2016 SEC Football Predictions | Week 1

By Eric Taylor -

Overall 2016 SEC Football Predictions Record (0-0)

Your wish has been granted. Week 1 of the 2016 SEC Football Predictions is here.

We learned two very important truths last season:

  1. The loser of the Alabama-Ole Miss game the last two seasons has positioned themselves nicely to win back-to-back SEC Championships, advance to the College Football Playoff, and win one national championship out of those two CFP appearances.
  2. Clemson’s defense can do a spot-on impression of Alabama’s 2013-2015 offense. The ‘Tide offense basically forgot about freakishly big and athletic tight end, O.J. Howard for nearly three full seasons. Clemson’s defense spent nearly three full quarters doing the exact same thing in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game in Glendale, Arizona. O.J. had 269 yards receiving in his freshman year and 260 as a sophomore. He had 208 yards… in the title game to go along with his two touchdown receptions; both of which came in what looked like a warm-up pitch and catch from Jake Coker as Howard was so far ahead of the defense that he would have been called offside in soccer.

Not only is 2016 SEC Football Predictions a great prediction piece, it can also serve the simple purpose to answer the question What SEC Football games are on today? There may be one or two or 13 you can dig out of here that may be worth watching this glorious opening weekend.

All Times Eastern | Utilizing AP Rankings until the College Football Playoff Selection Committee Rankings are released in October.

SEC Football Predictions | Week 1
Thursday, September 1, 2016

Appalachian State (0-0, 0-0 SEC) at #9 Tennessee (0-0)
7:30pm ET | SEC Network | Knoxville

This Is An FBS App State, Not FCS Team Looking For Payday: This is not the same Appalachian State team that beat Michigan in the Big House on opening day nine years ago. This team is probably better. On the other hand, the 2016 edition of the Tennessee Volunteers should be better than that 2007 Michigan team.

I am sold on this Tennessee roster and the talent they have at every position. Butch Jones has built quality depth on both sides of the ball, so the prognosticators picking Tennessee to win the East seem to be correct.

BUT, Jones has yet to prove he can win in big game situations. One line of thinking would say that Tennessee had ample opportunity to win every game in 2015. The other philosophy is that Tennessee should have won every game in 2015, but they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory on more than one occasion when leading by two or more scores late in the game.

One argument for a Tennessee trip to Atlanta in 2016 is that Butch Jones is tied with Kentucky’s Mark Stoops as the most tenured coach in the SEC East. The East has gone from being the home of head coaches that won a combined eight SEC Championships and a national championship in 2015 to a division loaded with rookie and second-year coaches.

Jim McElwain at Florida is the second-most tenured coach in the East… in his second season. 2016 is also the year Butch Jones prophesied that his Vols would be at full strength and ready to compete for an SEC title.

None of the above have much to do with this Thursday night opener in Knoxville, but I want to lay the groundwork for what may come to fruition as we experience this 2016 SEC football season together.

Kirby Smart has yet to prove anything as a head coach, but he appears to have all things under control in Athens. Jim McElwain has already proven what he can do Gainesville. Don’t be surprised if Tennessee fans are ripping up reservations they made for a trip to Atlanta in December if game day coaching is what decides more than one game this season.

Sorry to digress, but this is 2016 SEC Football Predictions and what kind of prediction gentleman would I be if I didn’t give you a long-term heads up or two as we navigate these choppy prediction waters? Exactly. Not much of one at all. Get ready for the VFL’ers to be worked up into a stew of excitement before, during, and after this one as they hope to win the pole at Bristol next week.
PREDICTION: Tennessee 45, Appalachian State 17

South Carolina (0-0) at Vanderbilt (0-0, 0-0 SEC)
8:00pm ET | ESPN

2016 SEC East Familiar Storyline: A storyline everyone in the East will see more than once in 2016 is “First Year Coach vs. Second Year Coach.” Derek Mason is in his third season at Vanderbilt (practically one of the grandfathers of the SEC East coaching ranks) while Will Muschamp is in his first season at South Carolina while receiving a second chance as head coach in the SEC.

Recent unsuccessful seasons for Muschamp have tarnished what was once an image of mad scientist and genius defensive coordinator that will one day become a great head coach. Muschamp’s second season as Florida’s head coach in 2012 saw the Gators get within a fumble in the end zone against Georgia from playing Alabama for a chance to take on Notre Dame in the BCS Championship Game.

Instead, things fell apart and the fiery outbursts that appeared to display his passion for the game soon became a buffet of content for meme creators when those outbursts began to appear much more crazed than passionate when his team found themselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard.

Derek Mason appears to have navigated his way through the thickest fog of becoming a first-time head coach in the toughest conference in the history of college football at the worst football school in the history of the conference. In no way am I hinting at a Vanderbilt run to Atlanta, but you could dress his defensive unit in LSU or Alabama uniforms and not notice a difference at first or second glance.

Because of this, the Commodores could be this season’s team to determine the SEC East champion. Most years saw Kentucky or South Carolina playing this role well, but Vandy may very well ruin one or two seasons in 2016. This team could resemble the Woodyball/Rod Dowhower teams of the mid-to-late ‘90s that would resemble an NFL powerhouse on defense and a middle-of-the-road peewee team on offense. The offense should have more talent than those sad teams of the late ‘90s, but the conference is much deeper today.

Freshmen > Seniors: Thursday’s game could be a preview of another growing trend we may see with at least two other schools in the SEC. Will Muschamp may take a chance with freshman quarterback Brandon McIlwain since he will be playing with house money in his first season. Why start a senior (Perry Orth) when you will be forced to groom another quarterback to become a first year starter in your second year as head coach at a school where you are following back-to-back hall of fame coaches in Lou Holtz and Steve Spurrier?

Vanderbilt fans should expect low-scoring, frustrating “Why can’t we just get one first down” type games on West End this season. South Carolina can expect the same in 2016 in Columbia. Both teams can expect this type of game to open the season tonight. The final few minutes could be as entertaining as any game you will watch all weekend. The first 55 minutes will be what everyone wants to forget.
PREDICTION: Vanderbilt 13, South Carolina 7

Saturday, September 3, 2016

South Alabama (0-0) at Mississippi State (0-0, 0-0 SEC)
Noon ET | SEC Network

1 A.D. – After Dak: For all the great accomplishments and wonderful success a team can experience with a quarterback like Dak Prescott, there is one negative that will eventually be felt by the program — the realization that you haven’t been forced to worry about who will be your quarterback for three years. Mississippi State had a guy that was a right-handed prototype of SEC Nation co-host, Tim Tebow that happened to be coached by the guy who was his offensive coordinator at Florida.

Dak led this team to unprecedented heights that may never be experienced again in Starkville. In 2014, the Bulldogs were the No. 1 team in the country for a few weeks before a trip to Tuscaloosa ended the prince’s ball for Cinderella. MSU at its very best is a top 10-15 team, but the stars aligned for Prescott and Dan Mullen to put together such a historic run together in Starkville.

South Alabama is not exactly the top non-conference opponent an SEC team will face this weekend, but a game versus a beatable USA team is a blessing for a team with a new quarterback trying to get accustomed to the position as the man while avoiding the shadow being cast by Dak Prescott’s success.

Don’t let the negative overshadow the potential and upside of the quarterbacks waiting in the wings. In what the Bulldogs lose in talent with Prescott’s exit, they retain in size and athleticism.

Sophomore Nick Fitzgerald (6-5, 230) has been named starter, but the guys behind him are somehow larger. Sophomore Elijah Stanley (6-6, 249), and redshirt freshman Nick Tiano (6-4, 239) can cross “seeing over the line of scrimmage” off the list of intangibles. Junior Damian Williams, the “smallest” of the quarterbacks (6-1, 229), has experience at the position as a true freshman in 2014 and returns after redshirting in 2015.

This will be a good scrimmage for the Bulldogs to get as many quarterbacks a little in-game action as possible before they hit the ground running with conference games against South Carolina at home September 10 and at LSU the 17th.
PREDICTION: Mississippi State 34, South Alabama 10

Missouri (0-0, 0-0 SEC) at West Virginia (0-0)
Noon ET | FS1

Back In The Big 12: West Virginia was not in the Big 12 when Missouri last made the old SWC/Big 8 its home. Regardless of past conference affiliations, the SEC’s northwestern most team will “return” to the Big 12 Saturday with a trip to Morgantown to face the Big 12’s northeastern most team.

All Missouri has done since joining the SEC is win the East as many seasons as they haven’t. Here we are again talking about which teams could challenge Tennessee for a trip to Atlanta and the Tigers from Columbia (East) barely receive a grunt after discussing Georgia and Florida and South Carolina and Kentucky and Vanderbilt. Well, it’s not that bad, but Missouri is in its fifth season of conference play and they remain a, for the most part, flyover program.

Missouri may not win the East in 2016, but they will be a team that is well-coached, stingy on defense, and pretty fun to watch on offense. Speaking of well-coached, Missouri is one of three teams from the East with a new head coach. Dave Odom is new to the position, but not to the program. He is loved by the players and provides a much-needed sense of structure to a team that spent much of the 2015 season as a team divided.

If the running game improves from the 115 yards per game average of 2015 (and how could it do much worse?), Missouri could be in the Vanderbilt category of “Teams Who Won’t Compete For But Will Decide The East.”

West Virginia won’t exactly be watching the College Football Playoff rankings each week with baited breath, but they should be better than Missouri on this day. I said the same thing about BYU last year when Missouri was in the midst of chaos and trying to see if there were any possible way to average one point per game.

Home field advantage may be one of the differences in this entertaining opener, but the game will be played during the day and the combination of Mizzou’s talented defense and WVU’s tendency to throw an interception or two, I’m giving Missouri the edge. Senior quarterback Skyler Howard threw 15 picks in 2015. He’ll need to be much more protective with the ball in this one to beat a team with Missouri’s talent on defense.
PREDICTION: Missouri 28, West Virginia 24 

#15 UCLA (0-0) at Texas A&M (0-0, 0-0 SEC)
3:30pm ET | CBS

Trevor Knight Should Pretend UCLA Is Alabama:  Knight was 32-of-44 for 348 yards and four touchdowns as a freshman quarterback for Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl against Alabama following the 2013 season. That’s a completion percentage of 72.7%. Since that game, Knight has been “the next great one” and heading into the first game of 2016 he still carries that title. He hopes to live up to this prophecy, but he will have to do it in the best division of the best conference that has the greatest defenses in the history of college football.

Not only does Knight come from the offensive juggernaut of Oklahoma, he’s coming from a conference that appears to have players on defense that are not eligible to tackle the first two or three years of their careers.

With that being said, let’s not pile on. Knight has not lived up to expectations yet, but he has completed no more than 59 percent in a season. So, maybe that is actually piling on more.

Come to think of it, Trevor Knight hasn’t been the same since he played an awful game in 2014 after Katy Perry mentioned him on Gameday in Oxford the week of the 2014 Alabama-Ole Miss game. Just the mention of his name surrounding an Alabama game more than likely caused the ‘Tide to lose that game to Ole Miss.

UCLA comes in with a No. 15 preseason ranking to go along with hype and expectations. If there’s a team that can crumble under the weight of hype and expectations as masterfully as UCLA, I have yet to meet them. The Bruins are even being mentioned as a dark-horse to reach the College Football Playoff. That may be the fatal blow to a season that is just getting under way.

The weight UCLA will feel from expectations of success alongside the addition of playing on the road inside a rowdy Kyle Field should provide the Aggies enough help to defeat the Bruins in a marathon of a game. This will be our first overtime game of the 2016 season.
PREDICTION: Texas A&M 51, UCLA 48 | 3 Overtimes

#5 LSU (0-0, 0-0 SEC) vs. Wisconsin (0-0)
3:30pm ET | ABC | Lambeau Field | Green Bay, Wisconsin

Lambeau… Yeah. That Lambeau: Some football fans hate the gimmick games where two teams will play in a historic stadium or ballpark from another sport or different league. I am not one of those people. I dream of matchups and alternate venues on a regular basis… because I’m a good person.

This week LSU will travel to Lambeau Field to take on Wisconsin. I know the “Les Miles eats grass!” barbs are tired, but I don’t see a scenario where he’s not sitting criss-cross-applesauce at midfield with a fork and knife just going to town on some fescue.

Many national pundits, outside of Barrett Sallee at Bleacher Report, believe the Bengal Tigers could be the best in the West, the SEC, and the nation. Many of you know Barrett as the guy who is obviously biased against your team. These pundits believe in LSU. although the university administration had all but replaced Les Miles with Jimbo Fisher before Jimbo changed his mind and decided to “make-do” in Tallahassee with great athletes and an ACC schedule that will be much easier (outside of Clemson) than a weekly SEC West firing squad.

I tend to side with Barrett on the long-term prognosis for this team. We all know that Les Miles could have six or seven national championships if he had consistent quarterback play during his time in Baton Rouge. We could blame that on the luck of the draw or see it as an example of why Saban has won three of his four national titles in Tuscaloosa with first-year quarterbacks who improved every game and never got his team beat.

It makes no difference which philosophy you choose to subscribe, the fact of the matter is this is Les Miles’ final season in Baton Rouge if the quarterbacks continue to wade in the waters of mediocrity.

Circling back to the present; if LSU has any quarterback play whatsoever from Brandon Harris, I see no way the Tigers can lose. In all honesty, I don’t see why Harris would need to do anything outside of handing the ball to Leonard Fournette each and every play. Expect a game similar to 2015’s opening game between Alabama and Wisconsin in Dallas.
PREDICTION: LSU 35, Wisconsin 14

LA Tech (0-0) at Arkansas (0-0, 0-0 SEC)
4:00pm ET | SEC Network

They Can’t All Be Huge: This opening weekend is like a New Year’s Day bowl lineup. It would actually be better, but the sprinkling in of a few games like LA Tech-Arkansas aid in diluting the weekend just enough to keep it fair for the other 13 weeks of the season.

We can talk more about Arkansas next week. Hopefully, after a win against a Bulldog team that could keep people glancing down at the score crawl while watching bigger games.

As yet another aside, I readily admit that I am an Alabama fan. I also admit many who claim the same tend to annoy others with reckless abandon. With that out of the way and on behalf of every Alabama fan out there, allow me to thank Arkansas for 2015’s national title.
PREDICTION: Arkansas 23, LA Tech 21

#22 North Carolina (0-0) vs. #18 Georgia (0-0, 0-0 SEC)
4:30pm ET | ESPN | Atlanta | Georgia Dome

What Have You Got To Lose Besides A Game?: Similar to Will Muschamp at South Carolina, first-year head coach Kirby Smart could be heading into Week 1 with a quarterback that has as many days on campus as the coach. I also subscribe to the philosophy applied to Muschamp playing a freshman quarterback in his first year as head coach because he has nothing to lose so long as that is going to be his guy moving forward anyway.

Nowhere does this philosophy apply better than in Athens. The only way true freshman Jacob Eason shouldn’t start against North Carolina inside the Georgia Dome is if he is caught stealing a walker from an elderly lady while blatantly plagiarizing all papers due in all the freshman classes.

While writing these predictions, the UGA 2-deep still listed all three quarterbacks as possible starters. Not only is the freshman better for the long-term, he will be better for the short-term as well.

Another report coming out of Athens while we predict all the football is that Nick Chubb will “not be on a pitch count” according to Kirby Smart and will not be limited in any way for the season opener.

North Carolina has not defeated an FBS program in an opener since the year 2000 when they found a way to get by Tulsa in a matchup of football teams playing a sport. We have to travel all the way back to 1997 to find the last Tar Heel team to defeat a Power 5 conference team. That Power 5 team was Indiana. I understand that was then and this is now, but UNC has proven to falter more times than not in games against the traditional powers.

Kirby Smart may have a few growing pains in 2016 as he and his team adjust to a new normal in Athens. I don’t see those growing pains being too catastrophic Week 1 inside the lame duck Georgia Dome. I can see, however, how a big win will cause Dawg supporters to contract a bad case of inflated expectations. This was the same disease that ran off the greatest coach to walk beside Uga on the sideline since Derek Dooley’s dad.
PREDICTION: Georgia 35, North Carolina 24

Southern Miss (0-0) at Kentucky (0-0, 0-0 SEC)
7:30pm ET | ESPNU | Lexington

Cats Can’t Kickback And Cruise: Golden Eagles quarterback Nick Mullens can throw the ball all over the field. In 2015, Mullens had his best game in a 36-28 loss to Nebraska in Lincoln when he completed 26 of his 41 passes for 447 yards. For Kentucky to believe this game is just another warmup to the SEC season would be a mistake that would most likely end Mark Stoops and the Wildcats short-lived hopes for a magical undefeated season. We can discuss Kentucky more in-depth next week along with the other teams not participating in games of All-Time-Great-Classic-Matchup magnitude and status.
PREDICTION: Kentucky 30, Southern Mississippi 20

Massachusetts (0-0) at # 25 Florida (0-0, 0-0 SEC)
7:30pm ET | SEC Network | Gainesville

Is Florida Allowed To Play The Role Of “Sleeper” In The East? I would say throw out all the records for this one, but that statement really applies to every game taking place this weekend. Every team is undefeated and ready to reach heights never before experienced at the school. While some schools are great at cultivating endless optimism that meets its ultimate demise by halftime of the first game, Jim McElwain has his Gators in a rare position of underdog and forgotten for the second consecutive season. This underdog role comes off a 2015 season that saw Florida bring home an SEC East title and trip to the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta in McElwain’s first season.

Luke Del Rio’s College Quarterback Tour stops off in Gainesville in 2016 and he will be the starting signal caller for the Gators as a redshirt sophomore. If Del Rio uses his remaining eligibility at Florida, he will be old enough to sign a one-day contract with his favorite NFL team and retire.

The redshirt sophomore began his career on Alabama’s depth chart in 2013. A full 2016 season similar to Will Grier’s partial 2015 season and this Florida team may upset a few apple carts in the SEC East and West.
PREDICTION: Florida 52, UMASS 0

#20 USC (0-0) vs #1 Alabama (0-0, 0-0 SEC)
8:00pm ET | ABC | Dallas | AT&T Stadium

Experience Wins… Again: As per usual in Tuscaloosa, another off-season full of hype and buzz surrounding a young quarterback who is wise beyond his years ends with Nick Saban proclaiming redshirt junior Cooper Bateman and last year’s fall practice buzz-producer, redshirt freshman Blake Barnett as the two guys that will go for Alabama on Saturday when they kick the season off yet again in a suburb of Dallas inside AT&T Stadium.

Not that people will turn away and avoid the game, but haven’t these neutral site games run their course? The attention you can bring to your campus by inviting five-star recruits to visit during a game of this magnitude seems better than playing in a sterile NFL stadium that has become a Bryant-Denny Southwest for Alabama since 2012. The ‘Tide actually won one more game than the Cowboys in AT&T Stadium last year.

USC brings with them their own bag of history and tradition to Dallas Saturday night. USC was the most recent dynasty before Nick Saban and Alabama’s current run of four national titles over the past seven seasons.

USC will be talented and athletic on the edges with fast wide receivers who can break a big play or two. USC’s biggest opportunity for a win will need to be forcing Alabama’s new quarterback to throw the ball to the wrong team and striking quickly following the turnover. Ole Miss used the very delicate recipe of mixing a few turnovers and big plays in a bowl with a little bit of luck on a tipped and batted ball to give Alabama its only loss of 2015.

The Trojans have the athletes to make the plays on both sides of the ball if given the opportunity. The problem for the Trojans is I don’t see this being the game Alabama gives the opposing team a chance to capitalize on clumsy errors and mistakes. Bo Scarbrough will have people asking to see identification to prove he’s not Trent Richardson or Derrick Henry or a clone of both. Expect a close game early, but Alabama will pull away in the second half. All of this is assuming USC didn’t pull a turnabout’s fair play and secretly install the wishbone offense in the offseason like Alabama did to USC to open the 1971 season.
PREDICTION: Alabama 34, USC 17

#2 Clemson (0-0) at Auburn (0-0, 0-0 SEC)
9:00pm ET | ESPN

Very Good Bookends: Luckily for Auburn, the season begins with the runner-up of the National Championship Game and will close with the National Champion (Alabama). Between those two games is the entire SEC West as well as Georgia from the East. A win against Kirk Herbstreit’s favorite to win the national title in the opening game will catapult Auburn from being a team looking for an identity to an immediate contender in the SEC West, entire conference, and College Football Playoff.

Pssssssst! Hey, Auburn. Look For The Tight End: As mentioned in the opening section of this epic, the tight end position is one that the Clemson defense apparently refuses to recognize as an official position. If Auburn watched the College Football National Championship Game in January, they would have seen Alabama’s tight end O.J. Howard running around Arizona like he had been quarantined from Clemson’s defense. Twice he caught long touchdown passes from Jacob Coker with no Clemson defender within 15 yards of him. He had zero touchdowns going into the biggest game of the year and left Arizona as the offensive MVP. So, if you are an Auburn fan hoping to roll Toomer’s Corner in the wee hours of September 3rd, let sophomore quarterback know that he needs to ensure that tight end Jalen Harris is named as ESPN Player of the Game at the end of night.

Coming off such a successful season where the first loss didn’t come until the final game is something this Clemson program has not experienced. There’s something about coming so close to the ultimate prize that can send a program down one of two paths. One is what many assume Clemson will take which is the path of even more hunger and passion to take that next step and win it all. The other path is when your hunger for the championship blinds you to the present. Rather than repeat what it took last season to get so close, you only focus on where you fell short and base your work and preparation on being good enough to win when you get another chance to win it all. This path usually leads to a very disappointing season because teams like Auburn show up on your schedule and remind you that there are 13 games you’ll need to be ready to play before you get another shot at being a champion.

Jordan-Hare Stadium will be rocking and the Tigers wearing the home navy uniforms will beat the Tigers that wear orange and purple and white.
PREDICTION: Auburn 31, Clemson 27

Monday, September 5, 2016

#11 Ole Miss (0-0, 0-0) vs. #4 Florida State (0-0)
8:00pm ET | ESPN | Orlando | Florida Citrus Bowl

This Just In: I received a text from a source close to the situation and, according to his estimations, the NCAA has not opened any additional investigations into improper recruiting practices in Oxford. But this is as of mid-week so stay tuned.

Ole Hit Or Miss: Call me crazy (or maybe), but the worst thing that has happened to Ole Miss the past two seasons is defeating Alabama in each of those two seasons. Neither year were they able to handle the success that came with beating the ‘Tide, especially in 2015. Although the Rebels won 11 games, they failed to reach Atlanta as SEC West Champions because they forgot to show up in Gainesville against Florida and allowed Arkansas to become the most popular team in the state of Alabama when they threw a lateral Hail Mary ball behind them and scored a victory over the Rebels in overtime.

I think it’s time we get right down to it and ask the tough question to the Ole Miss faithful. Can the Rebels handle the success and expectations that will come with a victory over a No. 4 ranked FSU this early in the season? Barring any NCAA drama (basically a disclaimer that should be placed at the beginning or end of every sentence when discussing the future of an SEC team), the Rebels could continue to grow and succeed under Hugh Freeze, including a third consecutive win over Alabama.

The issue for Ole Miss is not winning big games. They are over that hump. The hump is now shaped more like a mountain. Ole Miss needs to sustain a high level of success for an entire season before they find themselves alone atop the SEC West standings. A win on Monday night will give Hugh Freeze and the Rebels a chance to sustain the high.
PREDICTION: Ole Miss 33, Florida State 28

Eric Taylor is a contributor to FBSchedules.com.  Follow him on Twitter @EricFromSpfld or contact him via email at Eric–at– TaylorCreativeGroup–dot– net. Eric is also President and Founder of Taylor Creative Group, home of the Punt On Third Down blog and podcast. Be sure to Like the Facebook page Facebook.com/EricTaylorWritesStuff for the latest on the 2016 SEC Football Predictions and all POTD Blog and Podcast news.

Comments (75)

SEC going undefeated in OOC play in week 1???
They will lose 3 of those games.
Ole Miss, A&M and Auburn will lose.

I’m glad to see you were able to set your SEC bias aside and predict these very accurate scores.

Sarcasm aside, here are better predictions:
1.) Tenn 42 – App State 21
2.) South Carolina 24 – Vandy 21 (1 OT)
3.) Miss State 34 – South Alabama 7
4.) Missouri 14 – West Virginia 28
5.) Texas A&M 17 – UCLA 38
6.) LSU 14 – Wisconsin 17 (OT)
7.) LA Tech 21 – Arkansas 20
8.) Georgia 33 – UNC 27
9.) Kentucky 42 – Southern Mississippi 0
10.) Florida 59 – UMASS 10
11.) Alabama 27 – USC 21
12.) Auburn 16 – Clemson 42
13.) Ole Miss 24 – Florida State 42
SEC (non conference): 6-6

Maverick,

I luv how you tell Eric that you’re glad he can set his bias aside then ramble on about how the SEC is going to go 6-6 in play. Bias anyone? Better predictions?

To keep in fair, I can see Auburn, Georgia & Ole MIss going down, may be A&M as well but hopefully not.
I don’t see LSU losing to Wisconsin but I can see W.Virginia beating Mizz.
I’ll take Vandy over S.Carolina, they may can make it to 6 wins & go bowling this year.

Lmao…..I too had Bama winning 34-17 over USC.

Good luck all!

I’m a Trojan, and I am predicting USC losing and UCLA winning. It’s disgusting. That eliminates all bias right away.

Also, I don’t think Brandon Harris is good. In fact, I think he sucks. Wisconsin’s returning the 4th best defensive line in the country. (Note, last year’s opening game against Alabama was a very young team.) The Badgers evolved into a much better team. However, they do now have the worst D coordinator is USC history (Justin Wilcox). That said, the game is at Lambeau Field. I’m picking Wisconsin all day until LSU can learn how to throw the ball.

Auburn is horrible, I had GA winning, Ole Miss will get smoked by Dalvin Cook, and A&M has a mediocre qb going against a QB many scouts say will be an early 1st rounder in 2018 draft.

Really Maverick, 42-0 for Kentucky? Haha. Nice with the Wisconsin pick though. Why the @!#$ did this guy think the SEC would win every game? Maybe because it is his job to pick them.

I agree. I can’t believe they struggled to beat a team that was 11-2 last year and returned 17 starters. Should have been a cakewalk, huh?

Oh, that’s right, everything is black or white in your world.

The SEC won, beating a team that would probably compete for a title in any other conference, including the Big whatevers and the Pac-however many they have now.

Just admit it. The SEC is better than anyone you like and that’s why you are so bitter.

Hahahahahahaha. Your inability to separate fanboy with analysis is laughable. You’ve officially lost any credibility you thought you had (which wasn’t much, but I’m nice)… Appalachian State winning a Power 5 conference. Lol. I’ve heard some whoppers before, but that was by far the best. Lol.

So, by your reasoning, Oklahoma’s loss was bad because Houston is not a Power 5, but see those people that understand football, that really know it, understand there was no shame in Oklahoma losing to Houston. None at all. Houston is a good team whether they play in the American Athletic or whether they play in the Big 12. They are a good team.

See, things aren’t always black and white. Power 5 teams aren’t all better than non-Power 5 teams. But for someone with a simple mind, who really can’t comprehend information at a high level, they have to be better because they are Power 5 teams.

What’s next, there was some state law that required Oklahoma to lose to Houston?

Talk about pathetic.

Judging by this opening weekend of football, I clearly have been proven mostly right. Once again the SEC is overrated because their best team is dominant. It’s Alabama, Alabama, Alabama, Alabama, and a bunch of underachieving teams without a QB.

1.) Tennessee barely beat Appalachian State in OT. HAHAHAHA. And they should have lost. Josh Dobbs can’t throw a pass.
2.) South Carolina beat Vandy in an uglier game than even an SEC hater can’t imagine.
3.) Mississippi State lost to South Alabama! HAHAHAHAHAHA. That’s the same team that started their program in in 2009.
4.) Missouri got dominated by West Virginia.
5.) Texas A&M beat UCLA in OT. No one could have thought UCLA receivers would drop EVERY pass. That said, A&M’s pass rush is as good as hyped.
6.) LSU got flat-put beat by Wisconsin. #5? No problem.
7.) Arkansas barely beats Louisiana Tech 21-20 with a 4th and goal TD with minutes remaining.
8.) Georgia pulls away late against UNC at Georgia Dome. They should have won and found a way to do just that.
9.) Kentucky gets embarrassed by Southern Mississippi. I was wrong, you were wrong, and the whole SEC East is a joke.
10.) Florida barely beats UMASS. They pulled away late in the 4th.
11.) Alabama steamrolls USC. Some would argue self-inflicted miscues led to a great team taking advantage. Either way, Alabama is the face of the SEC and will be that for a while. It’s not SEC. It’s BAMA.
12.) Auburn gets beat by #1 Clemson. AU over-performed at home and hung around. Props for an improved D.
13.) Ole Miss and Florida State on Monday night… Who wins? I’ve got FSU big.

That said, I was mostly accurate with my predictions. My USC fanboy attitude kept me from truly knowing Bama is Bama. But I got to admit that before USC’s linebacker cheap-shot groin stomp, USC would have kept it close. Unacceptable. Sorry from a Trojan fan to Fitzpatrick’s groin area. Hope he wore a cup.

Appalachian State, South Alabama, Louisiana Tech, Southern MIssisippi and UMASS — these weak group of 5 teams prove just how hyped and overrated the SEC is. Don’t ever say how great the conference is. You should all play 9 conference games and a power 5 OOC game. Period. The power 5 conferences are basically equal

Maverick,

I will give you this, you said the SEC would go 6-6 & that is what they did, you were correct.
As for the comment:
” But I got to admit that before USC’s linebacker cheap-shot groin stomp, USC would have kept it close. Unacceptable. Sorry from a Trojan fan to Fitzpatrick’s groin area. Hope he wore a cup.”
I highly doubt that, after the 1st Bama touchdown, it was all over with! USC did a great job in the 1st quarter & a half but after Bama got in their grove, they laid a clinch on the Trojans & I can’t even believe the Trojan’s got beat down that bad. Good luck to your Trojans for the rest of the year, as for the SEC, they will bounce back, not the best opening week but some good wins over all. Oklahoma getting beat was a big surprise, poor Sooner fans. Sad to see Miss St lose but congrats to USA, hope they do great thing with this win for the rest of the season. Good luck to Ole Miss tonight!

But see, you still fail to see the reality that is college football.

In the ACC, Wake struggled to beat Tulane. Richmond beat Virginia.

in the Big 12, Houston beat Oklahoma. Northern Iowa beat Iowa State. TCU struggled to beat South Dakota State.

in the Big Ten, Western Michigan beat Northwestern.

In the Pac 12, Eastern Washington beat Washington State. Arizona lost to BYU.

Every power conference dropped games to non-power conferences.

But your bias against the SEC fails to note that the SEC didn’t lose to a team from the FCS like teams from the ACC, Big 12, and Pac 12. Your bias against the SEC doesn’t note that the SEC played (or will play) 7 Power 5 out of conference games this weekend, more than any other conference. Even with just three wins, that’s more wins against Power 5 teams than any other Power 5 conference this weekend.

See, the SEC hits the ground running. When the Big Ten lines up cupcakes to start the year, the SEC plays in big games.

So, once again, you are wrong. I am beginning to think there may be a state law that requires you to be wrong. Nobody could be as dumb about this sport as you seem to be.

“Just admit it. The SEC is better than anyone you like and that’s why you are so bitter”

Joe you lost this debate. You can bring up all of the losses from other Conferences, but the SEC took a BIG hit Saturday.

I lost nothing. All of the other conferences took bigger hits on Saturday.

The SEC played more Power 5 out-of-conference games than any other league this weekend. Not only that, they played good teams. Clemson, USC, North Carolina, UCLA, and Florida State were all ranked. In those games, the SEC won three and lost two.

What other conference beat three ranked Power 5 teams?

What FCS team did the SEC lose to?

Was it as good a weekend as it could have been? No. Was it disastrous? Absolutely not.

The SEC will be fine. And these other conferences who now have losses to teams like Northern Iowa, Eastern Washington, and Richmond won’t be fine.

Day,
I get where you’re coming from, and I understand your point of view of the game. I rewatched the game on Tivo, and there were a few select plays which completely flipped the game. I’ve never seen a team give up more than when the punter dropped the snap. I’ve never seen a team so mentally unprepared for pitfalls along the way. Then a great team took advantage the way great teams do. It makes me wonder if Helton was a pathetic coaching hire. (I’ve still been on the record that Kiffin got screwed by SC boosters.) Yet, we are still recovering from death sentence-like sanctions. Currently, we’ve got 25 upper classmen as scholarship players. Hopefully my team can grow up.

As for “The SEC, they will bounce back, not the best opening week but some good wins over all. Oklahoma getting beat was a big surprise, poor Sooner fans. Sad to see Miss St lose but congrats to USA, hope they do great thing with this win for the rest of the season. Good luck to Ole Miss tonight.”

1.) The SEC will most definitely bounce back. HOWEVER, as Walker mentions below, almost every team will end up playing 3 more group of 5/FCS teams along the way. Now, I know every team plays these types of teams, but the SEC consistently plays them more overall. That’s because of their 8 game conference schedule, which SEC coaches and fans alike deem as justifiable for just 8 games. Judging by a 6-6 non-conference opening weekend and three pathetic showings by Tennessee, Florida and Arkansas, the weekend could have been much much worse. You can’t honestly say the SEC is best. It’s Bama and that’s it. Just as we have all said for the last million years.

2.) Oklahoma lost at Houston. Keep that in mind. It won’t hurt them if they win out. But I think we might be seeing a 2 team loser get to the playoffs this year. Hang tight. I’m thinking they come from the Big 10 and Pac 10.

3.) Mississippi State is the worst team in the entire SEC. By far. They were Dak Prescott and that’s it. They won’t win 4 games this year. They are worse than Vanderbilt’s offense and Kentucky’s defense.

4.) Ole Miss… ouch. Jimbo’s part of Saban’s process. Never doubt Saban. There’s only a few coaches in the same league as him: Pete Carroll, Urban Meyer, Jim Harbaugh, maybe Jimbo Fisher. (Not including NFL dogs except for Pete).

Dont ever count A&M out…. When people say that they can’t do it; A&M always proves them wrong; it will be a close game, one that proves whoever has last possession will win.

You’re dreaming if you think this game will be close. A&M is all hype. Typical SEC team not named Bama.

A&M will win, but I guess it’s fair to think they might lose. It is college football, after all.

I mean if it was easy they would just call it Maverick’s mom.

LOL 1-1 so far, with your UT score prediction not even close. They were lucky to win the game period. Should be in line with the rest of your so called predictions. SEC much? Arbarn over Clemson is probably the most ridiculous pick you have but jeez, what a homer.

I admit that I’m pure Clemson but can not see Clemson losing to the Tigers of Alabama. They don’t even have a lake….

Eric, your week one ship hit the rocks. Do not listen to the Sirens. Did you not learn anything from watching “O Brother Art Thou”. ;-)

Walker, don’t stand to close to the ship or you may get splashed with water. I jump like a stock broker in 1929. Alabama carried the flag… again. Ha. If Week 2 plays out as predicted, the SEC will disband by lunch on Tuesday.

Wow that SEC sure is a juggernaut! Besides Alabama, not so much as the SEC fanatics have been brainwashed…

Kentucky loses to Southern Miss, at home.
Miss State loses to Southern Alabama, at home.
Auburn puts up a decent fight but loses to Clemson, at home.
Razorbacks come back to beat Lou Tech by one, at home.
Vols barely squeak by App St, and that was at home.
LSU loses to the Badgers on neutral field.
Georgia gets by North Carolina, in Atlanta.
Florida finally needs 4th quarter to defeat UMass, at home.
Texas A&M scrapes by UCLA, at home.
Missouri loses solidly to West Virginia, on the road.

Will see how Missi does against Florida State in Orlando on Monday night.

If more of these games were TRUE road games the results would have been much worse.
Alabama > SEC

In the ACC, Wake struggled to beat Tulane. Richmond beat Virginia.

in the Big 12, Houston beat Oklahoma. Northern Iowa beat Iowa State. TCU struggled to beat South Dakota State.

in the Big Ten, Western Michigan beat Northwestern.

In the Pac 12, Eastern Washington beat Washington State. Arizona lost to BYU.

Every power conference dropped games to non-power conferences.

Unlike the ACC, Pac-12, and Big 12, the SEC didn’t lose to an FCS team. No wonder they want to stop playing those games in other conferences.

The fact is the SEC beat more Power 5 teams this weekend than any other conference. In fact, they played more meaningful games right out of the gate than any other conference.

Yeah, they still are quite the juggernaut. From top to bottom, the SEC is still the best conference in the nation.

Joe keeps on being Joe, It’s not what you say, its what you don’t say. Of course the SEC didn’t have an opportunity to lose to any FCS programs this week, as they played zero FCS programs this week. Duh! Most SEC programs wait to do that closer to the end of the season…

Georgia – Nicholls St
SoCar – Western Caro
Auburn – Alabama A&M
Arkansas – Alcorn St (LR)
Florida – Presbyterian
Missi – Wofford
LSU – Jville St
Alabama – Chattanooga
Texas A&M – Prairie View A&M
Tennessee – Tenn Tech
Missouri – Delaware St
Kentucky – Austin Peay
Vandy – Tenn St
Miss St – Samford

And here’s some other SEC OOC exciting games coming up…
Georgia – ULL
SoCar – Mass
Auburn – Ark St
Arkansas – Texas St
Missi – Geo Southern
LSU – So Alabama
Alabama – W Ky
Texas A&M – NM St
Tennessee – App St
Missouri – Mid Tenn
Kentucky – NM St
Vandy – Mid Tenn

And some more of those tough SEC OOC games this season…
Auburn – ULM
Florida – No Texas
LSU – So Miss
Alabama – Kent St
Texas A&M – UTSA
Missouri – East Mich
Vandy @W Ky
Miss St @Mass

In fact Georgia is the ONLY SEC program to play 9 P5 programs this season.

There sure are a lot of OOC road games in that list!

Clearly, home field advantage is crucial to the success of SEC football. Clearly, SEC programs are avoiding a level football field as far as scheduling goes. Keep on drinking the Kool Aid.

Walker,

Tennessee has already beat App St.
Would you care to involve us in what exciting games that the Big-12, BIG, Pac-12 & ACC are playing as well in OOC. I am sure they are all not P5 teams either, most are G5 & some are FCS. You do bring up a good fact, some of these games will be exciting because you don’t know what’s going to happen, I would not really call a lot of those teams on the SEC OOC schedule cupcakes at all.

As Maverick brought up before, “The power 5 conferences are basically equal”. Not really.

Joe brings up the fact how some P5 teams lost to or struggled with FCS & G5 which basically brings up the fact that there are some better FCS & G5 teams then all P5 like Iowa St & Virginia.

Then you said this: “Clearly, home field advantage is crucial to the success of SEC football. Clearly, SEC programs are avoiding a level football field as far as scheduling goes. Keep on drinking the Kool Aid.”
Ok. so what other P5 school goes off to play a G5 or FCS at their stadium? No one, all P5 teams ALWAYS play smaller schools at home, smaller schools get a nice paycheck, sometimes win as well like Richmond did & go back home happy! Just because you play at home does not mean you’re going to win.
I would take another look at the SEC avoiding playing a level football field when it comes to teams, LSU went up to Green Bay, Ole Miss is going to Orlando & play FSU, these are not AVOIDING anything & they certainly not in SEC backyard.
Take a look at future schedules the SEC has with other P5 conferences, Texas A&M going to UCLA, Auburn headed to Cali……etc, the list is growing & just getting bigger.

It is a shame for the SEC to be bashed about who they play OOC, it all balances out in the end.

The SEC opened up with difficult games right off the bat. The other conferences like to get their warm ups in early. Less chance they will lose. But they still do. So, yes, the SEC lost a few games over the weekend… but they didn’t lose to FCS programs like the other conferences.

This week other conferences are playing easy games, too. West Virginia gets Youngstown State, Baylor gets SMU, Texas plays UTEP, Oklahoma plays Louisiana-Monroe, Ohio State plays Tulsa, etc.

But that’s okay, right, because Ohio State plays a ninth conference game against Indiana and Texas gets Kansas down the road in their ninth conference game, right?

Please.

As for ‘homefield advantage,’ only two Big Ten teams will play on the road this weekend. Only two teams from the Pac-12 and Big 12 will go on the road this weekend as well. So, if you made a point, you just made it against every Power Five conference, not just the SEC.

Thank you for that.

But none of what you said changes the fact that the SEC is the best conference in college football… BY A MILE.

LSU loses to the Badgers on neutral field. Neutral field? lol….ever read a map my friend? I guess Lambeau Field is in Nebraska somewhere lol

How hard is it for you SEC supporters to say, well the conference just really isn’t that good this year? You went 6-6 out of conference. You went 4-8 ATS. That’s pathetic. Realize that the spread is based on perception and since you went 4-8 ATS, it shows the perception of the SEC that you all created is currently not the reality.

Joe, you gave examples of how other conferences had it just as rough. Such as saying Northwestern lost to Western Michigan. How does that compare to South Alabama beating MIss. St., South. Miss beating Kentucky, Tennessee struggling v App St, Florida struggling with UMass, Arkansas struggling with La Tech, and the 2nd or 3rd best SEC team LSU losing to the 5th or 6th best B10 team on a neutral field?

Face it, your conference just wasn’t very good last week. How hard is it to take your lumps, and pray that things will turn around so that you can start making your bogus arguments at some future date?

The perception of the SEC is reality. It’s the best conference on the planet and they proved that over the weekend by playing in the best games of the weekend and beating more ranked Power 5 teams than any other conference.

While the other conferences took the easy way out and lost to FCS teams, the SEC was getting better and stronger.

According to some, Western Michigan and South Alabama are the exact same team because neither is in a Power 5 Conference and neither should have won. So, they are the same. Right?

The SEC will be just fine and in January will collect another championship trophy.

Joe,

I hope your not a bettor because if you put your money where your mouth is, you would lose a lot of money betting the SEC perception. Your argument that the SEC is the only conference playing anyone is so flawed. Sure, they played the most power five games out of the conferences in week 1; they also lost the most. Now when you factor in the totality of the non-conference, the B10, P12, B12 and ACC play a higher % of OOC power 5 games compared to the SEC. If those teams crap the bed as bad as the SEC did this weekend at some later date, come back and talk. The worst part about the SEC’s 7 power-five non-conference games, they played ZERO road games. My guess is my Buckeyes will lose to Oklahoma in week 3, but the primary factor in that is that they challenge themselves and play a night game on the road. When was the last time an SEC went on the road OOC against a comparable opponent? Research that for me, it may take you a while. That would certainly be a better use of your time than pointing out OSU has Tulsa next week when you fail to mention they go to Norman in week 3.

Here is where SEC haters start to lose whatever credibility they think they have…

You want to slam the SEC for not playing anyone, but when they clearly played the best non-conference schedule for the week, you still want to use that fact to somehow slam them. It makes zero sense.

As for the % of Power 5 games played, I am guessing you are counting Kansas, Iowa State, Purdue, and Washington State as Power 5 programs… And that is why your ‘nine conference game’ argument doesn’t work.

Then you want to talk about road games, claiming the SEC played ZERO (notice the emphasis) road games.

Missouri did travel to West Virginia this past week. LSU, while they didn’t play at Wisconsin, did play IN Wisconsin in a game where Wisconsin fans were clearly the majority. So, you are even wrong about that.

The SEC plays a fair number of road non-conference games. Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and Kentucky do every other year. In 2014 Tennessee played AT Oklahoma. In 2013 Georgia played AT Clemson. So, you are wrong about that, too.

Keep trying. I’m sure you could be wrong about more things as well!

1.) You just named every team from the SEC East (which already has state game tie-ins).
2.) The rest of your non-conference slate is a joke. While you’re playing Western Carolina in the second to last game of the season, the other conferences are playing one of their 9 conference games.
3.) See Week 1.

Um, no… with non-conference games still to go against Florida State, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Virginia Tech, TCU, etc. the non-conference slate is not a joke. Plus you get amazing games like Alabama-Ole Miss, Florida-Georgia, LSU-Arkansas etc… which are far better than Illinois-Indiana, Kansas-Texas Tech, or Colorado-Washington State.

The only thing that’s a joke is how little you apparently understand the game. I wish there was a state law that required you to be smarter.

Joe,
Continue to cherry pick the rest of your Power 5 OOC games. Also, you might want to note: 1.) Florida’s only power 5 game is Florida State (as they played UMASS in week 1, lol). 2.) Georgia is the only team who plays 2 power 5 OOC games — this one is GTech. 3.) South Carolina’s first and only P5 OOC is vs Clemsonn. 4. ) Tennessee’s first and only Power 5 OOC is Virginia Tech. 5.) Arkansas’ first and only Power 5 OOC is TCU.

Yes, the SEC will still have some great conference games and other conferences will have some bad conferences games, which you proudly point out. However, the SEC will also have pathetic conference games such as every game in the SEC East, as well as every game involving Miss State and Arkansas. Oh, and the Big 10 will have games such as Wisconsin-Michigan, Ohio State-Michigan, Mich-MSU, MSU-Ohio State, Iowa-Wisconsin, etc. Oh, and the Big 12 will play games like Texas-Oklahoma, TCU-Texas, Oklahoma-OKState, Baylor-TCU. And the ACC will have stud games like FSU-Clemson, Louisville-Clemson, VT-Notre Dame. And the Pac12 will have games like Stanford-Oregon, Stanford-Washington, USC-UCLA, Stanford-USC, UCLA-Stanford. Oh, boy! Oh my god! There are actually good conference games in other conferences!!! What a surprise!

So, the Tennessee / Georgia game will be awful? I don’t think those of us that understand the game feel the same way. And when I say those of us that understand the game, of course I am talking about those of us that understand that there is no state law that forces Georgia to play Georgia Tech.

Other conferences will have good games, that is true, but in those conferences it comes down to one or two games at most. The rest of the conference schedule is pointless. In the SEC, meaningless games are the exception, not the rule. Again, that may be too much for you to take in, though.

I’ll tell you what games I am looking forward to from the Pac-12, though. Oregon State and Idaho State, Stanford and Rice, or even Arizona and Grambling State… They really do play some great games out west. It’s funny how those games are never mentioned, but let the SEC ‘schedule a win’ and there is no end to whining.

Just one of the things you learn to deal with when you’re the best conference on the planet.

Lookie, Week 2 for the SEC.
Only one true OOC road game in the bunch,.. imagine that:

LSU – J’ville St
Georgia – Nicholls St
Missi – Wofford
Texas A&M – PV A&M
Auburn – Ark St
Missouri – East Mich
Vandy – Mid Tenn
Alabama – W Ky
Tennessee – VT
Arkansas – @TCU

Lookie, Week 2 for the Big Ten.

Only two true OCC road games in the bunch,.. imagine that.

Maryland – @FIU
Penn State – @Pitt (Notice, Penn State not even leaving the state for this one)
Nebraska – Wyoming
Michigan – UCF
Purdue – Cincinnati
Rutgers – Howard
Minnesota – Indiana State
Northwestern – Illinois State
Ohio State – Tulsa
Wisconsin – Akron
Indiana – Ball State
Illinois – North Carolina
Iowa – Iowa State

It’s also worth noting that the SEC played more Power 5 opponents in week one than the Big Ten will play in the first two weeks combined.

And, not only that, through two weeks, the Big Ten will play almost twice as many FCS teams as the SEC.

SEC is still the best conference on the planet.

Maybe in history.

The facts just keep supporting it.

Your scale is in serious need of a re-calibration. The OOC schedules do NOT balance at the end. Compare the P5 OOC conference schedules and measure for true road games.

As I previously stated…
“Of the 56 OOC SEC games this season, only 9 will be true road games”.

I’m not suggesting the SEC is not the best football conference. Indeed it is. But there are various reasons why this is. And much has to do with Alabama being in the conference (along with Auburn, Florida, LSU and Tennessee …at least in earlier bygone eras), and most significantly the advantageous scheduling. A few real road games on the current and future OOC SEC schedule does not change anything, how ever you choose to alter the math.

Thanks for correction regarding including Tenn-AppSt in upcoming list. As I stated just above that entry the “Vols barely squeak by App St, and that was at home”.

Joe is relentless. He’s probably voting for Hillary Clinton too. Go read the Huffington Post, Joe.

Cute. It’s good to see you know as much about politics as you do football.

Which is to say very little.

damn dude what is “barely squeak” by? Last time I checked a W is a W! Sounds like you one of those boys who received a “participation” trophy?

Maverick will vote for Jill Stein. Nobody that whines as much as he does could vote for anyone else.

Alabama has been the umbrella under which the SEC stands. The stronger Saban gets, the weaker the conference will look. I cheer for team. Not conference…. Until it benefits Alabama. But I’ll talk more in what I hope are much better predictions in Week 2.

Magic Nick is changing the way the SEC looks, other schools can not keep up, that is why they are going through coaches like candy. Florida did the same under Spurrier in the 90’s, as long as Saban is there, the conference may suffer a little but will always be playing for national championships. Yes, Bama will lose one or two games a year but that’s about it, you can’t even get excited about Ole Miss beating Bama. The Rebels are just not strong enough to hold onto a lead or win out the rest of the season. Its the same ole, same ole with Bama & even this year nothing has changed, Bama is just stacked with players, road only will get rougher once they step into conference play.
It is hard to predict games, don’t change your mind process….lol.

@Maverick-says the guy who uses a screen name to inflate his ego..lol

Glad to know you voting for Donald…any good pictures on the Breitbart News lately?

This site had a SSL cert config problem earlier and could not post.

Maverick, please do not bring politics into the discussion. Take that crap somewhere else.

Correction to my earlier post: Georgia is the ONLY SEC program to schedule ten P5 programs this season.

Addition: And Miss St has eight P5 programs scheduled, unless one agrees with the SEC assigning BYU “P5” status, I guess If ND is to be considered a P5 then so should BYU. But certainly not Army (cough B1G).

Florida St freshmen QB and Kicker, along with Seminole D, get it done in the second half. Turnovers kill.

So who will Missi schedule next year to finish the 2017 schedule? Besides Missi the only program left with a game to schedule and who already has a FCS program on the schedule is ULL.

Florida St needs two games.

Arizona needs one game and has not yet scheduled a P5 or a FCS program. TCU, Miami-Fla and Syracuse still need a FCS game. And so do AF, UNLV, FIU, Ball St, W Mich, NIU, ULM and Coastal Carolina.

Joe, Just adding up the games in the first two weeks to represent the entire season is pure hogwash. Clearly you are manipulating the math to fit into the statistical mold you wish to present. Clearly you are avoid the TOTAL picture.

The SEC, with only an EIGHT game conference schedule, only plays four conference games on the road. The B12, P12 and the B1G, with a NINE game conference schedule, average 4.5 conference games on the road. This adds up! And even the ACC, with the 5-game package with ND, play more road games than the SEC. And we’re talking true road games here.

And the B1G will not be scheduling FCS programs anymore. So yes B1G, with a NONE game conference schedule AND no longer scheduling FCS programs, will overall, have a much stronger schedule than the SEC (overall) could dream up.

Alabama is not the SEC. The SEC has 13 other programs.

Everyone sees you forget or ignore these facts.

YOU DID IT FIRST. Now when I point out that even with your bogus math, the SEC still comes out on top you cry foul?

Give me a break.

The SEC is going to play more talented players, better coaches and in bigger stadiums in eight conference games than those teams in conferences that play nine conference games will all year.

And yeah, the Big Ten won’t schedule FCS teams because they are tired of losing to them, but they are making sure that teams like Army count as a Power Five team. Yeah, they are real concerned about SOS.

Neutral field = non-campus or not home field.

I get what you are saying, but you are aware that Wisconsin played LSU in Houston in 2015? So do you call that a neutral field? If you don’t want to refer to Lambeau as neutral, then certainly don’t refer to Arlington and Houston as neutral fields. Alabama would not come to LA to play USC for a home-and-home. And Auburn and LSU would not come to Oregon to play a home-and-home. Same with the LSU-BYU game. Instead those SEC programs needed to have those games played on the so-called ‘Neutral” field in Arlington or Houston.

Neutral fields with home stadium like advantages. Neutral field games are not true road games. College football should be played on college campuses.

You root for rival teams. Conference chest beating is what ruins football. I would never wish for UCLA, Stanford and Notre Dame to be good at football. That’s just silly.

Dear Joe,
To you and all the SEC fan boys: When are you clowns going to realize that the strongest conference in college football changes hands quite often, true it comes back to the SEC every other year or so, but the point is they are not THE BEST every year. It’s true the SEC haters are coming in droves to laugh at your conference since they had the worst opening weekend out of all the P5 conferences and that’s premature on their part because it’s only week 1 and a lot is yet to be determined, however, preseason bias which favors the SEC regardless of anything was proven wrong yet again. G5 teams should not be underestimated and neither should FCS teams because you have the ones that on a talent level are far behind and others that their biggest problem is depth but they have a lot have talent. Bringing up the teams that lost to FCS foes is just classless, especially since those are teams that always struggle every conference has those. The big takeaway is USC shouldn’t have even been ranked but Alabama dominated, they’re the defending champs and are #1 until proven otherwise. Tennessee should NEVER be ranked that high unless they earn it, Louisianan Tech shouldn’t be over looked and same with southern miss because they seem to be hit or miss but when they’re hitting ‘Jesus’ do they hit the mark! Auburn played tough at home and just might make some noise this year. And Ole’ Miss looks like a tough team that Alabama might need to be concerned with yet again because FSU is no pushover. As for Oklahoma losing to Houston, Alabama should be happy they didn’t have to play Houston because even though Bama might have still won Houston would have gave Bama fans a near heart attack.
Sincerely, That crazy guy hiding in your bushes.

It hasn’t changed hands since 2004. The SEC has dominated the last decade and a half and will continue to dominate because they have the best players, best coaches, best facilities… It’s not even close.

The SEC is by and far the best year in and year out. The race isn’t for first anymore. It’s for who is the first runner-up.

When are you going to realize it? It’s 2016, we have the Internet. There is no reason to remain ignorant any longer.

7-7 opening weekend. It’s Bama and everyone else. Also, just like every year, this year you play the least amount of Power 5 teams (including conference play). It doesn’t matter when you play them as long as you play them. The SEC plays the least. So if you want to continue cherry picking how each team plays 1 OOC P5 team, that’s fine. Just know that they still play the least amount of power 5 teams. That’s an indisputable fact.

Bama, LSU, Florida, Auburn and everyone else, maybe. What other conference has had four teams win the national title in a five year span?

I’ll wait.

Ah yes, the glorious reign of the SEC during the BS era! Why do I get the feeling if we had the playoff system then the SEC track record during that span might not be as good. But who knows, they might have still won those years but the NC game wouldn’t have been two SEC schools. ESPN annalists predicted two even three SEC teams in the playoffs in the first season of the playoffs and I remember thinking that’s not going to happen otherwise I give up watching college football. Look what happened, Ohio State won. Shoulda woulda coulda though right?! Let’s just see how things unfold this season.

I remember last year when ESPN was praising Urban Myer & The Ohio State about how unbeatable they were & looked what happened, got beat by Michigan St that then got beat by Bama 38-0, how the tide turns. This year there is not that much pressure on the SEC as there is the BIG. Of course the SEC was playing for or winning NC before the BCS ever came along, you make it sound the only reason the SEC won during that era was thanks to the BCS.

Joe,

I disagree, put me down for the Colorado vs Wash St, that should be a good one. Don’t forget the Indiana vs Rutgers match, I know Rutgers already lost by 35 points to the Huskies but they should bounce back fasssst! I can’t wait to see the overly hyped Kansas vs Iowa St, Cyclones just lost to N.Iowa but that does not matter, this will make for a great game! How about that Illinois vs Rutgers, here are a couple more favs…
Illinois vs Purdue
Oregon St @ Zona St

Look, every conference is going to have bottom feeders & there are going to be some bad games with in the conference but it does not matter if your playing 8 or 9 game conference. If The Ohio St is 67 points better then BG, I’m pretty sure they will beat Tulsa by 47 points & probably beat Indiana & Rutgers by the same. It does not really matter if they play a 9th conference game or G5 or even a FCS school. They will still win by 47 points so what does it even matter?
This goes for Bama, Oklahoma, FSU, Clemson…..etc
Bama would beat Vandy 56-10 just like they will beat a Kent St 56-10, same result in the end, that’s why I say it balances out in the end.
I do feel sorry the that La.Monroe team this Saturday when they have to face the Sooners, that will be an ugly game cause Oklahoma is going to unleash hell on them after the lost to Houston.

Day, you continue to misunderstand how 9 game conferences affect conference perception. Also, though all teams aren’t equal, 90% of the time a Power 5 team is better than a Group of 5 team. So playing 10 power 5 games vs 9 power 5 games is a big deal. BIG DEAL. It’s what we informing you about.

Read this to understand:
http://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/2014/8/12/5969965/college-football-playoff-strength-of-schedule-conference-8-9-games-pac-12-sec-big-ten-big-acc

The playoff committee has already decided that the number of Power 5 teams you play really doesn’t matter as much as who you play. Houston is already being mentioned as a contender for the playoffs and they will only play one more Power 5 team between now and their bowl game. Nine conference games matter little. If they mattered, the Big 12 wouldn’t be expanding and adding a championship game.

Everyone knows the SEC is the best conference. It’s really not in doubt. Some just refuse to accept it, but that doesn’t change the fact that the SEC is still best.

Maverick,

Teams are not equal, just like conferences are not equal. ACC & SEC don’t have to play 9 game conference just because the other three are doing it. I read the article, I fell asleep halfway through it but finally made it to the end. I don’t trust it due to speculation on what would’ve of happen & there is no real answer at the end. I think it is more important to have at least a championship game in your conference as the Big-12 is finding out. If Houston runs the table then you can pencil them in depending on what happens at the end of the year due to other major upsets that may a cure. Don’t think the EYE BALL TEST does not exit, it does & is used by the committee, not sure they really think that Oklahoma beating Iowa St is much difference then beating Tulsa or Bama beating a Vandy is much different then Bama beating a very good & talented W.Kentucky team that went 12-2 last year & won C-USA. I get your point of making all conferences equal & playing 9 games but things do not change over night & I would just rather enjoy college football for what it is then complain about what it is not.