There were two major games in the SEC on paper: Georgia vs Florida and Mississippi State vs Texas A&M. And Missouri vs Kentucky was meant to be an afterthought.

One untimed play later, and Kentucky was celebrating the victory that took them within one game – against Georgia – of the SEC East title. Georgia had earlier torn apart from Florid and later on Mississippi State’s Nick Fitzgerald accelerated past Texas A&M.

So, here are our SEC rankings:

1. Alabama (8-0): The Crimson Tide did not beat anyone by 60 this week, because they were off.
2. LSU (7-1): LSU keep on complaining about Devin White’s suspension, but nothing’s going to happen about it. The Tigers were still off.
3. Georgia (7-1): The Bulldogs game was close for a while, and then Georgia motored through Florida. Kirby Smart showed how much he disliked the Gators using ‘MF’ while the sea of red celebrated.
4. Kentucky (7-1): Josh Allen is one of the best defensive players in college football. Although they got some fortune with a B.S. pass interference call at the end of the Missouri game, the defense did exceptionally not giving the Tigers one first down in the second half.
5. Mississippi State (5-3): Joe Moorhead finally gave Nick Fitzgerald some running room, and Fitzgerald also made some beautiful throws to give MSU a comfortable victory. Could the Bulldogs turn into a decent team?
6. Florida (6-2): The Gators kept it close through three-quarters of the game against Georgia, but in the end the Bulldogs were a better team. Mullen’s team still has a long way to go, though.
7. Texas A&M (5-3): THE AGGIES ARE THE BEST THREE-LOSS TEAM IN THE NATION, Y’ALL!
8. Auburn (5-3): Auburn didn’t pee off their fanbase this week. Congrats.
9. South Carolina (4-3) : South Carolina is legitimately a very ordinary side….but the rest of the SEC East is worse. Maybe.
10. Vanderbilt (4-4): Crushing and impressive win over Arkansas this weekend to give the ‘Dores their maiden SEC East victory of 2018. One of the performances of Week 9.
11. Missouri (4-4): The Tigers keep on finding ways of losing. Barry Odom’s job is now on notice.
12. Ole Miss (5-3): The Rebels still have a bad defense. I’m sure they missed some tackles in their week off, too.
13. Tennessee (3-5): After one half, the Vols found ways to lose and look inconsistent again. I’m not a fan.
14. Arkansas (2-7): I thought they would be better against Vanderbilt, I really did. But they were awful.

WHO IMPRESSED US?

1. Vanderbilt: We expected Arkansas to beat Vandy – especially at home. But the ‘Dores went on the road and dropped 45 on the Razorbacks, mainly thanks to Ke’Shawn Vaughn, who had 3 TDs and over 200 yards rushing.
2. Georgia: The Dawgs went from a war with Florida to a one-sided massacre. So deep is this Dawgs team is that they can struggle but then its mojo again.
3. Nick Fitzgerald: Two money throws helped to give MSU the win over Texas A&M. He might not be a terrible quarterback, after all.

WHO DIDN’T IMPRESS US?

1. SEC Refs: Once again, SEC refs were terrible. This time, it was giving a non-existent pass interference call at the end of the Kentucky vs Missouri game (the throw from Wilson wasn’t catchable, and it was offensive PI). The next play becomes an untimed down, and Kentucky escapes with victory. But seriously: ARE WE GOING TO HAVE TO WRITE THIS EVERY DAMNED WEEK ABOUT THE OFFICIALS?
2. Drew Lock: Cannot get it done against good opposition (against UK it was 15-27 for 165 yards and 0 touchdowns). Lock is on course to get The Biggest Letdown Of 2018 Award.

Alabama’s fun to make fun of for one major reason: The fanbase. If you are nasty about the Crimson, Alabama fans take it so damned personally. I mean, this blog on Twitter just mentioned the fact that Alabama had played only one team of any note this season (Texas A&M), and comparing it to the amount of ranked teams LSU teams played, and Bama fans hit Crazytown. Of course, when the two teams clash in Week 10 it’s going to be something special. But if we’re talking about this year’s schedule for Alabama so far, it sucks. 

So why do we think they are the best team in the SEC? Because if I’m honest, I don’t see anyone beating them. LSU will be missing the best defensive player it has for half of the game because of a B.S. targeting call (while Alabama will keep one its own defensive keys due to a B.S. targeting call), and Alabama’s got a better offensive. It’ll be closer than 40-odd points, but we can’t see LSU winning.

Mind you, we couldn’t see Ohio State losing at Purdue…

Anyway, here goes….

1. Alabama (8-0): The schedule may suck so far, helping the Tide to Top 2 rankings in offense and defense, but this side is absolutely wasting every team its playing against. No-one can seem to touch them, let alone bring them down. Tua’s hitting a breadth of receivers, the running game is a machine, and the defense is stopping everybody except, er, Arkansas. They walk into Baton Rouge in two weeks’ time, and they should be two-score favourites. If not more.
2. LSU (7-1): Despite never making it easy for themselves (apart from the Georgia game) LSU’s results have been sensational this season. The defense completely stopped Nick Fitzgerald and Mississippi State. The offense is OK with being…OK (85th in the nation) – especially when you bear in mind that they’ve played FIVE ranked teams – if you count where they were at the time – already this season. The loss of defensive leader Devin White for the first half of the Bama game due to a B.S. targeting call may loom large.
3. Georgia (6-1): Week off preparing for a Cocktail Party by burning jorts.4
4. Florida (6-1): Week off preparing for a Cocktail Party by burning bulldogs.
5. Texas A&M (5-2): Week off preparing for Mississippi State by burning cowbells.
6. Kentucky (6-1): Never a good look beating Vanderbilt 14- 7…at home. Is Kentucky trending down? Perhaps. But Benny Snell is still awesome, though.
7. Mississippi State (4-3): The defense is very good. But the offense is absolutely terrible. How could the offense regress so badly despite bringing back all the weapons that it had last year? The answer is that Dan Mullen is a better offensive head coach than Joe Moorhead. Give Moorhead a bit of time (it’s his first time as a HC at a major program), though. Still, this is a disappointment.
8. Auburn (5-3): Gus Malzahn took a little bit of the monkey off his back with a convincing performance on both sides of the ball against Ole Miss.
9. South Carolina (3-3): Whoever the QB is, the team is 72nd nationally in offense- and Deebo Samuel isn’t in the Top 100 in receiving yards or yards per catch. Missouri must be scratching their heads as to how they lost to this team….and Texas A&M must be wondering why they didn’t beat them by more.
10. Missouri (4-3): Missouri’s convincing win over Memphis proved two things: 1) The Tigers can play offense 2) The Memphis Tigers cannot play defense. The Tigers will be praying Emanuel Hall returns soon….they really need their star receiver. They also need their receivers to catch balls in SEC games, too. They are still winless in that category.
11. Arkansas (2-6): The Razorbacks have been playing a lot better lately, and they deserved their 23-0 win over Tulsa to give Chad Morris his second win as a head coach. How in the hell Vegas decided this might be a close game we’ll never know. But it was free money for those who bet Arkansas to win more convincingly than 9.
12. Tennessee (3-4): The crushing at home by Alabama wasn’t fun. Alabama could have made it a lot worse in the 4th quarter had Nick Saban and Mike Locksley decided not to totally crush the Volunteers. The biggest pain for the Vols was seeing Butch Jones get the Gatorade shower for seeing his former team win at Neyland Stadium. Butch Jones isn’t even a coordinator for Alabama, btw. He’s a freaking analyst.
13. Ole Miss (5-3): When you get shut out by a team that’s playing terribly, you’re not a good team. Ole Miss might still win a couple more games in the SEC to lift themselves off the bottom, but the team’s defense is a joke. We don’t understand why Matt Luke hasn’t fired DC Wesley McGriff yet.
14. Vanderbilt (3-4): Vanderbilt’s defense played well at Kentucky (2 turnovers created), but the offense didn’t (2 turnovers lost). The Commodores must be sick and tired of losing games that they have played well in. That’s the mark of a bad team, folks.

eorWorking out an order for who are the best teams in the SEC is hard work. While No.1 (Alabama) is easy, then it becomes a headache.

LSU has a claim because it battered No.2 Georgia last week. Florida has a claim because it beat LSU. Kentucky has a claim because it beat Florida. Georgia will have a claim if it beats Florida (although it will strengthen LSU’s position at the moment). Texas A&M has a claim because it beat Kentucky. Those out of the running include Auburn, Mississippi State, and Tennessee.

But it’s even more difficult at the bottom to work out the crappiest. Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Missouri (all winless in the SEC) can all battle it out for the title, and it’s going to get riveting because all three play each other in a vomitous Hunger Game/round-robin where the survival is nothing in particular.

Anyway, read on…… We’re going in top-to-bottom order.

1. Alabama (7-0): Unbeaten. Weren’t especially great against Missouri, but still ran out easy winners. Worries about Tua’s knee are still there, and everything else  – apart from Raekwon Davis – is fine.
2. LSU (6-1): Yes, we know they lost to Florida. But the Tigers were fantastic against Georgia, outplaying the Dawgs in every facet of the game. Are the Tigahs back? We don’t know yet, but my gosh they played well on Saturday afternoon.
3. Florida (6-1): Despite a poor showing against Vanderiblt, this is a team that’s finding ways to win. That’s the mark of a good team.
4. Georgia (6-1): The heavy loss against LSU was a culmination of three games of poor play from the Bulldogs, who failed to perform particularly well against Missouri, Tennessee, and for a half against Vanderbilt. Looking back at it, the loss was due. Kirby Smart got rightly criticised for his tactics against LSU….and it’s something he’ll need to get right against Florida. Oh, and there’s a QB controversy brewing in Athens between Jake Fromm and Justin Fields. After Fromm’s poor game in Baton Rouge, a lot of people want Fields’ presence, er, on the field.
5. Texas A&M (5-2): Speaking of teams finding ways to win, A&M nearly screwed it up against South Carolina before coming away with the ‘W’.
6. Kentucky (5-1): Despite their slide down the rankings, nothing’s really changed: The Wildcats are good offensively and good defensively.
7. Mississippi State (4-2): It’ll be interesting to see how Joe Moorhead’s strategy of running Nick Fitzgerald down the middle will work against LSU, who were relatively untested by Georgia in that sense last week (we still don’t know why).
8.  South Carolina (4-2): South Carolina is an inconsistent, not particularly good team. They are fourth in the SEC East because a bunch of teams fall into that category (and are probably worse).
9. Tennessee (3-3): A huge win at Auburn Tennessee gave Jeremy Pruitt his first SEC win as a head coach and the Vols program a marquee victory. It was also Tennessee’s first SEC win in two years. Sure, it was great for UT that they were playing a team who’s wheels seem to have completely come off, but a win’s a win.
10. Auburn (4-3): This is turning into a trainwreck. Auburn fans are starting to want blood.
11. Ole Miss (5-2): Survived an ugly-but-awesome game at Arkansas to pull out victory. The defense still isn’t great, but the Rebels are still fun to watch.
12. Arkansas (1-6): In another season, this Razorbacks team – which should have beaten Ole Miss last week, outgained Auburn and played Texas A&M very close indeed – could be 4-3. This team is going in the right direction.
13. Missouri (3-3): If you want a team that’s going in the wrong direction, it’s Missouri. Drew Lock at the moment is looking for a cylinder to fire on, making bad decision after bad decision. Defensively things are a joke, and Barry Odom’s looking hopeless. The good thing for Mizzou is that they still have Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Arkansas to play. The bad news is that they will probably have to lessen up on their stupid mistakes to pull out victory in any of those games.
14. Vanderbilt (3-4): The ‘Dores played OK against Florida, but Derek Mason’s motivational talks don’t seem to be getting the victories. We don’t know if Mason’s on the accursed ‘hot seat’, but it’s not looking great for him.

IMPRESSED: 

1. Ed Orgeron: That’s three massive wins for Orgeron in 7 weeks after a dominating win over the No.2 team in the nation. His team loves him. The fans (right now) love him. LSU is rolling.
2. 5,000 Volunteers: That win wasn’t so much for Jeremy Pruitt as for the 5,000 travelling Vols fans who came into Jordan-Hare expecting a fun day out rather than victory, and getting both.

UNIMPRESSED

1. Raekwon Davis: The more you see Davis’ punches getting thrown at the Missouri player, the worse it looks. Hopefully Nick Saban will suspend Davis for a game or two, but it’s likely it’ll be a quarter because he will have ‘learned his lesson’ in practice.
2. SEC refs: First of all, WHY IN THE HELL WASN’T DAVIS EJECTED? Secondly, the refs don’t seem to have a clue what targeting is. Thirdly, they had great control of the Florida and Vanderbilt sidelines. Said nobody.
3. Kirby Smart and His Merry Men: Opting to throw the ball against one of the SEC’s best secondaries instead of running it down their throat wasn’t a great look for the Georgia coaching staff, folks.

It’s  going to be an interesting week in the SEC. Most people with have their eyes glued to Georgia’s trip to Death Valley. Personally, we wish that it was a 7pm kick-off rather than the 3.30, but that’s because we love a raucous Tiger Stadium (and so will the fans who have to endure the humidity!!). Then there’s Texas A&M’s potentially tricky trip to South Carolina, Florida going to Vandy, Ole Miss playing Arkansas in the ‘Battle of The Worst Teams In The SEC West’, and Tennessee’s trip to Auburn. Oh, and Missouri go to Alabama as the latest sacrificial lambs to Nick Saban’s offense.

Anyway, so here we go….

1. No.2 Georgia (-7.5) at LSU: Our fear for LSU is this: UGA QB Jake Fromm isn’t going to give LSU’s excellent secondary the chance for a lot of break-ups and interceptions, but the Tigers were at times gashed by Florida last week on the road, giving up 215 and 2 TDs on the floor. The week before, LSU gave up 150 and a TD. The Tigers have only had one game where they have given up less than 80. And they face a Georgia team in Elijah Holyfield and D’Andre Swift who could do some real damage down there. And although offensively LSU has the height advantage receivers-wise, if they perform like they did in that last drive for Joe Burrow, they are in trouble. And while it’s been noted that both teams have been excellent in the red-zone, I would trust UGA to put more chances away than LSU – particularly with LSU’s beaten-up offensive line. PREDICTION: Dawgs bark. Georgia by 14 in a convincing road win. An additional note for betting folks: The last time LSU was as bigger an underdog to a team, it was Alabama when they went to Bryant-Denny as 20.5 point dogs. The last time they were a plentiful home underdog was Auburn last year, when they were 7pts to the bad. For those gambling deviants, Ed Orgeron’s team came out 2-0 (1-1 in actual game results). 
2. No.22 Texas A&M (-2.5) at South Carolina: Texas A&M’s only two losses of the season have been to ‘Bama and Clemson, and they beat a ranked team (Kentucky) more comfortably than the victory in overtime might suggest. Kellen Mond is an excellent quarterback who should flourish against a South Carolina defense which is….ahem….not great. South Carolina rode their luck against Missouri last week with regards to poor officiating, poor weather, and Mizzou’s defensive disability, and we aren’t convinced that they are very good – even with Home Field Advantage. There will be a lot of Sandstorm, but when that settles, it’ll be the Aggies who should come out victorious. PREDICTION: Texas A&M by 13. 
3. Ole Miss (-7) at Arkansas: If your recipe for fun is College Football Trainwreck, then please consider the Ole Miss-Arkansas game as one that’l be just to your taste. Ole Miss’ offense let all hang out against poor ULM, dropping 70 points and over 800 yards. But Arkansas did what no offense had done this year against Alabama – score 31 points on them. This game will be more about ball control from Arkansas’ point-of-view in an effort to deal with an Ole Miss offensive that can put up the points, quickly. Arkansas’ passing defense gives up 271 yards per game (12th in the SEC), which doesn’t fill us with optimism against an Ole Miss team that can drop bombs. However, Ole Miss’ defense is absolutely terrible (worst in the SEC, 124th in the country out of 130, and second-lowest among Power-5 schools (only Oregon State is worse), too. This trainwreck will be a lot of fun. PREDICTION: Ole Miss by 6 in a shoot-out that smashes the 70.5 over/under.
4.  Tennessee at Auburn (-15): Tennessee might not be improving, but nor is Auburn. In fact, the knives are already sharpening for Gus Malzahn after the Tigers’ shambolic performance against Mississippi State last week. The game won’t be pretty, (Bar the Washington game, Auburn games this season have been dreadful to watch), but we expect Tennessee to hang in there. The reasons are simple: Auburn’s offense is awful, and it’s managed to get worse week-by-week, not better. Tennessee has had two weeks to steel itself for Auburn (including mending a defense that gives up 340 yards/game). Listen, Auburn’s defense is too good to let the Vols win, but it’s going to be closer than most imagine. Oh, and we’d like to give a lot of love to the 5,000 Tennessee fans going to Auburn that weekend. UT fans: You deserve better. Prediction: Auburn by 10. And the locals still won’t be happy.
5. No.14 Florida (-8) at Vanderbilt: Florida’s excellent performance against LSU was a testament to good defense and a little offensive invention by Dan Mullen, while last week Vanderbilt played well for a quarter against Georgia before the Commodores were summarily dismantled. Vanderbilt is quite simply not a good team, while Florida is getting better and better each week. PREDICTION: Florida bites through the private school kids by 14.
6. Missouri at No.1 Alabama (-27.5): Alabama QB Tuanigamanuolepola Tagovailoa (try saying that first name after a few beers!) is a very good quarterback. We know this because he’s going to probably win the Heisman. Missouri’s Drew Lock was meant to be a Heisman candidate, but his wide receivers can’t seem to catch the ball, and he’s not been great, either. Alabama’s offense scores about 60 a game. Missouri’s secondary is the second-worst in the SEC and 117th in the nation, giving up a tidy 284 yards/game. And although Tua’s got a knee sprain, Nick Saban told the press he’s taken ‘every rep in practice’. This does not bode well. Oh, and Saban was also grumpy at his defense for giving up 31 to Arkansas. Somehow I don’t think this will happen again. PREDICTION: Alabama by 40.

Chomp….Chomp….Chomp…..It’s the sound of the Florida Gators on the rise again. The Gators beat LSU in a classic CBS match-up on Saturday afternoon, and they are suddenly looking like they might compete for the East.

You know, if the buzzsaw of UGA and Alabama ever slows down….

1. Alabama: Nick Saban’s not happy with the defense giving up 31 points to Arkansas. The bettors who bet Alabama would beat Arkansas by more than the spread aren’t happy with the defense giving up a last-second, doesn’t-matter touchdown. And the offense is still humming, people.
2. Georgia: The Dawgs were slow to get going, but boy did they accelerate well in an easy win over Vanderbilt. The offense looked balance (238 through the air, 219 on the ground). The first complete performance in three weeks.
3. Florida: Hugely impressive wins against the perhaps the biggest story in the SEC so far. The Swamp was LIT, the fanbase was as noisy as a night game, and Dan Mullen pulled off the biggest win of his young head coaching career. This may well set up for quite a game at the Cocktail Party.
4. LSU: LSU will grouse about the fact that their offensive line was beaten up, giving absolutely no time for Joe Burrow to throw. On the final drive with Burrow needing a touchdown and a two-point conversion to throw, Burrow throw two peaches that his wide receivers completely missed. Still, this is a pretty strong team.
5. Texas A&M: There were a couple of jokes about how weird this season of college football was when A&M was celebrating an overtime win against Kentucky, but A&M’s defense was brilliant all day, giving Benny Snell just 60 yards (with a long of 11), and making Terry Wilson run for his life. Kellen Mond was a better QB of the two that day, and Jimbo seems to have something a-purring in College Station.
6. Kentucky: First away game, first loss for the Wildcats. Although the defense is excellent (Josh Allen is Superman), the fact that UK didn’t have a drive inside Texas A&M’s half for the whole game was a little worrying. Stop Snell, stop the Cats.
7. Mississippi State: I don’t know if this was a statement win for Joe Moorhead after beating a lacklustre Auburn, but it was certain Moorhead’s biggest since his arrival. Giving Nick Fitzgerald the ball and not letting him throw seems to be a positive move.
8. Auburn: Defensively, Auburn’s fine, but offensively…..HOW BAD IS THIS TEAM DEAR LORD ABOVE. We expected an improvement after the hard-fought LSU game but it’s simply gotten worse and worse.
9. South Carolina: They won a game in a second-half hurricane that they probably should have lost, thanks to Missouri’s awful secondary and a quarterback with an unpronounceable name. And got lucky on a TD that maybe touched the sideline but wasn’t exactly ‘conclusive evidence’.
10. Missouri: There are problems all over this team, including NFL first-rounder Drew Lock. It’s not helping Lock that his receivers drop certain touchdowns and his defense is awful. This team looks destined to finish 6-6 when it could easily have been 8-4. What does this say about Barry Odom, kids? Things will get better this week, Missouri fans…..it’s Alabama weekend!
11. Ole Miss: Finally, Ole Miss dropped a huge amounts of points, put up 800 yards, and looked a lot of fun. May this continue for the rest of the season….because the defense is bad still.
12. Arkansas: ‘WE DROPPED 31 ON ALABAMA! WE’RE IMPROVING!’ – Arkansas fans. Suddenly the Ole Miss game is looking weirdly must-watch TV.
13. Vanderbilt: The Dores started well and then got out-played by a better team.
14. Tennessee: They didn’t lose this weekend….because they got the week off.

On paper, it doesn’t look as though the most interesting Saturday in the SEC’s calendar. Alabama and Georgia are expected to both roll. In four out of eight of the games, the favourites are 20+ point favourites. In 6 of eight games, teams are double-digit favourites. Which leaves Florida’s trip to Tennessee and South Carolina’s game with Vanderbilt as the only (potentially) close games of the SEC Week, if Vegas is anything to go by.

Anyway, at least all the SEC games aren’t dumb non-conference games, unless you believe Arkansas should be in another conference…

So here we go (in order of interest from a College Football fan’s point-of-view, not a betting fanatic (although comes into it):

1. No.13 Mississippi State (-10) at Kentucky: Mississippi State looks like one of the class acts of the SEC, but Kentucky has certaintly been one of the most surprising. Fans of the SEC will enjoy watching the skills of MSU and Kentucky QBs Nick Fitzgerald and Josh Wilson, as well as RBs Benny Snell (Kentucky) and Kylin Hill (RBs). Both teams have good defensive lines and good offensive lines, too. This could come down to the wire in what will be a very noisy game in Lexington. PREDICTION: Mississippi State by 7 in a classic. 
2. No. 22 Texas A&M at No.1 Alabama (-27): Can Texas A&M play as well as they did against Clemson? A lot of people think this one won’t be interesting after the third quarter, and some are even tipping it not to be interesting after half-time. Alabama’s 27-point spread seems a little generous, but the Tide has destroyed 3 spreads so far this year, so Vegas is worried. The bright spot for A&M could be the speed of A&M Kellen Mond. If the Aggies offensive line can hold up – they’ve already allowed 7 sacks this year. PREDICTION: Texas A&M gets what everyone expected. Alabama 45, Texas A&M 14.
3. Florida (-4) at Tennessee: As has been mentioned by pundits, this game will be a measure of how far both teams have come in their two new head coach’s short reigns. Both have reasons to be happy, although Tennessee will be a little happier because their loss to West Virginia was at least more predictable than the Gators’ loss at home to Kentucky. Jeremy Pruitt’s trying to balance his attack between QB Jarrett Guarantano and RB Tim Jordan, while Florida seems to have piled a lot of pressure on Feleipe Franks, who threw THAT Hail Mary to beat UT in 2017 in one of the most incredible-terrible games of the year. The game might not be great, but the atmosphere at Neyland should be phenomenal. PREDICTION: Tennessee by 3 in a huge upset.
4. Georgia (-13) at Missouri: Georgia’s widely predicted to coast against Missouri, but the most interesting part will be how Georgia deals with one of the best QBs in the country in Missouri’s Drew Lock. Lock also has receiving weapons in Emmanuel Hall, Albert Okwuegbunam, and that might open up the team’s run game. But Missouri (and we may have heard this before) has a poor secondary, and it’s likely that they’ll get torn apart by Mecole Hardman, as well as Georgia’s monster running backs. PREDICTION: This won’t be close. Georgia 42, Missouri 17.
5. South Carolina (-2.5) vs Vanderbilt: South Carolina has the benefit of last week’s game getting washed out against Marshall, while Vanderbilt has the benefit of the fact that they SHOULD have won the game at Notre Dame and are a hell of a lot better than a lot of people expected. Vandy QB Kyle Shurmur’s a real star, while South Carolina’s Jake Bentley-Deebo Samuel connection is serviceable when it’s not being covered (as Georgia did for vast amounts of the clash between the two sides, and kept him to just 33 yards on 6 receptions). This could be fun. PREDICTION: Vanderbilt by 4. 
6. Arkansas at No.9 Auburn (-30): This is the third straight home game for Auburn, but after the stunning home loss to LSU, the locals aren’t happy again with Gus Malzahn (ironically they weren’t too happy with him after 2017’s loss to LSU, either). On the other side, Arkansas fans – despite getting trashed by North Texas at home – are a little more patient with Chad Morris because he comes to town with a completely different offence than Bret Bielema’s. The problem for Morris isn’t necessarily the offense (although they are 62nd nationally) but the defense (100th nationally), which is leaking points like my car leaks oil. We don’t expect any different to happen against Auburn. PREDICTION: Auburn 48, Arkansas 10.
7. Louisiana Tech at No.6 LSU (-21): LSU is on roll with the whole ‘EVERYONE DANG HATES US TIGAHS’ tour, and Louisiana Tech is next in line. The LSU ‘thing’ for years has been LSU’s habit of sitting back and not playing well after a big win, but they might need to be on their game immediately to keep an offense that is dropping around 42 points/game at the moment, with RB Jaqwis Dancy (17th nationally in total rushing yds), and Tech WR J’mar Smith, who can definitely toss a ball up (he’s a little unpredictable though). We expect LSU to get ahead early, and control this one. PREDICTION: LSU 31, Louisiana Tech 10.
8. Kent State at Ole Miss (-28.5): Both teams got a combined total of 120 points dropped on ’em last week, so we’re not anticipating a particularly defense-orientated encounter. The problem for Kent State is that they ain’t good, and Ole Miss’ offfense is still one of the best in the nation, despite what the Crimson Tide did to them on Saturday. PREDICTION: Ole Miss by 41.

Right, now we’re a quarter of a way through the season (sniff, sniff), we’re going to start our SEC rankings.

There’s no surprise who’s going to be No.1 and No.14, but in between…..(we apologise in advance)…

1. Alabama (3-0): While the most annoying thing about Alabama might well be the team’s head coach and his Napoleonic tendencies, the Tide’s way of evolving from a slow-moving ‘three yards and a cloud of dust’ offense to something that moves at such speed that Usain Bolt’s struggling to keep with it is awesome to watch. Although the opposition is hardly vaunted, the way the Tide managed to shut up a high-octane Ole Miss offense was highly impressive.
2. Georgia (3-0): The game that stood out for me that Georgia could well win the SEC Championship was this year, when the Dawgs absolutely dusted South Carolina at home. The Dawgs don’t even seem to hitting the heights of their talents, and yet they are looking really, really good.
3. LSU (3-0): Two Top 10 wins, both away from Baton Rouge. That’s pretty impressive for a team that was meant to be firing their head coach mid-season. Although we’re not entirely convinced of the Tigers’ offensive qualities (Joe Burrow is hardly the finished article), the defense is awesome.
4. Mississippi State (3-0): Joe Moorhead’s a damned good coach, and it’s helped with the on-field talent he’s got on the field. Nick Fitzgerald is gradually getting back to pre-Ole Miss 2017 levels, and the defense is sharp, too. This team could be scary in the SEC pack.
5. Auburn (2-1): A great coaching win against Washington and a coaching brain-fart against LSU making Gus Malzahn one of the most eyebrow-raising coaches in the SEC – again. Auburn itself is a run-stopping machine, but we don’t trust the secondary. On offense, it needs to be quicker. And we know Jarrett Stidham can play with that speed, too.
6. Texas A&M (2-1): The Aggies narrowly lost at home to Clemson and played their butt off. They’ve been unexpectedly strong in the first year of Jimbo Fisher’s reign. We don’t know how that will measure up with Alabama – but it might be pretty interesting.
7. Kentucky (3-0): Stunning at might seem to have Kentucky so high, they went to Florida and won the match-up for the first time in 31 years. Benny Snell is a workhorse and Terry Wilson makes up for his unpredictable arm with great legs. This might be one of the more underrated team in the SEC East.
8. Vanderbilt (2-1): I’m increasingly high on the Commodores because not only should they have beaten Notre Dame last week, but Kyle Shurmur’s an increasingly assured quarterback, and Derek Mason’s decision not to have anything to do with the offense seems to have paid off. By the evidence of that Notre Dame game, these guys could be pretty good.
9. South Carolina (1-1): Georgia and Hurricane Florence have beaten the Gamecocks two straight, and it’s not been nice in either match-up. Jake Bentley is a serviceable QB and Deebo Samuel is an awesome wide receiver, but has one of the most talked-about underdog in the country actually pretty ordinary?
10. Missouri (3-0): The offense is fantastic, and the defense isn’t great. As shown by the narrow win against Purdue (where the defense didn’t look great), Derek Dooley needs to use TE Albert Okwuegbunam and his RBs more, or Emmanuel Hall will simply get double-teamed and that’s going to frustrate Drew Lock. How Missouri will measure up in the SEC will start when Georgia rolls in. We’re not anticipating it to be other than ugly.
11. Florida (2-1): Florida’s loss at home to Kentucky doesn’t make me excited about this season, and Malik Davis’ injury won’t help the RB corps, either. If Dan Mullen is truly the QB whisperer, then ‘the whispered’ Feleipe Franks is having a pretty strong start.
12. Ole Miss (2-1): The offense was awesome to watch until it got hit by the Alabama freight train. But what will happen in future games if there’s a 3-and-out and Ole Miss have to defend? They’ll get crucified.  DC Wesley McGriff has told the press that he has accepted responsibility for the team’s loss. So why doesn’t Matt Luke take some responsibility and fire the guy?
13. Tennessee (2-1): After the (predictable) West Virginia loss, Jeremy Pruitt’s given UT some hope in Knoxville, but we’ll have some sort of idea whether they are actually any good against Florida on Saturday.
14. Arkansas (1-2): Here’s what we don’t understand: Chad Morris is one of the best offensive minds in the country. That’s well-known. So why hand over the whole offensive reigns to Craddock. If I’m Morris, I take over the QB coach responsibility or even more Craddock down to QBs and WRs, and move myself to OC. Desperate times, desperate measures. But right now, this team is bad, bad, bad.

OK, we failed to produce a prediction for Week 3 due to ‘technical difficulties’ (we stupidly forgot to press the ‘post’ button), so here were our predictions.

We said Auburn would beat LSU by 7. We said Alabama would beat Ole Miss by 21. We said Notre Dame would beat Vandy by 10. We said Missouri would beat Purdue 31-17. We thought Arkansas would be North Texas by 10, and Florida beating Colorado State by 24. We had Texas A&M, Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky waltzing away.

Straight up, we went 9-2. Against the spread, it was a little uglier.

Anyway, here we go after the mass celebrations in Baton Rouge and, er, Denton, TX (HOW ABOUT THAT TRICK PLAY?), here’s who we were impressed with after Week 3.

1. LSU: Another year, another crazy game against Auburn. The Tigers won out on a game-winning field goal, and although Auburn fans were enraged over a few pass interference plays, we think it was more due to the fact that their team couldn’t run on LSU’s defense, and Jarrett Stidham didn’t have his greatest day. Anyway, credit to Joe Burrow for the last drive – even though he wasn’t his best – and LSU’s defense looks beastly.
2. Alabama: The team’s they have faced may have been pretty ordinary, but Alabama’s racking up the points and looking fantastic all over the field. They took advantage of Ole Miss’ frailties and stopped the scoring machine. This team looks like the 2019 National Champion.
3. Vanderbilt: DEREK MASON DOESN’T WANT YOUR CHARITY. HE DOESN’T WANT YOU SAYING HOW WELL HIS TEAM PLAYED IN A LOSS. OK, Derek. But can we say that that if Vandy had executed properly the Commodores would have taken Notre Dame’s scalp back to Nashville?
4. Kentucky: The Wildcats are 3-0, and they are looking good, folks. And we’re not even comparing them to how bad the rest of the SEC East is yet, folks.
5. Georgia: In between playing to two powder-puff teams in Week 1 and Week 3 (this week’s the Bulldogs dismantled MTSU), Georgia ploughed South Carolina on the road. You might as well give them the SEC East title now, and the SEC Championship will be one hell of a game.
6. Mississippi State: Things keep on rolling under Joe Moorhead, and people are saying: “Wow, that Joe Moorhead’s a pretty good head coach”. Let’s not forget that he’s been a head coach before, so he’s used to dealing with egos (yes, it was only Fordham, but still). MSU’s is fun as hell to watch, too – as shown by the 56-10 wasting of ULL.
7. Auburn: We don’t understand why Gus Malzahn didn’t continue the ‘speed offense’ when the Tigers had the lead against LSU. It’s as though Malzahn WANTED to keep it close. I just don’t get it. On the other side, the defense is still looking strong – although the secondary could do with some work. Sorry boys, the refs got it right on Saturday.
8. Texas A&M: Dismissed Lousiana-Monroe easily, doing it through the air and on the ground. This team could give Alabama some problems this weekend….maybe.
9. Missouri: If you listen to the excellent Missouri podcast Mizzodcast, which seems to spend its time giving Barrett Sallee and the state of Kansas non-stop crap, you’ll know Missouri was awful in victory against Purdue. There is no trust for the secondary or the D-Line – especially when their best team is getting double-teamed. And the tide’s turning about OC Derek Dooley, too. Which doesn’t bode well for upcoming games against Georgia and Alabama, does it?
10. Florida: I don’t know if I should start to ‘buy into’ Florida’s offense after the Gators dismantled Colorado State, or dismiss it as a fluke after the home loss by Kentucky (or give the Wildcats either). While we won’t see how good the Gators are really until they play South Carolina, Georgia or LSU, we might see a glimpse against Tennessee.
11. Tennessee: The Vols are 2-1. So thanks, powderpuff teams who showed up to get thrashed. Next stop: Florida.
12. South Carolina: Got defeated by Hurricane Florence. So that’s the Dawgs and the wind that’s beaten the Gamecocks this season. FIRE WILL MUSCHAMP ALREADY!
13. Ole Miss: The defense is terrible, terrible, terrible. And when the offense doesn’t click, the Rebels are so freaking bad.
14. Arkansas: Getting crushed at home to North Texas isn’t a good look. Send ’em back to the Big XII. We’ll swap ’em for Texas, meaning we can get THAT rivalry back. Chad Morris seat isn’t remotely hot right now, but the locals are getting annoyed.

So much for the #winning. Bret Bielema is now out after never finishing higher than 3rd in the SEC West, and finishing 7th in three out of seven years in his reign. Oh, and he went 11-29, which probably didn’t help him.

Anyway, Chad Morris has been ‘prized’ away from SMU, and he’s an exciting prospect for an offensethat depended on a heavy line but really went nowhere (94th in the country) and a defense that went nowhere too (102nd last year).

So what do we think will happen in 2018?

OFFENSE

Giant QB Cole Kelley (he’s 6-7) is loved by just about everybody, and we really like him, too. He threw for 1,038 yards and 8 TDs, and if Morris uses him better than Bielema did, he could be one of those Nick Fitzgerald types that could rock defenses in close yardage situations.

What’s exciting for the Razorbacks is that they bring back a lot of receiving talent with WRs Jonathan Nance (539 yards, 5 TDs), Deon Stewart (404 yards, 3 TDs), Jordan Jones (401 yards, 3 TDs) and TEs Cheyenne O’Grady (132 yards, 2 TDs) and Jeremy Patton (189 yards). There is also talent in reserve too, which means that things should be really damned interesting.

Rushing-wise, David Williams, who formed a 1,000-yard partnership with Javwah Whaley went to the NFL. Whaley is still around, and he will be the lead RB after a 559 yard, 7 TD season. Backing him up will be Chase Hayden, and both will be running behind a line which has two great players (Frank Ragnow and Hjalte Froholdt) but otherwise wasn’t that great. That’ll be the key to whether the ‘Backs can improve in a stacked West.

DEFENSE

Top tacklers D’John Harris and Dre Greenlaw are back, bringing with them 218 tackles combined from last year and 4.5 sacks, but this is a team that ranked 104th in the country in sacks and 115th out of 130 in points per game with 36.2. It wasn’t pretty.

New DC John Chavis, who’s been doing the rounds more than a drunk, morally ambiguous frat boy, is in another SEC job, and Razorbacks fans hoping that this time he’ll stick (then again, so does he!). McTelvin Agim and Randy Ramsey should be fun to watch, too.

In the secondary, Ryan Pulley will be the leader alongside safety Santos Ramirez, but will it improve from a team who seemed to let anyone through all the time?

Personally-speaking, we think Arkansas fans will think they are in a Pac-12 game with the amount of shoot-outs on the horizon.

PREDICTION

Sept. 1 Eastern Illinois
Sept. 8 at Colorado State
Sept. 15 North Texas
Sept. 22 at Auburn
Sept. 29 vs. Texas A&M (in Arlington)
Oct. 6 Alabama
Oct. 13 Ole Miss
Oct. 20 Tulsa
Oct. 27 Vanderbilt
Nov. 3 OPEN DATE
Nov. 10 LSU
Nov. 17 at Mississippi State
Nov. 24 at Missouri

The Hogs will go 3-0 in their first 3 games before losing at Auburn and the annual shoot-out against Texas A&M. Things won’t go well against Alabama, but Chad Morris’ team will win a high-scoring affair against Ole Miss, which could be the first to 70. They’ll beat Tulsa and Vanderbilt (both at home) before losing tight ones to LSU, Mississippi State and Missouri, although Missouri is more 50/50 than the other two in game-winning potential.

2018 PREDICTION

6-6. The Hogs will be back in a bowl, and the fanbase will be a little excited. The defense will need some work, though.

Trainwreck doesn’t cover just bad Florida’s 2017 season was. There was a bit of a smile when they beat Tennessee on a Hail Mary in one of the plays of the season, but that was it, save for Jim McElwain’s nudist battle with a shark. Dan Mullen arrived to the pomp and circumstance (and some new Jordans), but he’s had to deal with non-stop disciplinary crap – something that must be weighing on Gator Nation. You know, that and the rise and rise of one of their most hated enemies.

OFFENSE

Every time we think about UF’s offense, we get squeamish. The Gators were 110th in total offense, good enough for the second-worst in the SEC behind Tennessee (the third-worst was South Carolina in 109th). Rushing-wise that number improved to 75th, but 102nd in passing. Oh, and being placed 109th in points-per-game was as brutal, too.

The biggest issue for the Gators was that starting QB Luke Del Rio blew out his shoulder early on, and there was no cover. Malik Zaire’s transfer from Notre Dame was a failure and Felipe Franks’ only highlight of a season where he threw 9 TDs and 8 INTs was THAT bomb against Tennessee.

Anyway, enough of 2017.

One key for Florida’s failure was a HORRIBLE offensive line, which one of the worst teams in FBS football (123rd out of 129) for sacks given up (37). That’s some going. And although Martez Ivey is back – and Jawaan Taylor provided some better moments – the injuries sustained as well as a record of, well, not being particularly good doesn’t fill us with confidence. We hope we’re wrong.

QB-wise, it’s a three-way battle between Franks, Kyle Trask and Emory Jones, with no-one clearly standing out. Any of them would have four-star freshman stud Justin Watkins to throw to…. he hadn’t ‘left’ the program after being arrested twice in three months in increasingly sinister situations – which included kidnapping. Van Jefferson, the stud WR who came across from Ole Miss, has just cleared waivers by the SEC, so he could be one hell of a target. Jefferson had nearly 1,000 yards receiving for the Rebels over the last two years.

Running-wise, we’re a little more confident. Lamical Perrine and Malik Davis shared the rushing last year and put up over 1,000 yards between them. That isn’t a bad 1-2 punch. Jordan Scarlett will also provide some fun (he’s back after ‘credit card gate”).

DEFENSE

We can’t understand why College Football Preview gave UF’s defense so much crap for last year. It was 5th in the nation in total yards given up and 4th in FBS), but with THAT offense, they were always going to tire out. And this year,

But in 2018, the Gators are still pretty loaded – especially on defense. Led by Duke Dawson and CJ Henderson (4 INTS each) and Jeawon Taylor at safety had 30 tackles and 1.5 sacks last year, it should be hard to throw on them.

In front of them, LB David Reese’s production of 102 tackles in 2017 will excite a lot of Gators fans. Although CeCe Jefferson’s shoulder surgery could be quite a hole to start the year, the returns of Chauncey Gardiner, Zabari Zuniga and Vosean Joseph will mean that the Gators should be a force. The team will have to be better against the rush (28th nationally).

SCHEDULE

Sept. 1 Charleston Southern
Sept. 8 Kentucky
Sept. 15 Colorado State
Sept. 22 at Tennessee
Sept. 29 at Mississippi State
Oct. 6 LSU
Oct. 13 at Vanderbilt
Oct. 20 OPEN DATE
Oct. 27 vs. Georgia (in Jacksonville)
Nov. 3 Missouri
Nov. 10 South Carolina
Nov. 17 Idaho
Nov. 24 at Florida State

The Gators will start the season at 4-0, which shouldn’t be too surprising bearing in mind they should be favored in all four. Mullen’s return to Mississippi State will be a very nasty atmosphere – especially if it’s at night – and we think they’ll lose, and follow that up by losing to LSU at home in another heartbreaker. They’ll rebound to beat Vanderbilt to get to five wins before losing to Georgia in the Cocktail Party. They’ll beat Missouri at home, lose to South Carolina at home, thrash Idaho but lose to Florida State. The locals won’t be happy, but it’s still a rebuilding phase for Mullen after the Jim McElwain Era.

PREDICTION: 7-5. The locals will be pretty happy after the step-up from the Jim McElwain era.