SEC
East
Florida
| Georgia
| Kentucky
| South Carolina
| Tennessee
| Vanderbilt
West
Alabama
| Arkansas
| Auburn
| LSU |
Ole Miss
| Miss State
SEC Fearless Predictions
Sept. 1 | Sept.
8 |
Sept. 15 | Sept.
22 |
Sept. 29
Oct. 6 | Oct.
13 |
Oct. 20 | Oct.
27 |
Nov. 3 | Nov. 17 | Nov.
24 | Dec.
1
How are the picks so far? SU: 62-14 ... ATS:
40-24-2
SEC Fearless Predictions, Week
11,
Part 2
SEC Game of
the Week
Florida (6-3) at South
Carolina (6-4)
7:45
PM
GamePlan
Why to watch: Never really a
rivalry with Florida dominating the
series for years, things got interesting
in a big hurry when Steve Spurrier took
over in Columbia. Now this is one of the
circle games on the SEC schedule and
even has a little bit of potential
impact on the East race. South Carolina
needs to beat the Gators and hope for
Georgia to lose one of its final two games to
at least get in the discussion of
tie-breakers (needing Tennessee to lose
once more, as well), while Florida needs to win
this week and get two Georgia losses to
play for the title. Before thinking
realistically of what might be, USC
needs to simply halt a rough three-game
losing streak starting with a home loss
to Vanderbilt, continuing with a tough
overtime loss to Tennessee, and last
week, getting run all over by Arkansas
in an all-time woeful defensive
performance. A one-time BCS challenger
not only has the Gators this week, but
has to deal with Clemson to close out.
The Gators get a layup against Florida
Atlantic before dealing with Florida
State.
Why Florida might win:
It might not seem like it, but Florida
is running the ball extremely well. Most
of the production has come from Tim
Tebow, who holds the SEC single-season
record for rushing touchdowns by a
quarterback with 14, but Kestahn Moore
is coming off a nice 85-yard day against
Vanderbilt, and Percy Harvin has gotten
even more involved with a 113-yard, two
touchdown day. South Carolina is banged
up, bruised, and reeling, and is showed
last week by giving up 542 rushing yards
and four touchdowns to Arkansas. The
Gators might not have a Darren McFadden
or a Felix Jones, but they should be
able to break out a few big runs if
their speedsters can get into the
linebacking corps with a little room to
move.
Why South Carolina might win: If
you want to throw the ball one Gator
secondary, chuck it up and hope for the
best. Vanderbilt didn't have much luck
last week, but it doesn't have the
passing game South Carolina can crank
out if Blake Mitchell is rolling.
Needing to keep up the pace against
Arkansas, Mitchell threw for 364 yards
and two touchdowns in one of the best
games of his career. If the offensive
line can keep him upright, he should
have another 300 yard day. Florida's
pass rush is hit or miss, and if it
doesn't get a few big hits early, the
secondary will be dinked and dunked on
to death.
Who to watch:
Because his team is 6-3 and out of the
national title hunt, Tim Tebow has
fallen out of the running for the
Heisman. While he's still in the mix to
be a finalist, he's not being talked
about as a true favorite, even though it
could be argued that he's been the best
player in college football this year.
Considering the running backs have been
spotty, and top receiver Andre Caldwell
is just now getting into the flow after
missing time earlier this year hurt,
Tebow has to be given credit for leading
the nation in passing efficiency, while
also leading the Gators in rushing and
with at least one rushing touchdown in
every game. His injured shoulder is
apparently getting a bit better, and
with a layup against Florida Atlantic
next week, this might be a game for him
to start running full throttle again
after carrying it just 19 times in the
last two weeks.
What will happen:
Emotions will always be sky-high for
Florida, but South Carolina is too
beaten up and struggling too much
defensively to handle a relatively
rested Florida team with all the
offensive parts starting to work. It'll
be a bit of an offensive shootout with
the Gators getting just enough balance
in the fourth quarter to keep a hot
Mitchell off the field.
CFN Prediction: Florida
41 ... South
Carolina 35
...
Line: Florida -6.5
Must See
Rating: (5
Seinfeld: Season 9 - 1 Bee
Movie) ... 4
|
SEC Saturday,
November 10th |
Auburn
(7-3)
at Georgia
(7-2)
3:30
PM
CBS
Why to watch: Things have
changed in a big way since last season
when the two met in one of the pivotal
games of the SEC season. Georgia had
been reeling, losing four of five,
shocked an Auburn team 37-15 at Auburn
to ruin its national title hopes, and
has won ten of the last 12 games since.
Now it could be Auburn's turn to ruin
Georgia's year. The Dawgs can rise above
the muddled SEC East race by beating the
Tigers and Kentucky, and hoping for a
Tennessee loss, to play for the SEC
title. Auburn needs a miracle to be in
the SEC title game, with LSU needing to
lose twice, but it can put itself in an
interesting position for a possible BCS
at-large bid by beating Georgia and
Alabama impressively. These are two very
good teams that will likely be among the
top ten teams in the country to start
2008, so while this season is far from
over, this could turn out to be a
tone-setter for next year.
Why
Auburn might win: The defense has
been terrific over the last five games.
LSU was able to hang up 30 points on the
Tigers, with Matt Flynn throwing for 319
yards, but the running game was kept in
relative check, and that was LSU.
Georgia's offense is fine, but if it's
not running the ball well, it's not
likely to put points up in bunches.
Outside of the LSU game, since the start
of October, Auburn has given up seven
points to Vanderbilt, seven to Arkansas,
while holding the Hog ground game to 67
yards, three to Ole Miss and three to
Tennessee Tech. Georgia's offensive line
might be playing well, but it's not
going to be able to dominate the Tiger
defensive front four, and it's not going
to open up big holes for Knowshon
Moreno.
Why Georgia might win: It's not
like Auburn's offense is going to be
confused with Texas Tech. The Tiger
attack is a great matchup for Georgia,
with an average passing game and a
decent ground game that doesn't crank
out big yards against top teams. Auburn
only ran for 99 yards on Florida and 97
on LSU, and it isn't going to motor for
more than 150 on the Dawg defense that's
been solid all year long against
everyone but Tennessee. If the Bulldogs
can somehow come out hot, and get up by
double-digits early on, Auburn will have
to rely fully on Brandon Cox to throw
his way back into the game.
Who
to watch: All but benched earlier in
the year after throwing two
interceptions in each of the first three
games, and bottoming out with a 4-of-12
performance in the loss to Mississippi
State, Cox has been unbelievably solid
ever since completing 67% of his passes
for eight touchdowns and just one
interception. While he won't bomb away
for 300 yards, he won't make many
mistakes. His job against the Bulldogs
will be to keep the chains moving and
keep Georgia's offense off the field.
Meanwhile, Georgia, while needing to run
the ball to win, has gotten more
production from Matthew Stafford and the
passing attack over the last three
games. In the winning streak, he has
throw for over 200 yards in each of the
three with six touchdowns and two
interceptions, and is starting to look
more and more like the star he's
supposed to be. He hasn't had a defining
game yet, but this could be it.
What will happen: Expect
yet another CBS afternoon classic coming
down to the final moments. The team that
loses the turnover battle will lose, and
Georgia will make more mistakes with
Auburn's defensive line getting just
enough pressure in the second half to
pull off the tough win.
CFN Prediction:
Auburn 20
... Georgia 17
...
Line: Georgia -1
Must See
Rating: (5
Seinfeld: Season 9 - 1 Bee
Movie) ... 4
Kentucky
(6-3)
at Vanderbilt
(5-4)
2:00
PM
GamePlan
Why to watch: These might be
improved Kentucky and Vanderbilt teams,
but after all the improvements and the
good battles and the upsets, the two are
still in the SEC East basement. That can
quickly change for the winner,
especially if it's Kentucky, who has won
three in a row over the Commodores and
four of the last five. Already bowl
eligible, now it's about jockeying for a
better position after spending two weeks
off to lick its wounds after a lousy
31-14 home whupping from Mississippi
State. If the Wildcats can get hot and
beat Vandy, Georgia at Georgia, and
Tennessee, they'll do no worse than tie
for East title. Vanderbilt got blasted
by Florida last week in its first
attempt to become bowl eligible, and now
it needs to win one of its final three
games against either Kentucky, Tennessee
or Wake Forest for a sixth win.
Why Kentucky might win: Vanderbilt
doesn't have the offense to keep up with
UK if Andre Woodson and the boys get
rolling. The Cats average 39 points per
game, while the Commodores haven't
scored more than 31 against any FBS
team. This isn't an explosive Commodore
offense with a passing game that
struggles to get anything consistently
going. UK's defense might not be a rock,
but it's been strong at keeping the big
pass plays to a minimum. If Vandy isn't
running well, it's not going to keep up
the pace UK will set.
Why Vanderbilt might win: The
Commodores should be able to generate
pressure on Andre Woodson. Able to crank
out seven sacks on South Carolina and
five on Miami University, there was
little pass rush generate last week
against Florida, unable to stop Tim
Tebow or throw him off his game. The UK
offensive line isn't a brick wall in
pass protection like Florida's is and
will allow a few big shots. It might not
be this simple, but Vandy is 4-0 when it
gets two sacks or more, and 0-4 against
FBS teams when it generated two sacks or
fewer.
Who to watch: Can
Andre Woodson have a game like he came
up with last year? In the 38-26 win over
the Commodores, Woodson threw for 450
yards and four touchdowns with Keenan
Burton catching 11 passes for 171 yards
and two touchdowns. On the other side,
Vandy WR Earl Bennett has destroyed the
Wildcats catching 13 passes for 99 yards
and five touchdowns against the Cats as
a freshman, and made 11 catches for 220
yards and a touchdown last year. With
the passing game not clicking, Bennett
hasn't been explosive over the last five
games and hasn't been able to get into
the end zone. Even so, he'll be a marked
man this week.
What will happen:
Kentucky has too much firepower for
Vandy to keep up. Will the two weeks off
mean the Cats will be sloppy or sharp?
The Commodores will need turnovers to
keep up, and they won't get them from
Woodson, who'll go back to his
ultra-efficient ways.
CFN Prediction:
Kentucky 34
... Vanderbilt
24 ...
Line: Kentucky -3.5
Must
See Rating: (5
Seinfeld: Season 9 - 1 Bee
Movie) ... 2.5
SEC Fearless Predictions, Week
11,
Part 2