By Jess Nicholas
TideFans.com Editor-In-Chief
Oct. 11, 2016
Last week’s record: 5-0 (100.0%)
Season record: 50-7 (87.7%)
The Predictions Dept. scored its second consecutive undefeated week, with the pick in the LSU-Florida game being pushed back along with the game itself. This week’s primary attraction is Alabama-Tennessee, but Ole Miss and Arkansas will battle in an interesting SEC West tilt while Mississippi State faces BYU in one very weird interregional matchup.
MISSOURI at FLORIDA
This is just the kind of game Florida tends to make closer than it should be, but with the LSU game postponed last week, both teams come into this one off an off-week. Missouri was exposed as a pretender by LSU, while Florida has been banged up but is slowly getting back to health. If Florida can channel its frustration at having to delay (or skip altogether) the LSU game, Missouri might not stand much of a chance. The Florida defense eats pretenders for lunch and Missouri’s offense has been out on a tightrope most of the year, waiting for the hammer to drop.
Florida 27
Missouri 7
ALABAMA at TENNESSEE
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VANDERBILT at GEORGIA
With yet another close-but-not-quite performance against Kentucky last week, Vandy’s Derek Mason may be starting his farewell tour this week in Athens. Georgia scored a victory over South Carolina that was mostly unimpressive but still checked off all the boxes. Having one fewer day to prepare likely won’t affect the Bulldogs, but if Vanderbilt did find a way to win, Athens would suddenly become a lot less hospitable to Kirby Smart and his staff. Georgia needs to work on the passing game this week, or games against Florida and Auburn will suddenly begin to look much more difficult.
Georgia 27
Vanderbilt 10
MISSISSIPPI at ARKANSAS
Both teams are still ranked but one of them was off last week while the other was living in a virtual Crimson Tide-filled dunking booth. It’s hard to believe there’s any chance for Arkansas to bounce back against a rested Ole Miss squad given the punishment the Razorbacks took against Alabama. Arkansas QB Austin Allen was hit or pressured on a whopping 67% of his attempts. Ole Miss doesn’t have Alabama’s defense, but the Rebels have had more time to get over its Bama-led disappointment and mentally regroup. Were this game in Oxford, it might be a blowout. Heck, it might still be.
Ole Miss 37
Arkansas 21
SO. MISSISSIPPI at LOUISIANA STATE
Southern Miss started the year off with a big win over Kentucky, but in the weeks since, the bloom is off the rose a bit. Southern Miss has posted losses to Troy and Texas-San Antonio, confirmation that last year’s nine-win season may have been a bit of a fluke. Still, USM is 4-2 and can put up the points, and LSU’s mindset is a complete mystery at the moment. The Tigers are two weeks removed from the removal of Les Miles as head coach, and just had its game with Florida wiped out by a hurricane. If LSU gets lazy, the Golden Eagles can hurt the Tigers. USM has scored at least 31 points in every game and QB Nick Mullens threw for more than 4,400 yards last year and is a future NFLer. Don’t be surprised if this one ends up closer than expected.
LSU 44
Southern Miss 28
MISSISSIPPI STATE at BRIGHAM YOUNG
Here’s one of those intersectional matchups no one was calling for. A middling Mississippi State team is traveling to Utah to face an underachieving BYU team that has lost three games by a total of 7 points but then turned around and struggled to beat Toledo. The Bulldogs got trounced by Auburn last week and now they’re facing a team with a potential game-changer at quarterback and a rushing attack that’s been surprisingly potent. The dynamic of Starkville on the road to Provo by itself may be worth tuning in, but the football itself may end up being a tad disappointing. Take the Bulldogs just for the speed advantage.
Mississippi St. 21
BYU 17
IDLE: Kentucky, South Carolina, Auburn, Texas A&M
Follow Jess Nicholas on Twitter at @TideFansJessN