This is the last in our series of prediction posts before the ‘official’ ones are made by the media and coaches later this week at SEC Football Media Days.
| Bowl Game / Record | TipsterHog | HogBlogger | Sunshine | HogBaller |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bowl Game | Cotton | Cotton | Cotton | Independence |
| Bowl Opponent | Nebraska | Nebraska | Oklahoma State | Texas Tech |
| Bowl Outcome | W | L | W | W |
| Final Record | 9-4 | 8-5 | 10-3 | 8-5 |
| Final BCS Ranking | 24th | Not Ranked | 14th | Not Ranked |
Most of the time, a Cotton Bowl berth in Dallas would be just fine. Right now, however, I think many would be disappointed with that outcome.
| SEC Honors | TipsterHog | HogBlogger | Sunshine | HogBaller |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEC Champion | LSU | Tennessee | LSU | LSU |
| SEC Player of the Year | Darren McFadden | Darren McFadden | Darren McFadden | Darren McFadden |
| SEC Coach of the Year | Les Miles | Phil Fulmer | Nick Saban | Urban Meyer |
Ugh…if those really are the possible Coach of the Year winners, can I change my prediction to ‘None of the above’? 
And finally, like Vegas, these are our ‘proposition bets.’ Basically they are complete and total guesses made over a month before the ball is even snapped.
| Propositions | TipsterHog | HogBlogger | Sunshine | HogBaller |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| D. McFadden over 2006 Total (1,647 yards) | No | No | No | No |
| F. Jones over 2006 Total (1,168 yards) | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| M. Monk over 1,000 yards | No | No | No | No |
| C. Dick over 1,820 yards (140 yards/gm) | No | No | Yes | No |
| Breakout Player of the Year | Freddie Fairchild | Ben Cleveland | Malcolm Sheppard | Alex Tejada |
| D. McFadden Wins the Heisman | No | No | No | No |
Now before everybody gets all fired up that we didn’t pick DMac to win the Heisman, you should consider a few points that Ron Higgins of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal made yesterday in a good article about McFadden’s chances to win:
- The Heisman voting has a major political/popularity component. If someone becomes an ‘it guy’ (like Woodson did in 1997), recent history has shown that the others in contention — no matter how worthy — can get “snowballed” over.
As Higgins notes, “Only four times in history — the last being Georgia running back Herschel Walker in 1981-82 — has the Heisman runner-up returned the next year to win college football’s most prestigious award.”- An SEC running back hasn’t won the Heisman since Bo Jackson in 1985.
- The Hogs’ season record will be a major factor. While CBS SportsLine columnist Dennis Dodd is quoted in the Higgins article as saying that he believes McFadden could still win the Heisman if the Hogs went 8-4, the Heisman Pundit thinks that would be “a tough task.”
Having said all of that…is there still a better than good chance that McFadden will “strike a pose” and come home from Manhattan with the Trophy? Absolutely. When someone earns the nickname “Humanity Advanced” — anything is possible.
You can find a consolidated list of all the SEC pre-season magazine predictions and honors at this page over on SECSports.com.
Cotton, Texas, Win, 10-3, 17th.
Tenn, Steve Superior, D-Mac.
NO Heisman, Big Year for Felix and Marcus Monk, 150 yards a game for the Break Out Player of the year Nathan Emert.
Bowl = Cotton
Opponent = Oklahoma
Win = No
Record = 10-3
Final ranking = 19th
SEC champ = LSU
Player of Year= DMac
SEC Coach of year= Lester Miles
McFadden under 1647 yds
Jones over 1168 yds
DMac 2nd again in Heisman (Booty wins)
Breakout player = London Crawford
Monk under 1000 yds
Dick over 1820 yds
Hog 'n Iowa…good choice for Breakout player. LC's got the tools to be a great one. I love the 'Lester' reference too.
Hogs back in Capital 1 Bowl. Opponent = Miami Win = Yes Final record = 11-2 Final ranking = 9th SEC Champions = LSU Player of the year = D-Mac SEC coach of the year = Phillip Fulmer D-Mac under 1647 rushing yds. Over-all yardage exseeds 2,000 yds. Felix Jones under 1,168 rushing yds. Over-all yardage exseeds 1200 yds. D-Mac wins the Hiesman Trophy Breakout player = Casey Dick Marcus Monk will have over 1,000 yds. Casey Dick will pass for more than 1,820 yds. I could give you guys a hundred reasons why I made those predictions, but the best answer would be "gut-instinct". Ever look at something and try to just use common since about it, but end up going back to your "gut" again?
The funny thing about the Cotton is while it may not be the "premiere" bowl it once was, it probably will be back in the spotlight when Jerry gets his new state-of-the-art stadium built down there. So, I'm all about going to the Cotton this year so we keep a good relationship with them. Because, soon we'll be WANTING to be in the Cotton instead of it being the backup plan.
Confession: I'm one of the ones who just last year said we should boycott the Cotton if that was where we ended up. But, that was BEFORE I got stuck with two Capital One Bowl tickets and hat to eat them because I couldn't even give them away. I'll take the Cotton every year from now on.
Addendum… Unless it is a BCS bowl… I'm not that stupid.
If McFadden, Jones and Hillis stay healthy: Sugar Bowl win over Oklahoma; Tied w/LSU in SEC West, but win tie breaker to represent West in a win over Florida in the Chamionship Game; Player of the year and Heisman Trophy winner: Darren McFadden; over 1800 yards rushing for McFadden and under 1200 for Jones; Monk over 1000 yards; Dick just under 2000 yards and the Hogs are ranked 3rd in the final BCS with a 13-1 record. Who won't sign up for that and give HDN Coach of the Year?
"Tied w/LSU in SEC West, but win tie breaker to represent West…"
What would the Hogs conceivably have to do to win the tie-breaker with LSU?
Hawgfan 100
If Arkansas only loss was to a team from the SEC east or someone from the west who isn't in the mix and beat LSU head to head for LSU's only loss the hogs get the nod.
Thanks, Carolina Hog—-Arkansas loses one along the way and then wins the showdown in Baton Rouge—-easy, right?
Of course, you would think that SEC champion Hogs would play for the BCS Championship. Not if USC, Ohio State, Texas or Michigan are also undefeated and probably not if any two of them only have one loss. Our strength of schedule this year will bite us if it comes down to BCS rankings for the Hogs and just about anyone else with the same number of losses.
T-towner : There is no doubt we have a weak non-conference schedual, but we also play in the toughest league in the country. A win over Tennessee at Knoxville or a win over LSU at Baton Rouge would be a more impressive win than say OU over Texas, in the Cotton Bowl, or say Michigan over Penn St., in an away game. USC vs. Notre Dame would be big, and Michigan vs. Ohio St. is always the biggest, but those would probably be the only 2 that I could think of that would actually be bigger than those 2 SEC games. If the Hogs win those 2, plus win the ones they are supposed to, and then win all the non-conference games by blowout scores, then it will speak volumes for the Hogs at the end of the year. Just look at Ohio St. last year. They played only 2 Elite teams all year long. The early season victory over Michigan that pretty much garanteed a national tital game birth, and the blowout lose to the Gators once they got there. The only reason the Buckeyes even got to play in that game, was because they were ranked at the top in the pre-season. By not losing till the end, and beating what was considered the 2nd best team in the land, they got in.
Quite right Gonzo.
I have way too much respect for the SEC to even begin to consider this BUT,
It is true that theoretically, Arkansas can get by Alabama and Kentucky early, get Auburn in Fayetteville and set itself up for nationally televised showdowns in both Knoxville and Baton Rouge. Wins there and in the SEC Championship game are a trip to the Title game if Ohio State, Texas, and Michigan are all undefeated. It is there to be had despite strength of schedule if you get the two huge road games on national TV.
Equally true, Alabama, Kentucky, and South Carolina are very loseable trap games. No, not on paper, just on any given Saturday.
You guys have a lot of hope here… we had a better chance to win it all last year and went 0 for 3 down the stretch. I don't believe that we have what it takes to make it that far into the discussion this year.
Haven't heard from you in a while Owasso, but like I have said in other posts, 8-5, or 9-4 is a very good possibility. More than likely that will happen, but I do believe the Hogs at least have a chance this year, because the defense will be better than a lot of people think. The early season "gimme" games could be just enough the let the O-line, and the entire Defense have time to jel. Even though we are going with 3 new guys who were back-ups last year on the O-line, they are better overall atheletes than last years, and they are not completely inexsperianced. These positions, and the D-backs positions are where the most improvement will have to come from. The passing game will be better as long as Casey Dick stays healthy.
I am going to have to agree with Gonzo again. I never predicted a National Title. All I said was that the two late road games are a ticket there if all other factors are equal.
As far as the holes, they are there. We all know it. Offensive line, wide reciever, QB, defensive line, and secondary. We are either inexperienced, thin, or both. If we are on the other side of some of the breaks we got last year or have some holes not filled, we are just as easily an 8-4 Music City team.
I think Casey is a spunky kid. He has been through a lot; having his redshirt pulled, losing his starting job to injury and then Mitch Mustain, having terrible games when it counted most. The kid has had a tough two years and keeps on coming. All that said, he has yet to show much. He has been on in a few games but he has been pretty bad in a few games as well. We will see what he is made of.
To believe after nine years that Arkansas will suddenly have a passing game is more of a stretch than the national title,or perhaps, the same one.
Bowl = Sugar
Opponent = Texas
Win = Yes
Record = 12-2
Final ranking = 4
SEC champ = Arkansas- Logically I feel I need to come up with someone else but I can't find that team. I do think that SC will be the surpise of the year and with the uncertainty in the east they could be in Atlanta. Lots of starters back and a good QB who's got 2 years wit the "ball coach under his belt". I think LSU has become this years "sure thing" like Auburn Or LSU last year and I believe we've all seen them picked so much we just assume it must be true. They've got some holes to fill and there are no sure things in the SEC
Saban reminds me of when Pitno went to Louisville and all the talk is about how many Nat'l Championships he'd win there. All of a sudden he had the magic. It is really hard to win championships in D! college football and it really takes a perfect storm of good luck and talent to do it. I don't think just having Saban is going to be a panacea for Alabama. In some perverse way all of the crap of the offseasno may benefit us because without it we'd be one of the teams to be, but as is we are just an afterthought as always. We play better in that role
Player of Year= DMac
SEC Coach of year= Houston Nutt (If I'm going to pick them to win I have to make this pick because if he gets them back to Atlanta he'll take this award hands down)
McFadden over 1647 yds (He did that last year without being full speed. With our nonconference schedule he should be able to load it up. I think O'line will be fine. We have good coaching and most guys coming into positions have had a few years to learn.
Jones under 1168 yds (If we are to bring more balance to the offense those touches will come from Jones, not DMAC)
DMac 2nd again in Heisman -Booty, he's a QB from SC and will probably win the Nat'l championship
Breakout player = Freddie Fairchild- I like the other picks I've seen here except I don't quite see it with Cleveland. I'd love to see it but I'm not sure how big of a role he gets this year.
Monk under 1000 yds
Dick over 1820 yds
I know that this is all a bit rosey but isn't that how we're supposed to feel in July. I'm a fan and the sky's the limit. We may get derailed and I'll cry like a baby when we do but for now the sky's the limit. Go Hogs!