By Jess Nicholas, TideFans.com Editor-In-Chief
Nov. 30, 2011
Last week’s record: 6-2 (75.0%)
Season record: 86-10 (89.6%)
Tennessee’s collapse against Kentucky will likely prove to be the pick that cost the Predictions Dept. a 90-percent success rate in 2011. Even with a correct prediction in this week’s SEC Championship Game, the best the Dept. can record is 89.7% for the year. Still, this has been the best season ever for the Predictions Dept., and we’ve had fun along the way. Now, our prediction for the SEC Championship Game.
LOUISIANA STATE vs. GEORGIA (in Atlanta, Ga.)
LSU comes into this game trying to protect its top ranking in the BCS standings. A loss to Georgia wouldn’t necessarily knock LSU out of the national title game, but it would create some unnecessary drama for Les Miles and company in the final BCS poll. A Georgia win could theoretically put three SEC teams into BCS games (Georgia would get the automatic Sugar Bowl berth; LSU and Alabama would meet in the BCS Championship Game), but few people are giving the Bulldogs any chance of it happening. Georgia has improved steadily as the season has progressed, but the Bulldogs’ success has been as much a function of its schedule as any improvement within the team. Georgia dodged the LSU-Alabama-Arkansas triumvirate this season and lost to the only other decent SEC East team, South Carolina. The Bulldogs do, however, have an improving defense, and provided the running back corps shows up reasonably healthy, Georgia has enough offensive weapons to at least cause LSU some concern. But LSU simply has too much on defense, and doesn’t suffer from the same quantity and depth of mistakes and oversights that Georgia tends to commit during key games. Look for LSU to pull slowly, but consistently away from Georgia as the game progresses.
LSU 34
Georgia 17