Georgia/Florida Game Helps SEC Week 10 slate

TWe’re not going to lie….we needed a rest after the shenanigans of a last few weeks, and with the weakness of the Week 10 slate, we (thankfully) will be able to focus on who’s going to hit wide left and wide right in the Miami vs Florida State game, because after 3.30pm, the SEC slate just ain’t good.

There are ZERO….ZERO Top 25 match-ups between SEC teams this week. Don’t get us wrong, if Florida and Georgia hadn’t gotten so injured, we think that Florida and Georgia could have been THE SEC East decider and The Biggest Game In The Country in Week 10. But it wasn’t to be. So come on Georgia and Florida, save our lives….

SO HERE ARE YOUR PREDICTIONS:

GEORGIA VS FLORIDA

Oh, what could have been. Both teams are beaten up. Really beaten up. Both sides lost to Missouri, which hurt their run at a SEC title, but the losses to Clemson and Miami hurt their chances of going to The Big One In Pasadena, too. The good news for Georgia fans is that (maybe) Todd Gurley is going to play some. I would say that Mark Richt should look at this depending on the scoreline and not start him immediately in a game that means nothing, but that’s his decision, and not mine. There’s no question that with both sides being so poor (UGA can’t play ‘D’, Florida can’t play ‘O’) at the moment that this Cocktail Party will be interesting because both sides really, really, really, really, really, really need something to make their fans smile. In the words of Yoda: “Classic, this will not be”.

BOTTOM LINE: Georgia’s a 3-point favorite in this one. We’ll take Georgia. It might win 9-3 in this one. The over/under’s 47, and frankly we like the ‘under’ a lot. This is how little we think of both sides (which hurts us, frankly).

TENNESSEE VS MISSOURI

If Missouri had played some ‘D’ after going 17-0 up on South Carolina, we’d be talking about Missouri in terms of a possible National Championship contender (yes, I’m serious). But they didn’t, and the offense forgot what they were doing. Oh, and Dorial Green-Beckham completely disappeared last week, too. L’Damian Washington can’t do everything, D G-B. Anyway, apparently James Franklin’s getting dressed for the battle against Tennessee, but if Maty Mauk keeps improving, he should rest the shoulder and leave it to the kid. On the Tennessee side of the ball, we get to see the debut of Joshua Dobbs at QB after Justin Worley was put out indefinitely against Alabama. We don’t know a lot about the kid apart from that ESPN said that he showed “Flashes of Potential” against Alabama. So the kid could be good….

BOTTOM LINE: Tennessee’s a 10-1/2 point dog going into Columbia. We’re taking Missouri to cover and then some. That’s not to say that Joshua Dobbs won’t hit Marquez North for a TD. 

MISSISSIPPI STATE VS SOUTH CAROLINA

What (quite rightly) irritates people about Steve Spurrier is that he can go from telling the press that his team’s hopes of going to the National Championship Game/SEC game/ bowl game/ winning a future game/ winning the Spring game are gone, and the insistence that his team’s not very good, to making bitchy comments about Georgia (who UGA beat, by the way) and Florida and a new-found confidence because his broken-up QB Connor Shaw managed to stage a comeback usually reserved for Easter-time in Missouri, leaving Carolina in with a fantastic chance of going to Atlanta.

For Mississippi State, they just aren’t a very good side. They managed to scrape the win against Kentucky last week, and Dak Prescott didn’t have a completely goddawful game, but they are the second-worst team in the SEC West, only edging Arkansas on points. Expect Carolina to roll.

BOTTOM LINE: SOUTH CAROLINA’S ONLY A 12 POINT FAVORITE? Bet your house on it that South Carolina’s going to win by 21. 

AUBURN AT ARKANSAS

Auburn’s actually taken off for the hills this season, while Arkansas has stayed struggling. In fact, we’d go as far as saying that actually the Razorbacks have looked better under John L. Smith than they do under Bret Bielema, and that’s saying something. Look, we know that Bielema faced a talent drought when he got to Arkansas, with a young side. We weren’t expecting much….but better than this.

On the other side, we were expecting NOTHING from Auburn (who were equally young), and Auburn looked us in the face and said: “Screw you”, and now have the SEC West in their hands, are bowl eligible, and are (gasp) 11th in the nation. Wizard Gus Malzahn pointed his stick and changed Auburn into a machine from a three-wheeled shopping cart, and that’s really, really COOL. The only worry for Auburn fans is: Will Nick Marshall recover in time for the game? Because Auburn fans can’t afford to be embarrassed now.

BOTTOM LINE: Auburn’s an eight-point favorite going into Fayetteville. We’re going with Auburn (again). 

THE OTHER TWO? (Told you the SEC slate wasn’t very good)

  • TEXAS A&M ‘s a 45-1/2 point favorite over UTEP. We’re taking Texas A&M. UTEP’s gives up almost as badly as……Texas A&M’s, but worse (118th in the nation)
  • KENTUCKY will beat Alabama State easily, even though ‘Bama State’s won 6 in a row and hasn’t put up less than 30 points in a game. The Wildcats are 27-1/2 point favorites, but we’re taking ALABAMA STATE. Kentucky by 21