Is the SEC’s future too tied to a single ship?
Since Nick Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa, Alabama’s already undisputed place atop the SEC landscape has only grown in altitude. Saban, who had won a national title at LSU prior to taking the Alabama job, has won four more national titles since 2007. Had Alabama knocked off Clemson in January, Saban would have tied Paul “Bear” Bryant for total number of titles, but would have done it at a substantially quicker pace. Many already believe Saban has supplanted Bryant as the best college coach that ever was; a win over Clemson would have galvanized those opinions.
Previews 2016: Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt
August 27, 2016 Comments Off on Previews 2016: Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt
Missouri s is a team with an anemic offense and a defense that must always overachieve… South Carolina is a team in crisis … Questions remain about the Vols’ Butch Jones’ coaching ability and the ability of QB Joshua Dobbs … Vandy’s Mason likely won’t be around to coach the team in 2017 and beyond.
Continue reading …Rating the 2016 SEC recruiting classes
February 4, 2016 Comments Off on Rating the 2016 SEC recruiting classes
The addition of Jamar King at the last moment brought Alabama up to a rating of “Excellent” in the “Needs Filled” category; otherwise, it would have been hard to rank the Crimson Tide No. 1 in the country overall over Florida State. Alabama, over the past few years, has finished with at least one position group’s worth of signees somewhere to be called best-in-class; in 2016, Alabama did it for at least one position group and maybe as many as three. Alabama got the nation’s best linebacker haul, picking up three 10.0-rated prospects on Signing Day: Ben Davis, Lyndell Wilson and Terrell Hall. But Alabama also was in the running for best OL class, headed by Jonah Williams
Continue reading …SEC Previews and Predictions: Week 6
October 7, 2015 Comments Off on SEC Previews and Predictions: Week 6There is usually one week per season that kills the Predictions Dept., and Week 5 may have been it. Upsets in the Alabama-Georgia and Florida-Ole Miss games, coupled with Missouri’s typical midseason awakening, conspired to send the Dept. home hovering around the .500 mark. This week, a small slate of games is once again headlined by Alabama, which hosts Arkansas, while Florida travels to Missouri in a prototypical trap game.
Continue reading …SEC Previews and Predictions: Week 4
September 22, 2015 Comments Off on SEC Previews and Predictions: Week 4It now appears Arkansas’ supposed improvement from 2014 to 2015 was just a mirage. While the Alabama-Ole Miss game cost the Predictions Dept. a red mark on its record, that game was almost a pick-em. Arkansas, on the other hand, should have handled Texas A&M, but didn’t. This week’s slate of games isn’t nearly as interesting, headed either by Mississippi State-Auburn or Tennessee-Florida.
Continue reading …Previews 2015: South Carolina Gamecocks
August 23, 2015 Comments Off on Previews 2015: South Carolina Gamecocks
Mediocre, thy name is South Carolina. The Gamecocks enter the 2015 season being average almost across the board, as graduation and a handful of recruiting misevaluations have limited the Cocks’ ceiling for the coming year. This season will inform a lot of the discussion going forward about Steve Spurrier’s tenure and ultimate retirement from the game. It’s unlikely he wants to helm a South Carolina team stuck in mediocrity, but that’s where the Gamecocks are headed if the defense doesn’t get markedly better this year.
Continue reading …2014 Previews: South Carolina Gamecocks
August 28, 2014 Comments Off on 2014 Previews: South Carolina Gamecocks
South Carolina has been knocking on the door of national relevance for years, but Steve Spurrier hasn’t been quite able to get over the last couple of hurdles. Despite a growing talent base in the state, there has been too much competition for the Gamecocks to effectively lock down their backyard and challenge the SEC’s best teams. Time is running out for Spurrier, and this team, despite having plenty of talent, looks again to be just a bit short of matching up to Alabama or LSU.
Continue reading …2013 Fall Previews: South Carolina Gamecocks
August 24, 2013 Comments Off on 2013 Fall Previews: South Carolina Gamecocks
There’s no discounting what Steve Spurrier has done in his tenure as South Carolina coach. The Gamecocks feel they are knocking on the door of a national title shot, but this is a team that has a few holes in its game still. Quarterback play is always intriguing on a Spurrier-coached team, and South Carolina must rebuild its linebacker corps on defense. Special teams could also improve a bit. Having said that, the front four and secondary should be the best, or close to it, in the SEC East this year, and tough defenses usually equate to a championship run.
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While predictions are often a shot in the dark, it is still fun to look ahead and try to predict the future. Here is our annual look at how the SEC might shape up in the coming year, with the bestowing of our annual preseason awards.
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It will take Muschamp a couple of years to fully transition Florida from a spread-option team to a pro set team in personnel terms. The Gators’ current running backs are not ideally suited to running his offense. But Florida is on much firmer ground than it was when the 2010 season closed.
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