Last Week’s Record: 4-2 (66.7%)
2026 Season Record: 58-21 (73.4%)
We didn’t have a sterling Week 8, but the Predictions Dept. at least got back on the right side of the .500 line for a week after two disappointing weeks in a row. Alabama is off for Week 9, as is its next opponent (LSU), and the overall slate of games for this Saturday certainly isn’t the strongest. Florida-Georgia leads an abbreviated list.
MISSOURI at ARKANSAS
The Razorbacks have made strides recently, nearly upsetting Tennessee at home and then knocking off Vanderbilt on the road. The Razorbacks are coming off a bye week and now host Missouri, which had a week to lick its wounds after getting thoroughly dominated by Ole Miss two weeks ago. The Tigers lack just enough weapons to be consistently explosive, but prior to the Ole Miss debacle, the Tigers had knocked off Florida and Texas A&M in consecutive weeks. While Arkansas is improving, we’re not sure it’s by enough and quickly enough to get in the way of the Tigers’ balanced offensive attack. More importantly, Arkansas can’t match Missouri if this turns into a high-scoring game.
Missouri 27
Arkansas 19
AUBURN at MISSISSIPPI
The chances of Auburn pulling an upset here aren’t very high, but it isn’t impossible. Ole Miss simply doesn’t look very well-coached defensively, and in particular, can’t seem to stop even the most basic of rushing attacks. That’s a bad trait to have facing an Auburn offense that can move the ball on the ground and also at least has the potential to bust a couple of big plays in the passing game each week. Unfortunately for Auburn, explosive offenses have given the Tigers a whole slew of problems in 2026 – AU ranks 109th in total defense and has nothing it can really hang its hat on. In addition, the game is in Oxford. We think Auburn will score more than expected, but Ole Miss could turn this into a track meet.
Ole Miss 47
Auburn 25
FLORIDA vs. GEORGIA (at Atlanta, Ga.)
The game won’t be held in its customary location of Jacksonville, Fla., while upgrades are made to the stadium there. Instead, this moves to Atlanta, which makes it a de facto Georgia home game. Florida is the year’s most schizophrenic SEC team, coming off a win over Texas two weeks ago that followed blowout losses to both South Carolina and Missouri. Nothing about that sentence makes any sense. Georgia has much to atone for after getting upset at home by Auburn, which is absolutely the worst intraconference loss for any SEC team so far in 2026. Add Florida’s transition-year inconsistency to Georgia having two weeks to chew on an Auburn home loss, then move the Cocktail Party to Atlanta, and you’ve got all the makings of a rebound game for the Bulldogs.
Georgia 34
Florida 20
MISSISSIPPI STATE at TEXAS
Unfortunately, Mississippi State QB Kamario Taylor is out for what will probably be the remainder of 2026. That puts everything on the shoulders of Bulldog RB Fluff Bothwell, and given the offensive design of the Bulldogs, it’s simply too much to ask. Texas managed to get past Ole Miss last week and will find Mississippi State far easier to deal with than its in-state rival was. Given how Texas has been up-and-down offensively, and is now missing LT Trevor Goosby for the remainder of the year, there is a sliver of a chance that Mississippi State finds some magic, but it’s hard to see the Bulldogs holding on for all 60 minutes given the overall state of the roster. Stranger things have happened, but …
Texas 38
Mississippi St. 17
SOUTH CAROLINA at OKLAHOMA
There may not be a tougher pick in the SEC this year than South Carolina, which has swapped back and forth between highly dangerous and highly neurotic depending on the week. We know what Oklahoma is: defensively tough as nails, but overly dependent on its quarterback not making multiple boneheaded plays every game. Oklahoma barely beat Mississippi State last week, but at least is the home team in this game, although we don’t have enough data to determine how the Gamecocks will perform as the visitors. South Carolina has played two away games this year; the Gamecocks got slaughtered in Tuscaloosa, but then doubled up Florida in Gainesville, 38-19. We’re going to take the offense that is clicking right now, and that would be South Carolina’s, but confidence in this pick is not high.
South Carolina 24
Oklahoma 18
IDLE: Alabama, Kentucky, LSU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
Follow Jess Nicholas on X at @TideFansJessN