Auburn Tigers
The Path
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Just because there’s no Cinderella, doesn’t mean there won’t be a storybook ending.
In 2025, the crown will go to a No. 1 seed, as all four top dogs — Auburn, Duke, Florida and Houston — advance to the Final Four for the second time in tournament history.
The Blue Devils face the Cougars, while the Tigers take on the Gators, both in San Antonio on April 5th.
The dominance of the SEC has loomed over March, with the conference breaking one record 14 NCAA Tournament bids, then breaking another with seven teams in the Sweet 16. The SEC is also the first conference to have four schools in the regional finals.
Two SEC teams remain, and they’ll meet in one semifinal, while an ACC and Big 12 matchup awaits us on the other side of the bracket.
Florida-Auburn tips at 6:09 p.m. ET, and Duke-Houston follows at 8:49 p.m. ET, both on CBS.
As far as the betting odds go, Duke is the early favorite at -110.
In case you’re new to the madness, let’s review the few remaining teams.
Auburn had three slow starts in their first three games. Against No. 5-seeded Michigan (Sweet 16), the Tigers clawed back from a nine-point deficit in the second half. Auburn closed the game on a remarkable 39-17 run en route to the Elite Eight.
Once there against Michigan State, the Tigers flipped the script, putting together a complete game to end Tom Izzo and the Spartans’ season while surviving a major scare in the process.
Senior forward Johni Broome, the SEC player of the year, went down with an elbow injury with 10:37 left to play and the Tigers leading by 10. He walked off the court shaking his head as he headed to the locker room, but returned five minutes later after his X-ray came back negative, per CBS.
In very March fashion, the Florida Gators almost lost before the Final Four. Florida had to erase a double-digit second-half deficit against Texas Tech in the Elite Eight due to Walter Clayton Jr.’s clutch shot-making.
The 6-foot-3 senior guard finished with 30 points — eight of them in the final 107 seconds — to send the Gators to their first Final Four since 2014. Clayton leads the team in both points (18.1) and assists (4.2).
“There’s not another player in America you would rather have right now than Walter Clayton with the ball in his hands in a big-time moment,” Florida coach Todd Golden said after the Elite Eight comeback.
The Duke Blue Devils walked into the NCAA Tournament fresh off an ACC tournament victory, which they conquered without their leader Cooper Flagg, who sat out of the competition with an ankle injury.
Since Flagg’s return for the first round, Duke has won comfortably for the most part. It bested three of their four opponents by double digits, crushing Mount Saint Mary’s in the first round by 44 points. The team then dialed up its top five defense in the Elite Eight against Alabama.
While Flagg leads the team in points (18.9), rebounds (7.5), assists (4.2) and steals (1.4), it was the team’s defense that carried the Blue Devils to ACC regular-season and tournament titles- in addition to the No. 1 ranking and the No. 1 seed.
It is Duke’s first Final Four under coach Jon Scheyer and the program’s 18th overall. The Blue Devils last reached the Final Four in 2022.
Houston had to get past Tennessee. It did so in the Elite Eight, with one of the most impressive defensive performances in NCAA Tournament history.
The Big 12 Conference champions contained the Vols to just 28.8 percent from the field, forced 14 straight missed 3-point attempts to open the game and (yes, you’re about to read this right) held Tennessee to only 15 points in the first half. It marked the lowest scoring first half by a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in NCAA Tournament history.
For the Cougars, performances like this are typical. Houston has not lost a road game this entire season. Led by coach Kelvin Sampson, the program’s holy trinity of defense, rebounding and ball management, always travel well and it’s been well utilized on Houston’s path to the Final Four. Houston had a tough schedule in the Midwest region, knocking off No. 2-seeded Tennessee (69-50), No. 4-seeded Purdue (62-60), No. 8-seeded Gonzaga (81-76) and No. 16-seeded SIU Edwardsville (78-40).
In Sampson’s third Final Four of his career, his Cougars’ reward is Duke, and for the first time in a long time, they’re the underdogs.
Left Standing
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
All four No. 1 seeds have advanced to the Final Four for the second time in history and the first time since 2008. The teams that made it are Duke (35-3), Florida (34-4), Auburn (32-5) and Houston (34-4).
Surprisingly, the 2008 Final Four was also in San Antonio. That’s the national title game where Kansas beat Memphis and Derrick Rose in overtime.
The SEC had a record of 14 teams make it into the NCAA Tournament. It’s not surprising that two teams are from that conference.
The first national semifinal is between the SEC regular-season champion Tigers and SEC tournament Gators.
“The four teams that are advancing, I think they’re the best four teams in the country,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said after his team’s win Sunday. “That doesn’t obviously always happen.”
These teams played February 8th at Auburn and Florida won 90-81. The Tigers beat No. 2 seed Michigan State 70-64 in the Elite Eight. Johni Broome led the team with 25 points and 14 rebounds. The only other Tiger with double figures was freshman guard Tahaad Pettiford with 10 points.
“Unfortunately, there will only be one SEC team playing for the national championship,” Pearl said, also wearing a net around his neck.
This is Auburn’s second Final Four appearance and the first since 2019.
Florida had to rally late to beat No. 3 seed Texas Tech 84-79. The Gators trailed 75-66 with less than three minutes left in the game. Senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. scored 30 points and sophomore forward Thomas Haugh scored 20.
“It goes to show how together we all are,” Clayton said. “Many times could easily just break, start pointing the finger, blaming each other for this and that. But we just stayed together through the end and stayed the course. And thankfully we got it done today.”
Todd Golden took over as the head coach in Gainesville in 2022. The Gators have improved in each season under him. This is Florida’s sixth Final Four appearance and the first since 2014.
The second game is Houston and their top-rated defense against Duke’s top-ranked offense.
The Blue Devils are a blue blood program and they have been led by freshman forward Cooper Flagg this season.
They defeated No. 2 seed Alabama 85-65 in the Elite Eight. Freshman guard Kon Knueppel had 21 points, junior guard Tyrese Proctor scored 17 and Flagg added 16 points.
“To hold them to 65 points is incredible,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “We watched them play the other night. They scored 113 and made 25 3s. The biggest thing for us was not taking the bait of getting so spread out.”
This is Duke’s 18th Final Four appearance and the first since 2022. That last appearance came in Mike Krzyzewski’s final season. Scheyer took over after he retired.
The Cougars beat No. 2 seed Tennessee 69-50 in the Elite Eight. Senior guard L.J. Cryer scored 17 points and junior guard Emanuel Sharp had 16 points.
“It’s a good feeling knowing what we’ve been through,” Sharp, the region’s most outstanding player, said of Houston’s first Final Four appearance since 2021. “A lot of people doubted us.”
This is Houston’s seventh trip to the Final Four and the first since 2021. Head coach Kelvin Sampson became the head coach in 2014 after previously being the head coach at Washington State, Oklahoma and Indiana.
I think Duke and Florida will advance to the national title game. I expect the Blue Devils to win.
Its Good To Be First
By: Jeff Doke
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It’s good to be first. Jaylin Simpson has known that feeling several times already in his young life.
As a student athlete at Frederica Academy, he saw several firsts. Playing QB, he led the football team to its first AAA championship in the program’s eighth year of existence.
When it was all said and done, he wound up with 27 career TD passes and 17 rushing TDs in his time “Under the Oaks”.
On the defensive side of the ball, Simpson notched 13 INTs and 138 total tackles, garnering All Region and All State laurels for his efforts.
Off the gridiron, he secured two state championships in Track & Field, bringing further glory to the green and white.
After graduation, he became one of the first Frederica alums to play football in the Power 5 conferences when he and teammate Jashawn Sheffield went to the SEC and became Auburn Tigers.
In his five years On The Plains, the numbers kept adding up. He racked up 118 total tackles and seven career interceptions – including an absolute beauty against Carson Beck and the Georgia Bulldogs in 2023. He was named to the 1st Team All SEC squad by the Associated Press, was a Jim Thorpe Award semi-finalist, and played in the Reese’s Senior Bowl.
Not bad for a kid from Brunswick, GA who was told he was spoiling his chances for greatness by going to a private school campus of around 400 total students in the K-12 years.
The next logical step would of course be fulfilling the dream of playing in the NFL.
Of course, there were doubters and naysayers as there have always been, but Jaylin knew he had what it takes.
At the 2024 NFL Combine in Indianapolis, Simpson posted an impressive 39.5 vertical leap and a speedy 4.45 second 40-yard dash. At the combine, his brother and UCF Assistant Director of Player Personnel Alex Mathis told him “this town suits you.”
How prophetic that would turn out to be, as there was another first on the horizon.
On the third day of the 2024 NFL draft, Jaylin was selected 164th overall by the Indianapolis Colts, thus making him the first Frederica Knight to be drafted in the NFL.
“I’m just ready to get to work and continue to show why I feel like I was one of the best in this draft. I’ve got to prove still, so I’m just ready to get to work in Indy,” Simpson said during a colts.com interview.
And work he will. It’s what he’s done his entire playing career, bringing what he refers to as his “Plankton mentality” to the big leagues.
That term might sound familiar to fans of the long-running animated series “SpongeBob SquarePants,” but a lot of people get it wrong much to the chagrin of Simpson.
“People get it confused and it makes me mad. They say, ‘oh he never got the formula,’ but it’s not about that,” he explained in an interview with AL.com.
“It’s about every time you turn on an episode, he’s trying again. It doesn’t matter how many times he gets knocked down, he’s gonna keep trying. That’s all that matters. He’ll do anything to get what he wants and what I want is a win, so I’m gonna do what I can.”
Plankton mentality has gotten him this far, and now the Frederica faithful get to watch one of their own playing on Sundays. Sounds like wins all around from my point of view.
Saves The Dates
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
2024 is upon us. The college football playoff landscape expands to a 12-team beauty contest moving forward.
The SEC officially released next year’s schedules recently. Not enough space to go through them all, but I will go through the historical SEC programs and Oklahoma and Texas.
Alabama
Aug. 31: vs. Western Kentucky
Sept. 7: vs. USF
Sept. 14: at Wisconsin
Sept. 21: BYE
Sept. 28: vs. Georgia
Oct. 5: at Vanderbilt
Oct. 12: vs. South Carolina
Oct. 19: at Tennessee
Oct. 26: vs. Missouri
Nov. 2: BYE
Nov. 9: at LSU
Nov. 16: vs. Mercer
Nov. 23: at Oklahoma
Nov. 30: vs. Auburn
First Glance: Bye weeks before Georgia and LSU. @Tennessee, @LSU, and @ Oklahoma the week before the Iron Bowl. The Tide will be road warriors in 2024.
Auburn
Aug. 31: vs. Alabama A&M
Sept. 7: vs. California
Sept. 14: vs. New Mexico
Sept. 21: vs. Arkansas
Sept. 28: vs. Oklahoma
Oct. 5: at Georgia
Oct. 12: BYE
Oct. 19: at Missouri
Oct. 26: at Kentucky
Nov. 2: vs. Vanderbilt
Nov. 9: BYE
Nov. 16: vs. Louisiana-Monroe
Nov. 23: vs. Texas A&M
Nov. 30: at Alabama
First glance: No road game until October. @ UGA and @ Alabama. Nice slate for Hugh Freeze to get Auburn back on track.
Florida
Aug. 31: vs. Miami (FL)
Sept. 7: vs. Samford
Sept. 14: vs. Texas A&M
Sept. 21: at Mississippi St.
Sept. 28: BYE
Oct. 5: vs. UCF
Oct. 12: at Tennessee
Oct. 19: vs. Kentucky
Oct. 26: BYE
Nov. 2: vs. Georgia (in Jacksonville, FL)
Nov. 9: at Texas
Nov. 16: vs. LSU
Nov. 23: vs. Ole Miss
Nov. 30: at Florida State
First glance: The last five games are brutal. Will Billy Napier still be employed by November? Only one cupcake on the slate.
Georgia
Aug. 31: vs. Clemson (in Atlanta, GA)
Sept. 7: vs. Tennessee Tech
Sept. 14: at Kentucky
Sept. 21: BYE
Sept. 28: at Alabama
Oct. 5: vs Auburn
Oct. 12: vs Mississippi State
Oct. 19: at Texas
Oct. 26: BYE
Nov. 2: vs Florida (Jacksonville, Fl.)
Nov. 9: at Ole Miss
Nov. 16: vs Tennessee
Nov. 23: vs UMass
Nov. 30: vs Georgia Tech
First glance: Clemson in Atlanta, @ Texas and @Alabama, and a trap game @Ole Miss sandwiched between Florida and Tennessee.
LSU
Sept. 1: vs. Southern Cal (Las Vegas, NV)
Sept. 7: vs. Nicholls
Sept. 14: at South Carolina
Sept. 21: vs. UCLA
Sept. 28: vs. South Alabama
Oct. 5: BYE
Oct. 12: vs. Ole Miss
Oct. 19: at Arkansas
Oct. 26: at Texas A&M
Nov. 2: BYE
Nov. 9: vs. Alabama
Nov. 16 — at Florida
Nov. 23: vs. Vanderbilt
Nov. 30: vs. Oklahoma
First glance: USC and UCLA from the Big 10, and the best SEC slate of all the SEC contenders from a management standpoint.
Oklahoma
Aug. 31: vs. Temple
Sep. 7: vs. Houston
Sep. 14: vs. Tulane
Sep. 21: vs. Tennessee
Sep. 28: at Auburn
Oct. 5: BYE
Oct. 12: vs. Texas (at Cotton Bowl in Dallas, TX)
Oct. 19: vs. South Carolina
Oct. 26: at Ole Miss
Nov. 2: vs. Maine
Nov. 9: at Missouri
Nov. 16: BYE
Nov. 23: vs. Alabama
Nov. 30: at LSU
First Glance: @ Auburn welcome to Jordan Hare Sooners where dreams go to die. Alabama and @ LSU to close the regular season. Are you sure you wanted this Oklahoma?
Tennessee
Aug. 31: vs. Chattanooga
Sept. 7: vs. NC State (in Charlotte, NC)
Sept. 14: vs. Kent State
Sept. 21: at Oklahoma
Sept. 28: BYE
Oct. 5: at Arkansas
Oct. 12: vs. Florida
Oct. 19: vs. Alabama
Oct. 26: BYE
Nov. 2: vs. Kentucky
Nov. 9: vs. Mississippi State
Nov. 16: at Georgia
Nov. 23: vs. UTEP
Nov. 30: at Vanderbilt
First glance: @ Oklahoma and @ Georgia who the Vols have lost seven straight to. Alabama lost the last time they came to Neyland.
Texas
Aug. 31: vs. Colorado State
Sept. 7: at Michigan
Sept. 14: vs. UTSA
Sept. 21: vs. Louisiana-Monroe
Sept. 28: vs. Mississippi State
Oct. 5: BYE
Oct. 12: vs. Oklahoma (Cotton Bowl – Dallas, TX)
Oct. 19: vs. Georgia
Oct. 26: at Vanderbilt
Nov. 2: BYE
Nov. 9: vs. Florida
Nov. 16: at Arkansas
Nov. 23: vs. Kentucky
Nov. 30: at Texas A&M
First glance: @Michigan, Oklahoma, and Georgia back-to-back, and a Thanksgiving trip to Aggieland. SEC was kind to Texas with the road slate to State, Vandy, and Arkansas who all are terrible now.
Whoever wins the SEC in 2024 will be tested for a deep playoff run.
SEC Stocks
Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The 2022 College Football season is in the books. Kirby Smart and UGA have won back-to-back National Titles. My annual SEC Football stock report is upon us again.
Stock Keys:
Buy
Sell
Hold
Georgia: The best college football stock on the planet. CEO Kirby Smart has developed a winning organizational culture.
401K plan is the best in the business, and the best employees are recruited year in and year out.
The executive management team is the best in the business and well compensated.
This organization is built for any market and will flourish even during down economic times. Blue blood stock that will make you tons of money. The long-term future of this stock is through the roof. Advice: Buy it all.
Alabama: Over a 10-year period this stock has been the most consistent producer of wealth.
CEO Nick Saban is still the king of CEO’s.
Maybe the stock dipped slightly in 2022, but the long-term future is bright.
Top rated employer with the most talented work force make this stock very attractive.
The CEO training program is the best I the country. The executive management team has become a little complacent over the past 12 months and that has been addressed by the CEO.
This stock will always make you a ton of money. Advice: Buy as much as you can.
Tennessee: This historically producing stock crashed over the past 15 years.
However, in 2022 this stock hit a 20-year high. CEO Josh Huepel has been a breath of fresh air after a string of poor CEO’s dating back to 2008.
If you held on to this stock during the bleak years, then you are a wise investor. This stock will continue to rise to get back to the glory years of the Clinton Presidency.
When the Big Orange stock is producing the SEC portfolio is second to none. Advice: Buy
LSU: After reaching an all-time high in 2019 this blue blood stock crashed over the past two years prompting the board of directors to hire a new CEO in Brian Kelly for 2022.
The early returns have been great. Stock has performed much better than expected.
Changes were made in the human resources department resulting in an influx of topflight employees for 2023 and beyond.
This corporation has invested properly for long-term growth once again. Advice: Buy
Mississippi State: This stock made a huge turnaround over the past 24 months. The tragic loss of beloved CEO Mike Leach has made things difficult over the past month.
Leach leaves behind a great foundation that is positioned for continued growth, and his legacy will live on. Rest easy Pirate. Advice: Buy
South Carolina: This stock made a remarkable turnaround late in calendar year 2022 and recovered from some tough early losses by performing well against superior brands Tennessee and Clemson.
Energetic CEO in Shane Beamer has the stockholders optimistic but not totally convinced to invest great sums of money.
This corporation has excited its stockholders before, and returns have not matched investment. Watch this stock closely in 2023. Advice: Hold for now.
Ole Miss: Aggressive CEO Kiffin takes too many chances and this has become a roller-coaster stock. Exciting to watch but for investors nerve-wracking. This is a high anxiety stock. Advice: Hold and never become emotionally invested in stock.
Florida: This stock should be a solid producer. New CEO Billy Napier inherited a horrible organizational culture.
Mass firings have taken place. Lazy employees have bailed for the transfer portal employment agency.
It will take some time to fix this mess. 401K plan is depleted and new hires are backing out causing this once proud organization to take massive public relations hits.
Advice: Sell it all until the board of directors allows CEO Napier to completely blow up this rotten culture.
Auburn, Texas A&M, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky and Vanderbilt: These poorly run or non-productive organizations are not worth the ink to write about.
Advice: Sell them off quickly. Watch Auburn and Texas A&M for future reinvestment.
SEC Pulse
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The SEC football season is now a month old. Those who follow football have come to consensus about every single team in the best football conference in the country which is the SEC. Here are my thoughts a month into the season on every team.
SEC East:
- Georgia: The defending national champions looked like a beast for the first three weeks of the season. Stetson Bennett looked like a Heisman front runner. UGA was lighting up scoreboards. Over the past two weeks UGA has looked very beatable with struggles against Kent St. and Missouri. Wide receivers need to get healthy, and the defense needs to stop the run better. November is looking brutal now with the recent struggles with Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi State, and Kentucky in consecutive weeks down the stretch.
- Tennessee: The Vols look like a scoring machine with Hendon Hooker at QB. LSU this week and Alabama next week will tell us what we need to know about Tennessee. Will the Vols be able to stop any offense with a pulse moving forward? Right now, Tennessee looks like a contender for the SEC title.
- Kentucky: The Cats gave one away in Oxford last weekend. But isn’t that what Kentucky does when the pressure is on? Still in contention in the east. Probably will need to beat both Tennessee and Georgia later in the season. That is not going to happen. They might get one of those big games, but they will not win both. Odds are they lose both.
- Florida: The Gators are in a rebuild. Billy Napier will get 6-7 wins out of this team and make a bowl. Florida will be back soon.
- Missouri: The Tigers played UGA down to the wire last week. Can they take that same intensity to Gainesville this week? The answer is no.
- South Carolina: This is a bad football team folks. End of story here.
- Vanderbilt: This team plays hard, and I respect that. Not a particularly good football team.
SEC West:
- Alabama: How hurt is Bryce Young? The running game looked impressive at Arkansas last week. Defense is solid. Wide receivers are down from previous years. This is still the team to beat right now in the SEC if Bryce does not miss considerable time. The TSIO (Third Saturday in October) next week in Knoxville with Tennessee could be the game of the year in the conference.
- Ole Miss: Running game and defense. That is the recipe in Oxford in 2022. 5-0 sounds good. Alabama comes to Oxford soon.
- LSU: Will the real LSU Tigers stand up? Jekyll and Hyde Tigers right now. Alabama comes to Tiger Stadium in November….
- Mississippi State: MSU is one of the surprise teams this fall. This is a dangerous team to play right now. Are you listening UGA? The November 12th trip to Starkville looks like a beast on the schedule right now.
- Arkansas: The Razorbacks are horrible on defense. They cannot stop a dripping faucet right now.
- Texas A&M: I called this before the season. This team is a fraud. No QB, no imagination on offense, and are about to get run out of Tuscaloosa, Alabama this weekend. The real loser is CBS who used a primetime 8PM slot for this game against Alabama.
- Auburn: If the Tigers lose on Saturday to UGA will Bryan Harsin have a job on Sunday? Auburn has QB issues and have not won in Athens since 2005. It is safe to say that Auburn has hit rock bottom. Recruiting is down and the boosters at Auburn are running and ruining the athletic department.
Wild West
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Let’s take a look at the SEC West and preview how each team’s season will go.
#1 Alabama: The Crimson Tide are loaded with talent like they are every year. They return Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Bryce Young and add Georgia Tech transfer running back Jahmyr Gibbs.
There are also a pair of transfer wide receivers, Tyler Harrell (Louisville) and Jermaine Burton (Georgia).
Left tackle Evan Neal departed for the NFL. The offensive line gave up 41 sacks last year and they were very inconsistent. The defense held teams to 20.1 points per game last season and they should be better this year.
#2 Texas A&M: The Aggies had the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation in 2022.
The question is can they convert that into winning the West, getting to the SEC Championship and the CFB Playoff? No, but I think they can win double-digit games.
Quarterback Haynes King was injured in the second game of 2021. He returns in 2022 along with LSU transfer Max Johnson and true freshman Conner Weigman.
They need more big plays from the passing game and true freshman Evan Stewart could provide that. Devon Achane rushed for 910 yards, 9 touchdowns and averaged 7 yards per carry in ’21. He should have a breakout year and the offensive line returns three starters.
#3 Arkansas: All-SEC candidate KJ Jefferson returns at QB, four starters on the o line and a solid backfield led by Rocket Sanders.
It’s going to be tough to replace receiver Treylon Burks (66 catches) and the big-plays he used to make. Transfer receiver Jadon Haselwood (Oklahoma) and Matt Landers (Toledo) will compete with Warren Thompson for the top target.
The defense gave up 29.6 ppg in SEC Play last year but they thrived at getting third down stops and limiting teams in the red zone.
They only return four starters but they added several players from the transfer portal. That includes ends Jordan Domineck (Georgia Tech) and Landon Jackson (LSU), linebacker Drew Sanders (Alabama), and defensive backs Dwight McGlothern (LSU) and Latavious Brini (Georgia).
#4 LSU: Bryan Kelly left Notre Dame to take over this program.
The Tigers are 11-12 over the last two seasons so they have a lot to improve. Only six starters return but they typically have talented players in Baton Rouge.
The secondary finished 12th in the SEC in pass efficiency defense last fall. They have several transfer players that should be able to contribute.
Garrett Nussmeier, Jayden Daniels and Myles Brennan are battling for the starting quarterback job.
#5 Ole Miss: The Rebels are coming off of 10 wins and a Sugar Bowl appearance. They lost several key contributors like QB Matt Corrall, running backs Jerrion Ealy and Snoop Conner and receiver Dontario Drummond.
USC transfer QB Jaxson Dart is expected to win the starting job. They also have several transfers on both sides of the ball.
#6 Mississippi State: The Bulldogs won seven games last year and return 17 starters. QB Will Rogers returns to lead an offense that averaged 378.3 passing yards per game and 29.1 ppg.
They allowed 34 sacks in 2021 and lose both starting tackles.
Having playmakers step up to keep the Air Raid going will be the storyline.
#7 Auburn: The Tigers lost five games to end the season, several players transferred and coach Bryan Harsin is already on the hot seat.
Running backs Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter should be the focal point of the offense.
They ranked 11th in the SEC in scoring last season.
Omaha!
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
One of the underrated sporting events in the country starts today and ends on June 27th.
It is the College World Series. The field looks balanced this year with no clear favorite after Tennessee, the self-proclaimed greatest team of all-time, choked at home in the Super Regionals losing to Notre Dame in grand fashion.
The field includes four SEC teams and two others, Oklahoma and Texas, who will be joining the SEC by 2025.
The SEC is dominant in most sports these days. The College World Series is played annually in Omaha, Nebraska. There should be plenty of SEC chants going on over the next 10 days. The CWS is a double-elimination tournament.
2022 COLLEGE WORLD SERIES Round 1
All Times Eastern
Friday, June 17
Oklahoma vs #5 Texas A&M 2 pm ESPN: A match-up of two SEC teams. One current and one in future in Oklahoma.
This was a huge rivalry when A&M was in the Big 12 so these programs are familiar with each other.
In his first year at Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle has reached the College World Series. He took TCU to Omaha five times in his 18 years at TCU. The Aggies are hot currently, so give me Texas A&M in this contest.
Notre Dame vs #9 Texas 7 pm ESPN: This should be a great contest. Texas lost game one in the Supers at East Carolina. Then come back and walked off with a win in game two and blew ECU out in game three to earn a trip to Omaha.
The Longhorns hit the long-ball frequently and will be a tough out in the CWS. Notre Dame, like I mentioned earlier, is riding high after beating Tennessee in Knoxville to earn a berth.
This is a tough gritty team that is dangerous in an environment like Omaha.
Give me Texas in this contest because the Longhorns have made the CWS field 38 times since the inception of the CWS.
The 2022 tournament marks the 75th playing of the CWS. Texas has been there more than half of the time. No other program has more than 25 appearances. Give me Texas in this match-up.
Saturday, June 18
Arkansas vs #2 Stanford 2 pm ESPN: Stanford always has good pitching, and this year is no exception. Arkansas was the Top overall seed in 2021 and did not make the CWS but went to Chapel Hill and beat a tough North Carolina team in three games to earn a spot in 2022.
Arkansas is peaking at the right time. Watch out for the Hogs. Give me Arkansas in this game.
Ole Miss vs #14 Auburn 7 pm ESPN2: Ole Miss may be the hottest team in college baseball right now. They were Preseason #1 that slumped badly in the middle of the season, only to get hot at tourney time.
The Rebels were the one of the last teams (probably last) selected to the field of 64 and have gone on a run and won a Super in Hattiesburg by sweeping Southern Miss and not giving up a run.
Auburn got sent to Corvallis, Oregon for a Super Regional and beat Oregon State.
Auburn has been a major surprise in 2022. The Tigers have a good power packed line-up. The SEC goes head-to-head in this one. Give me Ole Miss in this contest.
Teams with deep pitching staffs will rise to the top during the tourney. When it is all said and done, here is how I see it playing out:
Bracket One:
Notre Dame
Oklahoma
Texas
Texas A&M
Winner: Texas
Bracket Two:
Arkansas
Auburn
Ole Miss
Stanford
Winner: Arkansas
College WS Final:
Arkansas vs Texas
Winner: Arkansas
Arkansas is your 2022 National Baseball Champions.
The Crystal Ball Of The SEC
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Labor Day weekend is upon us and that means the greatest game of all, College Football kicks off.
I love many sports, but college football is just special. In this part of the world, you have SEC football; which is the best brand in college athletics.
Others try and duplicate it, but they simply come up short.
Oklahoma and Texas are moving over probably next season instead of 2025. Some critics say conference expansion is bad using excuses like geography, and any other reason they can find.
We live in a generation of participation trophies as it relates to sports, and quite frankly the SEC has an ‘iron sharpens iron’ kind of mentality and that keeps them ahead of the rest in the college football world.
Here are my 2021 SEC Predictions:
Most Overrated Team: Texas A&M: The 2021 hype train has the Aggies picked by some to knock of Alabama to win the West.
I don’t think defensively A&M is there yet, and will Jimbo Fisher open up the offense to the Alabama and LSU levels of the past two seasons?
I don’t think the Aggies have those types of weapons and will come up short in the West. What happens if they lose at home to Alabama? Well, they are and I think they end up losing to Ole Miss and possibly LSU.
Most Underrated Team: Ole Miss: Ole Miss may end up having the best offense in the conference. So, when you line up against this team you better be prepared to score a lot of points.
Everyone harps on the Ole Miss defense, but I ask the question they can’t be worse than they were last year, right? I expect improvement out of the unit in 2021. This team could sneak up into the double-digit win category.
SEC West:
Alabama: Until someone knocks them off, they are the pick here.
Nick Saban is the best head coach in the history of the conference and he has the national championships to prove it in the playoff era of college football.
Ole Miss: This team is dangerous. Sleep on them if you want to.
Texas A&M: I’m just not buying the hype. This team is too conservative on offense, and do they have enough defense to be championship elite? The answer is no.
LSU: Coach O it is starting to slip away. Fix it in 2021 or your seat is going to get very hot.
Auburn: New coaching staff that wants to go from a spread offense to more of a pro type offense. Going to take some time Aubbies.
Arkansas: I love how the Hogs are building this roster, but you are in the best division of the best conference in college football.
Mississippi State: Not a terrible team, but you have six bowl teams ahead of you.
SEC East:
Georgia: This is an elite football program that gets the underachiever label by folks who don’t hold everyone to the same standard they judge UGA by.
Could it be they know UGA is about to knock the National Title door down in the near future and what that may mean? Cue the 1980 jokes haters.
Florida: Gators will be good, but a different kind of good. One that starts with better defensive play. Florida lost 6,600 yards and 79 TDs to the NFL draft from last year.
Missouri: A much improved Tiger squad could challenge for 2nd in the East.
Kentucky: Nope, I’m not buying what you are selling Cats. Your offense is like watching paint dry.
Tennessee: Vols are building back the roster. It is going to take a couple of years.
South Carolina: The Gamecocks are starting a Graduate Assistant at QB. Ouch!
Vanderbilt: We love the Dores during baseball season, but they are an instant win during the fall.
SEC Title game will be Alabama against Georgia.
I Have The Power
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Thanksgiving is almost upon us in the pandemic-stricken football season of 2020.
Just this weekend alone you have four games in the SEC that have been postponed and scheduled for a later date due to the Coronavirus. Will we make it through the regular season?
Who knows that answer, but here are my SEC Power Rankings at this point of the season:
Alabama: The Crimson Tide hung 52 points on Texas A&M. Alabama hung 41 on Georgia before Georgia’s defense was officially exposed as a fraud.
Mac Jones and Najee Harris are Heisman candidates.
This defense is starting to come around, and there is no team in the conference that will stand in their way on a cruise to the SEC Championship.
Florida could pose some problems, but that defense can’t stop a faucet drip.
Nick Saban is still the best in the business. Alabama’s offense might be better than a couple of NFL teams that are in the Trevor Lawrence sweepstakes. SEC Champion and College Football playoff team.
Texas A&M: By virtue of beating Florida the Aggies land here.
The Aggies played awful against Alabama, but doesn’t everyone not named Auburn and LSU once every 8 years?
Jimbo Fisher is in position to get a College Football playoff bid without winning a conference championship if his team can run the table and finish 9-1 in this pandemic season. This team is improving weekly.
Florida: The Gators got over the UGA hurdle last week, but UGA left three TD’s on the field with awful QB play.
Kyle Trask may be the Heisman front-runner at the moment.
Dan Mullen needs to get something out of this season because Trask will not be back next year.
This defense can’t stop an elite team like Alabama. I see Florida finishing the season with a 10-2 record with a nice NY6 Bowl win over someone to be determined.
This offense is really good, and they just completed another 40-yard wheel route to a running back on Georgia.
Mullen still has a month to fix this defense before the Alabama SEC title game.
Georgia: UGA lands here by default.
The QB room is a mess and the defense can’t stop a good college passing offense.
UGA may finish 8-2 who knows, but last weekend in Jacksonville left a bitter taste in the mouth of the Bulldog Nation.
Carson Beck needs to get his shot Kirby.
Auburn: With the win over a bad LSU team Gus may have survived once again.
Perception is reality you know.
This is a team that did not score a TD against UGA.
Arkansas: The Razorbacks are the most improved team in the SEC.
“The Pit Boss” Sam Pittman is the SEC coach of the year. Arkansas is the SEC feel good story of the year. The Hogs are 3-3 currently and are a pretty decent football team.
Ole Miss: The Rebels have the third best offense in the SEC.
Once Lane Kiffin can shore up that defense with a couple of recruiting cycles look out SEC.
This is an exciting team to watch.
LSU: Yeah, we know the Tigers lost 14 players to the NFL draft, but damn this is LSU.
Covid-19 delayed a monumental beating from Alabama this weekend, but don’t worry LSU its coming in December.
Tennessee: You can shake 9-14 up in a bag.
Tennessee should be better than this.
Missouri: The Tigers are rebuilding and show signs of life.
South Carolina: Hugh Freeze is sitting by the phone Carolina fans.
Kentucky: Watching this offense is like staring at paint drying.
Mississippi State: The Air Raid is a dud in the SEC. The LSU game was fool’s gold against an awful defense.
Vanderbilt: Baseball season will start soon Vandy fans.
Power Rankings in Coastal Georgia seem to be a hot topic these days.
