagovailoa, mere months after Tua had done the reverse against the same opponent in the same building, we sure thought we’d just seen an ending too over-the-top legendary for Hollywood.

But there is ACTUALLY A PRETTY GOOD CHANCE that their story can reach an even more ridiculous new level.

Tagovailoa’s Bama will be favored to win the SEC again. Hurts’ Oklahoma will be favored to win the Big 12 again. The two are in the early top six on the national title odds board, and if you were to only give each conference one seed, they’d be in the top four.

Within 24 months, we really might see Tua replace Jalen in the title game, Jalen replace Tua in the SEC Championship, and (let’s aim as high as possible) Jalen face Tua in the title game. That’s absurd.

[actionsports01]

Kacie Evans Tallied14 Kills to Lead Georgia

Kacie Evans Tallied14 Kills to Lead Georgia

OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Georgia volleyball team swept the Ole Miss Rebels Friday evening at the Gillom Center (25-18, 25-19, 25-21).

The sweep is Georgia’s third in conference play this season and first since Oct. 30. Georgia also sweeps the home-and-home series with the Rebels for the first time since 2013.

Freshman Kacie Evans tallied 14 kills to lead the Georgia (18-7, 10-4)…

[thecollegefootballguy]

The Real 2020 Season: Week 3

Hello everyone, welcome to Week 3 of The Real 2020 Season! We’re imagining how things would have gone in the 2020 football season if COVID hadn’t ruined everything.

Check out the previous weeks here if you’d like a bit of context: Week 0, Week 1, Week 2

-

The Rankings

Week 3 AP Poll

1. Clemson 2-0 (2-0) 2. Alabama 2-0 (0-0) 3. Georgia 2-0 (0-0) 4. Oklahoma 2-0 (0-0) 5. Oregon 2-0 (0-0) 6. Florida 2-0 (1-0) 7. Texas 2-0 (0-0) 8. Notre Dame 2-0 9. Auburn 2-0 (0-0) 10. Texas A&M 2-0 (0-0) 11. Ohio State 1-1 (0-0) 12. Oklahoma State 2-0 (0-0) 13. Washington 2-0 (0-0) 14. LSU 1-1 (0-0) 15. UCF 2-0 (0-0) 16. Minnesota 2-0 (0-0) 17. Utah 2-0 (0-0) 18. Iowa 2-0 (0-0) 19. Indiana 2-0 (1-0) 20. USC 1-1 (0-0) 21. Cincinnati 2-0 (0-0) 22. Penn State 1-1 (0-0) 23. Missouri 2-0 (1-0) 24. Liberty 2-0 25. Memphis 2-0 (0-0)

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The Narrative

The biggest news around the college football landscape are the ripples emanating from three upsets of top ten teams the week before. Ohio State’s and Penn State’s losses in particular are severely hurting the Big Ten. The whole league, widely regarded as the second strongest conference in the nation after the SEC, now more or less looks like they have no team with a wide open shot at the Playoff only 2 weeks in. It’ll be a continuing problem for the whole season. LSU’s loss to Texas in Baton Rouge shocked the defending champions, but the SEC as a whole is in a much stronger position relative to the Big Ten even with the Tigers’ loss. They have 5 teams in the top ten after all.

Oregon’s win over Ohio State finally means the PAC-12 has a legitimate Playoff contender. It has been a long time in the wilderness for the Conference of Champions but the Ducks are definitely building momentum for a huge season.

As for the G5, the AAC has a huge lead over the rest of the conferences at that level. Even if a Boise State or an App State has a huge season they’ll have to defer to the American champ unless the league eats itself.

Many teams still haven’t played a quality opponent so far in the season so there still is a lot shrouded in mystery.

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The Games

We’re beginning to see a blending of both non-conference games as well as league play within several conferences. It still isn’t a super-exciting slate for many fans, but the game of the week is certainly the contest between #2 Alabama and #3 Georgia.

Winning teams are highlighted in bold.

Incarnate Word at Baylor UNLV at Iowa State Boston College at Kansas Vanderbilt at Kansas State Western Illinois at #12 Oklahoma State UTEP at #7 Texas Arizona at Texas Tech Maryland at West Virginia Ball State at #19 Indiana Arkansas State at Michigan San Jose State at #22 Penn State Rutgers at Temple #18 Iowa at #16 Minnesota South Dakota State at Nebraska Central Michigan at Northwestern Air Force at Purdue Appalachian State at Wisconsin Charlotte at Duke Florida Atlantic at Georgia Southern FIU at Old Dominion Marshall at Ohio Virginia Tech at Middle Tennessee #24 Liberty at Western Kentucky Prairie View A&M at Louisiana Tech SMU at North Texas #14 LSU vs Rice Jackson State at Southern Miss UAB at Miami FL Grambling State at UTSA Akron at #1 Clemson Miami OH at #21 Cincinnati Kent State at Kentucky Northern Illinois at Eastern Michigan Western Michigan at #8 Notre Dame Florida State at Boise State Northern Colorado at Colorado State New Mexico at New Mexico State Utah State at #13 Washington #17 Utah at Wyoming Nevada at South Florida UCLA at San Diego State Portland State at Oregon State #20 USC at Stanford Idaho at Washington State BYU at Arizona State Colorado at #10 Texas A&M South Alabama at #6 Florida #3 Georgia at #2 Alabama #23 Missouri at South Carolina Furman at Tennessee Arkansas at Mississippi State #9 Auburn at Ole Miss Duquesne at Coastal Carolina Louisiana at Georgia State NC State at Troy Texas State at Louisiana-Monroe Connecticut at Virginia Albany at Massachusetts Norfolk State at East Carolina Houston at #25 Memphis Navy at Tulane Northwestern State at Tulsa #15 UCF at Georgia Tech Murray State at Louisville Colgate at Syracuse Villanova at Wake Forest James Madison at North Carolina Richmond at Pittsburgh

Well it’s still not exactly a banner week. The titanic clash between #2 Alabama and #3 Georgia sort of lived up to expectations, although the Bulldogs really did look a step too slow for the Crimson Tide. It doesn’t necessarily mean that UGA is out of the Playoff race, the SEC champion will be in the Top 4 under basically any circumstances, but they’re gonna need an answer for the likely rematch with Alabama if they do make it to Atlanta.

The rest of the top five breezed through their matchups as #1 Clemson dispatched Akron and #5 Oregon brushed aside Hawaii. #4 Oklahoma was off this week. The rest of the major Playoff contenders in the top ten handled their foes easily. Aside from UGA’s loss we won’t see much of a shakeup at the top.

The only other ranked vs ranked matchup of the day belonged to #18 Iowa’s surprisingly easy victory over #16 Minnesota. With Wisconsin seeming to have taken a step back with their loss to Indiana, perhaps the Hawkeyes will return to the top of the West Division standings in the Big Ten. The only other ranked team that lost aside from Georgia and Minnesota was #20 USC on a road trip to rival Stanford. The loss is the Trojans’ second and knocks them out of the Playoff race early.

The G5 is experiencing their traditional September culling at the hands of the P5 and each other. The AAC is down to 4 undefeated teams in Cincinnati, Memphis, SMU, and UCF. The Sun Belt is sitting pretty with Coastal Carolina, Louisiana, and Troy. The Mountain West is already down to just Boise State. Conference-USA and the MAC already have 0 undefeated teams, putting them at an early disadvantage for the NY6 race. Boise does own the G5 game of the week with an easy home win over struggling Florida State.

There were several out-of-conference rivalry games being played such as WVU-Maryland, New Mexico-NMSU, and Marshall-Ohio but for the most part the results wouldn’t interest people who aren’t fans of those programs. Overall it wasn’t too exciting of a week.

-

The Standings

Conference games are now being played by every league, though most of the teams have still only played non-league contests. The standings are still not very indicative of real team quality of the Playoff race, but they’re still fun to look at.

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The Big Picture

The Playoff picture hasn’t been altered nearly as much in the past week as it did in weeks 1 and 2. Georgia’s loss doesn’t necessarily doom them. If the Bulldogs can rally to win the East and then beat Alabama in the rematch you know they’re heading to the semifinals. However, the fact remains that even with so much talent in the SEC it’s looking like the Crimson Tide might be in a class of their own this year, with LSU and UGA seemingly unable to compete. We’ll see how Auburn, A&M, and Florida fare.

The rest of the P5 didn’t have any seismic shifts. The Big Ten is definitely still languishing in the basement after all of their top programs took Ls in their first two weeks. They all rebounded in Week 3 but that barely takes the edge off the humiliation. We could seriously be looking at a Playoff without the Big Ten for the first time since the inception of the tournament. Clemson should still run through the ACC without hassle. The Big 12 is shaping up to be contested at least, with Texas and Oklahoma State lining up behind the Sooners. Oregon is definitely leading the PAC-12, but it’s harder to trust the Ducks with going something like 12-1 even though they beat Ohio State.

Not surprisingly, the AAC is absolutely lapping the competition in the G5 race. With their win over Georgia Tech, UCF now has two P5 scalps in this young season. If they go undefeated, the Knights will again have a compelling case for inclusion in the Playoff. That may be a big if, with Cincinnati and Memphis and perhaps others providing some internal competition. The Mountain West, usually the second strongest of the G5 conferences, is once again putting all of its eggs in one basket with Boise State, the only remaining undefeated team in the league. The Sun Belt, usually one of the weakest conferences, is in a stronger position than usual, though this time it looks like either Coastal Carolina, Louisiana, or Troy will try their hand at supplanting Appalachian State. The Mountaineers already have two losses on the season. It’s unlikely that C-USA or the MAC will be able to put a team into a NY6 bowl with the way things have developed so far.

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The New Rankings

Week 4 AP Poll

1. Alabama 3-0 (1-0) 2. Clemson 3-0 (2-0) 3. Oklahoma 2-0 (0-0) 4. Oregon 3-0 (0-0) 5. Florida 3-0 (1-0) 6. Texas 3-0 (0-0) 7. Notre Dame 3-0 8. Auburn 3-0 (1-0) 9. Texas A&M 3-0 (0-0) 10. Ohio State 2-1 (0-0) 11. Oklahoma State 3-0 (0-0) 12. Georgia 2-1 (0-1) 13. Washington 3-0 (0-0) 14. LSU 2-1 (0-0) 15. Iowa 3-0 (1-0) 16. UCF 3-0 (0-0) 17. Utah 3-0 (0-0) 18. Indiana 3-0 (1-0) 19. Missouri 3-0 (1-0) 20. Cincinnati 3-0 (0-0) 21. Penn State 2-1 (0-0) 22. Stanford 3-0 (2-0) 23. Liberty 3-0 24. Memphis 3-0 (1-0) 25. Miami FL 3-0 (0-0)

The polls didn’t change a whole lot because almost all of the top 25 cruised through their games against weaker opponents. Despite the relative lack of movement, we have a new #1 as Alabama supplants Clemson as the highest regarded team in the nation following their win over Georgia. The Bulldogs fell out of the Top Ten following their loss to the Tide, but only just. USC and Minnesota drop out of the polls following their losses and were replaced by Stanford and Miami.

The American remains the only G5 conference with any teams in the poll, and they have three with UCF, Cincinnati, and Memphis. Though of course the voters are keeping even those programs an arm’s length away from the top ten, UCF even fell down a spot as Iowa leapt over them following the Hawkeyes’ big win over the Gophers. It’s a hard luck world for the G5.

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Week 3 is in the books! Stay tuned to see how the rest of the Real 2020 Season plays out!

[auburnfamilynews]

I must be honest, I really thought to myself, there really is no reason to do a Roasted this upcoming week. Auburn has an off week, so everyone will be at home watching games and enjoying a fantastic weather weekend and a really long week of stress and long nights. Then we finally kicked things off and that thought went right out the window. So let’s get right to it, welcome into the Roasted!

2020 IS FINALLY TURING AROUND FOR JERRY FALWELL

If you tell me that Sam Pittman can’t be the Coach of the Year for whatever reason, I submit that Hugh Freeze should be that man then. Ol Hugh, with the help of former Tiger Malik Willis, has the Liberty Flames ranked and undefeated at 6-0 and ranked for the first time in recorded history. Most detractors would point out that the Flames schedule was somewhat weak and a 2 point win over FIU did give off the biggest confidence boost. However, a win over Syracuse was a nice touch but the clock seemed about to strike midnight on the Flames with a trip to Blacksburg, VA this weekend.

The Hokies and the Flames went back and forth in a great game that you should really sit down and watch if you get a chance, but after both teams scored TDs in the last two minutes to knot things up at 35, Liberty got the ball just over mid field to try for a 59 YARD FIELD GOAL! (just click the video…don’t read the post).

Virginia Tech blocked the kick and returned it for a TD to end the game BUT they called a timeout right before the snap. On the next play, Liberty kicked it for the win. College football remains insane. pic.twitter.com/YKxPBeJAi0

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) November 7, 2020

If you were a bad person, or already knows what’s coming, then you know that Virginia Tech called a time out juuuuuuuuust before the snap of the ball, meaning that block and return for a TD never happened. OH URBAN MEYER, HOW YOU STILL PLAY TRICKS ON PEOPLE!!

So Liberty decided to line up for a Hail Mary, that went about 8 yards and out of bounds to set up a much more makeable FG for the Flames.

The ending of No. 25 Liberty vs. Virginia Tech was wild as the Flames reach 7-0! pic.twitter.com/FHz6Nkld4X

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 7, 2020

I love it when coaches out smart themselves.

So the Flames are now 7-0 on the season and still on track for one of the biggest Non Power 5 games of the year at the beginning of December against Coastal Carolina.

WHO KNEW PEOPLE IN GEORGIA WEARING RED WOULD BE MAD AT THE END

I swear this is the only somewhat political thing I will post. This is a happy place where we make fun of other college football things, but when this is said, I can’t ignore it.

You just really can’t make this stuff up. Maybe they can just move the UF/UGA game to Sunday? pic.twitter.com/mqea6Rq2Zd

— Michael Villafana (@Mike_Villafana) November 6, 2020

Never mind that we are only figuring out who Americans voted to be the leader of the free world for the next 4 years, DaWgS aRe PlAyInG fOr ThE sEc EaSt BoSs MaN!

Well, after the first play from scrimmage (and stop me if you’ve heard this), the red team took an early lead.

THAT’S HOW YOU START A GAME ZAMIR WHITE pic.twitter.com/TWN6RwiZck

— PFF College (@PFF_College) November 7, 2020

Bold strategy by the Gator defense to socially distance during the first part of the game like that.

Georgia would bolt out to a 14-0 lead before the Gators finally got their feet under them and get on the board.

It was at that point, Georgia fan’s wanted the game to end.

Stop the Count! - UGA fans

— Radric Davis (@PrinceAppiah13) November 7, 2020

However, that is not how life works and we play until the end…much like Florida did.

Kyle Trask to Trevon Grimes before the half. Trask is 20/26 for 341 yards and four TDs in 30 minutes. #Gatorspic.twitter.com/KucjUgMy4D

— OnlyGators.com Florida Gators news (@onlygators) November 7, 2020

So the Gators take Jacksonville and now move on to…perhaps…a meeting with the Tide if they take care of their business. Though they now hold a game and a half lead over the Dawgs nows.

SHADE ALL AROUND!

So far this year, it has been a banner year for shade being tossed around by teams around the country.

If you didn’t know, Penn State is 0-3 after being delt a heavy loss by Maryland, to which the Terps took ALL the chances to throw that shade.

SAD VALLEY. pic.twitter.com/MLvELL9lf7

— Maryland Football (@TerpsFootball) November 7, 2020

That’s strong but I feel like you could have gon…..

KEY RACE ALERT pic.twitter.com/Bl4DOBAVd3

— Maryland Terrapins (@umterps) November 7, 2020

BAM!!! THERE IT IS!!! HOT DAMN THAT’S SOME GOOD SHIT!

A little bit closer to home, Arkansas overcame a 13-0 halftime deficit to pull off a 24-13 win over Tennessee in Fayette-nam.

We have documented how strong the Piggy Twitter machine is this year and they came after it again this week.

Jukebox > Record players pic.twitter.com/7jnkp6HeDn

— Arkansas Razorback Football (@RazorbackFB) November 8, 2020

Mmmmm that is some good stuff right there. If there is one good thing about Auburn pulling off that win, its that I don’t have to do a strong head nod at them for whatever they had ready for us.

So what did I miss, I know I can’t see EVERYTHING no matter how much I try. Feel free to comment below, and have a great week!

pic.twitter.com/8nwH2P6Y1R

— no context college football (@nocontextcfb) November 8, 2020

from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2020/11/9/21556476/boom-roasted-week-7-edition

[thecollegefootballguy]

Bizarro Football: An Alternate History of College Football in 2017

It’s time for the 2017 installment of Bizarro Football. This series is imagining a world where the last conference realignment cycle never happened. Every football program is in the conference they called home before the 2011 season.

Check out the previous seasons first if you’d like to catch up: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016

This post is basically an amalgamation of the various other conference posts I’ve made throughout this (and part of last) off season. Check those out here:

ACC: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 Big East: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 Big Ten: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 Big 12: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 PAC-10: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 SEC: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018

I’ve made some adjustments for games that were never played as well as incorporating the G5 and Notre Dame, but otherwise things haven’t changed from these earlier posts.

So far, there hasn’t been too much difference in the Playoff scenarios outside of 2014. We’ll see if that trend continues into 2017, which obviously was an interesting year for the Playoff, as it featured two teams from the same conference in Alabama and Georgia. Will it play out the same way this time around?

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ACC

Atlantic Division

Clemson 13-0 (8-0) Wake Forest 9-3 (5-3) NC State 8-4 (5-3) Boston College 6-6 (3-5) Florida State 6-6 (3-5) Maryland 4-8 (1-7)

Coastal Division

Miami FL 10-2 (7-1) Virginia Tech 9-3 (5-3) Georgia Tech 5-6 (4-4) Virginia 6-6 (3-5) Duke 6-6 (3-5) North Carolina 4-8 (1-7)

ACC Championship Game: Clemson over Miami FL

With Florida State unexpectedly collapsing, Clemson suddenly became the unchallenged rulers of the Atlantic Division. They would have been masters of the whole conference without any pretenders to the throne if Miami hadn’t had a stunning turnaround of their own. Both the Tigers and Hurricanes went into the final week of the regular season undefeated, but Miami lost to Boston College the same way they lost to Pitt in real life. Clemson then put a hurting on the Canes in the ACC Championship Game to punch their ticket to the Playoff for the third year in a row.

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Big East

Louisville 10-2 (5-2) South Florida 9-2 (5-2) West Virginia 9-3 (5-2) Syracuse 8-4 (5-2) Pittsburgh 7-5 (5-2) Cincinnati 3-9 (1-6) Rutgers 3-9 (1-6) Connecticut 2-10 (1-6)

Without the threat of messing up the Playoff race, the Big East can be enjoyed for the beautiful mess that it is. This was actually one of their stronger years in recent history, only the bottom third of the league was terrible. I have the conference finishing the year with a five team pileup atop the standings, so I assume that tiebreakers would essentially be useless outside of the rankings. So with the fewest losses, I assume Louisville are the NY6 representatives. 

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Big Ten

Penn State 11-1 (7-1) Wisconsin 11-1 (7-1) Michigan State 9-3 (6-2) Ohio State 9-3 (6-2) Iowa 9-3 (5-3) Northwestern 7-5 (4-4) Purdue 6-6 (4-4) Michigan 7-5 (3-5) Minnesota 5-7 (1-7) Indiana 4-7 (1-7) Illinois 2-10 (0-8)

This incarnation of the Big Ten was a huge mess. Ohio State was the league’s best team, but the Buckeyes dropped the ball a few times down the stretch to Penn State and Iowa (plus they got embarrassed by Oklahoma early on). Penn State was 11-0 before falling by a field goal to Michigan State at the end of the year, putting a shoo-in Playoff spot in doubt. Wisconsin is also in the Playoff mix, but the Badgers’ own loss to Ohio State makes their bid also somewhat complicated. Conference stalwarts Michigan State and Iowa obviously impacted the race, but couldn’t muster enough wins to make their own cases.

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Big 12

North

Iowa State 9-4 (6-2) Kansas State 9-4 (6-2) Missouri 8-4 (5-3) Colorado 7-5 (3-5) Nebraska 4-8 (2-6) Kansas 1-11 (0-8)

South

Oklahoma 13-0 (8-0) Oklahoma State 11-1 (7-1) Texas Tech 8-4 (4-4) Texas 6-6 (4-4) Texas A&M 5-7 (2-6) Baylor 2-10 (1-7)

Big 12 Championship Game: Oklahoma over Iowa State

The Big 12 runs through Bedlam in 2017. Without a trip to Ames, the Sooners barge through the season undefeated. With TCU still in the Mountain West and Kansas State off the schedule, the Cowboys also go 11-0. In a likely top five matchup, OU outpaces their rivals in Norman and secure the Big 12 South. Oklahoma won’t lose to Iowa State in the Big 12 Championship Game. Props to the Cyclones for securing their first ever North title. OU punches their ticket to the Playoff.

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PAC-10

USC 10-2 (8-1) Stanford 9-3 (7-2) Washington 10-2 (7-2) Washington State 8-4 (5-4) UCLA 6-6 (4-5) Oregon 7-5 (4-5) Arizona State 5-7 (4-5) Arizona 6-6 (4-5) California 5-7 (2-7) Oregon State 1-11 (0-8)

Somewhat in reverse of the previous season, USC wins the conference championship despite Washington really being the better team by the end of the year. The trend of the PAC-10 not being a very good conference is in full swing, so they really had no impact on the Playoff race. With the Rose Bowl hosting a semi-final, the Trojans aren’t even guaranteed a NY6 bid.

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SEC

East

Georgia 11-2 (6-2) South Carolina 8-4 (5-3) Florida 4-7 (3-5) Kentucky 6-6 (3-5) Vanderbilt 5-7 (1-7) Tennessee 5-7 (1-7)

West

Auburn 10-3 (7-1) Alabama 11-1 (7-1) LSU 9-3 (6-2) Mississippi State 8-4 (4-4) Ole Miss 6-6 (3-5) Arkansas 5-7 (2-6)

SEC Championship Game: Georgia over Auburn

The SEC plays out a lot like it did in real life, with a few key differences. This time around, both Auburn and Georgia enter the game with two losses. The Tigers lost to Clemson and LSU as they did in real life. In this scenario, the Bulldogs lose to Auburn as well as suffer an early loss in Tuscaloosa, which I’m sure would have been an amazing game.

Alabama and Georgia were the best teams in the conference, but the confusing knot involving both these teams and Auburn complicates the Playoff picture. We have the Crimson Tide, plowing their way through the toughest division in football, going 11-0 before dropping the ball in the Iron Bowl. UGA had a slight loss early in the regular season on the road in Tuscaloosa, and a not as slight loss later on to the Tigers. Then they beat Auburn, the only team to beat Alabama, in the rematch in the SEC Championship. The Tigers obviously won’t make the Playoff, but they had an incredible season themselves, going 2-2 against Playoff-bound opponents. That loss to LSU stings a bit, though.

One interesting point is that the bottom half of the SEC actually kinda sucked. They certainly weren’t head and shoulders above the rest of the Power Conferences in 2017 despite all of the fireworks going on at the top.

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Notable non-BCS Conference Teams

UCF 12-0 (8-0)* Memphis 10-1 (7-1) TCU 12-0 (8-0)* Notre Dame 9-3

*conference champions

2018 was UCF’s “national championship” year, but do the undefeated Knights even get into the NY6 with a 12-0 TCU Horned Frogs team potentially throwing up a road block?

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Projected CFP Rankings

#1. Oklahoma 13-0 (8-0) #2. Clemson 13-0 (8-0) #3. Alabama 11-1 (7-1) #4. Georgia 11-2 (6-2) #5. Penn State 11-1 (7-1) #6. Wisconsin 11-1 (7-1) #7. Oklahoma State 11-1 (7-1) #8. Auburn 10-3 (7-1) #9. Washington 10-2 (7-2) #10. Miami FL 10-2 (7-1) #11. USC 10-2 (8-1) #12. TCU 12-0 (8-0) #13. Ohio Sate 9-3 (6-2) #14. UCF 12-0 (8-0) #15. Iowa 9-3 (5-3)

Boy, I would not have wanted to be on the Selection Committee this year. They really had their work cut out for them. Oklahoma and Clemson obviously get in as undefeated P5 champions. Alabama should be a no-brainer for the #3 spot as the best team with only one loss. I assume it would be obvious that Wisconsin and Oklahoma State were longshots and would get passed over. So, the tough conversation needs to be had between 11-2 SEC Champion Georgia and 11-1 Big Ten co-champion Penn State. Both teams were REALLY good in 2017. Bulldogs fans probably don’t want to hear it but the Nittany Lions probably were as good as UGA, many of the computers bear this out at least. I think that Georgia gets in based on the strength of their resume. Still, I could definitely see it going the other way. The Bulldogs already had their shot at Alabama and lost. Boy this would have been controversial, even though it is probably the right choice.

As an aside, here’s what the Rankings probably looked like before rivalry week:

#1. Alabama 11-0 (7-0) #2. Oklahoma 11-0 (7-0) #3. Penn State 11-0 (7-0) #4. Clemson 11-0 (7-0) #5. Oklahoma State 11-0 (7-0) #6. Miami FL 10-0 (7-0) #7. Georgia 9-2 (5-2) #8. Auburn 9-2 (5-2) #9. Wisconsin 10-1 (6-1) #10. Washington 9-2 (6-2)

I mean, come on, that’s tough.

Oh yeah, the NY6 bowls. With the Rose and Sugar hosting the semifinals, there are actually a lot of at-large bids to go around.

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Projected NY6 Games

Cotton Bowl: #5 Penn State vs #12 TCU

I’m betting that TCU gets the G5 bid over UCF. That 12-0 record in Conference USA just doesn’t mean as much. Plus the Horned Frogs were a bit better anyway. Can I say that? I’m saying it. Also Penn State probably crucifies TCU to make a point over getting left out of the Playoff.

Fiesta Bowl: #7 Oklahoma State vs #9 Washington

I like this one. The purest of the Big 12 spread offenses against Washington’s plodding, efficient offense and defense. The computers say the Huskies were a bit better, but I’m really not super confident in UW’s ability to outscore a team like Oklahoma State if their defense gets run out of gas. 

Orange Bowl: #6 Wisconsin vs #10 Miami FL

We had this one in real life. The turnover chain was fun, but Miami couldn’t take the pounding Wisconsin exacts.

Peach Bowl: #8 Auburn vs #20 Louisville

This time, Auburn gets lobbed a softball instead of a a punch to the mouth via a UCF team trying to declare themselves national champions. I assume the Tigers win easily. God bless the Big East.

Rose Bowl (semifinal): #1 Oklahoma vs #4 Georgia

Deja.

Sugar Bowl (semifinal): #2 Clemson vs #3 Alabama

Vu.

This one feels a bit stickier than last 2016, which felt like a slam dunk. Alabama makes the Playoff so I assume they win, but any number of things could have changed the Oklahoma-Georgia outcome. I guess I’ll give the Tide the championship though, they were the best team and they’d have deserved it.

-

I’m feeling pretty good about Bizarro football in the Playoff era. It’s been nearly identical to the real life top 4. This season could have had Penn State over Georgia, but overall the champion wouldn’t have changed.

[auburnfamilynews]

John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

It’s so close we can taste it.

It’s been a long week. That’s a statement we can pretty much all agree on, right?

Well, the SEC decided it was high time to throw everyone a bone on Friday morning, with the release of the long-awaited SEC Basketball Schedule!

The @SEC schedule is here. Which games are you most excited about? #WarEagle

— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) November 6, 2020

Dec. 30 (Wed.) vs. Arkansas

Jan. 2 (Sat.) at Texas A&M

Jan. 6 (Wed.) at Ole Miss

Jan. 9 (Sat.) vs. Alabama

Jan. 13 (Wed.) at Georgia

Jan. 16 (Sat.) vs. Kentucky

Jan. 20 (Wed.) at Arkansas

Jan. 23 (Sat.) at South Carolina

Jan. 26 (Tue.) vs. Missouri

Feb. 2 (Tue.) vs. Georgia

Feb. 6 (Sat.) vs. Ole Miss

Feb. 9 (Tue.) at Vanderbilt

Feb. 13 (Sat.) at Kentucky

Feb. 16 (Tue.) vs. Mississippi State

Feb. 20 (Sat.) at LSU

Feb. 23 (Tue.) vs. Florida

Feb. 27 (Sat.) vs. Tennessee

March 2 (Tue.) at Alabama

I’m sure Dr. McLaughlin will be providing you with a more in-depth look at the schedule in the coming days and weeks, but here’s a few quick reactions I have:

Auburn picks up its traditional home and homes with UGA, Alabama, and Ole Miss, as well as home and homes with Arkansas and Kentucky. That’s a somewhat tough draw, with those teams ranking 13th, 6th, 5th, 7th, and 1st in the SEC in preseason KenPom.

Speaking of KenPom, Auburn ranks 66th in the country and 10th in the SEC going into the season. This is understandable given Auburn’s lack of any returning production, and most places expect Auburn to outperfrom that ranking this season.

Auburn has a chance to struggle early if road woes continue as they have the last few years. Five of Auburn’s first eight conference games are on the road, although the opponents may be fairly forgiving. Only Ole Miss of that group is in the top six of the conference in preseason KenPom.

The week of January 9th-16th could be a wild ride for basketball fans’ emotions, as the team hosts Alabama, visits UGA midweek, and then hosts Kentucky the next Saturday. Something tells me we will see a host of reactionary declarations that week - what kind depends on the outcome of those games.

Auburn will have a three-conference-game-home-slate at the end of January, but that will be broken up by Auburn traveling to Baylor on January 30th.

The talk about Auburn’s extremely young team rounding into shape by the end of the season will need to be true. Starting February 13th in Lexington, the rest of the schedule (sans likely Mississippi State) could be against NCAA Tournament hopefuls. Auburn finishes the regular season at Kentucky (1stin the SEC in preseason KenPom), vs Mississippi State (12th), at LSU (3rd), vs Florida (4th), vs Tennessee (2nd), and at Alabama (6th).

Count me in for locking Tennesse in as our last home game of the year every season. This will be the third straight year Auburn has faced its biggest rival on senior day, and I think it’s safe to say those games have gone pretty well for Auburn in the past.

Source: Auburn and Appalachian State have agreed to a multi-year series starting this year at Auburn. 2022: At Appalachian State 2023: At Auburn

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) November 6, 2020

We don’t have a date yet, but Auburn and App State have agreed to a 2-for-1 series, per Rothstein, which will start with a home game this season.

App State has been a middling Sun Belt team for the last decade or so. They won the regular season title four times in the 2000’s, but last made the NCAA tournament in the 1999-2000 season.

Head Coach Dustin Kerns helped start a nice turnaround for the program in his first season last year, bringing the Mountaineers their first winning season since 2011.

No date is provided for this years game at this time.

Jon Rothstein tweeted out one more bit of news this morning, this one about Auburn’s season opener.

Fort Myers Tip-Off schedule, per release: 11/26: Kansas/Gonzaga (1:30 PM ET), Auburn/St. Joe's (4:30 PM ET) 11/27: Gonzaga/Auburn (11 AM ET), Kansas/St. Joe's (1:30 PM ET)

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) November 6, 2020

While it was previously expected that Auburn and St. Joe’s would tip off the season on Wednesday November 25th, we’ll have to wait one more day.

I do love the idea of watching the season-opener with a stomach full of Thanksgiving feast, but the fact that Auburn now has to play Gonzaga on 16 hours rest is less than ideal. That’s 2020 for you, I guess.

from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2020/11/6/21552908/basketball-conference-slate-released-auburn-sec-2021

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Kevin C Cox

On the road at 11AM. How confident are we?

Once again, most of us took Auburn against the number last week and failed miserably. The Tigers still came out with a victory, but it wasn’t exactly anything to write home about.

This week features a road trip to Columbia, SC. Auburn has never lost to the Gamecocks since they joined the SEC 28 years ago, and the 2010 team dropped South Carolina twice on the way to a national championship. How will the 2020 team fare?

Auburn (-3) @ South Carolina (O/U 51.5)

SP+ Pick: Auburn -6; under (48)

I’m honestly not sure what to think here. On the one hand, Auburn is the significantly more talented team in this matchup. Despite how last week’s game went down, the offense clearly showed progress in both the passing and ground game, and the defense will hopefully be getting some healthy bodies back (Big Kat, Simpson) to bolster their ranks.

However, just judging by production, things favor Carolina. The Gamecocks lead Auburn in all four yards per attempt categories (Offensive Passing and Rushing YPA, Defensive Passing and Rushing YPA). South Carolina has been slightly more productive at turning Red Zone chances into points (90% vs Auburn’s 80%), and the two teams are roughly identical on 3rd down on offense (40%). However, Carolina’s defense is vastly better than Auburn’s on 3rd Down, allowing a conversion rate of just 19% to Auburn’s 56%. Obviously none of those numbers account for opponents, but I’d say South Carolina has played an equally hard schedule at this point, with Tennessee, Florida, and Vanderbilt so far.

What does it all mean? Who knows. Predicting Auburn football is a futile exercise at this point. 30-21 Tigers on the back of Tank Bigsby, who becomes Auburn’s first 200 yard back since Kerryon Johnson’s 204 yard day against Ole Miss in 2017. (Auburn wins and covers; under by the hook)

—Ryan S Sterritt

I saw a good portion of both of South Carolina’s first two games, and one thing stood out in both. They just like to play big dumb football. While their run defense has been solid, the passing defense has left a little to be desired. Meanwhile, Auburn’s had a similar issue on that side of the ball, but there’s cause for hope! Last week’s struggles can directly be related to the thin lineup we had due to injuries. Offensively, we only played 15 guys. Fifteen! Both sides of the ball were getting a little banged up, and they’re not going to get much of a break this weekend with a pretty physical South Carolina run game.

While Muschamp hasn’t really made a serious mark in Columbia yet, he’s got two legitimate weapons in Kevin Harris (326 yds, 5.8 ypc, 4TDs) and Shi Smith (26 catches, 271 yds, 2 TDs), but not a whole lot outside of that. Colin Hill’s a walk-on, but he won the job in fall camp and he’s been pretty solid. Man, I don’t know. I have no idea. This year is so weird anyway, so I’m taking Auburn to win. Josh Dub has an interesting theory about post-Vanderbilt games for teams, and South Carolina played them this past weekend. We’ve got them right where we want them. Tigers get it done, 33-20. (Auburn wins and covers; over)

—Jack Condon

I have a theory. The Vanderbilt Effect. pretty much the opposite of the Bama Effect from a few years ago. Used to, you’d get so beat up playing Alabama, you typically play worse the following week. Regarding Vanderbilt: Basically, every team that plays Vanderbilt one week plays worse the next because they’re used to soft competition.

A&M scrapes by Vandy week 1, gets stomped by Alabama week 2 (Alabama covered)

LSU glides by Vandy week 2, gets lulled to sleep, loses to Mizzou week 3 (Mizzou covered)

Folks, who played Vanderbilt in week 3? That’s right, the fighting Will Muschamps.

Is there any statistical evidence of this? nope, not beyond what I just wrote. Who cares. Saturday will be a get right game for Auburn. Things will start to click for the offense and the defense.

Auburn 37 South Carolina 13 (Auburn wins and covers; under)

—Josh W

This is a pivotal game for the Tigers. Granted, you could say that about literally every game this season considering the all SEC schedule but I think this game has the biggest chance of indicating the trajectory of the rest of the year. Lose this game and Auburn is staring at 3-7/4-6 in the face. Win in a close one and the 6-4 finish continues to look the most likely. But, maybe just maybe, if Auburn can get their sh** together and put together four quarters of quality football resulting in a convincing victory we can start to dream of 8-2 again.

Unfortunately, I don’t really like this matchup for Auburn. Defensively, South Carolina has a talented front four that can be disruptive and will likely challenge this Auburn offensive line more than Arkansas last week. Offensively, new Gamecock offensive coordinator Mike Bobo likes to attack defenses in a way that has worked well against the Tigers this season. The #1 receiver is Shi Smith who operates mostly out of the slot. The #2 is tight end Nick Muse while #3 & #4 are running backs. Arkansas shredded Auburn’s defense, specifically on 3rd down, with their tight end and running back. Auburn struggled to slow down UGA slot WR Kearis Jackson two weekends ago. The Tigers need to find a pass rush so they don’t have to rely on blitzing to get pressure and can keep those linebackers back to cover those backs sneaking out of the backfield or tight ends leaking downfield.

For Auburn to win, I think they must take a step forward in one of these 3 areas:

1.) Downfield passing game 2.) 3rd Down Defense 3.) Redzone offense

If Auburn is noticeably better in any of these 3 areas they will win this football. Take a big step forward in most if not all and the Tigers will win in a blowout injecting some much needed positivity into this program.

My homer heart believes it happens and we head into a trip to Oxford next week excited about a Tiger offense coming alive. The realist brain tells me this is going to be a heartbreaker Auburn loses late. So I am going to split the difference and say the Tigers 3rd down defense steps up while the offense continues to flounder but does enough to get it done. AU gets some stops and generates enough big plays offensively from the trio of Seth/Schwartz/Tank they escape Columbia with a much needed W.

Auburn 27 South Carolina 23 (Auburn wins and covers; under)

—AUNerd

Welp, it almost worked last weekend, so let’s try it again.

On paper, Auburn is more talented than South Carolina. The Gamecocks have looked good....alrigh....ok, better than expected on offense with Collin Hill and his spaghetti knee. I am waiting for it to explode because of that SEC defensive pressure...BUT.....who knows if that will happen till the Cocks are exposed to the Dawgs.

I just don’t have a good feeling this weekend. Something tells me this is Muschamp’s chance to show that the program is getting better...all be it as slow as possible. On the other hand, Auburn is getting a ton of talent back, namely Big Kat...so that will help. I expect the offense to struggle and the defense to look better, but if Carolina has a lead late, I don’t expect the offense to be able to come through on the road like they did last week.

28-24 Cocks (South Carolina wins outright; over)

—Drew Mac

Admittedly I have been extremely hard on this program. I’m not happy with the lack of development of the offensive line for 3+ years, our inability to see a quarterback actually improve year over year for the better part of the last 30 years, targeting only 2 receivers for the most part in the various versions of this offense for the last 3-4 years, and not having your best running back start from day 1 in several years of this era. And sure, this defense has been banged up. I’ll die on the hill of defending these defensive coaches for 2020 thanks to carrying the water for this program for 4 years.

What we saw last week was one of the more inexplicable last 30 seconds of a game we’ve ever had, which is quite a statement. We had no business being in that position, then had no business winning the game, but still somehow did enough clutch things to actually win the game. And the most incredible part of it? None of it surprised me, especially winning. Why? Because Gus Malzahn doesn’t lose to teams he should beat. If Auburn has the talent advantage, no matter how truly weird it may look, Auburn usually wins. Which brings us to Saturday…

We’re going to win this game because we’re not (yet) a bad football team. We’re most definitely a deficient football team at the line of scrimmage. We’ve also been a banged up football team. That part looks set to improve. And to their credit, the offense line looked improved (I know, not saying much) on the ground last Saturday, and showed in the Kentucky game that they can be competent against the lower to middle pack of the SEC, which is essentially looking like 12 of the 14 teams this year.

Essentially I expect a rock fight Saturday between 2 coaches who may have the writing on the wall in 13 months. Then again in our case, who knows year to year anymore? But the levee hasn’t broken yet and I don’t think it will Saturday because for as hard as we all are on Gus Malzahn, his players have never quit on him or his staff. This isn’t a team that is hopeless like 08 or 12 was. We knew after 3 weeks in both years that we were dead. In 2015 we thought we were dead and yet somehow that team got to .500 in the regular season with absolutely nothing a quarterback in November. Maybe this year is more in line with 2015. Maybe this group will start to click as they get healthier. And maybe, just maybe they’re better than they’ve looked and a month of actual football with less COVID issues and getting players healthy will show that this is potentially a 7-8 win football team in 2020.

Again, time will only tell, but I ain’t picking a damn South Carolina team that tied us in 1932 and beat us last in 1933. That’s their history of success against us. Auburn doesn’t lose to this team. And if they do, then “Cryin’ won’t help ya, prayin’ won’t do you no good…when the levee breaks, Mama you got to move.”

Auburn 27 South Carolina 23 (Auburn wins and covers; under)

—Josh Black

Auburn is finally going to be close to full strength on defense and is playing a team that dares you to do as dumb of stuff as it does. If Auburn plays a sloppy gross game it will lose to South Carolina because they didn’t adopt sloppy gross games, they were born in them.

Auburn is going to win this game. There’s too much talent at auburn’s skill positions that eventually someone is going to break out and have a big game. This is that week for someone and I hope it is Tank.

Auburn 40 Scar 20 (Auburn wins and covers; over)

—Son of Crow

Auburn makes their first trip to Columbia since 2011 on Saturday which shows the ridiculousness of what is the SEC scheduling model. Auburn has not lost to South Carolina since 1933, the only time the Gamecocks have defeated the Tigers.

It sounds like we should have a much better idea of what the offensive line will look like the rest of the season after the game on Saturday but the Tigers were able to establish the run last week against Arkansas.

Tank Bigsby has been a godsend this year and I look for him to have a big game again this weekend. Hopefully the defense will get a bit healthier and the Tigers are able to take care of business.

Auburn 34 South Carolina 20 (Auburn wins and covers; over)

—Dr Will

Auburn is running out of time to bounce back from that Week 2 loss to Georgia. This has to be the game where they start putting things together. We saw the running game get going last week, and I’d like to see more of that this week. You have to think Muschamp is putting a little extra emphasis on this one so the Tigers could be in a for a nasty one, but I still have to believe they’ll get things together against a team they vastly out talent. I look for Bo to improve and for Tank to fully emerge as this offense’s feature back.

Auburn 27 - South Carolina 16 (Auburn wins and covers; under)

—AU Chief

I just don’t have a good feeling about this game at all. This Auburn team has shown me zero reason why I should be confident in them winning on the road against an SEC team. Auburn should have a coaching edge in this one, given who is on the other sideline, but I just can’t get all of the poor redzone mistakes (both coaching and execution) and five straight Arkansas scoring drives out of my head. This South Carolina team has more talent than Arkansas, and they’re playing at home. Each week is different, and Auburn will be a different team if they have a healthy Seth Williams and a few more healthy members of the defensive backfield, but until we know that we have both of those things, I’m out on this one. I hope I’m wrong, but I said in the post-Arkansas recap that we’re going to lose this game. I’ll stick to my guns. South Carolina 19, Auburn 16 (South Carolina wins outright; under).

—AU Jonesy

from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2020/10/17/21519783/staff-picks-south-carolina-vs-14-auburn

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Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports

Defense is optional this year

After only three weeks of SEC play only two teams remain undefeated. That number is assured to drop to one this time next week. Only one team has been unfortunate enough to lose every game so far this season. Everyone else seems capable of beating or losing to anyone else any day of the week.

It’s chaos and ya’ll know deep down you love it.

It was a wild weekend featuring numerous upsets and some close calls. Attempting to figure out who exactly should be ranked over whom is getting a little ridiculous at this point but I did my best. Let’s take a look at where things stand heading into Week 4.

#1.) Alabama 3-0 (—)

SP+: 3 | FPI: 3

Last Game: 63-48 W @ Ole Miss

Despite two dominant performances to start the season, there were some cracks showing on this Alabama defense. Lane Kiffin took a sledgehammer to it on Saturday night to reveal that everything is not suddenly better on that side of the ball for the Crimson Tide. Granted, Alabama’s excuse is that Kiffin knows their signals since it’s impossible for the opponent to actually just play well against them.

Alabama LB Dylan Moses said he “definitely” thinks Ole Miss had Alabama’s signals on defense, pointing to Lane Kiffin’s time in Tuscaloosa.

— Alex Scarborough (@AlexS_ESPN) October 11, 2020

But it didn’t matter. Mac Jones continues to show why Tua was not a “generational QB”. He was just a good QB in a system that does an excellent job getting its insane amount of playmakers the ball in space.

This weekend though is the big one. Can this offense continue to dominate against the best defense in America? Can this defense slow down UGA’s resurgent run game? I am fascinated to find out.

Next Game: vs Georgia

#2.) Georgia 3-0 (—)

SP+: 4 | FPI: 4

Last Game: 44-21 W vs Tennessee

For the 2nd time this season, UGA went into halftime trailing. For the 2nd time this season, it didn’t matter.

The Dawgs took control of the game in the 2nd half rattling off 27 unanswered points. The Dawgs run game still isn’t dominant but it’s effective. Kearis Jackson is emerging as a big time playmaker in the slot while Stetson Bennett continues to avoid making the big mistakes.

It gets real this weekend with a trip to Tuscaloosa. To be honest, I actually think the Dawgs have been the best team in the SEC through the first 3 weeks and have a great chance at winning this weekend. Can Kirby Smart get over that mental hurdle and take down his former mentor?

Next Game: @ Alabama

#3.) Texas A&M 2-1 (+3)

SP+: 22 | FPI: 24

Last Game: 41-38 W vs Florida

We were all ready to bury Texas A&M early in the third quarter when they fell behind 28-17. But credit this Jimbo Fisher team. They rallied and pulled out a must win and gave Jimbo his first big win as the head coach of the Aggies.

Kellen Mond had that game he has every year where it looks like maybe he’s actually turned the corner and is ready to be an elite QB. He threw for over 300 yards and 3 scores while completing 25 passes on 35 attempts. Isaiah Spiller though was the difference late just gashing a beat down Gator defense again and again.

Despite struggling to beat a bad Vanderbilt team week 1 and getting walloped by Bama week 2, A&M is now in position to cement themselves as the #2 team in the West and a potential CFB darkhorse.

Strange times.

Next Game: @ Mississippi State

#4.) Florida 2-1 (-1)

SP+: 8 | FPI: 9

Last Game: 38-41 L @ Texas A&M

The margin of error is now incredibly slim for the Gators if they wish to finally knock UGA off their SEC East perch. It looked like they had taken control of the game early in the 3rd quarter but poor defense and a brutal late fumble resulted in a frustrating upset.

This offense though is still scary and if the defense can just get slightly better they are still a force to be reckoned with in the East. They MUST win this weekend against a falling apart LSU squad.

Next Game: vs LSU

#5.) Tennessee 2-1 (-1)

SP+: 24 | FPI: 23

Last Game: 21-44 L @ Georgia

For two quarters it looked like Jeremy Pruitt’s Volunteers belonged with the Dawgs. Unfortunately for the men in orange, football is a four quarter game...

The Vols lost their chance to prove they are ready to be an SEC East contender but are still in position to make some noise this season. They play host to Kentucky this weekend, a program they have only lost to twice since 1984. With Alabama, Texas A&M, Auburn and Florida still on the schedule, the Vols have plenty of opportunities remaining to put together a big season.

Next Game: vs Kentucky

#6.) Auburn 2-1 (-1)

SP+: 14 | FPI: 13

Last Game 30-28 W vs Arkansas

Auburn rediscovered its run game this past Saturday but failed to consistently do anything through the air and defensively were exposed much of the 2nd half. Bo Nix escaped a catastrophic mistake thanks to an official being so surprised at such a dumb play he blew his whistle early. This team is littered with injuries especially on the defensive side of the ball and continue to struggle to put points on the board.

And yet...

The Tigers are 2-1 with a legitimate chance to beat everyone on their schedule not named Alabama. They likely won’t but it’s a testament to the averageness of the SEC that the Tigers will be the favorite in at least all but two games left on their schedule. If Bo Nix can find any sort of consistency and this defense can get somewhat healthy, they could be a problem later this year. But this weekend is a must win for Gus Malzahn if he hopes to have any shot at challenging for the SEC West crown.

Next Game: @ South Carolina

#7.) Ole Miss 1-2 (+2)

SP+: 44 | FPI: 51

Last Game: 48-63 L vs Alabama

I was wrong on a lot of things this preseason but one team I absolutely nailed was Ole Miss. Lane Kiffin inherited an offense loaded with playmakers and he’s getting the most out of them every night. He also inherited a defense that legitimately might be the worst in the country.

He took the Tide the distance Saturday night in one of the most entertaining games of the year. Now he must travel to take on a pissed off Arkansas team that is proving they aren’t the pushovers of years past.

Next Game: @ Arkansas

#8.) Kentucky 1-2 (+3)

SP+: 33 | FPI: 38

Last Game: 24-2 W vs Mississippi State

I thought the UK-MSST game would have the oddest of box scores this past weekend and man was I right. Just look at this majestic piece of art.

The `Cats dominated a game in which they only had 157 yards of offense including 2.6 yards per carry. That happens when the other team throws 6 interceptions. Though per UK fan logic Mississippi State was clearly the better team...

Next Game: @ Tennessee

#9.) Missouri 1-2 (+4)

SP+: 60 | FPI: 47

Last Game: 45-41 W vs LSU

Ok I didn’t see this one coming...

Elijah Drinkwitz got his first win as head coach of Missouri by beating the defending champs on a 1 yard goal line stand. It was an incredible offensive performance as the Tigers picked apart Pelini’s defense all day long. I still don’t think this is a great team but they deserve the bump after a big time win

Next Game: vs Vanderbilt

#10.) Arkansas 1-2 (—)

SP+: 72 | FPI: 46

Last Game: 28-30 L @ Auburn

As if Arkansas fans needed anymore reasons to hate Auburn...

After falling behind 17-0, Arkansas outscored the Tigers 28-13 the rest of the way. Unfortunately for them, that was not enough to make up for the slow start and now Gus Malzahn is 6-1 against his alma mater.

It’s clear Sam Pittman is getting the most out of this team and I think it’s likely they get at least one more W before this season is over. Let’s see if Barry Odom’s defense can slow the Lane Train down.

Next Game: vs Ole Miss

#11.) South Carolina 1-2 (+1)

SP+: 42 | FPI: 32

Last Game: 41-7 W vs Vanderbilt

After some valiant but unsuccessful efforts to start the season, Will Muschamp’s Gamecocks took it to a bad Vanderbilt team in Nashville over the weekend. Kevin Harris averaged 8 yards a carry and scored two touchdowns. They get a vulnerable Auburn team this weekend inside Williams-Brice Stadium. Which boom will be the loudest this weekend?

Next Game: vs Auburn

#12.) Mississippi State 1-2 (-5)

SP+: 54 | FPI: 57

Last Game: 2-24 L @ Kentucky

Ok so it turns out I wasn’t wrong about Mississippi State. This is a bad team who was fortunate enough to draw a REALLY bad LSU defense week 1. K.J. Costello is a walking turnover and Mike Leach is already blaming everything on his players. Things are totally gonna go great in Starkville this year.

Next Game: vs Texas A&M

#13.) LSU 1-2 (-5)

SP+: 18 | FPI: 16

Last Game: 41-45 @ Missouri

I thought LSU would take a major step back this season. I did not expect that step to be “2nd worst team in the SEC” back but here we are.

Turns out that Bo Pelini is in fact NOT better than Dave Aranda. The LSU defense is a sieve and seemingly incapable of making any sort of in game adjustments. With all that said though it still wouldn’t shock me if they upset Dan Mullen this weekend....

Next Game: @ Florida

#14.) Vanderbilt 0-3 (—)

SP+: 117 | FPI: 112

Last Game: 7-41 L vs South Carolina

Every team that has beaten Vanderbilt this season has immediately lost the following game. Here’s to hoping that trend continues.

Next Game: @ Missouri

War Eagle!

from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2020/10/12/21511196/sec-power-rankings-week-4

[auburnfamilynews]

Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

You ain’t seen bouncin’ back!

Alright, well let’s dust ourselves off and get back out there. At least most of us nailed the under! This is a bounce back opportunity for Auburn. Arkansas is coming off of their first conference win in 20 tries, but that’s what happen when you let BERT run your program.

What’s that?

No, I really don’t think they ever really gave him a chance. What was he supposed to do with all of two years to recruit to a completely different system?

Anyway, Auburn needs this game to work out offensive line issues, especially in the run game. Unfortunately Arkansas appears to be strong against the run. This might be one where you challenge the fortitude of your football team and make them guy through it. How do we feel it will go?

Note: Most of us started to pick this before Hurricane Delta started to move the line a bit. There’s a decent chance one of the bands could hit during the game, so that could affect scoring. I updated to what Bill Connolly used to judge SP+.

Auburn (-14) vs. Arkansas (O/U 46.5)

SP+ Pick: Auburn -16.6; Total 49 (OVER)

Yeah I’m still boiling over last Saturday’s abject failure and now am even more enraged at the notion that if we coach/play like we did in Athens in the middle of a hurricane on Saturday that we could end up losing to this team and ultimately wind up with a $50 million+ decision to make in a pandemic. I am not ok and will not be ok regardless of what happens Saturday.

Still, we should beat this team and cover this spread. Don’t let Mississippi State looking like ass fool you here, Arkansas is the worst team in this league, and the only debate to the contrary involves Vanderbilt. The problem is they are very well coached, WHICH MATTERS WHEN YOU WANT TO BEAT A MORE TALENTED TEAM ON THE ROAD IN THIS CONFERENCE NOT THAT I AM REFERENCING ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR NOPE JUST THROWING OUT SOME RANDOM BIT OF ANALYSIS HERE.

/takes a deep breath and attempts to rationalize anything in this stupid year…

Auburn needs to run the football 35-40 times. Not a single one of those carries should be a called run by Bo Nix. They will not be given a better opportunity to use a game to get better than this one. They need to figure out run blocking regardless of how tight that keeps the score. And it’ll mean a sloppy game where things get weird, but it can pay dividends in the coming weeks. They absolutely must use this game to settle the offensive line and get some confidence, because if you don’t you’re going to get bullied by Alabama, LSU, Tennessee, and probably be dared to get into a shootout with the Mississippi schools.

I think the offense looks rough as hell thanks to the weather and a need to grind through the deficiencies up front, but ultimately eek out an ugly win that feels similar to Ole Miss a year ago, where the game is in question on the scoreboard and the stats don’t align with it.

Auburn 27, Arkansas 10 (Auburn wins and covers; under)

—Josh Black

I am still pissed about last Saturday & will remain so for quite some time. The Tigers had a golden opportunity to change the AU/UGA narrative & establish themselves as a legitimate CFP contender. Instead, they got their butts beat & looked outclassed from head coach to student manager. It was embarrassing.

But despite the hopeless feelings of this week that AU fans have expressed quite verbosely on the internet wherever anyone would listen, the season isn’t over. The Tigers still have a chance to put together a season of football to be proud of but it has to start this weekend.

Auburn must win this game. That’s obvious but I’ll go a step further. Auburn must dominate this game. This team needs an emotional kickstart just as much as the fanbase. No, winning Saturday doesn’t make last weekend any better. It doesn’t even mean this team will end up being any good but a win at least gets this team going back in the right direction. A dominating win let’s this group feel like a GOOD football team again. I still believe the ingredients are there to be a good football team but it’s going to take some players at key positions elevating their play.

The weather might be nasty Saturday which could force both offenses to the ground. In the past, that would be a very good thing for Auburn. But I don’t feel as comfortable in 2020 about that situation. Still, despite the Hogs capturing their first win last week, they haven’t necessarily looked like an elite squad. It took 4 turnovers including a pick 6 for the Hogs to pull off last week’s upset. Their offense has yet to cross the 300 yard threshold & are averaging a pretty terrible 4.2 yards a play. If they win Saturday it will be because the Tigers turn the ball over too much & aren’t able to mentally shake last week’s loss.

However, I think this team shows up Saturday and plays better football. Specifically, I think Saturday becomes the Tank Bigsby show with the Tigers leaning on their explosive freshman and he responds by going over the century mark and putting some TDs on the board. On the other side of the ball, I expect the Hogs offense to make some big plays but struggle to finish drives. Franks can be turnover prone at times & I think a couple of picks turn this game into a blowout in the 2nd half.

Auburn 48, Arkansas 17 (Auburn wins and covers; over)

—AUNerd

Arkansas fans haaaaaaaaaaaate Chad Morris. Arkansas fans haaaaaaaaaaaaaaate Gus Malzahn. I don’t think our head coach much cares for Arkansas, either. These revenge games haven’t worked out for Arkansas very well. Auburn’s got some stuff to work out Saturday. If this game is close, Auburn has some soul searching to do. But this game won’t be close.

Auburn 56 Arkansas 3 (Auburn wins and covers; over)

—Josh W

I think this is a case of two teams who need a win desperately for various reasons. Auburn needs to win this game to prove to itself that it isn’t a bad football team, it just had a bad game. Arkansas needs to win because they got bad blood, but they used to have mad love. Now they got problems and I don’t think they can solve them, etc.

If Auburn and Chad Morris drop a fifty-spot on the hogs, they would be so angry they may never recover. However, if Gus has proven anything to us it is that he is vindictive.

Auburn 55, Arkansas 17 (Auburn wins and covers; over)

—Son of Crow

Man, I’ll admit, my confidence is shot after last weekend. It is really hard for me to trust Auburn beating anybody, much less by 18, right now. Nevertheless, this is the type of game Auburn wins big time under Gus, with the fanbase already too ticked off to be able to enjoy it. Auburn has a severe talent advantage, and even though we’re nicked up with some injuries, I expect the Auburn offense to come out with their hair on fire. Down KJ Britt, I do worry the defense may struggle, but I don’t think Arkansas has the ground game to take advantage of it. Tank Bigsby becomes the first Tiger to break 100 yards rushing since Boobee Whitlow in the Iron Bowl. 38-13 Good Guys. (Auburn wins and covers; over)

—Ryan S. Sterritt

If there was ever a weekend that could make me not want to watch football after the extended sports break we had with COVID, it was last weekend. I don’t need to tell you the myriad of ways in which Auburn sucked, but it was disheartening as hell. Now, we get to play a team that might actually be just what the doctor ordered. Gus and Chad clearly don’t have any sort of sentimental feelings toward the Pigs, but I think this is going to be a little tougher than the past few seasons have been. Still, there may be two teams each season that Gus saves a little fun for, and it’s Arkansas and Alabama.

With an impending deluge, we might not be as crisp as we’d like to see, but I can only imagine that the team got its ass kicked in practice this week. Not having heard any “good week of practice” quotes coming from the head man may indicate that we did indeed have a good week of practice. We still need to work on the run game, and I’m definitely not alone in believing that it’s going to be an emphasis this weekend. Pound it and don’t stop until you get it right. Tank shows us more from last weekend, only this time he won’t be alone. Auburn 34-10. (Auburn wins and covers; under)

—Jack Condon

I am really between a rock and a hard place. I am so hurt and disheartened that I am drifting into crazy fan territory of “JUST LOSE SO WE CAN BE DONE WITH THIS”. Auburn will win this game, more than likely. The talent is just there and this is the path Gus takes, looks terrible against the upper tier of the conference (because Auburn is not part of that this year), and then dominate the lower half (the Mississippi’s and Arkansas) of the conference. I don’t know what to expect or what we will see but Auburn should win. I will take the piggies and the points because...this offense isn’t good. Auburn 28-17 (Auburn wins, Arkansas covers; under)

—Drew Mac

The Tigers come into this game on the lowest of lows while Arkansas comes into this game on the highest of highs. Auburn has blown out Arkansas the last 2 times the Hogs had come to the Plains, but after what I saw last week, my confidence in this group has been shaken quite a bit. The lines on both sides of the ball need to take a major step this week as last week was just brutal to watch. With KJ Britt out, it’s time for someone to step on the defensive side of the ball and become the leader of this group. The hope is Auburn will have Jaylin Simpson back this week and not have anyone get thrown out for targeting 5 minutes into the game.

I think Auburn wins this game but it’s going to one of those that will frustrate the fanbase. Auburn 27 Arkansas 13 (Auburn wins, Arkansas covers*; under)

—Dr. Will (*-pick was made with previous line. This is a push on the new line)

After what we saw last week, it’s hard to imagine this Auburn team beating anyone. I’m now convinced You could take any auburn team from the past 15 years and have them play a Pop Warner team in an empty Sanford Stadium, and the Auburn team just wouldn’t win. That said, this Arkansas team is like one of those houses you see from war movies has been shelled, burned, and barely even has a foundation to speak of. We have some serious problems on our hands if we can’t beat this team, especially at home, where over the last 14 months, Auburn has been much better than when they are playing somewhere else. I look for Bo to bounce back from last week’s struggles and see us to an ultimately comfortable win. Auburn 38 - Arkansas 12 (Auburn wins and covers; over)

—Chief

Are we sure we still have to do this? The Panthers have shown signs of life. Everton haven’t lost in what feels like months...because it has been. The Braves won a post-season series for the first time since I was in high school, and then they won another one for good measure! Do I still have to watch Gus and Chad try to get this offense out of first gear against Arkansas?

YOU’RE DAMN RIGHT I DO! This game is “get-right” city. Arkansas is good against the run, and they don’t give up big plays. So guess what, it’s time to put up or shut up with Bo throwing the ball 5-15 yards downfield and over the middle. If you’re going to do it, Saturday is the day. Work those tight ends early. Get your timing down on RPOs. Feed the Tank!

I think things look a little out-of-sorts for the first half, and the defense bends a little more than we like. Then Auburn breaks out in the second half. Think a better version of the Kentucky game. 10-6 at the half, but the final is Auburn 34-9 (Auburn wins and covers; under)

—James Jones

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Hurricane!

Last week was a bit rough. We all took at least one loss by having faith that our beloved Tigers would show up in Athens. That’s on us to be honest. Even the three of us that picked a loss couldn’t bring ourselves to lay the points. Thus most everyone was brought back to the middle. We do have a clear leader and clear basement though: Josh Black: 17-11 (8-6 last week) Chief: 16-12 (6-8 last week) Crow: 14-14 (10-4 last week!) Jack: 14-14 (7-7 last week; yep, two 7-7 weeks; he’s getting killed by the vig) Ryan: 14-14 (6-8 last week) Jonesy: 13-15 (4-10 last week; MISTAKES WERE MADE) Josh W: 13-15 (5-9 last week) Nerd: 11-17 (5-9 last week) Dr Will: 11-17 (6-8 last week) Drew Mac: 9-19 (4-10 last week)

Congrats to Crow for the 10-4 week. A theoretical bonus point for picking Arkansas outright as well. If he keeps this up, there are going to be some bike merchants in Texas rubbing their hands together.

As for this week, we have several games that will be, or in one case have already been, affected by Hurricane Delta. Ole Miss vs. Alabama, which would have been primed for a high total, could be played while some of the outer bands come through. LSU/Missouri has already flipped venues, which I’m sure has LSU fans asking for Missouri to come to Baton Rouge the next 5 years in a row as compensation. Depending on the path and size, Texas A&M/Florida and Auburn/Arkansas could be affected as well.

Note: most of these lines were pre-Delta, so you’ll probably find some very different numbers out there. I’ve moved the Alabama/Ole Miss total down to a more recent number, but the rest are as-is. I figure after last week, we could use the value.

Texas A&M vs Florida (-7) (O/U 54.5)

SP+ pick: Florida -9.7; over

The Aggies certainly cleaned up some of their self-inflicted issues from the Vanderbilt game in Tuscaloosa, but they were eviscerated by Mac Jones. Now they get to return home and face a passing game that has rivaled Alabama’s to this point. The Gators probably don’t have quite the downfield passing game of Alabama, but considering Kyle Pitts has been uncoverable to this point, I could see them put up big numbers too. Florida let South Carolina sneak in and get a backdoor cover last week. I don’t think there’s any worry of that this week. The first of the road dogs takes care of business, and the current path of Delta should keep it from affecting the total. Florida 34, A&M 24 (Florida wins and covers; over)

Staff Picks:

Josh Black: Florida 38, A&M 20 (Florida wins and covers; over) Nerd: Gators 35, Aggies 24 (Florida wins and covers; over) Josh W: Texas A&M 21, Florida 49 (Florida wins and covers; over) Crow: UF 31, Aggy 20 (Florida wins and covers; under) Ryan: 35-24 Florida (Florida wins and covers; over) Jack: 38-16 Florida (Florida wins and covers; under by the hook) Drew Mac: Gatas 38-17 (Florida wins and covers; over by the hook) Dr Will: Florida 31 Texas A&M 20 (Florida wins and covers; under) Chief: Florida 31 - TAMU 17 (Florida wins and covers; over)

Vanderbilt vs South Carolina (-12) (O/U 48.5)

SP+ pick: South Carolina -17.8; under

Gross. Vanderbilt has shown no ability be explosive on offense, and the other side is coached by Will Muschamp. If this was the only game on TV, I’d load up something on one of the 19 different streaming platforms we all have to subscribe to now. If SP+ likes the road favorite and the under, that sounds good to me. Gamecocks 27-13 (South Carolina wins and covers; under)

Staff Picks:

Josh Black: Carolina 31 Vandy 17 (South Carolina wins and covers; under by the hook) Nerd: Cocks 38 Dores 14 (South Carolina wins and covers; over) Josh W: Vanderbilt 15, South Carolina 35 (South Carolina wins and covers; over) Crow: SCAR 22, Vandy 14 (South Carolina wins, Vandy covers; under) Ryan: 20-10 Sakerlina (South Carolina wins, Vandy covers; under) Jack: 31-17 South Carolina (South Carolina wins and covers; under by the hook) Drew Mac: Skankerlina 38-16 (Souther Carolina wins and covers; over) Dr Will: Aw what the heck.... Vandy 24 South Carolina 21 (Vandy wins outright; under) Chief: Ewww. Cocky 18 - Vandy 10 (South Carolina wins, Vandy covers; under)

Georgia (-12) vs Tennessee (O/U 42.5)

SP+ pick: Georgia -13; over (by the hook)

Another measuring stick game for us, but this should also be the best game of the day. Tennessee has a few playmakers on defense and has built a strong offensive line by recruiting talented offensive linemen. WHO KNEW THAT WAS A THING THAT COULD HAPPEN? I CERTAINLY DID NOT.

I don’t know that Tennessee has the horses to pull this one out in Athens, but I think they’ll be able to control the ball and turn this one into SEC football circa 1988. The weather should stay away, but that total is low for a reason other than weather. Georgia 24-17 (Georgia wins, Tennessee covers; under)

Staff Picks:

Josh Black: Georgia 27, Tennessee 14 (Georgia wins and covers; under) Nerd: UGA 23, UT 13 (Georgia wins, Tennessee covers; under) Josh W: Georgia 40, Tennessee 10 (Georgia wins and covers; over) Crow: Tennessee 35, UGA 28 (Tennessee wins outright; over) Ryan: 24-23 Tennessee (Tennessee wins outright; over) Jack: 23-20 Tennessee (Tennessee wins outright; over by the hook) Drew Mac: Dawgs 23-17 (Georgia wins, Tennessee covers; under) Dr Will: Picking 2 double digit underdogs outright?? Sure, why not! Tennessee 31 Georgia 28 (Tennessee wins outright; over) Chief: Dwags 32 - Vols 27 (Georgia wins, Tennesssee covers; over)

Ole Miss vs Alabama (-23) (O/U 69.5)

SP+ pick: Ole Miss +21.6; under

This one could have been really fun without the weather. The total on this one has moved all over the place. At this point it appears that Hurricane Delta will be nailing the Oxford area right as this thing kicks off. I think Alabama leans on their running game while Ole Miss still tries to run about 5 different trick plays. None of them work, and one of them winds up being 6 the other way. This one turns into a sloppy mess. A few missed extra points on a slick track means Alabama 39-17 (Alabama wins, Ole Miss covers; under)

Staff Picks:

Josh Black: Alabama 66, Ole Miss 31 (Alabama wins and covers; over) Nerd: Bama 56, Ole Miss 31 (Alabama wins and covers; over) Josh W: Ole Miss 9, Alabama 34 (Alabama wins and covers; under) Crow: Tide 72-30 (Alabama wins and covers; over) Ryan: 45-31 Alabama (Alabama wins, Ole Miss covers; over) Jack: 52-28 Alabama (Alabama wins and covers; over) Drew Mac: uat 69 (nice) -13 (Alabama wins and covers; over) Dr Will: Alabama 36, Ole Miss 18 (Alabama wins, Ole Miss covers; under) Chief: Alabama 56-25 (Alabama wins and covers; over)

Kentucky (-3) vs Mississippi State (O/U 55.5)

SP+ pick: MSU +2.2; over

Let’s not overcomplicate this. Kentucky is desperate. Kentucky is at home. Kentucky can run the ball and keep it away from KJ Costello. Kentucky has veterans in the secondary and a coaching staff that does not include Bo Pelini. Kentucky will win 31-24 (Kentucky wins and covers; under by the hook)

Staff Picks:

Josh Black: Kentucky 27, Mississippi State 21 (Kentucky wins and covers; under) Nerd: UK 28, Mississippi State 24 (Kentucky wins and covers; under) Josh W: Kentucky 28, Mississippi State 24 (Kentucky wins and covers; under) Crow: UK 34, MSU 17 (Kentucky wins and covers; under) Ryan: 28-27 Kentucky (Kentucky wins, MSU covers; under by the hook) Jack: Mississippi State 31-24 (MSU wins outright; under by the hook) Drew Mac: Staaaate 34-20 (MSU wins outright; under) Dr Will: Mississippi State 34, Kentucky 31 (MSU wins outright; over) Chief: State 55 - UK 37 (MSU wins outright; over)

Missouri vs LSU (-18) (O/U 54.5)

SP+ pick: Missouri +12.5; under

Another game that has been affected by the weather, in that it is no longer an LSU home game. Well at least LSU was planning on wearing white anyway. Missouri’s best chance at a cover here is one of the backdoor variety. They pulled it off against Alabama, but they missed it on the road against Tennessee. LSU can probably athlete their way to a solid 3 touchdown lead, but I think they let Mizzou sneak in that back door. LSU wins 34-17 (LSU wins, Missouri covers; under)

Staff Picks:

Josh Black: LSU 48, Mizzou 17 (LSU wins and covers; over) Nerd: LSU 41, Mizzou 16 (LSU wins and covers; over) Josh W: Missouri 13, LSU 38 (LSU wins and covers; under) Crow: LSU 39, MIZ 19 (LSU wins and covers; over) Ryan: 38-14 LSU (LSU wins and covers; under) Jack: 35-13 LSU (LSU wins and covers; under) Drew Mac: Tigers...The yellow ones....WITH COACH O 38-13 (LSU wins and covers; under) Dr Will: All the best to the folks in Louisiana dealing with yet another hurricane. LSU 38, Mizzou 17 (LSU wins and covers; over by the hook) Chief: LSU 36 - Mizzou 16 (LSU wins and covers; under)

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Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

More data points leads to more confusion

Turns out you might need more than one game before making a sound judgement on a football team. Weird right?

Week 2 of the SEC schedule is in the books and it’s time to readjust some expectations and feelings for a number of teams. The top tier appears to be taking shape with Alabama, Georgia and Florida leading the way. The bottom is settling in nicely with Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Missouri all doing what they do best. Tennessee is floating in no man’s land though we will know where to place them this time next week. Then’s it’s a smorgasbord of teams who could all beat each other any day of the week.

Let’s take a look at the state of things as we enter week 3 of this bizarre 2020 SEC football season.

#1.) Alabama 2-0 (—)

SP+: 2 | FPI: 2

Last Game: 52-24 W vs Texas A&M

For just a moment there it looked like the Aggies might make the Tide sweat a bit. Then Kellen Mond did what Kellen Mond does best and Alabama buried the Aggies once again.

Per usual, this is a scary looking Alabama team with an elite offensive line, a capable QB, too many talented weapons and what might be an improved defense. This weekend we will get some answers on that defense as they take on one of the top offenses in the SEC and a former assistant who I am sure is going to have a lot of fun poking the bear this week.

Next Game: @ Ole Miss

#2.) Georgia 2-0 (—)

SP+: 4 | FPI: 4

Last Game: 27-6 W vs Auburn

Remember that one week where we thought that maybe UGA might not be good this year? That was fun right?

Georgia silenced many haters, myself included, over the weekend by lining up and bullying the Auburn Tigers. The Dawgs didn’t run anything tricky, they just trusted that rebuilt offensive line to establish a new line of scrimmage and their elite defense to suffocate the Tigers struggling offense. Both occurred and the final result doesn’t really indicate how lopsided an affair this matchup really ended up being.

Now they host another hated rival who feels they have a shot at making a statement this weekend. The Vols likely have an offensive line capable of giving their offense a chance at making some plays but I am not sure they’ve got the quarterback to get it done. We’ll see soon. I think this game will be much more competitive than the trash we saw Saturday night.

Next Game: vs Tennessee

#3.) Florida 2-0 (—)

SP+: 8 | FPI: 8

Last Game: 38-24 W vs Florida

Kyle Trask continues to put up silly numbers this year and will look to build some more Heisman hype this weekend against a reeling Aggies team. The Gators appear to have the offensive firepower to go toe to toe with anyone in the SEC. Questions linger though about this defense and its ability to get crucial stops when facing better teams. I am not sure if we get that answer or not this weekend but this should be an interesting matchup.

Next Game: @ Texas A&M

#4.) Tennessee 2-0 (+2)

SP+: 22 | FPI: 27

Last Game: 35-12 W vs Missouri

The Vols continue their climb up the rankings after quickly dismantling a likely not very good Missouri squad over the weekend. They did so mostly thanks to stout defense and a solid run game. I don’t know yet where this Tennessee team stands in the SEC but they’ve earned the right to be the top challenger to tier 1. They can legitimize that claim in Athens this weekend if they can take down the Dawgs. Jeremy Pruitt has done the exact opposite of Malzahn by building strength along BOTH lines of scrimmages. They might still be a quarterback away from truly contending but they at least have a puncher’s chance to get it done on Saturday.

Next Game: @ Georgia

#5.) Auburn 1-1 (-1)

SP+: 15 | FPI: 11

Last Game 6-27 L @ Georgia

Given that pathetic display on Saturday, I really wanted to drop the Tigers a good bit in the rankings but I couldn’t. Why? Because after you get past those first four teams, there’s a whole lot of average. Right now, the fancy algorithms appear to think Auburn is the best of that bunch.

It’s also important to remind ourselves the Tigers got whooped by a top 5 football team. Those things happen sometimes, unfortunately for Auburn fans, they tend to happen a lot in Athens.

But the Tigers don’t really get a chance to lick their wounds. A hungry Arkansas program that finally got their first SEC win in forever comes to town ready to exact revenge on two of their most hated former coaches. You better believe the Tigers will be getting their best shot.

Next Game: vs Arkansas

#6.) Texas A&M 1-1 (+1)

SP+: 19 | FPI: 19

Last Game: 24-52 L @ Alabama

So after getting blown out by the Tide this past Saturday, A&M (checks notes), uh, moves up a spot?

You see we have reached what I like to call the clusterf*** portion of the power rankings where a bunch of 1-1 teams sit with a variety of warts. I give the Aggies the nod this week only because they have played the toughest team on the schedule and I suspect quite a few other teams will have similar results against the Tide.

This will likely be temporary though with the Gators coming to town, so enjoy it while it lasts Aggie fans.

Next Game: vs Florida

#7.) Mississippi State 1-1 (-2)

SP+: 47 | FPI: 48

Last Game: 14-21 L vs Arkansas

Maybe I apologized a little too soon to State fans...

We all joked about it after the Bulldogs stunning dismantling of LSU. “It would be very Mike Leach to turn around and lose to a team that hasn’t won an SEC game in two years,” we all chuckled.

Well, only Hog fans are chuckling now and that’s a frightening thought.

The Mississippi State bandwagon is now aflame and the questions many of us had about them pre-season return. Mostly, can this offense seriously have success week in and week out in the SEC?

K.J. Costello has a frightening habit of giving the ball to the other team and an injured Kylin Hill seemed to kill the engine of this offense. They hit the road this weekend to take on a struggling Kentucky program who will do their best to play keep away. This will likely be the funniest box score of the 2020 football season

Next Game: @ Kentucky

#8.) LSU 1-1 (+1)

SP+: 20 | FPI: 13

Last Game: 41-7 W @ Vanderbilt

LSU’s climb back to the top has begun. The Tigers took care of a bad Vanderbilt team over the weekend and seemed much more settled on the defensive side of the ball with Derek Stingley Jr. back in the lineup. They looked better than the Aggies did against the Dores and the algorithms all still see this team as top 20 quality but I am going to make Ed O earn every rankings bump in penance for what was allowed two weekends ago in Death Valley.

Next Game: vs Missouri

#9.) Ole Miss 1-1 (+1)

SP+: 45 | FPI: 39

Last Game: 42-41 OT W @ Kentucky

Lane Kiffin’s Rebels are required weekly viewing as they tend to play in the most entertaining games. After losing a wild one in Gainesville, the Rebels won an even wilder one in Lexington taking down the Wildcats in overtime thanks to a missed field goal by Kentucky’s kicker.

Matt Corral has looked dangerous in this Kiffin offense and it’s clear they can put points on just about anybody. It’s also clear that defense is something this program is still very much allergic to and will ruin some chances for big time wins. Kiffin welcomes his former boss this week and I am very interested to see what this Ole Miss offense can do against a loaded Tide front. I don’t expect a Rebel victory but I wouldn’t be shocked if this game is closer than expected headed into the 4th.

Next Game: vs Alabama

#10.) Arkansas 1-1 (+4)

SP+: 68 | FPI: 59

Last Game: 21-14 W @ Mississippi State

For the first time since October 28, 2017, the Arkansas Razorbacks won an SEC football game. Not only did they end a 20 game in conference losing streak, they did it against the media darling of the prior week in Mike Leach’s Bulldogs.

Barry Odom did everything Bo Pelini didn’t and the Hogs offense were able to capitalize enough to escape with the win. They’ll take this confidence boost into Jordan-Hare Saturday hoping to embarrass their former head coach who could not accomplish in two seasons what Pittman has done in 2 games.

Next Game: @ Auburn

#11.) Kentucky 0-2 (-3)

SP+: 42 | FPI: 34

Last Game: 13-29 L @ Auburn

So uh... Is Kentucky actually bad again?

The preseason SEC East darkhorse is off to a terrible start dropping two heartbreakers to SEC West foes. For the 2nd straight weekend, Kentucky successfully drove the ball to the 1 inch line only to give it to the other team. They then went full Kentucky in overtime by missing a point after attempt. Needless to say, the ‘Cats are in need of something good happening fast.

Maybe that’s this weekend? Two completely opposite styles clash as Mike Leach’s Air Raid attack invades Kroger Field to take on Mike Stoops’s keep-away, ground & pound system. One team might not throw for more than 125 yards. The other might not rush for 20. For pure entertainment purposes this is a must watch contest Saturday.

Next Game: vs Mississippi State

#12.) South Carolina 0-1 (—)

SP+: 44 | FPI: 46

Last Game: 24-38 L @ Florida

Don’t really know what to think about this Gamecock team. They show flashes of being competent and they sure has hell fight hard till the bitter end but it’s clear they are a step below talent wise across the board right now in the SEC.

Will Muschamp is staring a 2 win season in the face right now if he can’t find some way to get either much better at scoring points or much better at preventing points from being scored. Right now, there isn’t one thing this Gamecock team does well enough that you can point to that as a reason for them to win any given Saturday. This weekend is crucial if they have any hope of getting off the mat in 2020.

Next Game: @ Vanderbilt

#13.) Missouri 0-2 (-1)

SP+: 48 | FPI: 63

Last Game: 12-35 L @ Tennessee

I didn’t really know what to expect from this Missouri team this fall. It turns out I should of expected very bad football...

The Tigers for the 2nd straight week were outclassed across the board by a superior opponent. That trend won’t change this weekend with a trip to Death Valley against an LSU team hungry to rebuild its image.

In terms of worst schedules to start the season, it’s hard to argue that Mizzou got the rawest of deals. Alabama, Tennessee & LSU is not exactly the smoothest way to break in a new head coach.

Next Game: @ LSU

#14.) Vanderbilt 0-2 (—)

SP+: 115 | FPI: 92

Last Game: 7-41 L vs LSU

Well I hope you enjoyed that week at #13 Dores because I doubt you ever return this season...

After putting up a valiant effort against the Aggies in Kyle Fied, Vanderbilt got smacked around by a pissed off LSU football team in Nashville this past Saturday. Luckily, they get one of their two best shots at winning a game this season with the Gamecocks coming to town. Arkansas got off the schnide last week, is it the Commodores turn this week?

Next Game: vs South Carolina

War Eagle!

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