By Jess Nicholas, TideFans.com Editor-In-Chief
Nov. 20, 2013
Last week’s record: 5-0 (100.0%)
Season record: 81-14 (85.3%)
It took a massive screw-up on the part of Georgia to ensure the Predictions Dept. finished Week 12 with a perfect record. This week, the slate of SEC games is mostly a collection of easy pickings as teams await rivalry showdowns in the final week. The top game, therefore, is likely the Missouri-Ole Miss game, which would end the Tigers’ Cinderella march to Atlanta should they lose it.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN at FLORIDA
If the Gators want to have any chance at the postseason, they’ve got to get through this game intact. Georgia Southern has long been one of the toughest Division-IAA opponents, but just as the Eagles are moving up to the FBS level, they’ve hit a rough patch. The Eagles are 6-4 on the year with losses to Furman, Samford and a mediocre-at-best Appalachian State team that is also making the divisional jump. Florida nearly pulled off the upset of South Carolina last week and might have found itself a quarterback in the process, but the Gators’ ineptitude means this game is anything but a sure thing. Florida still should win – which would do nothing more than set up a beatdown at the hands of rival Florida State next week.
Florida 30
Ga. Southern 10
TENNESSEE-CHATTANOOGA at ALABAMA
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KENTUCKY at GEORGIA
The Wildcats haven’t completely quit yet, which is a good thing because Georgia is an emotional wreck right now. The Bulldogs had the Auburn game in the bank until a combination of bad coaching, stupidity, selfishness and goodness-knows-what-else conspired to hand the Tigers the game off a miracle fourth-down play. What’s more, Georgia has rival Georgia Tech next week, and this becomes the classic sandwich game. If you’re looking for the game with the most upset potential this week, here it is. Kentucky hung with Vanderbilt for most of its game last week and would like nothing better than to give Mark Stoops a signature win in his first season.
Georgia 24
Kentucky 20
MISSOURI at MISSISSIPPI
Missouri needs to win both this game and the one against Texas A&M next week to avoid becoming more than just an interesting footnote to the 2013 season. If Missouri and South Carolina end up tied at two conference losses apiece – and South Carolina is in the clubhouse with a two-loss record now – the Gamecocks will go to Atlanta to meet the winner of Alabama-Auburn. The Missouri program’s history is full of such near-misses, and this is no different. It’s harder to say which opponent will prove to be more difficult for Missouri; Texas A&M has Johnny Manziel, but the Aggies can’t stop the run and Missouri can certainly run the ball. Ole Miss might prove to be the tougher opponent. But if history is any indication, the toughest opponent of all for Missouri might be the Tigers themselves.
Ole Miss 30
Missouri 27
COASTAL CAROLINA at SOUTH CAROLINA
The Chanticleers aren’t your run-of-the-mill lower-division opponent. They’re 10-1, rank 3rd in Division-IAA in rushing offense and 8th in total offense. They average 45.5 points per game. But they’re also 83rd in total defense, and South Carolina will score a bunch of points. You kind of have to feel sorry for the Gamecock program, though: South Carolina finally stopped scheduling tough-out Wofford in this slot, only to replace them with a team that’s suddenly better.
South Carolina 45
C. Carolina 21
VANDERBILT at TENNESSEE
Tennessee must win both its final two games to get bowl-eligible. Beating Kentucky next week is doable; beating Vanderbilt this week will be much more difficult. Tennessee’s offense is stuck in reverse, and the defense is terrible. Vanderbilt has consistently beaten teams with that makeup under James Franklin, and with the Commodores bowl-eligible now and playing for bowl positioning, the Commodores should be considered the slight favorite. But admittedly, it would surprise no one if the Commodores choked here because … well, that’s what the Commodores have historically been known to do against the Volunteers.
Vanderbilt 21
Tennessee 20
MISSISSIPPI STATE at ARKANSAS (at Little Rock, Ark.)
The Bulldogs played a fine game against Alabama last week, and provided they didn’t expend all that they had, should roll to a win this week over a flagging Arkansas program. If the Bulldogs want to see a bowl trip this year, they’ll need to win this and then upset Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl. Arkansas played reasonably well in its last two games, losses both to Auburn and Ole Miss, but the Razorbacks match up poorly against Mississippi State’s better offensive and defensive lines. If the Bulldogs get any quarterback play at all, this one could become a runaway.
Mississippi St. 31
Arkansas 16
TEXAS A&M at LOUISIANA STATE
Hidden in the list of conference games this week is this little gem, which could have been a premier matchup had both teams not lost to Alabama earlier in the season. As it stands, this basically becomes the battle for the Cotton Bowl. Both teams are out of the SEC West race. The matchup is tough to evaluate; Texas A&M’s defense is terrible, but the LSU secondary is vulnerable and Johnny Manziel is seeking revenge for a loss to LSU last season. Worse yet for LSU, the Tiger linebackers are a sorry matchup for Manziel’s elusiveness. The question is whether those bad matchups will be enough to offset LSU’s immense advantage when the possession is flipped. Texas A&M’s rush defense is one of the worst ever fielded in the SEC, and the Tigers can run the ball on just about anyone as it is. In the end, go with the home-field advantage in what should be an entertaining, albeit mostly irrelevant game.
LSU 40
Texas A&M 38
IDLE: Auburn