Thursday, November 7, 2024
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SEC Preview and Predictions: Week 7

The Predictions Dept. didn’t fare so well in Week 6, as two big upsets at the top of the conference caught us off-guard. Heading into Week 7, the Red River Shootout comes to the SEC for the first time as Texas and Oklahoma square off, while Ole Miss tries to avoid falling out of contention against LSU. But it might be Vanderbilt-Kentucky that holds Alabama fans’ interest the most, trying to figure out what exactly the Crimson Tide just lost to.

Last Week’s Record: 3-3 (50.0%)
Season Record: 53-13 (80.3%)


FLORIDA at TENNESSEE
It says something about the state of the Florida program that we didn’t mention this erstwhile major rivalry game in our opening paragraph. Florida did a nice job of controlling Central Florida’s offense last week and getting the victory, but can they do it against the Volunteers? The bigger question might be exactly what’s wrong with the Tennessee offense. There were warning signs after the win over Oklahoma, but after last week’s horrid showing against Arkansas, the naysayers are starting to emerge in Knoxville. Lose this game and it’s going to be hard to make an argument for a playoff spot even if Tennessee were able to go 10-2. With the game in Knoxville, however, we’re going to take the hometown Vols, especially since the reason for the Arkansas loss may have been partially due to Tennessee looking ahead to this matchup.
Tennessee 38
Florida 13


SOUTH CAROLINA at ALABAMA
See our extended preview!


MISSISSIPPI STATE at GEORGIA
Here we get the occasional meeting of two sets of Bulldogs, although the nickname is where the similarity ends. Mississippi State did do a better job against Texas than expected, but the Starkville Bulldogs just don’t seem to have the firepower to stay the pace long against the dogs from Athens. If there’s going to be hope for Mississippi State, it’s in the fact that Georgia has started slowly multiple times this season, but again, does MSU have the talent to leverage a sleepy start from Georgia? We don’t think so.
Georgia 41
Mississippi St. 14


VANDERBILT at KENTUCKY
Alabama fans are watching this one closely after seeing Kentucky nearly utilize its defense to pull off an upset of Georgia, then take down Ole Miss. If the Commodores go into Lexington and put up just 10 points or so, the anger from Tuscaloosa will grow significantly. Vanderbilt is in somewhat uncharted waters here, having to get past a big-win hangover. But it will be helped out by a Kentucky offense that isn’t on track. Were the boys from Jefferson Pilot still doing football games, this would be a signature game: two teams with smallish football fan bases, playing a midpack game without a lot of fireworks. The only thing missing is the 11:30 kickoff.
Kentucky 20
Vanderbilt 17


MISSISSIPPI at LOUISIANA STATE
Ole Miss’ loss to Kentucky makes it crucial the Rebels win on the road here. LSU doesn’t have a conference loss yet, but the Tigers have played just once within the SEC and nearly lost to South Carolina on the road in that game. We’re not sure what the Tigers are made of just yet on defense, either, as injuries and an already deficient (by LSU standards) talent level on that side of the ball has made stopping good, or even decent teams difficult. Ole Miss bounced back from the Kentucky loss to beat South Carolina last week, but 27-3 is sort of a middling score these days, especially for a team that prides itself on Lane Kiffin’s offensive ingenuity. The most surprising thing here might be the Ole Miss defense, which is suddenly playing at an elite level. Is this an upset or not?
Ole Miss 33
LSU 24


MISSOURI at MASSACHUSETTS
Exactly how did this game get scheduled? If Missouri had to trade a road game to UMass to get the Minutemen to come to Columbia, it wasn’t worth the trade. UMass has been AMess since moving up to FBS; in 2024, the Minutemen have a single win over Central Connecticut State, and that was just by a score of 35-31. By the way, the Minutemen visit Mississippi State and Georgia later this year. There ought to be a bet going in Vegas right now which of the three losses to SEC teams will be by the widest margin.
Missouri 57
UMass 0


TEXAS vs. OKLAHOMA (at Dallas, Texas)
These two teams have been itching to introduce this rivalry into the tapestry of legendary SEC annual showdowns, but the question is whether Oklahoma’s offense will allow this to become a game. The Sooners have a very good defense, but Texas has true explosiveness and also one of the best playcallers in the business in Steve Sarkisian. Oklahoma needed its defense to score the winning touchdown to get by Auburn two weeks ago, and with that being the case, we don’t feel they can match strike for strike with the Longhorns. This rivalry should get better as the years go on, but this year just feels different.
Texas 34
Oklahoma 17


IDLE: Arkansas, Auburn, Texas A&M

Follow Jess Nicholas on X at @TideFansJessN

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