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.

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.

Missouri’s game with Vanderbilt on October 17th  has been postponed.

The game – which has been rescheduled for December 12th -was “due to positive tests and subsequent quarantining of individuals within the Vanderbilt football program”.

It was meant to Missouri’s homecoming game.

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

In terms of the Impressed/Depressed list, we’ve got quite the list of who we were impressed with and who we were really not.

There will be some surprise about No.1…

1. Arkansas: THE HOGS WERE A 17 POINT UNDERDOG AND WON. WAS THERE ANY MORE IMPRESSIVE (DEFENSIVE) PERFORMANCE? Thanks to Barry Odom, who’s a better defensive coordinator in his lifetime than he’s ever been a head coach, they worked out Mike Leach, only letting KJ Costello only throw for one pass over 20 yards. It was awesome. Sure, the offense was (again) pitiful – and they managed to get the ball back off a muffed punt catch – but the losing streak is over, people.
2. Georgia: Georgia went aggressive from the word ‘go’ all night long, and Auburn’s experience O-Line couldn’t deal with it. Bo Nix ran for his life over and over again. The defense had 3 sacks and 6 tackles for loss, while the offense was fine and functional if not spectacular….which is exactly what was needed on a night when 27-6 did the Bulldogs a disservice.  The only bad news was the Georgia student section, who couldn’t seem to understand the words: “Wear a mask”.
3. Alabama: They had a bad first quarter, but the machine whirred and Texas A&M was crushed, accordingly.
4. Florida: Kyle Trask is awesome, and although Kyle Pitts added another couple of touchdowns, Kadarius Toney popped up with an 86-yard on just six receptions. Florida’s offense still wasn’t wonderful on the floor, but damn, it’s good in the air.
5. Tennessee:  Are Missouri very good? No. But Tennessee was a great improvement from Week 1 to Week 2, and we can’t wait for a proper test next week against Georgia. The offensive line gave Ty Chandler enough time to ground out 90 yards and give Jarrett Guarantano enough time to be functional. Which is what they need.
6. LSU: They needed a SEC doormat to show what they could do, and they did it. More importantly, they didn’t let Vanderbilt score for the whole of the second half and Myles Brennan had a 336 yard, 4 TD day. John Emory’s 106 yard rushing day means that LSU is finding some sort of rush game, and the fact that 11 players had receptions means that this offense is going to be pretty fun. OH AND WELCOME BACK DEREK STINGLEY JR YOU BIG STUD! TAKE ME TO BED OR LEAVE ME FOREVER!
7. Ole Miss: As much crap as we gave their defense last week with our jokes about social distancing, Kiffin’s groups improved themselves so much that they at least gave themselves a chance to have free football in Kentucky. They took advantage of it, and won by the field goal. Should we get on the Lane Train? No. Should we be thinking about it? Yes.
8. Kentucky: The Wildcats shot themselves in the foot twice in an hilarious manner last week. Asim Rose celebrating before he got to the end-zone and promptly fumbling was one, and then missing an extra point in overtime was another. Kentucky is killing itself in the flag department – 81 yards total. Mark Stoops’ decision to forgo Terry Wilson’s arm and get the team to run, run, run was a good idea (408 on the floor), but when your running back is dropping touchdowns, crap like this will happen.
9. Texas A&M: Little was expected, and little happened as a good first quarter was taken apart by two bad ones as A&M was rolled by the Tide. Much as been made of Jimbo Fisher, but little has been given thus far. Kellen Mond’s not the answer, folks.
10. Auburn: So much was expected and so little was given on a night when what Auburn feared would happen to the offensive line happened (3 sacks given up and 6 tackles-for-loss), and the Tigers couldn’t stay on the field, totalling just 216 total yards and a pair of field goals.
11. South Carolina:  Can someone explain to me why Will Muschamp thought that chewing up 7 minutes and 34 yards on a fourth quarter drive with the team down 14 would be a good idea? We’ve heard grumblings from South Carolina, and none of it’s good….
12. Missouri: Great things about the Tennessee game? Larry Rowntree and Nick Brown. Rowntree ran for 84 yards and a TD, and Bolton had a staggering 17 tackles. The bad things? There is no real defense past Bolton, the offense has got more kinks that a BDSM orgy, and the wide receivers can’t catch the ball (see the dropped 84 yards TD certainty for details).
13. Vanderbilt: The Commodores are expected to be bad, and were bad, highlighted by the fact that two WRs managed to get in each other’s way in the end-zone and prevented themselves getting a TD at the end of the first half of their 41-7 thrashing.
14. Mississippi State: Much was expected of Mississippi State after the win over LSU but little was given. OK, so the injury to Kylinn Hill ruined any chance of a setting up of the run game, but Leach couldn’t seem to work out that Barry Odom knows how to play him and structure his offense differently. The special teams screw-up by Hill cost them a try at the winning drive, but they wouldn’t have deserved it.

Up in Athens, Georgia, College Gameday will be on site but the fanbase won’t be able to scream behind the cameras. There will be no massive tailgate that makes evenings in Athens so darned special, and there will be one of the most eagerly anticipated match-ups of the year between Georgia and Auburn. Auburn looked good against Kentucky for half a game, and Georgia blew by Arkansas for half a game. This will be intriguing.

The bookies don’t think Texas A&M will beat Alabama. I don’t think anyone except the most optimistic Texas A&M fan would think that the Aggies will go to Tuscaloosa and win. But then again, they probably didn’t think this in 2012 when Johnny Manziel’s team walked into there and caused a massive upset.

Elsewhere, Mississippi State will continue it’s bundle of joy in their home opener with Arkansas, South Carolina and Florida get together in the Spurrier Bowl, Tennessee clash with Missouri, Ole Miss and Kentucky play in a match-up of seemingly direct opposite offensive programs, and LSU tries to get back on the wagon with Vandy after their terrible performance the season before.

So here are the games we’re most interested in in this order.

1. No.7 Auburn at No.4 Georgia (-6.5 O/U 44.5 )

No-one knows who’s going to start at Georgia on Saturday after last Saturday’s weird offensive effort. Will it be D’Wan Mathis, looking for redemption after his terrible quarter-and-a-half against Arkansas? Will it be Stetson Bennett, who sounds less like a QB and more like a member of Sigma Chi but led UGA for the rest, or will it be JT Daniels, who should be ready after returning from knee surgery? We don’t know, we just don’t know. We know this: Georgia’s defensive front are still going to be animals against a young Auburn line, and George Pickens is a future NFL first round pick at WR. On Auburn’s side? They actually look settled. Bo Nix was excellent for the most part against a Kentucky side that prides itself more on attrition than it seems flowing fun football, and Seth Williams was a nightmare to deal with all day long. The only part underused? Anthony Schwartz, who we would have loved to see more of the ball. He might well be the secret-not-secret-but-really-frickin-fast weapon.

PREDICTION: It’s difficult to predict against Georgia, because they are at home and will only get better after the stinker. Bulldogs by a field goal….. Georgia 31, Auburn 28

2. Texas A&M at No.1 Alabama (-18 O/U 52.5)

Texas A&M’s biggest ‘Welcome to The SEC’ moment where they went to Tuscaloosa in 2012 and beat the Tide 29-27 on the road. The Aggies haven’t won another ‘Bear Bryant Bowl’ against Nick Saban’s men since, and every game since 2014 has been somewhat of a blow-out. This year, Aggies fans are fearing the worst after their team’s utterly inept performance at home to Vanderbilt, where they fumbled the ball five times (losing three), and Kellen Mond’s performance was probably one of the worst in the SEC last week. Sorry we’re being harsh, but it’s true. The good news for A&M is that their defensive front looks pretty good, and it’ll have to be to stop Najee Harris & Co running through it. And if Alabama’s O-Line can give him time, then Mac Jones has two NFL first-rounders in Devonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle. Yeah, good luck with that.

PREDICTION: Alabama by 27, and Saban calls off the dogs by the middle of the third quarter. Alabama 48, Texas A&M 21

3. South Carolina at No.3 Florida (-10 O/U 57.5) Kyle Trask had a tremendous game against Ole Miss, helped by his brilliant TE Kyle Pitts. We don’t expect Pitts to have the devestating day he had last week, because South Carolina will try and double him up, making him throw to a bed of skilled receivers. We anticipate Kadarious Toney and Dameon Pierce to continue to enjoy the running game – albeit against a better defense. For South Carolina, the offense wasn’t awful against Tennessee, but against Florida’s defense – which will have improved from their rather poor effort against Ole Miss where they gave up over 600 yards (granted they were bringing in 6 new players) – Collin Hill, Shi Smith & Co could find things much harder going.

PREDICTION: Florida by 17. Trask coasts, and gets more plaudits. Florida 27, South Carolina 10. 

4. Missouri at No.21 Tennessee (-12, O/U 48.5)

Missouri fans weren’t expected to beat Alabama last Saturday, and were hoping for some good signs going into the Tennessee game. If you’re a betting Missouri fan it was the fact that Alabama didn’t beat the spread (the normal measurements for a ‘great performance in a losing effort’), and that the defense didn’t make too many mistakes and essentially beat themselves as badly as they had done in the Barry Odom era. But to beat Tennessee, they are going to have to rely even more on their defense, because if we’re honest, it’s RB Larry Roundtree and the rest of an offense that’s yet to find its identity under new coach Eli Drinkwitz. As for Tennessee, they overcame a tough game at South Carolina. Jarrett Guarantano was fine if nothing spectacular. He should be on better throwing for against Missouri’s corners, and we anticipate Josh Palmer having a 100-yard reception day. But don’t think that Guarantano’s going to find it easy. Missouri’s defensive front is very, very good. This is going to be fun.

PREDICTION: Missouri with the upset. Tigers by 4 in one of the uglier games you see. Missouri 27, Tennessee 23

5. Arkansas at No.16 Mississippi State (-17, O/U 69)

KJ Costello and Mississippi State are a hell of a lot of fun. They’ve got an easy-to-watch, easy-to-learn offense under Mike Leach, and a competent RB in Kylin Hill. In this offense we don’t see Hill getting a lot of the ball, but that’s more the style. Against Arkansas, who actually looked decent for a half (defensively), they should air it out pretty easily against a defense that Barry Odom’s going to struggle to keep up with. On the other side of the ball, we know a Mike Leach defense, and it isn’t that great. But Arkansas’ offense is pretty awful too. Feleipe Franks will do better than he did against Georgia, but if he keeps some of the utter incompetence up, this could be over quickly on Mike Leach’s follow-up to that stunning defeat of LSU.

PREDICTION: Mississippi State by 24 as KJ Costello goes for 500 yards. Mississippi State 51, Arkansas 27

6. Ole Miss vs Kentucky (-6, O/U 62)

Both sides had pretty ugly losses in Week 1, with Kentucky being the worst of them because while we though that Florida would have their way with Ole Miss, we didn’t expect such a poor performance from Kentucky in the second-half. They were just so much worse than their SEC West opponent. Ole Miss defense was poor all round. Sure, their offense was entertaining, but when you give up 50 points, it’s difficult to find the fun side even if  you score more than 30 a game. Kentucky won’t air it out as much as Florida did against Ole Miss because they simply don’t have the weapons like that. Instead, Kentucky will run the ball with Kavoisey Smoak and Asim Rose and Terry Wilson will aim to cause them problems on the floor. With an Ole Miss defensive line which is – to be generous – bad, Kentucky will control this.

PREDICTION: Kentucky by 14 in a cracker of a game. Kentucky 48, Ole Miss 34.

7. No. 20 LSU (-21, O/U 51) at Vanderbilt. 

Myles Brennan wasn’t pretty pedestrian against Missisisppi State and still threw for 345 yards, 3 TDs and 2 picks. Hell, the whole team seemed pedestrian against Mississippi State, but still Terrace Marshall had 122 yards and 2 TDs, and 8 other receivers had a reception. Vanderbilt’s defense on the other hand against Texas A&M was fantastic, stopping the Aggies again and again, causing 5 fumbles and 3 recovering three of them. They attacked and attacked Texas A&M and gave the offense a chance to win. The problem was the Vanderbilt offense, which – led by freshman Ken Seals – had 150 yards and a 1 TD. Don’t get us wrong Vanderbilt is a team that’s more than its fair share of opt-outs and transfers, although it’s still not in the same ballpark as what LSU has had to deal with.

PREDICTION: LSU by 24, getting things done. It looks pretty awful after a quarter, but then the Tigers get moving. LSU 38, Vanderbilt 14

It’s Week 2 of the SEC Football season, and we’ve already seen a monster upset with LSU losing at home to Mississippi State, a very weird Vanderbilt vs Texas A&M game where the Aggies were awful and didn’t get remotely near the spread, and a true ‘game of two halves’ between Georgia and Arkansas, where Georgia looked like a Dawgs’ breakfast in the first half, and then did the Razorbacks dawgy-style in the second half.

OK, so that’s enough weird puns.

So here are your players to watch:

Georgia vs Auburn

Georgia: Whoever the quarterback is (Stetson Bennett or JT Daniels): All eyes are going to focus on Bennett or Daniels to get it done against an Auburn front that should have everyone back in Gus Malzahn have its way.

Auburn: Anthony Schwarz: Some of you might be asking why not Bo Nix or Seth Williams, but you can guarantee that Williams will be double-covered all night long, which should leave the playbook more open than it was for Schwartz against Kentucky, where he had three receptions for 40 yards.

Alabama vs Texas A&M

Alabama: Najee Harris A lot of focus is going to be on Mac Jones, Jaylen Waddle and the collection of freaks that seem to occupy both sides of the Alabama team, but it will be interesting to see if Harris can continue the 93 yards, 3 touchdown performance against Missouri against a pretty good and experienced Texas A&M defensive front.

Texas A&M: Kellen Mond After an awful performance against Vanderbilt where he fumbled the ball twice and lost one and the team lost a total of five and lost three, there was a lot of venom being poured out against the A&M QB. Mond will have to be on far better shape against Alabama.

Arkansas at Mississippi State

Mississippi State: KJ Costello: After his 600-yard, match-winning performance against LSU, what’s he going to do for an encore? Throw for 700? Walk on water?

Arkansas: Grant Morgan: Morgan had 13 tackles against Georgia in the Razorbacks not-awful loss, and to stop Costello and Co the senior linebacker will have to be at his best.

LSU at Vanderbilt

LSU: Myles Brennan: Brennan has immediately found the voice of critics after his not-great performance in the stunning loss to Mississippi State, but if he can’t perform against Vanderbilt, you can feel Coach O’s finger starting to wrap around the trigger. And look, we know that LSU is missing an awful lot of talent (and this will be repeated ad nauseum), but still, it’ll be on him.

Vanderbilt: Ken Seals: The quarterback earned a lot of praise for sticking in there against a pretty dominant Texas A&M defense, and going 20-29 with 150 yards, a TD and 2 picks on his freshman debut. With no pressure from the fanbase to do well, Seals could flourish.

South Carolina vs Florida

Florida: Kyle Pitts:  Pitts had 170 yards and 4 TDs on just 8 receptions against a socially distant Ole Miss defense, and we are wondering what he’ll get up to against a secondary that gave up 261 yards passing and a TD against Tennessee. Because Florida has so many weapons, we don’t see him being double-teamed as much as the man on the other side, Shi Smith.

South Carolina: Shi Smith: Smith was excellent against South Carolina, grabbing 10 catches for 140 yards and a TD. He’ll be double-teamed against Florida, but it should be fun if he can get open.

Missouri at Tennessee

Missouri: Devin Nicholson: The sophomore linebacker had  team-leading 10 tackles against Alabama. He’s a leader within a defense that mightily improved in the second against Bama – albeit after the Crimson Tide were walking away with the game.

Tennessee: Brandon Johnson: The senior WR pulled off a circus catch against South Carolina. He’s so much fun to watch.

Ole Miss vs Kentucky 

Ole Miss: The secondary: Ole Miss’ defense was AWFUL against Florida, giving up 642 yards and 51 points, but the secondary was a special kind of terrible, giving up 416 yards passing and 6 TDs to Kyle Trask.

Kentucky: Terry Wilson: The senior QB was fine in his return to action after a season-ending injury last year, but Auburn has a legit defense. Ole Miss does not, which means that Wilson should be able to use his collection of wide receivers and running backs more as the Wildcats try to get back on track.

Who impressed us most this year in the SEC?

1. Mississippi State (1-0): It shouldn’t really have stunned people to find out that KJ Costello, who threw for 3,540 yards and 26 TDs in his 2018 year and had already hit another 1,038 in his second before he was injured at Stanford was a good quarterback, and yet Gary & Brad just made stupid jokes about him being a Stanford grad all day long. Costello threw for 623 yards and 5 TDs on LSU. It wasn’t always pretty (he threw 60 times and only had a 65.2% completion percentage and was responsible for two bad turnovers), but Leach’s offense hit TEN different receivers, led by Osirius Mitchell, Kylin Hill and JaVonta Payton, who had over 120 yards each.
2. Alabama (1-0) Might not have beaten the spread, but rolled through Missouri. They knew they’d won it after they replaced Mac Jones with Bryce Young at the start of the 4th quartter. Jaylen Waddle is a stud, and there isn’t a lot wrong with this team. And yet Dylan Moses was upset with the defense’s performance in the second half, after they ‘lost’ the second half 16-10.
3. Auburn (1-0): The Kentucky game was meant to be unbelievably tough for those crazy Tigers, but in the final quarter the Tigers shut out the Wildcats 14-0. Seth Williams is amazing. His one handed grab in the fourth quarter was a thing of beauty. All this was strange because we only saw 3 receptions from Anthony Schwartz, the most dynamic of the Auburn players.
4. Florida (1-0): Kyle Pitts (170 yards, 4 TDs) is an absolute STUD. Kyle Trask ripped apart Ole Miss’ secondary limb from limb, but then again, most offenses could have done that. The defense brought in 6 new starters, and it showed after they were shelled for 613 yards and 31 points. We still think Todd Grantham is the most overrated DC in college football.
5. Vanderbilt (0-1): Honestly, we expected the Commodores to get absolutely hammered at Texas A&M (as did Vegas), thanks to their injuries, opt-outs and transfers, but they caused three turnovers, limited the Aggies to 17 points, and had the game close until the end.
6. Arkansas (0-1): This is based on the first half performance, in which they hassled Georgia non-stop. IF THEY JUST HAD A BETTER QUARTERBACK THAT FELEIPE FRANKS, THEY MIGHT HAVE DONE SOME REAL DAMAGE.
7. Georgia (1-0): This is based on the second half performance, because the first half was an absolute trainwreck. D’wan Mathis was absolutely awful, and had to be replaced by Stetson Bennett IV after not even a half. Bennett put the team on his back, throwing for 211 yards and 2 TDs. But let’s be also honest – the Dawgs still had 13 of its 37 points from anything OTHER than the offense. Todd Monken will make people happy in Georgia in the future, but it wasn’t this time.
8. Tennessee (1-0): The Vols needed a bit of luck to beat South Carolina, but Jarrett Guarantano didn’t do many things wrong, and we love the dual RB combination of Ty Chandler and Eric Gray. Brandon Johnson’s grab in the game was something to be behold.
9. South Carolina (0-1): As predicted, the Gamecocks gave Tennessee everything they could handle, but as is usual with Carolina, they were a couple of plays away from doing excellently. Shi Smith is a warrior and will be tasked with carrying this offense, but there enough qualities for me to think that times aren’t going to be totally awful in Columbia.
10. Texas A&M (1-0): The only nice thing you can say about this performance is that the Aggies won. The Aggies had five fumbles (three lost), and Kellen Mond was poor all day long. You can look at the loss of key personnel, but this team looked utterly demotivated. Good luck against Alabama, folks.
11. Ole Miss (0-1): The offense is fun but the defense will win prizes for College Football Social Distancing.
12. Missouri (0-1): They were always going to be thumped by Alabama, and thumped they were. But Shawn Robinson’s performance was fine, even if the two fumbles were not. When Missouri gets the 12 players back that it missed through the game, they will be in much better shape.
13. Kentucky (0-1): The Cats were meant to cause Auburn fits, but two scoreless quarters indicate that nothing is going to be a gallop in the Grasslands.
14. LSU (0-1): The Tigers were dreadful. Yes, we know that the cupboard was exceptionally bare before the game with Mississippi State (not helped by the hospitalization of Derek Stingley Jr before the game), but they should have had enough talent to beat Mississippi State, right? The Tigers looked disorganised, going-through-the-motions, and Myles Brennan was a massive disappointment. This team could now go 2-8…..like PROPERLY.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: 

KJ Costello (Mississippi State): 632 yards, 5 TDs isn’t a bad start from a brainy boy from Stanford, is it? I just don’t understand how anyone didn’t give him enough credit going into his game.

Thank you, Lord Jesus. The SEC is back on Saturday.

For a while, we thought there would be no college football season, let alone SEC season.

But the SEC waited – and came up with a plan. The plan is that every SEC side will play 10 games.

This week is Week 1.

So here we go – in order of games that we’re most excited to see.

1. No.23 Kentucky at No.8 Auburn (-7.5) 

Auburn bring back two of the better wide receivers in the SEC West in Seth Williams and Anthony Schwartz, and a very solid defensive corps as well. Kentucky will start senior QB Terry Wilson and brings along a strong line with him and a running back group committee – which could consist of electric freshman Michael Brennan II. This will be battle of the offensive lines. Auburn’s is really inexperienced, but then again, Kentucky’s will have to deal with Big Kat Bryant and the rest of the NFL talent that Auburn will bring to face it.What might make this a lot closer is the fact a week of Auburn’s August was wiped out because of COVID-19. We haven’t had the same problems with Kentucky (so it seems),  so that will give Kentucky some sort of advantage.

PREDICTION: Gas in the Gus Bus!Auburn wins by 3 in a nip-and-tuck thriller.

2. Mississippi State at No.6 LSU (-16.5)

This is going to be a weird game, primarily because Mike Leach is involved, which should be a cure for any shut-out. We know why LSU was No.1 in January, but we can’t work out why they are No.6 now, bearing in mind that they’ve lost so much talent on both sides of the ball. Mississippi State brings back its best rusher in Kylin Hill and KJ Costello – the graduate transfer from Stanford, so that could give LSU more fits than people let on. If Myles Brennan can get the ball to freshman former five-star wideout Kayshon Boutte a lot for LSU, this could be fun.

PREDICTION: Much closer than people think, but LSU will pull it out, because it’s talent alone. LSU by 7.

3. No.16 Tennessee (-3.5) at South Carolina

There’s been a lot of chatter about Tennessee, and people are pretty excited on Rocky Top. Unlike most years where people were not remotely talking up the Volunteers, people are talking about a possibility of them even taking Georgia close. Unless Jarrett Guarantano suddenly gets a lot more consistent and Eric Gray does good things against top opposition, we think this is fairly unlikely. However, against a South Carolina side that has no running attack of mention and will only bring one wide receiver back of worthy mention (Shi Smith) to help grad transfer QB Colin Hill, that won’t really matter.

PREDICTION: Tennessee by 10. And don’t think that the pressure won’t be on Will Muschamp after Week 1…because it will. 

4. No.5 Florida (-12 1/2) at Ole Miss.

New coach, new madness at Ole Miss? The swarms that would normally fill out The Grove certainly do. Lane Kiffin’s come on board and made some nice additions – including TE Kenny Yaboah from Temple – and WR Elijah Moore (yes, him!) could hurt Florida, but Florida’s got more talent on both sides of the ball to be truly scared in GroveTown on Saturday. Florida’s settled at quarterback with Kyle Trask, and there will be more than enough option with dual-threater Emory Jones, too. Oh, and on the other side of the ball, Florida’s secondary is nasty.

PREDICTION: Gators roll, and all aboooooooard the Mullenwagon! Florida by 17.

5. No.4 Georgia (-26) at Arkansas 

The only reason I have for Arkansas covering is that Feleipe Franks is going to do an awful lot of handing the ball to Rakeem Boyd and melting down some clock. Georgia is stacked with talent, starting at the quarterback duo of former USC starter J.T. Daniels and five-star freakshow D’wan Mathis and they are going to hit the brilliant George Pickens Jr all night long. Georgia is going to roll.

PREDICTION: Georgia by 28. 

6. No.2 Alabama (-28) at Missouri

We knew this would be a baptism of fire for Eli Drinkwitz, and what a one it will be. Missouri’s already got 12 players out of the game with COVID-19 precautions, so Alabama’s going to run riot. Honestly, it’ll be over by half-time.

PREDICTION: Alabama by 35. And because Oklahoma and Clemson are also out there smashing opponents, Saban won’t be setting the second and third-teamers on Mizzou until the fourth quarter. 

7. Vanderbilt at No.10 Texas A&M (-30)

Texas A&M lost one of its top wide receivers and one of its top linebackers via a pardecision to opt out of the 2020 seasons, but Vanderbilt is already beaten-up due to injuries, their own transfers and opt-outs. This could be the start of one of the ugliest seasons in Derek Mason’s pretty ugly history in Nashville.

PREDICTION: After a slow start, Texas A&M pours it on in the fourth quarter, and wins by 31 in a game where Vandy will feel lucky to get the ball into the end-zone.