SEC speculation for this season

Redwood Forrest

Hall of Fame
Sep 19, 2003
11,042
907
237
76
Boaz, AL USA
This is the most interesting season in a while, IMO, with Florida and Tennessee on the comeback trail and with Mississippi State set to see if they can continue to over-achieve as they did with Mullen. Let us not forget the A&M Aggies newfound optimism and, of course, the annual can The Ogre keep his job another year.

I am not certain S Carolina will finish second in the East, as many predict. I am thinking Mississippi State is headed back to the bottom with Arkansas and Texas A&M is a work in progress. I would like opinions on Miss St and A&M in particular, but would enjoy reading your take on all the others. Roll Tide.
 

Bazza

TideFans Legend
Oct 1, 2011
35,577
21,205
187
New Smyrna Beach, Florida
Going to be an interesting year for quite a few teams, for sure.

You have to think aTm will improve under Coach Fisher and I do like the Joe Moorhead hire at State and with Nick Fitzgerald as returning QB you have to be optimistic for their year as well, I would think.

Florida will never get past a certain point unless they get the QB position secured. Not sure if that happens this year, unfortunately, but we'll see.

Really don't know about the Whos...flip a coin?

Georgia and Bama look strong with Auburn right behind them and maybe South Carolina....we'll see.

I think it will be year two for the Villes.

Two and half more months now? I can do that.....:wink:
 

B1GTide

TideFans Legend
Apr 13, 2012
45,499
46,842
187
It takes a couple of years to rebuild an SEC program, so I expect Alabama and Georgia to win their respective divisions. IMO, it is next year that things will get interesting.
 

GrayTide

Hall of Fame
Nov 15, 2005
18,810
6,245
187
Greenbow, Alabama
IMO, the two teams that could be spoilers are TAMU and USCe. UT and MSU will slide back. The other two that have big ??? are UF and LSU. Ole Miss, Arkansas, Missouri, Vandy and UK will fight it out for the right to represent the cellar.
 

rgw

Suspended
Sep 15, 2003
20,852
1,351
232
Tuscaloosa
I think TAMU could legitimately get to 10 wins in year 1 w/ a bowl win. I see them losing both of their road trips to Alabama and their week 2 home game against Clemson. Other than those three games, I don't think they're likely to be a dog in any game.
 

bamamick

All-American
Feb 22, 2005
2,047
219
82
Let me see, this is my list:

Bama, the Aubs, State, LSU, aTm, Arkansas, Ole Miss
Georgia, USCe, UF, Missouri, Kentucky, Vandy, UTK

Rtr
 

NationalTitles18

TideFans Legend
May 25, 2003
29,633
34,721
362
Mountainous Northern California
Alabama and UGA should win their divisions and the divide between them and the rest is significant overall.

AU, aTm, and Florida stand the best chance of an upset or two and of sneaking into the SECCG. Of those, I'd give AU the title of the better team but both they and aTm have to face Alabama. Can AU's defense hold up? Can Fisher overcome the usual mediocre attitude at aTm? If Mullen can find a serviceable QB...

USCe could be a darkhorse, but I think they'd more likely be a spoiler than an actual contender.

UTe should make a bowl. Should.

LSU will be as flaky as their head coach but dangerous because of their talent. If they get up for a game and don't lose discipline then look out.

Miss St should be a bowl team.

Ole Miss is heading for disappointment and embarrassment.

Arkansas just doesn't have the horses to run with the big boys.

The rest of the East will be meh at best. Mizzou is unlikely to make a bowl but Vandy and UK have a chance if they catch a few breaks.

West:

1. Bama
2. AU
3. aTm
4 LSU
5. Miss St
6. Ark
7. Ole Miss

East:

1. UGA
2. Florida
3. USCe
4. UK
5. UTe (could finish 4th or 6th. I split the difference and give Pruitt the benefit of the doubt)
6. Vandy
7. Mizzou
 

BamaInBham

All-American
Feb 14, 2007
4,465
2,110
187
Bama almost surely will go 12-0. Hard to imagine anyone sneaking up. The AU game is close to a lock - they will have to play the game of their lives to keep it within the 7. (All of this assuming the Coordinators are at least adequate.)

UGA 10-11 wins

UT fortunate to win more than 5

AU 7-9 wins

UF 8-10 wins. Though not great, Mullen is better than some think.

A&M 7-9 wins

USCe 9 win max.

Of course injuries can derail anyone.
 

81usaf92

TideFans Legend
Apr 26, 2008
35,306
31,375
187
South Alabama
I’m going to say USCe wins the east and UGA has a tough year. I think USCe and Missouri are your #1 and #2 in the east. Something about losing the way they did, having a lot new pieces to replace a loaded team, having a tough third game has me very concerned about UGA. Missouri and USCe return the best QBs in east with the most experience.
 
Last edited:

Bazza

TideFans Legend
Oct 1, 2011
35,577
21,205
187
New Smyrna Beach, Florida
It takes a couple of years to rebuild an SEC program, so I expect Alabama and Georgia to win their respective divisions. IMO, it is next year that things will get interesting.
Yo B1G.....don't be so wishy-washy...tell us what you really think, man! :tongue:

I'm going to hang onto this post.......:wink:
 

B1GTide

TideFans Legend
Apr 13, 2012
45,499
46,842
187
Yo B1G.....don't be so wishy-washy...tell us what you really think, man! :tongue:

I'm going to hang onto this post.......:wink:
If I were in your place, I would be cautiously optimistic. But the kind of change that FL needs will take a few years to materialize, IMO
 

Redwood Forrest

Hall of Fame
Sep 19, 2003
11,042
907
237
76
Boaz, AL USA
This is where five year recruiting places the SEC.

ALABAMA, LSU, AUBURN, TEX A&M, MISS, MISS ST. and ARKANSAS

GEORGIA, TENN, FLORIDA, S CAROLINA, KENT, MIZZOU and VANDY.

Now lets see what coaching can do. We can see Tennessee should not have finished in last place last season. That was coaching.
 

81usaf92

TideFans Legend
Apr 26, 2008
35,306
31,375
187
South Alabama
This is where five year recruiting places the SEC.

ALABAMA, LSU, AUBURN, TEX A&M, MISS, MISS ST. and ARKANSAS

GEORGIA, TENN, FLORIDA, S CAROLINA, KENT, MIZZOU and VANDY.

Now lets see what coaching can do. We can see Tennessee should not have finished in last place last season. That was coaching.
My guess is Tennessee will continue to struggle this year.
 

92tide

TideFans Legend
May 9, 2000
58,145
44,863
287
54
East Point, Ga, USA
I’m going to say USCe wins the east and UGA has a tough year. I think USCe and Missouri are your #1 and #2 in the east. Something about losing the way they did, having a lot new pieces to replace a loaded team, having a tough third game has me very concerned about UGA. Missouri and USCe return the best QBs in east with the most experience.
i think uga has a hangover year this year.
 

Tideflyer

Hall of Fame
Dec 14, 2011
7,824
3,904
187
Savannah, GA
I’m going to say USCe wins the east and UGA has a tough year. I think USCe and Missouri are your #1 and #2 in the east. Something about losing the way they did, having a lot new pieces to replace a loaded team, having a tough third game has me very concerned about UGA. Missouri and USCe return the best QBs in east with the most experience.
If this were to happen, I think the state of Georgia would blow up, considering the expectations over here. Right or wrong, it would be instant hot seat for Kirby Smart, I don`t care how long they tolerated Mark Richt in the past.
 

81usaf92

TideFans Legend
Apr 26, 2008
35,306
31,375
187
South Alabama
i think uga has a hangover year this year.
Yeah 2013 really comes to mind.

I really don’t see much difference between Kirby Smart and Mark Richt with the exception that Smart can smooth things over with the puppies faster. I think 3rd and Kirby is going to haunt UGA fans like it did with us from 2012-2015.
 

BamaMoon

Hall of Fame
Apr 1, 2004
20,931
15,930
282
Boone, NC
This is the most interesting season in a while, IMO, with Florida and Tennessee on the comeback trail and with Mississippi State set to see if they can continue to over-achieve as they did with Mullen. Let us not forget the A&M Aggies newfound optimism and, of course, the annual can The Ogre keep his job another year.

I am not certain S Carolina will finish second in the East, as many predict. I am thinking Mississippi State is headed back to the bottom with Arkansas and Texas A&M is a work in progress. I would like opinions on Miss St and A&M in particular, but would enjoy reading your take on all the others. Roll Tide.
Before reading other responses, I'll give my "gut" feeling on Miss. St. and TAMU.

I think Miss. St. won't fall to the bottom immediately, but I don't think they achieve the success they had with Mullen.

I think TAMU will replace LSU as our toughest SECW game outside of our annual showdown with Auburn. More importantly, I believe TAMU will give the barn more losses and that'll be a good thing for us in the SECW race.
 

JustNeedMe81

Hall of Fame
Sep 30, 2011
14,905
6,189
187
42
Huntsville, Al
West:

1. Bama
2. Auburn
3. ATM
4 LSU
5. Miss St
6. Arkansas
7. Ole Miss

Bama and Auburn have easy schedule. Both could go undefeated until Iron Bowl. Ranking #3-#7 will be a mess. I think ATM and LSU will truly fight for #3 spot, maybe could beat Auburn on a good day.

East:

1. UGA
2. Florida
3. South Carolina
4. Vandy
5. Kentucky
6. Tennessee
7. Mizzou

East is unpredictable. I actually don't think UGA will finish #1 in East. I'm going to be bold and say SC will be ranked either #1 or #2 . Florida will always be in contend for a title, but it depends on Tennessee and how much they improve in first season under Pruitt. Don't count out Mizzou. I'm not ranking them in top 5 yet, but with their QB... who knows?

Final Prediction: Bama v.s. South Carolina for SEC Championship.
 

New Posts

Latest threads

TideFans.shop : 2024 Madness!

TideFans.shop - Get YOUR Bama Gear HERE!”></a>
<br />

<!--/ END TideFans.shop & item link \-->
<p style= Purchases made through our TideFans.shop and Amazon.com links may result in a commission being paid to TideFans.