PREVIEW: A Look into the Crystal Ball [by JessN]

[BamaNation]

A look into the crystal ball
Jess Nicholas
August 5, 2007

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.

SEC Player of the Year
Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas
While Andre Woodson at Kentucky might be a fringe Heisman Trophy candidate, McFadden is perhaps the favorite. He’s a physical freak of nature, can run, catch or even throw the ball, and can run inside or outside. In fact, the two biggest threats come from within his own team: having to split time with Felix Jones, and whether the distractions surrounding his head coach, Houston Nutt, will have such an effect on his team that it affects everyone’s play. If Arkansas can avoid distractions, McFadden is good enough to run for 2,000 yards or more.

Runner-up: Glenn Dorsey, DT, LSU
You don’t see defensive players get this much recognition very often, particularly tackles, but Dorsey is a game changer.


READ MORE HERE

 

[dvldog]

Good read but how do you balance Coach of the year with SEC team most likely to fall short of expectations?

 

[trenda]

I think you've got that mixed up a little bit, dvldog.

It's pretty easy to match up the coach with the hottest seat with the team most likely to fall short of expectations.

Without researching it, it seems to me that Nutt has usually done more with less and less with more. In other words, when you don't expect anything from the Hogs, they generally do well and vice versa.

GA has a pretty intriguing second game opponent in SoCarolina. A Gamecock win there and you may end up seeing Spurrier as your eventual Coach of the Year. A win in Athens could propel USC to a 9 win season.

 

[dvldog]

I think you've got that mixed up a little bit, dvldog.

It's pretty easy to match up the coach with the hottest seat with the team most likely to fall short of expectations.

Without researching it, it seems to me that Nutt has usually done more with less and less with more. In other words, when you don't expect anything from the Hogs, they generally do well and vice versa.

GA has a pretty intriguing second game opponent in SoCarolina. A Gamecock win there and you may end up seeing Spurrier as your eventual Coach of the Year. A win in Athens could propel USC to a 9 win season.

Ok, but I was wondering about picking Richt as coach of the year while also picking GA as team that might disappoint.

 

[KanBama]

Another great read by JessN

Glad you are on our site.
Thanks again for a great read.

 

[Crimson Speed]

I think you've got that mixed up a little bit, dvldog.

It's pretty easy to match up the coach with the hottest seat with the team most likely to fall short of expectations.

Without researching it, it seems to me that Nutt has usually done more with less and less with more. In other words, when you don't expect anything from the Hogs, they generally do well and vice versa.

GA has a pretty intriguing second game opponent in SoCarolina. A Gamecock win there and you may end up seeing Spurrier as your eventual Coach of the Year. A win in Athens could propel USC to a 9 win season.

I agree that Spurrier could surprise many in the SEC this year. He had a great recruiting class and has the touch to make them early impact players. He may not make the SEC championship game, but he certainly is capable of ruining it for a couple of other teams in the east. He loves to get in Fulmers head. Georgia could also find themselves on the short end. It is gonna be fun to watch.

 

[bamachile]

Ok, but I was wondering about picking Richt as coach of the year while also picking GA as team that might disappoint.

What he said. Twice.:smile:

 

[TideNFla]

What he said. Twice.:smile:

Three. :smile:

 

[JessN]

Could disappoint, not will disappoint. I guess you can infer from our previews -- and it will become clearer when we take a look at Georgia specifically in a week or so -- that I feel the Bulldogs are either going to really play above their heads, or fall flat. If they do the former, you have to look at Richt as coach of the year.

 

[ncbama]

Jess, you frighten me.
You do not give the Tide much press in your predictions. What scares me is that you are usually right. Seems we are still one or two years away.
Still no miracle in Tuscaloosa?

 

[Alanbama27]

I agree with dvldog...you can't have it both ways. You can't pick Richt as coach of the year and Georgia as a team that will disappoint.

Here is the opening line of this thread. "While predictions are often a shot in the dark, it is still fun to look ahead and try to predict the future."

and then there is this...

"SEC team most likely to fall short of expectations
Georgia
The Bulldogs have high hopes, but return just two starters on defense and the offensive line must be rebuilt. That’s a lot of room for error in Athens, and with Florida and Tennessee both good teams and the rest of the SEC East improving fast, Georgia could slip up."

 

[BamaNation]

ttt

 

[JD95]

Jess, you frighten me.
You do not give the Tide much press in your predictions. What scares me is that you are usually right. Seems we are still one or two years away.
Still no miracle in Tuscaloosa?

No question that Bama is at least a year away, and maybe two, from serious contention for the conference title. A coaching change (even a very positive one like replacing Shula with Saban) is always difficult and disruptive, even for veteran teams with deep talent (see Florida's mediocre performance in Urban Meyer's first year). In Bama's case, starting talent is shaky at best, especially on defense, and depth is a problem at virtually every position.

Saban will do great things at Alabama, but 7 or 8 wins and a lower-tier bowl is about as good as it gets this year.