Yesterday I gave out some personal thoughts and observations regarding the upcoming season in the SEC east. Also known as the SEC lite. Now maybe that perception will change, maybe before most suspect. But for the here and now the west is still the class of the league. As I mentioned yesterday I have two teams in the league I can say up front I am a fan of. One by birth, being a Missouri guy born and raised in the heart of Mizzou country and watching games as a kid coached by Dan Devine. When you are a young man in these parts you become a Tiger fan. Just the way it is. When I grew up I was taught three things to say as an infant. Momma, dad and Kansas sucks, lol. But as a kid I paid attention to football everywhere. I gravitated towards Alabama. I loved watching the Bear. Been a fan ever since, not just the good years but the bad as well. I am not one to be a fair weather fan. Today I will provide some of my own personal random (very) thoughts on the west. I assure you I have no axe to grind with any program. Hell, to be honest I never really even hated Kansas as a Mizzou fan. These are just my own candid thoughts as things move closer to opening kick offs. One thing I have learned even more since Missouri joined the SEC is the way feelings regarding the league vary, dramatically around the nation. I've learned that college football is a religion in the south. These people are wired a little different. I knew the intensity existed, just seeing more first hand makes me appreciate the real passion they have for their teams. And the seemingly very real loathing they feel for their arch rivals. It's kind of fun and weird all at the same time. I have also observed the deep hate or resentment shared by countless others around the nation for the SEC. When I visited one of my daughters who resides in the Los Angeles area and talked with some locals I was kind of shocked at how they perceived the SEC and it's fan base. Lets just say it was not pretty. Some folks, out of ignorance, form perceptions based on god knows what. I think some of those snobs think most SEC fans get all tanked up on sour mash, go to the games and eat their BBQ and pass a jug around. Watch the game screaming like scalded dogs the whole time and then drive home after the game in their trucks and beat their "ol" lady if the team lost. Go out and hunt some squirrels for the sunday dinner the following day and then fall asleep in their log cabins. Oh well, takes all kinds doesn't it.
1. Alabama
I almost placed LSU here just to stir the stew. But I am going to play it straight. Yes, I am convinced in my own mind that Bama is the legit top club. Last year ended in such a dramatic way and yes, it was a great title game ending in OT. But think back to just how close the Tide came to not even being in the playoff. It was closer than most Tide fans want to recall. If the Badgers had been able to close out the game against the Buckeyes in the Big 10 title game they would have knocked Bama out of the playoff. The Tide did not win the SEC title or even their own division. But, once granted a ticket to the big show I think most serious followers of the thing suspected Sabans club would rise to the occasion and win the whole thing. And of course they did. I am not going to review all the amazing numbers and achievements of this program under Saban. No real need to. Plus it would be like rubbing salt in the wounds of Bama haters. Bama does just truly reload every year. Some teams like to say they reload, at Bama they indeed do reload. One interesting twist is obviously under center. What a glorious problem to have. Jalen Hurts or Tua Tagovailoa. There is no wrong option here and both will likely get plenty of time. From what I hear Hurts is a real leader on the team. Not just the offense. One thing about Bama that does not get enough play, do people realize the monster bullseye this team takes the field each week with on it's back? They are that team every opponent salivates over knocking off. They will get the best the other team has to throw at them weekly. Unless the Tide just have a miserable season with turnovers or some mysterious disease ravages the locker room I see them winning the west. But even if they don't they will likely make the playoff again. Dynasties do end at some point in time, always do. But it isn't this season fellas. All I can say is god help the coach who steps in eventually to replace Nick Saban. Remember who replaced Vince Lombardi in Green Bay. Most folks don't. His name was Phil Bengston. Need I say more.
2. Auburn
The Tigers are good. I mean really good. Good enough they are capable of repeating as division champions. I do not think they will but they are better than most suspect. Forget the bowl loss last season. If anyone thinks they took that game seriously against Central Florida they need their heads examined. No disrespect to Frost's club but they did not get the Tigers best shot. Typical Bowl game, the motivated team shows up and plays hard and the one who does not care about really being there come up flat. This Tiger offense will click along just fine behind Jarrett Stidham who should be even better with all the snaps his now has under his belt. The defense is very good, athletic and deep. The secondary might be the weak link but it's not a real weak link if you know what I mean. Gus's team is taking the field with some real high expectations. They open up with what is basically a home game against Washington. The Huskies are capable but I will be frankly very surprised if they travel down to Atlanta and win this game. Next "real" game is againt LSU but they get them at home. Two of the final three regular season games are at Georgia and at Alabama. That is where the rubber will meet the road.
3. Mississippi State
Former Penn State OC Joe Moorhead left a good gig with Franklin but he is taking over a pretty good situation here in Starkville. Nick Fitzgerald is a legit tier one QB and we all know it all starts there. Fitzgerald can run and turn nothing into something but under Moorhead I expect him to improve his passing game and become more of a legit dual threat. He will have some wide outs who are more than capable of going and getting it. Malik Heath, Devonta Jason and Stephen Guidry to be specific. Williams is a more than capable back and the line returns four starters from a good unit last season. No question when Moorhead was pondering this offer the potential of this offense helped with his final decision. Be nice is new DC Bob Shoop can build some stability in his unit. This is the fifth DC in five years in Starkville. I don't care what anybody says or tries to spin it, that is just not ideal. This will be a good defense, very good. Just unfortunate they are in a division with the likes of Bama and Auburn who have better units. But believe me, this defense will be salty. I am really looking forward to the September 8th match up in Manhattan against Bill Snyder and his Wildcats. That shapes up as a very intriguing game. They do catch Auburn at home which helps but they have to travel to Bama late in the season. I see a nine win team here and for a first year head coach I think that is something Moorhead and the fan base can feel good about.
4. Texas A&M
Ten years and 75 million bucks! Props to Jimbo Fisher. He hit the power ball. Worth all the dough? I say no but the powers that be in College Station must think so. Kevin Sumlin actually won more of his game coaching the Aggies than Bear Bryant did during his stint there. Hmm. Some people forget Bryant was there but he was and brother did he ever leave his mark. If you have never read the book The Junction Boys I highly suggest you do so. One of the most entertaining books about college football you will ever pick up. Side story real quick. Some years back I was in the home of ex Mizzou head coach Larry Smith. I looked on the coffee table in the living room and there was a copy of that book. I asked Larry what would happen if a coach did what Bear did back that summer with his young Aggie players. He grinned and said he would be arrested. I implore you to read that book guys. No better book to read just before the college season kicks off. Anyway, Kevin Sumlin won a lot of games for the program since joining the SEC but it just was not enough to satisfy the players behind the scenes. Frankly I myself often questioned his ability to make in game adjustments. The game at UCLA last season being a prime example. Fisher inherits two find QB's in Kellen Mond and Nick Starkel. They have a quality offensive line and no real weakness on the offensive side of the ball. Nothing stellar but a good, winning caliber offense even by SEC standards. It is on the defensive side where things get a little sketchy. Landis Durham can be a freak and he has some help. The interior of the defensive line is excellent. Fisher loves to coach up defenses and that being the case, this job should be right up his alley. Sometimes when watching the Aggies secondary last season they reminded me of Missouri with their poor tackling in the secondary, not a good thing. Now in the second game of the season they have Clemson coming to College Station. That is must see early season football. IF, they can upset the Tigers well then the whole complexion of the season changes. I'm an SEC guy but not real confident there.
5. LSU
I know it looks like I am slighting the Tigers here. Not my intent. I like Big Ed a lot. How can you not. If ever there was a man born to coach football it is big Ed. He night have the best voice the lord blessed a man with since the late duke, John Wayne. Not similar in any way but just one of those voices. I'd love to sit in the locker room and listen to one of his pregame talks. That would be priceless. As for this years LSU team let me state they are one of those teams nobody would relish playing. They are more than capable. They kick off their season in Arlington Texas against the Miami Hurricanes in another must see game. They return a solid, veteran offensive line but there are clearly some questions regarding who will be carrying the package. The defense suffered some early departures for the league but LSU recruits strongly and will have some new faces filling the gaps. I think it is common knowledge Big Ed and Matt Canada just never were on the same page. The experiment lasted one season. Now the tight ends coach Steve Ensminger takes over the reigns. I honestly have no feel for how that will play out. None. Frankly I have to take a wait and see position with the quarterbacks. Giles and Marshall appear to be shaping up as the primary go to guys. I am real curious to see how this unit fares in the very first game against a good Hurricanes club on the neutral setting. The defense will be good, not outstanding as I have some concerns about the secondary myself. Inside linebacker Devin White is a beast. He led the SEC in tackles per game last season and has NFL written all over him. I suspect he will be a name you will hear a lot when next years NFL draft rolls around. LSU faces a daunting schedule, that is putting it mildly. Two of the first three games are the opener mentioned against the Canes and then in two weeks a trip to Auburn to face Gus's Tigers. If LSU resided in the east the final results would likely be different. But in the death march of the west all I can project is fifth and the hope Big Ed can ride it out.
6. Arkansas
Ever since Missouri departed the Big 12 the attempts have been made to make Arkansas the new arch rival. Frankly it has yet to take. You don't just fabricate that sort of thing. It has to be a natural hate, not a contrived one. Chad Morris is a quality coach and from all accounts and even better recruiter with a legit deep pipeline to Texas talent. Hard to put a price on that. Texas is a bottomless pit of football studs in high school. The upside on his offense this season for the Hogs will be at running back. Both Whaley and Hayden are legit playmakers. The offensive line is one monster question mark, not at all like the stellar line the Hogs recently fielded. The defense sucked last year, no kind way of putting it. Two ways to look at it this season. They do return a lot of starters. Is that such a good thing from such a weak unit? Time will tell. Game experience helps, base talent levels are though, well what it is. John Chavis is a proven quality DC. He has plenty of work to do to earn his pay checks. Bottom line is the defense allowed over seven yards per play last season. That is ghastly. Bottom line is I think the Hogs WILL be better this season but the tangible results on paper will be hard to see. What is kind of weird is the fact Arkansas has absolutely fantastic facilities. I mean first class. They also have a tremendous fan base. With the facilities they possess and Morris's recruiting ties to Texas if the fans are patient I do believe they can get firmly on the winning track. But for this season I think it will be another long one.
7. Ole Miss
Hard to motivate kids with no bowl to play for. Yeah, I am stating the obvious. But that is the challenge facing Matt Luke and his staff. The Rebels won a half dozen games last year so it is not like this is the Kansas Jayhawks fellas. They do have a legit NFL wide out in AJ Brown, plenty of teams would trade their left nut for a guy with his skills. Jordan Ta'amu showed reasonable well last season when he was thrust into the starting slot after the loss of Shea Patterson. It will not be an easy task to replace a running back the caliber of Jordan Wilkins who carried for over a thousand yards last season. No shortage of candidates and time will tell who separates. The defense will have to be stiffer against the run this fall. That might be the biggest understatement I have made in some time. The Rebels allowed a sickening 270 yards per game last season when going up against league opponents. No, that is not a mis-print. I know, kind of hard to absorb. The bottom line when it comes to the Rebels is they are possibly the best last place team in the nation. But he (Luke) has an enormous challenge facing himself and his staff. No bowl and the SEC west. Good grief I hope the expectations in Oxford are reaslistic. If they can stiffen up in the trenches on defense and lock down on the run better this will be a long, long season. I hope they do. I like Matt Luke and hope he can keep his job long enough to see what kind of program he can truly build given reasonable time. Fan bases do not tend to exercise patience. This situation Luke is in screams out for patience, that is common sense. But we all know common sense is not so common anymore.
Okay, that will be a wrap on the SEC previews. As I mentioned I will have a weekly run down once the season actually kicks off. I do want to thank those who have already bought into some football action. I've been with Pregame a decade now as a paid capper and the vast majority of years the long term guys know I make money in football far more often than not. My Triples and Rabid Dogs have been consistent winners year after year. As for the Bowls which I know many love to play and from a capping standpoint can present some real challenges, I have cashed on 67% of my last forty bowl releases. I've had some fantastic seasons, some good seasons, some fair seasons and no really bad ones. Football is my strongest sport. The early bird package is up and available and the price is beyond reasonable. One reasonable investment up front and you get every release in college and league action throughout the regular AND post season. Every Triple, Rabid Dog, GOY, Bowl release and NFL playoff release. The NFL post season has been terrific as I have cashed on 26 of my last 35 NFL playoff Triples, 74% winners. As for the super bowl I have cashed on 10 of the last 12 overall super bowl releases, 83%.
Anyway, always more work to do and I assure you I am on it. Exciting time of year with football just around the corner. Best of luck as always fellas. Appreciate your stopping by.