This week it’s normal one of the craziest games on the SEC Calendar: LSU vs Auburn.

We’ve had burning buildings, missed kicks at the end, last-second touchdowns and the end of Les Miles’ tenure. The Geaux Tigers have won 3 in row and 7 of the last ten, but of those last three games, they’ve been settled by a TOTAL of eight points.

With no-one thinking about both sides seriously, it should be fun to at least watch, praying for a Big 12 game to once again break out in Jordan-Hare (if you’ve got the over!).

Elsewhere, one of the SEC West’s most underrated rivalries takes place at Kyle Field instead of Arlington, which is unfortunate bearing in mind just how awesome it’s been in JerryWorld. That’s Texas A&M vs Arkansas. Then there’s Georgia, primed for a trip to a Kentucky team who must be licking their wounds after getting trumped by Missouri, oh, and there’s Alabama against Mississippi State, where you’ll hear the name “Waddle” mentioned a lot. A lot. A lot. We’ve also got Missouri going to the University of Florida, which has been its own little COVID-19 hotspot recently, and Ole Miss playing Vanderbilt, which won’t warrant anyone’s attention aside from the betting community and die-hard fans of both sides.

So here are the games we’re interested in….

1. LSU (-3, O/U 63 1/2) at Auburn

Both sides have been pretty unimpressive this season – it’s the first game since 2001 that both sides are unranked. But this is why it’s going to be interesting. Firstly: The flaws which should make it even more fun, especially bearing in mind that it’s the defenses. Oh, and if hadn’t mentioned it….it’s LSU vs Auburn. It’s so much fun.

Oh, and about the sides? LSU will be looking forward to more of TJ Finley, who grabbed his chance against South Carolina with both hands. Auburn will be another level for him. He’ll be asked to spread it out a lot (we love you, Terrace Marshall and Arik Gilbert), and that’s going to give Kevin Steele fits. But defense is still a problem. Although they beat Carolina 52-24, Carolina put up 403 yards and were pretty impressive at times – especially when running the ball (Kevin Harris had 126 yards and 2 TDs on just 12 touches). And what’s Auburn’s strength? Running it. Tank Bigsby’s going to cause the leaky LSU front fits (he leads the SEC in making defensive players missed tackles with 22). Oh, and if Bo Nix can do something that’s not braindead this game, it’s going to be fun.

PREDICTION: LSU wins by 3  in a crazy one, because why not? LSU 48, Auburn 45.

2. Arkansas at Texas A&M (-13, Over/Under 54 1/2)

Texas A&M hasn’t lost to Arkansas since it’s been in the SEC, winning the last 8 straight years. But most of the games have been exceptionally watchable (three of the games have gone to overtime, and it’s almost always been high-scoring), and this should be fun.

Expectations in College Station are now sky-high that the No. 8 -ranked Aggies are good enough to get into the College Football Play-Off (hint: They aren’t), but there are still questions about A&M’s secondary. Offenses complete passes against the Aggies 72.7% of the time, and if Feleipe Franks can be manageable, he could cause the Aggies problems. On the other side of the ball, Arkansas  aren’t world-beaters, but they’ve been a hell of a lot better than recent years. Grant Morgan should be a Butkus Award finalist, and the Razorbacks have been ballhawks so far this season. But while they are better against the pass, they are susceptible to the run (4.4 yards per rush given up) – which will mean that we can expect Isaiah Spiller to be fed all night long.

PREDICTION: Texas A&M! Ninth straight! Aggies by 10. Texas A&M 31, Arkansas 21.

3. No.5 Georgia (-17, O/U 47.5) at Kentucky 

Missouri just gave Georgia the gameplan to beat Kentucky: Stifle the run game, and make Terry Wilson throw. Terry Wilson is fine with his legs, but throwing-wise, he’s a lower-tier SEC QB at best. So if Georgia do what Georgia do, they’ll stack the box to stop the running game of Chris Rodriguez, Asim Rose and Wilson himself, and make the Wildcats QB throw the ball. And their secondary will then cause havoc. On the other side of the ball, Kentucky’s got the hosses in the secondary, so Georgia will try to make sure that they give the ball to Zamir White (a lot) and keep Stetson Bennett from over-throwing it. If they stick to the gameplan, this is going to be ugly. Also, I think we are all secretly praying that it won’ t be as bad as last year’s game.

PREDICTION: Georgia 31, Kentucky 10.

4. Missouri at No.10 Florida (-12 1/2 Over/Under 61 1/2)

We wouldn’t normally be particularly interested in this game had Missouri been falling down the trajectory that we thought they would after the Tennesse game, but now the Tigers have won two in a row, and they are facing a Gators team who will have had limited time to face them because of a stream of COVID-19 positive cases, stemming from – how to do we put this – Gators players generally not giving a crap about COVID-19 (Dan Mullen doesn’t seem to care either, but that’s another story).

Anyway, the problem Missouri is going to have is facing Florida’s vertical game. Kyle Trask throwing to Kyle Pitts and Kadarious Toney is going to cause Missouri fits. But on the other side of the ball, the way that Eli Drinkwitz has managed to get Larry Roundtree III the ball and used him and the offensive line to control the ball has been eyebrow-raising….especially against a Kentucky team that was meant to be superior on the offensive line.

PREDICTION: It’s close, but Florida closes it out with a late touchdown in the fourth quarter. Florida 38, Missouri 28.

5. Ole Miss (-16 1/2 Over/Under 64) at Vanderbilt

Ole Miss was very unfortunate to lose their game to Auburn last week – a notion that cost Lane Kiffin $25,000 for criticising SEC Officials, but there has been a comment that Ole Miss does make its own luck sometimes. This Ole Miss side has an offensive side from heaven but a defense from hell, and it shows. They just miss, miss and miss tackles.

With Vanderbilt, they FINALLY can put together a team that hasn’t been drilled by COVID-19, so we expect them to be better….but not that much better.

PREDICTION: Ole Miss by 20. Ole Miss 41, Vanderbilt 21.

6. Mississippi State at No.2 Alabama (-30 1/2 Over/Under 64)

Everyone’s going to talking any awful lot about the injury to Jaylen Waddle, but Alabama still has two future first round picks in DeVonta Smith and John Mechie, and they’ve got a Heisman candidate in Najee Harris. Meanwhile, they face a Mississippi State side which is an absolute shitshow, with its best player (Kylinn Hill) deciding to opt out of the 2020 season and prepare for the NFL (he’ll presumably a 2nd-to-3rd round pick).

PREDICTION:This one won’t be close. At all. Alabama 58, Mississippi 10

It’s our weekly SEC Rankings.

Honestly, they’ve gotten so hard right now because Auburn might be 1-4 if the SEC Officials had used their brains, but then again might be 4-1 if the SEC Officials had used their brains. Texas A&M might be 2-2 if Dan Mullen’s offense could defend Kellen Mond, and Alabama might be….oh wait…they look unbeatable at the moment.

So here we go. Please note that past No.4, it’s basically a free-for-all until Vanderbilt….who are bottom.

1. Alabama (5-0)

The injury to Jaylen Waddle didn’t really slow down the Crimson Tide as they slaughtered Tennessee. Slade Bolden plugged in and put up 94 yards for just six catches. The rest of the Tide are awesome. Sure, there’s going to be a few plugs to fix on the defensive line, but at the moment, who’s going to touch them?

2. Georgia (3-1)

The Dawgs got their only loss from Alabama, and will get their only loss from Alabama. Georgia will work out very quickly that their run:pass game should have a 65:35 mix to it. It will be interesting to see how much Stetson Bennett throws against Kentucky, who have the hosses in the backfield to cause him problems.

3. Texas A&M (3-1)

Can’t wait for the next referendum on Kellen Mond against Arkansas on All Hallow’s Eve, this Saturday.

4.  Florida (2-1)

Interestingly, if Florida manages to get away from the COVID issue, they will have had only a few days’ practice before facing Missouri. That said, this is still a very talented Gators team and Kyle Pitts is the best in the business at tight end.

5. Auburn (3-2)

Auburn is the luckiest 3-2 team in the country, after getting reffing calls for two weeks’ straight. But Auburn seems to be learning that if they give the ball to running back Tank Bigsby, good things can happen. The offensive line and defensive lines continue to be a problem, though.

6. Missouri (2-2)

On a two-game winning streak, Missouri HC Eli Drinkwitz managed to completely reorganise the playbook against Kentucky, instead opting for time-of-possession instead of long throws which saw the Wildcat secondary gobble up nine interceptions. Connor Blazelek is an above-average running back, but Missouri also has some above-average players and a good coach. They want that Tennessee game back for sure.

7. LSU (2-2)

The Tigers showed what they can do offensively by ripping South Carolina apart early and often in Death Valley. Sure, the 52-24 scoreline was helped by a pick-6 and a kick-off return for a touchdown, but the offense finally clicked. The Tigers were still getting gashed by Kevin Harris, but LSU may not be as bad as we thought they were. Oh, and new QB TJ Finley might be the find of the SEC season.

8. Arkansas (2-2)

We know the story. Barry Odom is one of the best DCs in the game, and Arkansas are suddenly world-beaters. Fun fact: They aren’t. Feleipe Franks is still a decidedly ordinary quarterback, but he’s lucky that he has a defense – led by Grant Morgan – that will keep the Razorbacks close. It should be pretty interesting against Texas A&M on Saturday night. Those games generally are.

9. Kentucky (2-3)

After their excellent performance against Tennessee, the Wildcats returned to earth with an absolute clunker against Missouri. They were controlled all day long by Missouri – who many thought would be beaten by 10. Terry Wilson is not a very good quarterback, and when an offense doesn’t throw to their secondary, Mark Stoops is going to get found out.

10. Tennessee (2-3)

The Vols are on a massive slide at the moment since crumbling in the second half against Georgia. It’s been awful from then on. Jarrett Guarantano is NOT the answer for the Vols, and Jeremy Pruitt’s stubborness isn’t helping the locker room, either.

11. South Carolina (2-3)

Kevin Harris is an awesome running back, Shi Smith is fun to watch as a wide receiver…..and that’s all we have to say on them. One day they’ll give you hope, the next day they’ll get destroyed. Week before? Beat Auburn. Week after? Get smashed by LSU.

12. Ole Miss (1-4)

They were unfortunate to lose against Auburn, but the fact is this: Ole Miss doesn’t have the defense to contend with anyone right now. Still, they get extra points for Lane Kiffin getting fined by the SEC for protesting the terrible call.

13. Mississippi State (1-3)

Mike Leach’s team got a week’s break to work out where they are as a team. Hopefully the practices will contain such useful moments as: “Pass the ball to a wide receiver instead of someone else’s secondary” as stuff like that. We don’t know, though. We could just write this off as a “First year Mike Leach” thing, though.

14. Vanderbilt (0-3)

Ugh.

While CBS will be headlining Alabama vs Tennessee, the key game for the weekend will once against be involving Auburn, as pressure once agains rises against Gus Malzahn when the Tigers go to Ole Miss.

Otherwise, it’s South Carolina playing LSU and Kentucky travelling to Missouri.

It’s not the weakest SEC slate around, but it’s certainly one of the lightest…..

So here are our games that we’re interested in. We’re going to be amusingly watch some out-of-conference teams now, as THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY’S BACK WHICH IS BIGGER THAN ALL OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL, YOU KNOW?

1. Auburn (-3 1/2, Over/Under 71) at Ole Miss 

Gus Bus vs Lane Train: A referendum on head coaches is a SEC Tradition like no other. Not that it will matter, because no-one’s getting fired.

As soon as Ole Miss lost to Arkansas and Matt Corral put up six interceptions, social media used to buzz with jokes about the falling of the ‘Lane Train’. People made exactly the same comments – as per every Auburn season about this time of year – about “The Gus Bus” after Auburn lost South Carolina last week.

The fact is this: Ole Miss’ loss to Arkansas was mostly self-caused, and Auburn’s not going to fire Gus Malzahn in a COVID-19 year.

Auburn has deep problems. Their offensive line might be OK, but Bo Nix’s lack of decision-making has been comedic, and the offense is fuming (we could see this when Seth Williams started to yell at Bo Nix on the sideline during the Carolina game). Fun fact: Nix’s biggest problem hasn’t only been Chad Morris. It’s also been an offense that drops the ball, misses assignments, and just simply isn’t cohesive. Is it the fact that the team was so low on numbers in August because of COVID-19 because it’s not the polished product, or are they just crap? If Auburn wins, it’ll be because of the run game: They’ll give it their most explosive running back (Tank Bigsby), who’s averaging 75 yards a game but will face an Ole Miss D that’s given up 265 yards per game.

On the Ole Miss side, the deep problems aren’t really deep. They are plain to see: The defense is pretty miserable. The offense is fun to watch, but faced by a good defensive problem, you get to see where the issues are. Matt Corral will try and be the hero, and he’s probably not as good as people think he is.

PREDICTION: Auburn by 7. It’s a struggle, but it’s high-scoring. Auburn 51, Ole Miss 44.

2. Kentucky (-5, O/U 47 1/2) at Missouri

Kentucky could be 4-0 going into this game. They were screwed out a touchdown against Auburn that would have given them the lead, and missed an extra point in overtime against Ole Miss. Against them is a 1-2 Missouri side who is still riding a bit of joy after the LSU victory.

The Wildcats are very steady, ballhawks in the secondary (they are second in the country with 10), and they have the rushing game to punish the opposition with Chris Rodriguez, Asim Rose and dual-threat QB Terry Wilson. If Missouri’s defense can actually stop the rushing offense a bit and make Terry Wilson throw, then trouble will be caused….because Terry Wilson isn’t a very good quarterback.

On the other side of the ball, we don’t know what we’re going to get from Missouri. Missouri – as has been mentioned on some podcasts – may have shown all of their cards against LSU, and therefore Kentucky will know what to expect. What we do know is that finally Missouri will be at full strength after numerous COVID-19 quarantines for the first time this season – but will that mean more drops in the wide receiving corps (the trouble with the first two games) or the same solid receiving that people saw against LSU? One thing’s for certain: Kentucky’s secondary won’t be as bad as LSU’s was. QB Connor Bazelek will be anchoring the show, and you should see a lot of running backs Larry Rowntree and Tyler Beattie if Drinkwitz doesn’t want to let the ball fly.

PREDICTION: Kentucky by 10 in an absolute war that the Wildcats start walking away from in the fourth quarter. Kentucky 31, Missouri 21.

3. South Carolina at LSU (-6, O/U 55)

It shows how bad things are at LSU when the Tigers are only favored by 6 against a team that’s generally considered as one of the worst teams in the SEC.

The Tigers will be starting 6-6 freshman QB TJ Finley now Myles Brennan is out injured, and we have no idea what he can do. We know that he was a 3-star, pro-style recruit who was ranked 19th in the country at his position, and the best QB in Louisiana. According to 247-Sports, he threw for over 2,500 yards in his senior year of high school with 21 TDs, 9 INTs and a completion rate of 57%. They added about what Finley is, using words such as “elite height”, “arm that matches the size”, “whips the ball out with ease” but noted that he needs to have a quicker ball release, and lacks mobility. If he does well, he may well challenge Brennan for the future crown.

Finley will still have the receiving weapons there. Terrace Marshall Jr, Arik Gilbert and grossly-quick-but-grossly-underused Keyshon Boutte will cause anyone’s secondary problems, but when he’s on the sideline, they’ll be looking at a defense that has seemed uninterested all season long. Bearing in mind that they are coming against a South Carolina side who’s got a capable wide receiving corps (led by Shi Smith) and a strong rusher in Kevin Harris (one of the SEC’s biggest revelation’s this season), Finley may be required to dig his side out of a mess drive after drive after drive.

PREDICTION: This will be fun, but we’re calling for a baptism of fire for Finley, and more pressure on Ed Orgeron. South Carolina by 4. South Carolina 48, LSU 44.

4. Alabama (-22, Over/Under 66) at Tennessee 

We’ll put this one out there. We’ll take Alabama to beat Tennessee by more than 22, but we’re not sure if the Crimson Tide will want to drop what they should on Tennessee, because Nick Saban doesn’t seem to like running the score up on anyone if they aren’t in the FCS. 

I could try and conjure up some reasons why Alabama’s going to get some problems at Rocky Top on Saturday afternoon. I could talk about a redemption game for Jarrett Guarantano, his offensive line and QB coach Chris Weinke. I could talk about Jeremy Pruitt and about the fact that the major reason for the awful loss against Kentucky wasn’t anyone’s fault so much as looking ahead to the THIRD SATURDAY IN OCTOBER, and they didn’t appreciate that Kentucky’s secondary might gobble up easily thrown balls from their opposition.

But I can’t. Alabama’s going to absolutely kill Tennessee. Jeremy Pruitt’s going to start Jarrett Guarantano, who’s going to start OK but will have to play ‘catch up’ after Alabama piles on the points at speed. We don’t know how Tennessee’s going to stop Alabama’s wide receivers (I mean, no-one else can!), let alone Najee Harris. The only way Tennessee can stay close is follow Georgia’s footprint, which was punching their way using their running game. As soon as Georgia got away from that in the third quarter trying to chase the game, they lost the ball control they had. Tennessee’s has the running back stable in Eric Gray and Ty Chandler, but if they put the ball in Guarantano’s hands…….Dear Lord.

PREDICTION: More cigars on Rocky Top….for the opposite team. Alabama by 38. Alabama 48, Tennessee 21.

After a poor game against Vanderbilt and a blow-out by Alabama, Texas A&M fans were fuming. They wanted Jimbo Fisher’s head on a plate. Some of the more racist elements of Texas A&M messageboards straight-up blamed Kellen Mond’s off-season civil rights activities for a reason why the school looked shabby. Florida was coming, and the season was going to go to the wolves.

And then Florida came to town. In a messy, fun game, Florida was beaten, 41-38. Mond was brilliant, throwing for 338 yards and 3 TDs, and didn’t do anything stupid. A week later, they stopped Mississippi State’s ‘Air Raid’ offense in Starkville, and suddenly Texas A&M fans are talking about how they could pip Georgia to the second SEC spot in the College Football Play-Off.

The answer to whether Texas A&M is very good is somewhere in the middle. Mond is obviously improved after two weeks, but then again this season his numbers will be well-improved by the fact that the rest of the competition is pretty medicore. Auburn is rocking. Ole Miss can’t play defense. Arkansas is great on defense, but pretty dismal on offense. And LSU? Oh. LSU.

In keeping with our remarks about Texas A&M, we decided to into a bunch of categories. It’s not power-rankings per se.

ELITE

• Alabama (4-0): The Tide’s second half performance against Georgia was fantastic. Mac Jones can pass on an elite defense, and Jaylen Waddle, DeVonta Smith and John Mechie will destroy any secondary. Hey, Najee Harris is pretty good too. Let’s not forget, though, that the defense was much better than we thought they were, pretty much silencing George Pickens all night long. Oh, and some favorable referee calls helped too, especially on pass interference. Alabama looks unbeatable in the SEC.
• Georgia (3-1): We’re not throwing Stetson Bennett out with the mail just yet, but this wasn’t a great performance. The decision to make Bennett throw 40 times (he completed 18 of them, and had 3 INTs) was weird. Why Georgia decided not to keep running at Alabama, exercise some ball control, and drive the Alabama front into the ground we’ll never know. But Georgia’s still a power, and should get its chance for revenge in Atlanta.

BETTER-THAN-AVERAGE

• Texas A&M (3-1): See above.
• Kentucky (2-2): Their secondary’s performance against Tennessee was excellent. Jarrett Guarantano may have given them the opportunities, but they didn’t make any mistakes. This Kentucky team is trending upwards, and could worry some Georgia people in two weeks’ time. We like what Mark Stoops is doing.

M’EH

• Florida (2-1): COVID cancelled the game with LSU, and it’s all the Gators’ fault. Dan Mullen’s also got COVID-positive, which is ironic, since he wanted to fill The Swamp with fans. 23 new cases on Tuesday amongst the team isn’t going to help the team going forward, either.
• South Carolina (2-2): The signature win over Auburn was helped by some awful Auburn mistakes, but Shi Smith and running back Kevin Harris has given Muschamp’s team some hope.

YING AND YANG

• Arkansas (2-2): I never thought I would put Sam Pittman’s team as high as ‘M’eh’, but their incredible defense gets balanced out by a not-particularly incredible offense.
• Mississippi State (1-3): It was noted on excellent podcast ‘Spit Zone Duo’ that Mike Leach’s first year is going true-to-form with regards to his previous jobs at Texas Tech and Washington State. KJ Costello came in and now has shown that the four-to-the-floor-throw-a-million-time doesn’t work for him. Leach has used words like ‘purge’ when referring to his team, and it’s all looking a complete mess. Which is weird, if you think that Mississippi State’s still got one of the best defenses in the SEC. If only the offense wouldn’t turn the dang ball over!

QB HORROR SHOWS WON’T HELP

• Auburn (2-2): How bad is Bo Nix? Very. Once again the wheels are coming off the Gus Bus, but it’s unlikely with the money that he’s making, that he’ll get fired. Auburn’s got a young offensive line, and we’re not sure about things defensively, either.
• Tennessee (2-2): How bad is Jarrett Guarantano? Yeah. Awful. And yet Jeremy Pruitt thought it a brilliant idea to fire his defensive line coordinator, instead of QB coach Chris Weinke. It wasn’t the DL’s fault that Guarantano threw two pick-6s and gifted Kentucky 17 points, was it?
• Ole Miss (1-3): Matt Corral’s SIX interceptions against Arkansas were unexcusable. Kiffin should at least changed him after the third. The Rebels can’t play defense, and we’re struggling to see where the next win will come from.

ARE THEY CLOSE TO BEING FINE?

• Missouri (1-2): Was it new quarterbacking and some excellent defense at the end that gave Missouri the magical victory over LSU, or was it the fact that LSU can’t play defense? We just don’t know. And we would have known more after this Saturday’s Vanderbilt game, had COVID not killed it.

YEAH…..DEFENSE AWFUL

• LSU (1-2): Things are pretty awful in Death Valley right now. Myles Brennan is beaten-up, LSU is reeling from losses to the NFL, Bo Pelini is not doing well as a defense coordinator, and Ed Orgeron is a little bit more under-fire. People love to convince themselves that LSU is fun to watch, but they would be if they were in, say, the Big-12, because we’d expect very little. They are better than the worst team in the SEC, but not by much.

FAR FAR AWAY

• Vanderbilt (0-3): There is nothing nice to say about this Vanderbilt team. So I won’t.

The SEC has moved a number of teams’ schedule after Vanderbilt postponed its game against Missouri and then Florida postponed its match-up with LSU – both thanks to COVID-19.

• Kentucky‘s clash with Missouri has been moved to October 24th to October 31st.
• Georgia at Kentucky has been moved from October 24th to October 31st. 
• Missouri at Florida has been moved from October 24th to October 31st.
• Vanderbilt at Missouri has been moved to December 12th (as expected).
• LSU‘s trip to Florida has been moved to December 12th (as expected).

The set of fans that are absolutely fuming are Georgia fans. Although Georgia’s still going to get a week off, it’s not going to be before the World’s Largest Cocktail Party clash with Florida on 7th November, but next week after the Alabama game. Instead, they get Kentucky on the 31st and then the Florida game. They have claimed Florida favoritism.

But unfortunately, they are wrong. Despite things being their own fault, Florida’s game with Missouri HAD to be postponed or pushed, bearing in mind that the team was suffering from positive tests from the LSU game, bearing in mind the SEC’s COVID restrictions that mean that Florida now has 30 players in quarantine, taking them below the 53 players needed for a game. The Gators would not have been able to practice or play before the scheduled clash with Missouri, so therefore the game had to be moved.

But because Kentucky hadn’t had any positive tests, Missouri’s game with the Wildcats was able to move up to the 24th. It must come as some relief for Wildcats fans, who were going to face Georgia on 24th October, but now they face Missouri, while on the other side Missouri play back-to-back tough opponents in Kentucky and Florida. Straight after the LSU game – with the Tigers on a high- Vanderbilt were meant to come to town, and it would have been an ideal time for Eli Drinkwitz to get his second win.

The biggest loser for October 24th are the TV viewers, which only has four SEC games on it.

They will be:

• Auburn at Ole Miss
• Alabama at Tennessee
• Kentucky at Missouri
• South Carolina at LSU

Well, Georgia’s trip to Alabama is the biggest match-up of the week, and – when all’s said and done- the whole of the 2020 College Football season.

It’s a monster.

LSU vs Florida would have been cool for the reason that the over/under would be 2084, due to both sides’ abject failures to tackle, but COVID-19 got in the way of that. It also got in the way of Missouri’s efforts for a second-straight victory against Vanderbilt. Both games have been postponed to December 12th. We have a feeling they won’t be the only ones.

So anyway, there’s also Auburn’s trip to South Carolina, Texas A&M at Mississippi State, Kentucky at Tennessee, and Ole Miss at Arkansas.

It could actually be one of the tightest weekends (score-wise) we’ll see this year in the SEC, because all of the sides are pretty even. And by even, we mean mediocre.

1. No.3 Georgia at No.2 Alabama (-4 1/2, O/U 58). 

Alabama’s defense was embarrassing last week, and Georgia’s offense stops and starts. On the face, Alabama’s got the offense to cause Georgia’s vaunted secondary (5 INTs) problems all day, and all night, but they will probably have to do it without Najee Harris, who won’t be able to get past the Bulldogs’. Mac Jones has been untouched all season long, but it’s going to change against a Georgia rush who’s second in the SEC in sacks (10). On Georgia’s side, they simply have to get something going smoothly. We think that UGA will use its solid game (we see you, Zamir White) and slower-tempo offense to try and stop Alabama. Georgia holds the ball for 35 mins a game (second in CFB; Alabama holds it for 27 per game).

PREDICTION: Georgia wins on a long drive at the end. Georgia 31, Alabama 27.

2. No.11 Texas A&M (-5, O/U 55 1/2) at Mississippi State

After their team was motorboated against Alabama, the Aggies’ messageboards talked about the possibility of not winning for all season long, and blamed Kellen Mond’s social justice activities for the reason for the downfall (Nothing like hysterical Aggie racists, folks!). But now A&M beat Florida and Mond had an excellent change, everyone’s talking about the possibility of the Aggies getting the play-off. On the other side, Mississippi State looked like the bees knees against LSU, and then their game at Arkansas made us realise that a) Mike Leach had been worked out and b) LSU’s defense was a joke. Kentucky completely silenced MSU’s offense, forcing Leach to change QBs, such was KJ Costello’s appalling performance. The good thing? Mississippi State still has an underrated defense. The sack machines of Starkville lead the SEC in that stat (12), but the passing defense isn’t wonderful, which should play into Mond’s hands. On the other hand, Texas A&M secondary isn’t great, and if Mississippi State can actually sort out its problems offensively, this should actually be an under-the-radar fun game.

PREDICTION: Both teams battle it out until the middle of the fourth quarter, and then A&M pulls away. Texas A&M 38, Mississippi State 28.

3. No.15 Auburn (-3, O/U 52) at South Carolina

Auburn got away with the win against Arkansas. And when I mean ‘got away’ I mean: “If you refs hadn’t bungled a call, Auburn would have lost”. Auburn was NOT impressive against Arkansas, rolling to a 17-0 lead before giving it all back. South Carolina, on the other hand- jumped on the back of Keith Harris’ back and took him through the rain for a win against Vanderbilt. On paper, Vegas would have had Auburn winning by 15-20, but such is the paucity of the Auburn offense at the moment, it’s only 5. Auburn will have to improve on its drops (Seth Williams (7) and Anthony Schwartz (3) lead the SEC) and Bo Nix will have to stop doing stupid stuff for the Auburn to avoid the upset. On the Carolina side, expect Muschamp to go to the well over and over again with Harris – who ran for 171 against Vandy and before that 100 against Florida – especially with Auburn giving up 155 rush yards per game (3.7 yards per carry), which is 10th in the SEC.

PREDICTION: Massive upset in Columbia. South Carolina 31, Auburn 28.

4. Ole Miss (-1 1/2, O/U 75 1/2) at Arkansas

Arkansas was good at shutting down Mississippi State’s offense a couple of weeks ago, and after a slow start against Auburn, did the same to Bo Nix & Co. They were shafted out of a victory by the SEC refs and their non-understanding of the rules. And while moral victories may not be much, the positive back-to-back response that they’ve got from the media and the fanbase is awesome to see. Sam Pittman is that likeable. On the other side, Lane Kiffin’s debunking of Alabama’s accusation of sign-stealing was downright hilarious. The great thing for Arkansas is that Feleipe Franks – as much crap as I give him – as actually been pretty accurate against three good defenses. Look for this to continue this week. They will have to, because Arkansas’ DC Barry Odom is going to have to put together quite the gameplan to stop Kiffin’s offense, led by Matt Corral, who’s already thrown for 1,000 yards (2nd the SEC) and 9 TDs (3rd). One ‘X Factor’ is COVID – Ole Miss has a few cases, and that could hurt the Rebels’ depth.

PREDICTION: Fun down in Hoggy Country. Ole Miss pulls out the victory. Ole Miss 45, Arkansas 42.

5. Kentucky at No.18 Tennessee (-6 1/2, O/U 46)

If we’re honest, this could be a really dire-to-watch-but-very-competitive match-up. Both sides don’t give up a lot against the pass (Kentucky’s 19.3 vs Tennessee’s 21.7), but not particularly solid against the run (140 at Tennessee vs 156.5 at Kentucky). Tennessee’s was obliterated in the second half against Georgia, mainly because of the awful play of Jarrett Guarantano in the second half (UT was actually winning at half-time), with the ‘vaunted’ offense knifed through like butter. It was no wonder that the Vols gave up 40+ points, if you consider how much the defense was on the field! Kentucky on the other hand, put together a defensive masterpiece against Missisisppi State, grabbing 6 INTs in their 24-2 victory. You can see Tennessee pile it on Ty Chandler and Eric Gray offensively, while on the Kentucky side, Asim Rose will get a bunch of touches, such is the mediocrity of Terry Wilson.

PREDICTION: Tennessee just about rolls. Tennessee 21, Kentucky 18.

Before the season started, Andy Staples, the college football writer-come-podcast host, criticised the Big 12 for what was going on with COVID.

He said that Greg Sankey and the SEC knew what they were doing when they started the season a bit later.

For three weeks, things seemed to be going well. Sure, we were making fun of student bodies in the stands and their lack of either masking up or social distancing, but the non-lingering of the TV screens made us go back to the football.

Then this week, the news started to hit.

• Monday: Straight out of the gate, the SEC announces that it will postpone the game between Vanderbilt and Missouri. Vanderbilt has been struggling with COVID-19 cases, and it had decimated its team. Missouri seemed to be recovering from it a bit, and had the scholarships. The game was moved to December 12th.

• Tuesday: Florida announces that they have a bunch of new cases. A student newspaper points out that there are 19 new cases. The writer is attacked by various online outlets, to the point that she wrote: “I stand by my story”. It turns out that she was right, and the school admitted that on Wednesday. The LSU game suddenly looked in jeopardy.

• Wednesday (1): The SEC postpones the Florida-LSU game to December 12th. The built-in bye week at the end of the season is now looking more useful that ever. Check out what Stricklin said, and our reaction to the whole situation involving the players, who couldn’t seem to work out that ‘the sniffles’ might just be a symptom of a deadly pandemic. Dan Mullen walks back his comments about wanting The Swamp full for the LSU game. We think it was more to do with outrage at Mullen from Scott Stricklin than Mullen actually thinking: “Oh crap. I made a mistake here”. Travel from Florida to Texas A&M was blamed, with three Gators players who ‘had the sniffles’ travelled, and 3 became 19 very quickly.

• Wednesday (2): Lane Kiffin points out that there’s been an increase of cases at Ole Miss. Right now, he’s optimistic that the Rebels can get a team together for the game Arkansas, but this seems to be more hope. He seems actually resigned to that one being postponed, as well.

• Wednesday (3): The massive bombshell: Alabama head coach and God of the SEC Nick Saban has tested positive for COVID-19 alongside AD Greg Byrne. Saban says that he’s not got symptoms, although he’s compared how he’s feeling to: “Coming off a plane”. Saban won’t be allowed to coach from the phone or the press box, and has to be in isolation for 10 days. Saban talked about the wearing of a mask and how he’s done it all the time, but blamed travel. “Look, I basically feel like when we’re in our own personal bubble here, everybody is in a much safer place. I think as soon as you travel, you get exposed to a lot more things and a lot more people.” The news will worry people in the Alabama program that Saban – who’s not unknown for his hands-off approach, may have had the virus passed onto him via Ole Miss (who were the last team to play Alabama and now have cases). Was it the crowd at Vaught-Hemingway? Was it Ole Miss players or Lane Kiffin? No-one really knows. But it’s very serious.

This isn’t for SEC Week, you feel. And it’s only Wednesday.

Oh, and for the record on the Big 12, Baylor cancelled its game with Oklahoma State on Monday…..due to COVID.

The LSU vs Florida game has been postponed to Dec 12 due to positive COVID tests.

19 Gators players and two assistant coaches had reported positive for the virus, meaning that that would have left the Gators either below the 53-person scholarship line or unable to fill all of their positions.

Florida has also closed down football facilities until further notice.

This will also be a blow for the SEC this week, which was meant to have back-to-back marquee match-ups with Georgia’s clash with Alabama following up the coverage, but that is now no more.

The December 12th date was put in place at the back end of the season for postponements (all SEC teams are off), which means that there should be interest in the season until after the SEC Championship Game, ending the rigmarole of having to wait two weeks before one of college football’s greatest seasonal games.

The decision comes just after Missouri and Florida was moved to December 12th because of too many cases at Vanderbilt.

Florida AD Scott Stricklin said that the issue could have been up to the players not understanding COVID-19 and the symptoms: “I don’t want to speculate as to what the mindset was, I really think it’s, it could be as simple as not understanding symptoms,” Stricklin said. “And, you know, I know people personally who have had the sniffles and a friend of theirs, were, you know, was a COVID positive so they went got testing done that they had and they they thought they just had, you know, something pretty common. So understanding, you know, your own body and being on the lookout to be suspicious when you do have any kind of abnormality whether it’s a headache or sniffles or fatigue, whatever it may be, you know, as a college student, you have those things and it’s not uncommon. But in a COVID environment, it’s so important that we are hyper sensitive to being diligent on that front so I don’t know that this was a situation where someone goes, ‘I don’t feel well but I’m going to power through it,’ this a situation where someone felt like I got a sniff on a Kleenex and I’m ready to go play a game.”

Of course, then comes the question: ‘How are these kids so goodman stupid that they didn’t seem to understand that ‘the sniffles’ might be an indication of COVID-19? Did Dan Mullen or his medical staff not say to the Gators players: “Hey, if you’ve got the sniffles, go get tested for COVID-19.”

The timeline was this: Positive players who were convinced that they just had ‘allergies’ jumped on the team jet, and then 19 players had it including two assistants. 10 more have now had to be quarantined, and Florida simply couldn’t make a game happen.

This news comes after Gators head coach Dan Mullen has backtracked on his comments/ was forced to backtrack on his comments about 90,000 people being needed to fill The Swamp, after seeing many more than the 30,000 that were meant to be in Kyle Field, and blaming them for the Gators’ poor defense.

It was a weird week in the SEC. The Big 12 actually had some pretty good, low-scoring games, while the SEC was a scorefest of legendary proportions.

Alabama and Ole Miss was 63-48, Missouri beat LSU 45-41, Texas A&M beat Florida 41-38, Auburn beat Arkansas 30-28, Georgia humiliated Tennessee 44-21, South Carolina smashed Vanderbilt 41-7 and the weirdest game was at Lexington, where Kentucky beat Mississippi State 24-2.

Let’s not get this wrong – it was a humbling day for losers and winners.

Here are our ranks for the SEC this week.

1. Georgia (3-0). It wasn’t pretty in the first half, but Georgia’s half-time adjustments were exceptional, and there was nothing that Tennessee could do about it. Georgia put up 431 yards, and Stetson Bennett’s looking like the quarterback that will make D’Wan Mathis put his name in the transfer window by the end of the season.

2. Alabama (3-0): OK, so the defense was terrible on Saturday night at Ole Miss. Dylan Moses did nothing for his draft stock, and the blaming of Ole Miss stealing signs sounded like a little child whingeing. It was spectacularly bad form. On the other side of the ball, the offense looks unstoppable. Mind you, they haven’t played any good defense yet. Can’t wait for Georgia next week.

3. Texas A&M (2-1): This was a great performance from Kellen Mond, who had 338 yards and 3 TDs in what Aggies fans will hope will be a statement game for his future. The secondary still is poor (Kyle Trask had 310 yards and 4 TDs), but this might be the second-best team in the SEC West. And potentially, we could see them favored in all of their next games, making them a sneaky play-off bet (Note: This is Texas A&M, so good things probably won’t happen).

4. Florida (2-1): Cruel as a last-second loss may be, Florida’s defense in the second half deserved it. Todd Grantham had yet another poor game as defensive coordinator, getting aggressive when it wasn’t needed, and failing to stack the box against the run, when it was obvious that A&M’s runners were running roughshod.

5. Auburn (2-1): This is the luckiest win of Gus Malzahn’s career. They got a field goal that should never have been given because they would have turned the ball over in the drive (thanks to a botched spike play from Bo Nix. The SEC Officiating gods tried to put out a statement about it but it turned out to be almost as shambolic as the refs themselves). Seth Williams and Anthony Schwartz are still excellent weapons for the Tigers, though.

6. Tennessee (2-1): The Vols and Auburn are pretty interchangeable at the 5 and 6 position, but Auburn wins in because Bo Nix was less awful than Jarrett Guarantano last week. The much-vaunted Tennessee offensive line was rinsed by Georgia over and over again.

7. Ole Miss (1-2): Come for the offense, leave for the defense. Lane Kiffin’s the best offensive play-caller in the SEC and his explanation of why the team DIDN’T steal Alabama’s signs was spot-on: “FYI when u go as fast as we do we call our play first. Stealing signals wouldn’t help us at all because we are snapping the ball why they were still trying to just line up”, he tweeted.

8. Kentucky (1-2): Mark Stoops had all of the answers for The Air Raid on Saturday, got KJ Costello benched, and caused six Cowbell interceptions as they forced Mike Leach to chase the game – a ruse that ultimately failed.

9. Arkansas (1-2): The Hogs’ defense is utterly legit, and the offense is utterly not. Feliepe Franks is definitely improving, and we can see a couple more wins this season, but the offense will have to improve.

10. South Carolina (1-2): The Gamecocks got over a lot of foibles by beating the hell out of Vanderbilt. The Commodores had no answer for Carolina’s rushing attack, which starred Kevin Harris, who ran for 171 yards and 2 TDs. But then again, Vanderbilt has little answer for everything these days.

11. Missouri (1-2): The stunning 44-41 upset of LSU actually should have been more. Missouri’s plucky band of second-team wide receivers looked like NFL players against an embarrassingly bad LSU secondary, but on the other side of the ball, Missouri made four goal-line plays when it mattered. Sadly for Mizzou, they won’t get the chance for a quick, successful follow-up because of COVID-19.

12. Mississippi State (1-2): Wow, that Mike Leach has been worked out quickly, hasn’t he?

13. LSU (1-2): This LSU team could legitimately finish 3-7 this year. The Tigers have no secondary, no tackling efforts, and as fun as the offense is to watch, the defense would make any LSU fan worth is while puke up his jambalaya. This is Ed Orgeron’s year of reckoning. If he gets it right, he should fire Bo Pelini. He’s already said in a press conference today: “I’d rather play one defense and get it right.” Right now LSU’s football is not

14. Vanderbilt (0-3): The only reason why they aren’t going to lose against Missouri on Saturday is that COVID-19 postponed the game first.

This is going to be quick, because the wife and I are meant to be on ‘Date Day’ but I forgot to ratchet these predictions out this week.

For the record, thoughts and prayer go out to the people of Lake Charles, LA, which will have been hit by a hurricane by the end of the day. My heart breaks.

Anyway, the big game of the day is Tennessee’s trip to Georgia and Lane Kiffin and Nick Saban reunitining in the never-particularly-boring Alabama vs Ole Miss game, and an intriguing game between Arkansas and Auburn. LSU’s ‘home game’ in Death Valley has been moved to Missouri, Mississippi State plays Kentucky, Florida’s going to Texas A&M, and South Carolina go to Vanderbilt in the latest test of Gamecock Nation’s patience with Will Muschamp.

Once again, we’re doing this in order of games we’re most interested in.

1.No.14 Tennessee at No.3 Georgia (-12 1/2, Over/Under 43 1/2)

This is going to be a raining one in Georgia, therefore we expect the ‘G’ at the center of Sanford Stadium to be muddied. The game between bruising offensive lines, where we should see an intriguing clash between Tennessee’s excellent one and Georgia’s ferocious rush that gave Bo Nix no time whatsoever last week in the thumping of Auburn. Jarrett Guarantano will be asked to be a bit more than a game-manager against Georgia, but expect Tennessee’s rushing back duo of Ty Chandler and Eric to churn up the ground. On Georgia’s side, more will be expected of Zamir White, who’s had 159 yards with 3 TDs on 32 carries. This is going to be a war in a hurricane, folks. Also key to the game? Georgia punter Jason Camarda and Paxton Brooks. Camarda averages 50.2 yards per punt and Brooks averages 41.6 yards per punt.

PREDICTION: Georgia rolls. Georgia 31, Tennessee 22

2. No.2 Alabama (-23 1/2, Over/Under 70 1/2) at Ole Miss 

This game was moved from 5pm to 6.30 pm on worries about Hurricane Delta’s arrival, which would have made tailgating something of an event in any normal year. But this is no normal year, so we don’t have to worry about sundresses becoming parachutes and umbrellas in the face of God’s wrath. But you know who’s going to be in the face of wrath? Lane Kiffin. Don’t think of a second that Nick Saban thinks Kiffin’s jibes earlier to him this week or funny….or that he’s forgotten about Kiffin deciding to take the FAU role before the National Championship Game. Ole Miss’ day will be lengthened by the fact that their defense is a horror show. This one will be like the weather: Ugly.

PREDICTION: Alabama slamming. Alabama 58, Ole Miss 21

3. No.4 Florida (-6 1/2, Over/Under 58) at No.21 Texas A&M 

This is going to be pretty short: Texas A&M’s secondary was straight-up lousy against Alabama, and Florida has a very good passing offense, led by future Heisman candidate Kyle Trask and his band of merry men. Kellen Mond isn’t a good quarterback, and it’s weird that he has the second-most passes in the SEC, bearing in mind that he isn’t good. But speaking of good, check out – if you haven’t already – Kyle Pitts, Florida’s future NFL tight end.

PREDICTION: Florida 35, Texas A&M 14

4. Arkansas at Auburn (-13 1/2, O/U 47)

Arkansas ended its losing streak against Mississippi State last week (YESSSIRRRRR!) and defensive coordinator Barry Odom suddenly became a genius after being an idiot for four years at Missouri. Where Odom won the day against Mississippi State was the fact that it played zone defense. And it also got the luck. The offense for the Razorbacks is still straight-up terrible. This game will be tight due to weather and the fact that Seth Williams will probably be double-covered all day long, but it should be fun enough.

PREDICTION: Arkansas muddies it up, but Auburn squeaks by. Auburn 25, Arkansas 21 

5. Mississippi State vs Kentucky (-2, Over/Under 57) 

Kentucky has been extraordinary about getting in its own way in the last two weeks. Last week’s was Asim Rose streaking away for a TD…and then fumbling it, and then missing an extra point in overtime. Mississippi State’s ‘Air Raid’ offense was found out against Arkansas in the manner that the Razorbacks put 8 in the secondary to stop the big plays that make Mike Leach its money. It will be interesting to see how this all goes.

PREDICTION: Weird, but fun. Kentucky 38, Mississippi State 31

6. South Carolina (-13 1/2, Over/Under 41) at Vanderbilt

South Carolina wasn’t bad as you might have thought against Florida, battling the Gators until midway through the second quarter. And if Will Muschamp had ‘gone for it’ against Florida on the final drive, things might have been even closer than the 38-24 scoreline. Vanderbilt weren’t great in the first half against LSU, and were straight-up awful in the second. South Carolina should roll.

Prediction: Gamecocks happier. South Carolina 41, Vanderbilt 14.

7. LSU (-14 1/2, Over/Under 54) at Missouri 

This game has been switched to Missouri because of Hurricane Delta. Let’s be brutally honest: LSU is much better than Missouri, and Missouri fans are down already – even though they went 0-2 against two teams they were MEANT TO LOSE TO. If Missouri’s wide receivers can actually hold onto the ball (they have 10 dropped passes so far this year), then this might be closer than you think, because Derek Stingley Jr can’t do everything.

Prediction: LSU in cruise control. LSU 45, Missouri 28