Well, it's that time of year again. Gas up the car, pack up the cooler and head out towards those houses of celestial bliss and no, I am not talking about churches, but rather the hallowed stadiums that contain the South's true passion: FOOTBALL. (sorry Jesus) It's no secret that nothing exists, south of the Mason Dixon line, between the months of January and April. However, come April 1st, the pads come out, the whistles are donned and the South springs alive like Michael Vick in the Sing Sing shower. It could be argued, year in and year out, that the SEC is the toughest conference in College Football and honestly, I don't see a conference that, from top to bottom, can equal the challenge that is the SEC. This year should be no different. With six teams ranked in the preseason top 25, there is a good bet that one of those six will have a legitimate shot at a National Title. The spotlight should be focused primarily on the south this football season. How will defending national champion Florida fare with god's gift to football, Tim Tebow? Will Darren McFadden run for 3,000 yards(obviously joking)? Will Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford be the player that the Bulldawg nation expects him to be? Those and many more questions will be answered but now, allow me to pontificate. I shall start with the SEC east.
South Carolina: Well, not a year goes by that the collective fans of all teams in the SEC, except S. Carolina, don't pray that the "Ole Ball Coach" hasn't returned to his Florida form. Fortunately, for the rest of the SEC, that time has not quite come...yet. While Spurrier seems to have settled in a little bit and, quite frankly, recruited above my expectations, his team still has a couple of years to go. The Gamecocks return 6 starters on offense from last years Holiday Bowl victory, including Sr. quarterback Blake Mitchell and Sr. running back Cory Boyd. As it is for most teams in the SEC, a large part of the success of the season depends on the play of the two lines. South Carolina must replace all three offensive interior lineman. Not a task any football coach wants to undertake. If they get any solid play out of the three interior line spots they should be able to create enough room for Cory Boyd to get down the field and ultimately open up the passing game. On the defensive side of the ball, things are looking pretty good. I think Jr. middle linebacker Jasper Brinkley eats small children for his meals. His total tackles of 106 last year is double the next closest Gamecock. On the D line, the Cocks brought in 7 new additions, which will add some serious depth, even if they are a little young. Pass rushing extraordinaire Cliff Matthews should see plenty of time. Anybody reading this would think that South Carolina has a decent shot at taking the Eastern Division, as long as the shit doesn't hit the fan. Well, I am covered in what looks like grey matter but sure as hell doesn't smell like grey matter. Why, might you ask...? South Carolina has a brutal SEC schedule with visits to Georgia, LSU, Arkansas, and Tennessee and don't forget a home rendezvous with the defending national champs. Don't forget to tack on Clemson (yes, I realize Clemson is in the ACC.) and the gamecocks have a pretty tough road to climb. To help soften the blow from the aforementioned gamut of ass kicking, the Cocks have national powerhouses UL Lafayette, S. Carolina St, Mississippi State, North Carolina, Vanderbilt, and Kentucky (Stop drinking the Kool-Aid). All in all, it looks like you will see a lot more visor tossing in Columbia. Prediction: 7-5
Kentucky: Everybody and their brother were shocked with the Wildcats of 2006. Nobody saw that one coming. An 8 win season for Kentucky football is the equivalent of a losing season for Kentucky basketball: It just doesn't happen. With that said, the Wildcats of 07 have their work cut out for them if they plan on staying relevant. They return 7 starters on offense, including QB Andre Woodson, arguably, the best in the country and Sr RB Rafael Little. Although, the Cats must replace 3 starters on the o-line, their offense should still be pretty potent. Last year Sr. WR Keenan Burton established himself as an SEC elite, with a little over 1,000 yards and 12 touchdowns. If the Cats are going to have a shot at another 8 win season, then the defense has to improve. I think the Dillon Panthers (Friday Night Lights, for anybody asking) would have put up better numbers than Kentucky. (118th in pass defense and 108th in rushing defense) HORRIBLE!!! They return 8 starters on the defense , however, that obviously is not a good thing. First year Defensive Coordinator Steve Brown has a lot of work to do. As if the Wildcats don't have enough problems, here comes the schedule. 6 of Kentucky's 12 games are against preseason top 25 teams (Louisville, @Arkansas, LSU, Florida, @UGA, and Tennessee).
The good thing is that their out of conference schedule sucks (in a good way). Unfortunately, the cats will return to earth this year and rejoin the cellar of the SEC. Prediction: 6-6.
Tennessee: Good ole' rocky top, rocky top Tennessee (man, I hate that song). That is exactly what it is this year, in Knoxville...Rocky. To start the Vols have to replace the best receiving corp the SEC has seen in a while in Robert Meachem, Jayson Swain and Bret Smith. Tack on the fact that starting tailback LaMarcus Coker has been suspended, indefinitely, for idiocy, and the human pumpkin and his Vols are staring down the barrel of a sub-par season. This just in...Apparently, Coker has been cleared to play. Wow, only Tennessee and Fat Phil can pull off a move like that, indefinite suspension to opening day starter in 2 weeks. That takes talent. Even with Coker back in the line-up, the Vols will still be riding on the shoulders of Sr. QB Erik Ainge. Now, more than ever, the Vols need consistent play Erik Ainge. Without it, it is going to be a long year for Vols fans. The good thing, is that the o-line returns 3 of the 5 starters from last year and should be able to open up lanes for Coker and backup Arian Foster. On the flip side, the defense has some issues, with the front four being the biggest one. A group of young lineman will be the key to a defense that has, historically, been strong. The linbacking core, led by Jr. Jerod Mayo, is strong as usual. The brightest spot on the defensive side of the ball is Sr. FS Jonathan Hefney. One word: Baller. The Vols will be tested early this year as they travel to Berkeley for a rematch with Cal. Something tells me a different Cal team will be showing up this year and the Vols will not have 108,ooo screaming rednecks behind them. After that, it is games with Southern Miss (solid program) and at The Swamp. Let's put is this way, the Vols could conceivably be 2 and 2 when the Dawgs come to town on October 6th. If that happens, it could be a disastrous season. Prediction: 8-4
Vanderbilt: Vandy, Vandy, Oh Vandy. My synopsis of 2008's Vanderbilt Commodores should be summed up in one line: You are not going to be very good. However, I will try to extrapolate some sort of positive message for you Commodore fans. Here goes. For starters, you are not going to be as bad as Ole Miss and Mississippi State. This years Egg Bowl could, honestly, be the worst football game ever played. I digress. Vandy wouldn't be as handicapped as they, perennially, are if their administration gave a shit about football. Vanderbilt returns 8 starters on offense, 4 of which are on the o-line. You can't complain about that. Behind that line is Jr. QB Chris Nickson, who was one of only two quarterbacks to throw for 2,000 yards and rush for 650 yards. Nickson will get the pleasure of throwing to All-American WR Earl Bennett. It makes you wonder how in the hell Vanderbilt has an All-American anything. Vandy's D should be what gives them the best chance at a decent season. The linebackers, anchored by Sr. Jonathan Goff should be solid. The d-line showed signs of improvement last season and should be even better. The secondary, which had a tendency to give up the big play, should be more consistent. Okay, I think that is as much as I can squeeze out of Vanderbilt. Oh, one more thing. Vanderbilt gets 8 of their 12 games at home this year. Unfortunately, they are in the SEC, so you can expect them to lose a fair share of those home games. If you happen to follow SEC football, which I do, you will know that Vanderbilt has not had a winning season in 24 years. Much to the chagrin of Commodore fans, that will jump to 25 this year. Prediction: 5-7
Florida: The Buckeye nation is still in shock from the ass beating that the Gators laid down last January. To be honest, I think I am still in shock. Nobody, other than Gators fans, saw that one coming. The Gators will have a tougher road ahead of them this year. They return one starter on a defense that was the heart and soul of last year's National Champions. However, solid recruiting should help curb any drop off. The million dollar question: How will Tim Tebow fair as an every down quarterback in the SEC? It is no secret that the back-up quarterback is the greatest position to hold. No criticism, all praise. That point was proven last year as Tebow could do no wrong. This year, however, Tebow will bear all the praise and all of the criticism from a fan base that requires perfection. The good news for Tebow is the returning of 4 out of 5 starters on the o-line. Package that with receiver Andre Caldwell and do it all phenom Percy Harvin, and there is no reason why the Gator's should not score a lot of points. The bad news for Tebow is the entire crop of SEC defenses that will be looking to plant him into the turf on every play. Even with all of the weapons that the Florida offense will bring to the table, the Gator's season will still be made or broken by the play of the defense. The number one thing a defensive coordinator doesn't want to do: Replace all but one starter. (okay, maybe replacing all starters is actually number one, but let's not split hairs here.) The point is, that the Gator's must have a strong defense, ala last year in order to have any shot at duplicating last years success. With all the question marks this off season, it is a good thing that the Gators open the season with two darn near guaranteed victories. Their first real test will come September 15th, when the Vols come to town. With the exception of the 4 week stretch in the middle of the season of Auburn, LSU, Georgia and Kentucky, the Gator's schedule sets up nicely for a shot at a repeat. Unfortunately, for you Gator's fans, you will not be repeating last year's success. Prediction: 9-3
Georgia: Last year, Dawg fans were treated to an uncharacteristic 4 loss season with Mark Richt at the helm. This year, however, hope springs eternal between the hedges. The Dawgs return 6 starters on offense including So. QB Matthew Stafford, Sr. RB Kregg Lumpkin and, quite possibly, the most underrated player in the SEC, Jr. FB Brannan Southerland. I am quite certain Southerland could successfully block a Mack truck. However, the dawgs have the daunting task of breaking in 3 new starters on the o-line. What makes it more daunting is the fact that those 3 spots will be filled by two freshman and one juco transfer. To help with this transition, the Bulldogs hired, recently departed LSU 0-line coach Stacey Searels. On the defensive side of the ball, the Dawgs return only two starters from last years defense (it would have been three if uber-moron and, most likely, All-American DB Paul Oliver had not failed to meet grades). The biggest concern on the defense, however, will be replacing the outside tandem of Charles Johnson and Quentin Moses. That task falls into the hands of Jr. Jarius Wynn and Sr. Marcus Howard. This years defense, on the whole, will be smaller than recent classes, however, what the lacks in size, they will make up for in speed. The linebacking corp should be extremely quick and the secondary should have the speed to match up with any receiving corp they will face this year. Even though the defense is a little small and young, Richt and D-coordinator Willie Martinez should get the benefit of the doubt, from opponents, on Saturdays due to the overall strength of Georgia's defenses during Richt's tenure. Georgia should have a good gauge of their strengths and weaknesses after the first two weeks with home games against Oklahoma State and South Carolina. The remainder of the season is filled with games against Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, Florida and Kentucky. That is a pretty brutal conference schedule. All in all the Bulldawgs should be better than last years 8-4(regular season) team but not by much. Prediction: 9-3
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