Week 2 SEC Prediction: It’s Oklahoma – Michigan Day!

A battle between Oklahoma and Michigan is a reason why we love college football.

Both are storied programs, with multiple Heismans and massive fanbases. The last they played each other was in 1975, which led to Oklahoma winning a Natty.

Norman is going to be rocking.

Anyway, here’s our (brief) preview of the game, as well as a bunch of SEC games (in order of interest) – including the first conference game of the year between Ole Miss and Kentucky.

1.  No.15 Michigan and No.18 Oklahoma (-5): We know little about both of these sides, apart from that there are worries about the lines on both sides – especially as Michigan five star frosh offensive lineman Andrew Babalola is done for year. We can’t wait to see Michigan’s freshman five-star Bryce Underwood in Big Time action. He’s already been anointed as the God of Ann Arbor…which throws a little bit expectation on him. He faces John Mateer, a transfer from Washington State who recently found himself in a betting scandal) . Oklahoma are apparently worried about the running not doing anything for the second year in a row, even calmer heads have said that the offense is going to be more pass-focused. For those like Mateer and his buddies, the odds moved from -5 to 1-5 in Oklahoma’s favor. PREDICTION: Oklahoma wins by 7 in a great game. 
2.  Kansas at Missouri (-6.5). The best thing about this game is that both sides absolutely f**king hate each other. And it’s been like that since the Border War of 1854-1861. Columbia is going to be absolutely rocking. Especially gestures aplenty thrown at the KU players by a rabid fanbase, and the refs are going to need hard hats if they call back a Missouri TD. On the football side, Kansas is going to have to stop Mizzou QB Beau Pribula, who can shift. There is also excitement in the Columbia air about transfer Ahmad Hardy had 1,351 yards for ULM and is a freight train. However, with kicker Blake Craig blowing out his ACL in the first week, it will be walk-on Robert Mayer who takes his place. Let’s hope this one’s not close. But although we’ve talked at length about Kansas, Lance Leipold’s team are hardly slouches.QB Jalon Daniels is a human joystick, while former Alabama reserve wideout Emmanuel Henderson is going to be a tough ‘out’. But Daniels has got an amazing knack of doing dumbass things – which is probably why he’ll be drafted in the sixth round next year. Defensively, Kansas is going to be pretty shorthanded, so you can expect Leipold to go for it at every opportunity. This going to be fun, people. PREDICTION: First to 50. Missouri by 7.
3.  No.20 Ole Miss (-9.5) at Kentucky: Maybe I’m dogging on Kentucky too much, but I don’t understand why Ole Miss is only a 9.5 away favourite at Kentucky. They are clearly more talented. Kentucky may have overcome the doubters in Toledo, but Ole Miss is a whole other step-up. Mark Stoops’ game will be simple: Give the ball to RB Dante Dowdell, and give Ole Miss less opportunities to put the burners on offense. Clearly if they try and throw it, then we believe a shoot-out between Kentucky QB Zach Calzada and Ole Miss QB Austin Simmons will be won by Simmons, despite the latter’s lack of experience. Ole Miss has the weapons in Penn State WR Harrison Wallace and Virginia Tech TE Dae-Quan Wright that Calzada has. PREDICTION: Kentucky manages to keep within reach, but Ole Miss comes through, winning by 14. 
4.  UL Monroe at No.21 Alabama (-38): No team has generated more talk than Alabama this week after the Crimson Tide took an ugly loss to FSU on Saturday. Look, there isn’t a question that Alabama’s going to win this one, but if Kalen DeBoer’s offense is ugly for a half, things will get toxic. And that what’s intriguing about this. PREDICTION: Alabama wins by 31. Which pisses off ‘interested financial parties’).
5.  No.12 Arizona State (-6.5) at Mississippi State: What did Arizona State show us that the Sun Devils deserve a No.12 ranking?  QB Sam Leavitt was inconsistent, and although his prime receiver Jordyn Tyson had a couple of TDs, beating a far lesser opponent 38-19 is bad by anyone’s standards. The Sun Devils clearly miss Cam Skattebo, which means that the offense is going to be a work in progress. As for Mississippi State, they hardly shone against Southern Miss, but as both sides will say – a winsawinsawin – especially if Blake Shapen can hit Brenan Thompson instead of the opposition secondary. This game is ripe for the upset. PREDICTION: Mississippi State by 3.
6.  Vanderbilt at Virginia Tech (-1): Because both sides are so middling, this will be a middling game….and one of the closest ones of the day. Diego Pavia will continue to be a lot of fun, and Kyron Drones will be looking to recover from the poor effort against South Carolina. In short, it’s a ‘get right’ game for the Hokies, who were right in it against South Carolina until the fourth quarter. What we do is that the atmosphere is going to be lit — it’s Lane Stadium’s season opener. PREDICTION: Virginia Tech by 3. 
7. San Jose State at Texas (-36.5): After Arch Manning’s questionable performance against Ohio State, he’s been blasted by a fair amount of criticism by message boards. In fact, one ‘hater’ said he’s got the worst throwing action he’d ever seen by a college football quarter. In UT’s season home opener he’ll be expected to let his arm loose, and show everyone why he’s a good Manning. PREDICTION: Texas by 45. Arch for Heisman. Texas for the Natty. Let’s all go to Franklin’s and have some overrated BBQ!!
8.  South Florida at No.13 Florida (-17.5): South Florida pulled off one of the most impressive wins in college football by absolutely dismantling No.25 Boise State 34-7 for their first over a ranked team since 2016 (although they had Alabama on the ropes last year). Dual threat QB Byrum Brown is going to give Gators fans fits…if he gets any time (he was sacked 4 times against the Broncos). South Florida will be a whole other look for the Gators, and DJ Lagway is going to have to be on his best form. PREDICTION: Florida wins in a closer-than-Vegas thinks in a 10 pt win.
9.  Arkansas State at Arkansas (-22.5): Butch Jones brings a solid squad into Fayetteville coming off their best season in years and years (8-5). Jones has a QB in Jaylen Raynor who can absolutely SLING it (he’s had back-to-back 2,000 yard seasons (we’re frankly surprised he didn’t transfer to a Power-4 school). On the other side of the ball, Arky’s Taylen Green will cause the Red Wolves problems as a passer and runner. Transfer RB Mike Washington Jr – who had 713 yards on the floor for New Mexico State – should have another monster day carrying the ball – especially if the ASU proves to be plucky. Boring thing that came out of good: Both QBs are friends, having gone to the Manning Passing Academy in Louisiana. PREDICTION: Arkansas wins by 18 in a very entertaining game.
10.  Utah State at Texas A&M (-31.5): Two things I remembered about Utah State: Chuckie Keaton (magnificent fun on the Thursday/Friday night ESPN TV), and Mormons…lots of Mormons (70% of the student population). Anyhow, we don’t expect USU to get a lot of pressure on Texas A&M brilliant offensive line, so Marcel Reed should make hay. Utah State’s 28-16 win over UTEP was pretty impressive, so this should some fun in the Texas sun. PREDICTION: A&M by 28.
11. Louisiana Tech at LSU (-37): Don’t be shocked if LSU struggles a little in the first quarter after their magnificent win over Clemson last week, but the Tigers will hit up the accelerator, and that will be. Our fun person to watch is Harold Perkins Jr, who’s in the Star position and will cause damage to Louisiana Tech’s offense. On the other side of the ball it’s going to be a procession. PREDICTION: LSU by 31.
12.  Ball State at Auburn (-42.5): Auburn – who got votes to go into the Top 25 last week – are expected to curb-stomp Ball State. And they will. PREDICTION: Auburn by 45.
13. ETSU at Tennessee: I went to college in Bristol, TN, so I’m very familiar with ETSU and the goings-on. Johnson City and Knoxville were seen as the ‘Holy Grail’ of places to go to, because both were big college towns and Bristol was a ‘nothing town’ where the casino was just a pipe dream. Anyway…back to the football. Last week I was quite criticized on Reddit for getting mixed up with the stats of Syracuse’s QB and Tennessee’s. Well….Joey Aguilar’s going to make hay. PREDICTION: Tennessee by 60.
14.  South Carolina State at South Carolina (N/A): These is expected to be such a rout that Vegas isn’t taking any action on it. PREDICTION: South Carolina by 50.
15.  Austin Peay at Georgia (N/A): At least there isn’t a line for me to get angry about today. And they’ll be nothing for Georgia fans to get angry either. PREDICTION: Georgia by 50.