LSU Tigers
Making The Grade In The SEC
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The regular season is over in the SEC for the 2017 football season. Nine SEC teams are going to bowl games, and two are going into the college football playoff.
Overall Conference grade: C
Ole Miss tried to cheat their way to a title and big 6 members Florida and Tennessee are dumpster fires is ultimately what kept this grade from being higher.
For the first time in the new playoff format two teams from same conference, Alabama and Georgia made the final four while the Big 10 and PAC 12 champions got passed over.
Individual Team Grades:
Alabama: B+. The loss at Auburn kept the Tide out of the SEC title game but sitting at 11-1 Alabama will play Clemson in the Sugar Bowl in a national semifinal game.
The LB corps have been decimated by injuries, and Jalen Hurts needs to throw the ball better. Nick Saban is still the best coach in football.
Arkansas: D-. Bret got fired and the Hogs looked awful for most of the season. No bowl and a 1-7 record in the conference and 4-8 overall. Enter Chad Morris to fix this mess.
Auburn: B+. The Tigers beat two number one teams Georgia and Alabama at home in November, but blew a 20-point lead at LSU who lost to Troy.
Kerryon Johnson was the SEC Offensive player of the year and the defense played well all season. The blowout loss to UGA in the SEC Title game kept this from being an A grade.
Florida: F. Worst Florida team I have seen since the late 70’s. The offense was offensive with no QB play and this team mailed it in after the LSU game. Dan Mullen has been hired to fix this huge mess. Mullen has to change the culture in Gainesville.
Georgia: A. 2017 SEC Champions. Roquan Smith is SEC Defensive Player of the year, Kirby is SEC Coach of the year, and Jake Fromm is SEC Freshman of the year. In year two Kirby has won a title and gotten a Rose Bowl against Oklahoma in National Semifinal on NYD. Could be a really special year in Athens.
Kentucky: B. A seven win football season in Lexington does not come often. The Music City Bowl game against Northwestern upcoming. Nice season for the Cats.
LSU: B-. A loss to Troy and getting blown out in Starkville won’t cut it in Red Stick but the season turned with the Auburn win and the Tigers outplayed Alabama everywhere but the scoreboard in Tuscaloosa.
A win over Notre Dame in Citrus Bowl would get the Tigers to 10 wins and set them up for an SEC title run in 2018.
Mississippi State: B: Nice season in Starkville. The loss to Ole Miss was a fluke with the Nick Fitzgerald injury 5 minutes into the ball game.
Missouri: B. Most improved team in the SEC in the last half of the season and a Bowl game against Texas. Drew Lock throws the best deep ball in the league.
Ole Miss: F. Matt Luke will clean up that stinking cheating culture in Oxford.
South Carolina: B+. I like where Coach Muschamp is taking this program. The Gamecocks will beat Michigan in the Outback Bowl to get to 9 wins.
Tennessee: F-. 0-8 in the SEC and it has taken almost a month to find a coach. This program has hit rock bottom. May take 3-4 years to recover from this train wreck. Phil Fulmer is on the job as AD now and that is good unless Steve Spurrier takes an AD job in the conference. Spurrier owns Fulmer.
Texas A&M: C. Kevin Sumlin got fired with a 51-26 record in College Station. Enter Jimbo Fisher at a price tag of $75 million.
Vanderbilt: C. About what I expect from Vandy. Derek Mason is a very good coach who deserves a better opportunity to win at a bigger program.
What if we have a Bama/UGA national title game? The national media will want to blow up this current playoff format.
College Football Week One
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
After 8 long months the wait is finally over: the college football season has finally arrived. And nothing welcomes the beginning of a new year quite like the obligatory “Five Week 1 Prognostications Guaranteed To Go Wrong, But It Doesn’t Matter Because I’ll Write About Something Completely Different Next Week And Never Mention These Predictions Again.” Sounds like a good time, right?
- Georgia will beat Appalachian State, but not by much and will actually trail at some point in the second half.
I know I’m not going on too much of a limb to predict a Georgia win, and as much as I wanted to pick an Appalachian victory, I just can’t do it. The Mountaineers return an experienced team on both sides of the ball and a 5th year senior in Quarterback, Tyler Lamb. They should’ve beaten Tennessee last year and will make UGA work for it this year. The Dawgs are too athletic and too talented not to come away with a win, though.
- Alabama will lose to Florida State.
I know it’s not all that wise to go against Alabama, basically ever, but intelligence has never really been my strong suit. What I do know is this, the last time Nick Saban lost back to back games was probably when he was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins. He handled that adversity so well he decided to leave the NFL and go back to college. My hope is that if he loses to Florida State maybe he’ll leave college football and go back to high school. One can dream, right?
- LSU will fail to score 20 points on a BYU team that thinks about defense the same way Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor think about humility.
Ed Orgeron did some good things for the Tigers last year after replacing Les Miles; mainly reinvigorating the fan base. Their offense SHOULD be better than it was last year, but then again, I should know better than to eat an entire pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream before watching Game of Thrones, yet I do it anyway. Point is, a lot of things that should be different, oftentimes never change. See, LSU Offense.
- South Alabama will beat Ole Miss.
South Alabama is a middle of the pack, Sun Belt conference team, that should have no business bearing any SEC team. Fortunately for them, they’re playing the one SEC team that probably doesn’t have any business winning a SEC game either. I have no idea what to expect from the Rebels this year, except it’s not going to be a pretty site in Oxford.
- The Florida/Michigan game will wind up being the most intriguing game of the weekend.
I have no idea if it’ll be because the play on the field will be that exciting or because there’s a 50/50 chance that Jim Harbaugh and Jim McElwain will fight it out Mortal Kombat style halfway through the game. Either way, one of those two things will happen and it will be glorious to behold.
Now that I have channeled my inner Nostradamus feel free to enter this most sacred of weekends with the knowledge that these outcomes have already been foretold.
Of course, if I happen to be mistaken don’t waste your time letting me know. At that point, I’ll have already forgotten what I said and moved on to my next topic. You didn’t think I would hold myself accountable for my own thoughts, did you?
LSU Tigers Preview
By: Christian Goeckel
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Bayou Bengals found themselves in a situation last year very reminiscent to the one UGA faced at the end of 2015.
Season after season ended in mediocrity, and elite player after elite player never realized their potential, only to dominate later in the NFL. In a word, the program had stagnated.
So, like Georgia, they moved on from their long time coach in Les Miles. Unlike Georgia however, they didn’t go for the upstart coordinator, and didn’t even flirt with the usual suspects that fans typically clamor for when a job of this magnitude opens up.
They, instead, went with a coach already on the staff, one the players would rally around during a turbulent time; Ed Orgeron. A Louisiana native with an accent thicker than jambalaya, and a coaching resume that spans the length of the country.
Today we take a look at what to expect out of the Tigers in 2017.
ACC Is Better Than SEC
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Let me start by saying I picked North Carolina to cut down the nets this past Monday night and I have the SSE article from a couple of weeks ago to prove it.
I have been mulling this article over on my mind for a few weeks now. Folks that know me know that I am a die-hard SEC supporter and I make no bones about it.
So, take notice when I type this this next sentence. The ACC is better right now than the SEC. Yes, I said it. Now that I have that out of the way here is why.
SEC Odds
By: Drayton Hogarth
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
While spring practice is going on all over the college football world, The Golden Nugget in Las Vegas released their odds to reach the Southeastern Conference championship game.
It is really a mystery as to how they handicap a league even before an entire recruiting class, however Vegas wasn’t built on winners so it often pays to heed their prognostications.
2016 SEC Rankings
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Now that college football season is over and we must wait another 9 months for the joy of fall to arrive back in God’s Country also known as the SEC. Here are my final 2016 SEC power rankings.
14. Missouri: The Tigers finished the season with the worst overall record in the SEC, but closed with a big win over the Arkansas Razorbacks. Mizzou will always be decent on defense, but must find a way to score points in 2017.
13. Ole Miss: Yes, the soon to be NCAA poster child for sanctions finished at 5-7 with all of that talent. The Bears/Rebels will bounce back hopefully in next 5 years after sanctions beat them to a pulp.
12. South Carolina: The Gamecocks will get better under Muschamp. The Ole Ball Coach left a mess behind for will to clean up. A loss to a directional Florida school during the bowl season lands South Carolina here.
11. Mississippi State: Tough year in Stark Vegas, but a bowl win and winning the Egg Bowl helped the Bulldogs stay out of the number 13 spot in these rankings.
10. Vanderbilt: Wins over UGA and Tennessee and a trip to Shreveport made the season one to remember in Nashville. I like Derek Mason and think he will continue to do a fine job in the Music City.
9. Arkansas: How do you blow a 24-point lead at the half in a bowl game? Well the Piggies did, and this team is hard to figure so they land here.
8. Kentucky: The season was a success for the Wildcats. The Cats made a bowl. Now just go do your job its basketball season.
7. Texas A&M: Start fast and finish slow is the Aggie blueprint. Top 5 in October and unranked in the final polls. Kevin Sumlin’s seat is red hot going into 2017.
6. Auburn: You finish the season with a loss to UGA, Alabama, and Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl a place you had no business being at. Florida should have received the Sugar Bowl bid.
5. Georgia: A nice win over TCU in the Liberty Bowl. But 8-5 with home losses to UT, Vandy, and GT just will not cut it moving forward Kirby. Help is on the way with this monster recruiting class. This is a team on the rise.
4. Tennessee: Who did less with more than the Vols in 2016? The jury is out on Butch Jones. 2017 will be a make or break year for Butch.
3. LSU: Coach O turned it around down the stretch and the Tigers looked great in their bowl game in Orlando. A team to watch in 2017. I like the Coach O hire.
2. Florida: Back to back East titles and a nice win in Tampa during Bowl season. I think the Gators drop back a little next year.
1. Alabama: The gold standard of the SEC. The Tide just keeps on winning. The title game loss to Clemson which I predicted in the preseason by the way does not tarnish a great season. Alabama is not going anywhere soon. The rest of the Sec must catch up.
The SEC was down in football in 2016. It was Alabama and the 11 Dwarfs. The rest of the SEC must pick up its game in 2017.
The ACC from top to bottom was the best football conference in America in 2016. Ouch!!!!
SEC Bowling
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
For anyone who is not a fan of SEC football, this year has been pretty satisfying.
People have been coming from all over the place to pile on the misfortunes of college football’s most prominent league. That doesn’t mean the SEC won’t have a chance to get the last laugh though, and shut up all those critics with a successful bowl season. The question is whether or not they’ll be able to do it.
Miami, OH. vs. Mississippi State: Why are the Bulldogs even allowed to play in this game? I mean, technically I know why they’re playing, but has there ever been a more defining moment for “everybody gets a trophy” than MSU making a bowl game. They’re probably the better team, but out of sheer principle I can’t pick them to win. Bowl Record Prediction: 0-1.
NC State vs. Vanderbilt: Living in North Carolina you become familiar with NC State’s ability to be their own worst enemy, because for some reason they just aren’t allowed to have nice things. I think Vanderbilt is much better than their record shows, especially with the way they’ve been playing of late. Also, I think the Commodores are just the better team. BRP: 1-1.
Texas A&M vs. Kansas State: A month ago I would’ve gone with A&M and not thought twice about it. Now, not so much. To be honest, I haven’t really paid much attention to Kansas State this year, but I trust Bill Snyder more than Kevin Sumlin. BRP: 1-2.
Arkansas vs. Virginia Tech: I’m going with Virginia Tech on this one, but I feel about comfortable with that as I do anytime I choose a new Chinese restaurant to visit. BRP: 1-3.
Georgia vs. TCU: This game will closer than what I assume most people probably think. It’s been a rough year for the Athens faithful, but a win here will help salvage a rather unforgettable season. BRP: 2-3.
Nebraska vs. Tennessee: This is more or less a de facto home game for the Vols. They’d better hope it treats them like that since 3 of their 4 losses this year were on the road. I don’t know which Vols team will show up, but I’m going to guess the one that does will be good enough to win. BRP: 3-3.
LSU vs. Louisville: I’ll be flipping back and forth between watching the game when Louisville’s Off./LSU’s Def. are on the field and watching the new season of Fuller House when their counterparts are playing. Heisman winning QB’s seem to struggle after winning and LSU players love playing for Orgeron. I want the Cardinals to win, but I’m going with LSU. I hope I’m wrong. BRP: 4-3
Auburn vs. Oklahoma: I have a feeling this one isn’t going to be all that close. Auburn has been much better than I thought they’d be when the season started and I have a lot of respect for what that coaching staff has done, but Oklahoma is too talented to lose…. Wait, you mean Bob Stoops is still the Sooners coach? Nevermind, I’ll take the Tigers. BRP: 5-3.
Alabama vs. Washington: Alabama wins this one going away (BRP: 6-3), with a similar result in the National Championship game. BRP: 7-3.
If the SEC is able to finish their bowl games with a 7-3 record, it would difficult to be too critical of the conference and their season as a whole, especially if Alabama wins it all.
Unfortunately for SEC fans, considering how my predictions have gone this year, I wouldn’t count on any of it happening.
