2007 SEC College Football Picks & Predictions
June 5, 2008
The SEC is the toughest conference in the land with any of the 12 teams being able to win any given game on a given night. Now we have to try to make our SEC predictions and it won’t be easy. Urban Meyer delivered Florida’s second national championship in 10 years last season. A repeat is highly unlikely. It looks to be LSU or Tennessee’s year, but team such as Auburn or Georgia could make a strong run for the SEC title as well.
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We are taking LSU to grab the SEC Championship come seasons’ end. Their defense returns eight starters and is as nasty as any unit in the country. They have a very manageable road schedule to help as well. Matt Flynn will step in right away with his experience under JaMarcus Russell. Flynn has taken plenty of snaps to be ready to lead this team. Les Miles has 22 wins in two seasons, but no SEC title. He will do everything in his power to make it happen in his third year.
The Tennessee Volunteers will finally make a run at an SEC Championship this season led by Erik Ainge. Ainge set UT’s record for passing accuracy last season. Their run game should be much improved. No big playmakers at receiver and three starters gone in the secondary will prove to be their downfall in the end. The Florida Gators will give Tennessee a run for their money in the SEC East, but no BCS bowl will be in their future for the 2007 season. Tim Tebow has talent, but we don’t think he is quite ready to lead a team by himself. The offensive line returning four starters will help his cause. Their downfall will be the fact that nine starters from their swarming defense last season are gone.
After Florida we feel that Arkansas is the next most talented team. They have the best 1-2 punch in the country with Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. Marcus Monk is a playmaker at wide receiver as well. The Razorbacks just don’t have the passing game to force teams to respect this aspect of the game. Opposing defenses will have nine men in the box to stop the run. They lose two defenders early to the NFL as well. The Georgia Bulldogs are next in line after beating ranked opponents in each of their last three games. Quarterback Mathew Stafford returns after throwing just one interception those three big wins and should have loads of confidence knowing he’s the main man behind center.
The Auburn Tigers have Brandon Cox with head coach Tommy Tuberville labeling his quarterback as one of the best in the country. Defensive end Quentin Groves didn’t turn pro and must see something in this team that we don’t. They could shock some folks but the facts tell us otherwise. They lost their top rusher, receiver, tackler and cornerback from last season. A tough road schedule looks disastrous as well. It will be interesting to see what Alabama can do in Nick Saban’s first year as head coach, but we have them falling right behind Auburn in the SEC West. The Crimson Tide return nine offensive starters, but no proven running back. A load of defensive starters gone will not help Saban’s defensive prowess in his first year, but give Alabama a couple seasons and they will be one of the best defensive teams in the country.
The rest of the SEC will be a bunch of bottom feeders unless
South Carolina can make some noise behind head coach Steve Spurrier. The Gamecocks do return quarterback Black Mitchell and running back Cory Boyd, to go along with nine starters on defense. This team has the talent to make some noise.
Vanderbilt and
Kentucky will pull off one or two upsets a piece this season just because of their explosive offenses. The Wildcats’ QB in Andre Woodson along with RB Rafael Little and WR Keenan Burton are a deadly triple threat. The Commodores return All-SEC talented wide receiver Earl Bennett along with 18 starters total including nine on offense. Vanderbilt just doesn’t have enough talent defensively and have road games at Auburn, Tennessee and Florida.
Mississippi State and
Ole Miss are the clear bottom feeders of this conference and probably won’t be making any noise in SEC play. The Bulldogs rushing offense and turnover margin was last in the SEC. They do return 10 offensive starters so they should be Sylvester Croom’s best squad, but that just won’t be good enough in the touch SEC. Ole Miss returns nine offensive starters, but All-American linebacker Patrick Willis is gone and quarterback Brent Schaeffer was a bust. No chance for the Rebels to go bowling in 2007.
The SEC should be fun to watch play out in 2007 with so many teams that could contend for a title. The Big Ten Conference is right up there with Michigan leading the way, but the SEC as a whole is a tougher conference. LSU, Tennessee, Florida, Arkansas, Georgia and Aubern have a shot at winning the conference. Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide could make a run with the work ethic he demands out of his players. It will be exciting to see how the 2007 season plays out with the SEC.
