Before the media and coaches make their picks later this week, here’s our best guess at who will win the SEC division races and individual awards.
| SEC West | TipsterHog | HogBlogger | Sunshine | HogBaller |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Alabama | Alabama | Alabama | Alabama |
| 2. | Arkansas | Arkansas | Arkansas | Arkansas |
| 3. | Auburn | Auburn | Auburn | Auburn |
| 4. | LSU | LSU | LSU | LSU |
| 5. | Mississippi State | Mississippi State | Mississippi State | Ole Miss |
| 6. | Ole Miss | Ole Miss | Ole Miss | Mississippi State |
| SEC East | TipsterHog | HogBlogger | Sunshine | HogBaller |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Florida | Florida | Florida | Florida |
| 2. | South Carolina | South Carolina | Georgia | Georgia |
| 3. | Kentucky | Georgia | South Carolina | South Carolina |
| 4. | Georgia | Tennessee | Kentucky | Tennessee |
| 5. | Tennessee | Kentucky | Tennessee | Kentucky |
| 6. | Vanderbilt | Vanderbilt | Vanderbilt | Vanderbilt |
| SEC Honors | TipsterHog | HogBlogger | Sunshine | HogBaller |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEC Champion | Alabama | Alabama | Alabama | Alabama |
| SEC Player of the Year | Ryan Mallett | Ryan Mallett | Ryan Mallett | Ryan Mallett |
| SEC Coach of the Year | Gene Chizik | Bobby Petrino | Gene Chizik | Bobby Petrino |
Consensus choices for division winners, overall winner and player of the year. I know…booooring. But would you pick it any differently?
Tipster, Georgia fourth in the East? Behind Kentucky? Our friends over at dawgsports.com are going to love that!
Ha…mark my words…the "Joker" will be on them Bulldogs! :-p
West
Alabama
Arkansas
Auburn
LSU
Miss. St.
Ole Miss
EAST
Florida
Georgia
South Carolina
Tennessee
Kentucky
Vanderbilt
SEC Champion
Florida (why not? 'Bama did it last year with an unproven QB at the helm and this kid is supposed to have an even better arm than he has, right?)
(They also will be better on defense than 'Bama this time around)
West
Bama
Arkansas
LSU (Lesser might survive another year; let's hope so)
Auburn (I can already hear their excuses)
Miss State
Hootie (And the flames start getting hot!)
East
Florida
Georgia
South Carolina
Tenn
Kentucky
Vandy
Overall champion
Alabama
Player of Year
Ryan Mallet
Coach of Year
Bobby Petrino
This is somewhat surprising. I would have thought at least 1 of you would have picked Arkansas to win the west, particularly given the predicitons of the prior posts.
I just can't see Bama losing almost all of their defense, not having a bye week and winning the West. SC, LSU and maybe FL will be tough for Bama. I think they can lose 3 games this year, maybe 4 if Auburn is for real. I think we have proven that you can have a prolific offense and a poor defense and lose games. Not that I think Bama will lower to our defensive level the past 2 years, but with youngsters coming in it's not easy for them to step up to the SEC level quickly, paticularly against dynamic offenses like the Hogs and Auburn.
I'm still not sold on Florida. Brantley is getting WAY too much credit for having very little experience IMHO. I think 80% of Florida's offense was driven by Tebow, and they were still handled fairly well by a number of opponents. I think SC has a good chance to win the East and Kentucky may surprise some folks.
Soupd, Bama says they're to the point where they just 'hollar "Next".
Big time recruiting classes the last 3 years have yielded, what they call, "a fully stocked cupboard" for Saban to replenish from. They should be the team to beat.
A positive though is we catch them early, and if there is a place where they might be vulnerable it's in the secondary.
That said, I hope you're right and they are not as good as advertised.
I'm with you Soup. My thinking exactly. See below.
I agree with you Soupdog about the Florida QB. Tebow was special. He willed Florida to the win over Oklahoma in the NCAA championship game. That kind of intensity can't be measured with stats. It has to be seen McCoy was in the same mold. It is my minority opinion that had McCoy not been injured Texas would have beaten Alabama. Until Brantley shows that he can do the same, I think that Florida will be weaker with Brantley no matter what Meyer says. I won't predict any finishes until after the first three games are played. The Bama writer was funny. He obviously gave no significance to the importance of experience and maturity. Arkansas could disappoint but I wonder if the Bama guy would be willing to put money on his opinion. It's hard to believe that the Hogs could not do better, even 1 game better, than last year. (I'm sure this writer is being swamped with calls from guys with cash in hand, even Bama fans.) One thing he may have overlooked with his disrespect for the HOGS defense was that inside the 20 Arkansas was tough. It was between the 20s that Arkansas looked weak. As it has been reported here the special teams were terrible, especially kick coverage. If that has been addressed I can't see Arkansas not improving on last year.
Arkansas, 'bama, Auburn, LSU, Miss St., Ole Miss
South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tenn, Ky, Vandy.
I'm so excited about this upcoming year. It almost feels unreal. I keep trying to keep a level head so I want end up breaking my tv when Arkansas looses for the first time. Here are my predictions for the division:
Arkansas,Bama,LSU,Ole Miss, Auburn, Miss St. I really think we will catch Bama at a good time and I think that Les Miles realizes this is his last year if he doesn't produce which will make them work harder. HDN always has a little fight in him so I expect his motivational speeches to help them finish atleast middle of the pack. Its a toss up between them and Auburn.
Georgia, Florida, S Carolina,Tenn,Ky,Vandy. Call me crazy but I thought Florida was vunerable last year. This year they will be more exposed and might actually end up 3rd in there division.
Champs: Arkansas
Player of the year: Greg Childs
Coach of the year: Gene Chizik
Here's a prediction for 'ya:
The SEC will be so balanced this season, the overall conference winner will have 2 losses on it's record.
This will also be the year an SEC member won't win the NC. The stat-crazy national media will make sure of it this time around.
They'll be promoting the hell out of teams like Texas, OU, Ohio St., Boisi St., N. Carolina, Miami and Stanford, just because this will be the year the SEC beat itself up from top to bottom.
Everyone is just dying to see the most dominant league in the NCAA fall.
Arkansas playing in the national championship game will depend on their non-conference games: They must beat up the cupcakes and win the premier matchups. Even a two loss SEC champ would beat out many of the other contenders with less losses. It happened with LSU. I think, paranoically, that LSU made it athat year because the power structure favored OSU and thought that the Bucks would roll over the Bengals. Another reason for LSU in that year was the hangover of the disrespect that was previously paid to a 13-0 Auburn team by ignoring them for the championship game. Something that has stuck in the craw of the SEC. Right now the SEC would have to be unusually weak because what the league has going for it: That is the attitude of take it away from us on the field and not in the polls. Hard to argue against 4 out of the last 5 and 5 out of the last 7. With no defeats. Add to this the bowl records of the conferences in the last 7 years. Makes it hard to keep out the SEC champs.
Correction: first line should read SEC team rather than Arkansas. Arkansas' only premier non-conference game is with A&M and national points from that will depend upon how well the Aggies do.