SINCE WE LAST SPOKE 7-16-15
BEWARE OF THE BEST PAIR: With apologies to former Tennessee Head Coach Phillip Fulmer sometimes predicting the outcome of the SEC Division races has more to do with “assigned foes” rather than “Jimmies and Joes”. As in who are your two non-division SEC opponents? My Brother Freddy has long asserted that Division races are often decided when the schedule is announced rather than when it is played. With expected tightly contested races set to occur the difference could well be who caught a break in scheduling and who didn’t. With that here’s the breakdown of whose
running unopposed and who
got hosed listed by Division in (by my opinion only) reverse order of difficulty
WEST
TEXAS A&M:
(S Carolina; @Vandy) Having your only non-division road game in Dudley Field and a home game versus a seemingly fading South Carolina program qualifies as a great draw.
OLE MISS:
(Vandy; @Florida) The Commodores are a great boost to any schedule and The Swamp has been drained.
MISS ST:
(Kentucky; @Missouri) The Tigers have been much better than expected in the SEC but if you’re traveling to a Columbia the one in Missouri is where you want to go
LSU:
(@S Carolina; Florida) The Bayou Bengals appear to have the best schedule of the true Western Division championship hopefuls
ARKANSAS:
(@Tennessee; Missouri) Neyland has long since lost its daunting aura for opponents and Missouri at home is a very winnable game.
AUBURN:
(@Kentucky; Georgia) Catching Georgia at home paired with a trip to Lexington (not to mention hosting Bama at Jordan-Hare) may help the Tigers overcome their in-state rivals
ALABAMA:
(@Georgia; Tennessee) Will a trip to Athens cost the Tide a trip to Atlanta?
EAST
MISSOURI:
(Miss St; @Arkansas) Tigers have been surprising and fortunate over the last two seasons. The good fortune continues with their 2015 non-division draw
VANDERBILT:
(@Ole Miss; Texas A&M) A favorable slate wasted
S CAROLINA:
(LSU; @Texas A&M) Spurrier has to feel good about drawing a pair of Chavis-coached defenses
KENTUCKY:
(Auburn; @Miss St) This season Starkville is probably the best West stop you could hope for
FLORIDA:
(Ole Miss; @LSU) Baton Rouge is no picnic but LSU’s QB play will probably be pedestrian and the Gators defense will travel.
TENNESSEE:
(Arkansas; @Alabama) Vols inevitably catch a hot West team to pair with annual juggernaut Bama
GEORGIA:
(Alabama; @Auburn) If the Dawgs make it to Atlanta they will have dang-sure earned it. They have far and away the most difficult non-division schedule of 2015
CROWD PLEASING OR COWARDLY? The SEC is often –and deservedly- viewed as cowardly in their non-conference opponent scheduling approach. Let’s look at who should be indicted this season
NOT GUILTY
FLORIDA:
(New Mexico St; East Carolina; Florida Atl; Florida St) I’ll begrudgingly give credit to adding East Carolina to the annual showdown with the Seminoles
OLE MISS:
(UT Martin; Fresno St; New Mexico St; @Memphis) I’m sure Rebel schedule makers had no idea Memphis would be pretty good at the time the slate was constructed and the game is away from Vaught-Hemingway.
MISSOURI:
(SE Missouri St; @Arkansas St; U-Conn; BYU (KC) Credit for playing BYU late in the season where most of the conference has placed absolute patsies. While admirable I am wondering why in hell is an SEC team traveling to Jonesboro Arkansas?
S CAROLINA:
(N Carolina (Char); C Florida; Citadel; Clemson) Adding the Tarheels to go along with Clemson is downright heroic for this league
CHARGED WITH MISDEMEANOR
ALABAMA:
(Wisconsin (Arlington); MTSU; UL Monroe; Charleston Sou): Alabama seemingly always opens with a solid opponent on a neutral field then fills the rest of the spots with dregs
AUBURN:
(Louisville (Atl); Jacksonville St; San Jose St; Idaho) Copying Alabama’s modus-operandi can’t be pleasing to War Eagle Nation
KENTUCKY:
(UL Lafayette; Eastern Ky; UNC Charlotte; Louisville) ULL is the best of the Bayou-Breathers and the Cats do play the Cardinals. It still looks more like a basketball schedule though.
GEORGIA:
(UL Monroe; Southern; Ga Southern; @Ga Tech) The Ramblin Wreck is pretty solid now so the Dawgs would remove them if at all possible
TENNESSEE:
(Bowling Green (Nash) Oklahoma; W Carolina; N Texas St) One of the best cross-sectional matchups of my lifetime is supplemented with nada
TEXAS A&M:
(Ariz St (Hous); Ball St; Nevada; W Carolina) The obligatory early neutral site game with nothing to follow. The Aggies learned the SEC way quickly
FELONIOUS ASSAULT OF YOUR FANBASE
ARKANSAS:
(UTEP; Toledo; Texas Tech; UT Martin) Red Raiders are the only Power Conference team on the slate and they’re picked to finish 8th in a 10-team league
LSU:
(McNeese St; @Syracuse; Eastern Mich; Western Ky) Absolutely stealing ticket money
MISS ST:
(@Sou Miss; Northwestern St; Troy; La-Tech) When a team projected to win the C-USA West Division (La-Tech) is your headliner that is grand larceny
VANDY:
(W Kentucky; Austin Peay; @MTSU; @Houston) Regardless who they play the Commodores are brutal enough
CATEGORIZING HOPE: I’ve found yet another way to measure the escalating hope permeating Big Orange Country on the eve of the 2015 football season; categorizing preseason expectations. For this exercise I will break down both last and this season’s schedules by tagging games as likely wins, likely losses or tossups. Since there doesn’t appear to be a measurable difference in difficulty between the 2014 and 2015 schedules I believe the game placement/tagging will make my point self-explanatory.
2014
LIKELY WINS (5)
UTAH ST
ARKANSAS ST
UTC
KENTUCKY
@VANDY
LIKELY LOSSES (5)
@OKLAHOMA
@GEORGIA
@OLE MISS
ALABAMA
@S CAROLINA
VERY WINNABLE (2)
FLORIDA
MISSOURI
2015
LIKELY WINS (5)
BOWLING GREEN
WESTERN CAROLINA
@KENTUCKY
N TEXAS ST
VANDY
LIKELY LOSSES (1)
@ALABAMA
VERY WINNABLE (6)
OKLAHOMA
@FLORIDA
ARKANSAS
GEORGIA
S CAROLINA
@MISSOURI
If you’re keeping score at home
Likely Wins remained the same at 5;
Likely Losses decreased from 5 to only 1 and
Very Winnable games increased from 2 to 6. Am I looking for silver linings or do you feel it too?
WHO WOULD YOU PULL FOR IF NOT THE VOLS? While hosting the
Tony Basilio Show during The Dean’s short on-air sabbatical last week I threw out the question
if you couldn’t be a Tennessee Fan who would you pull for in College Football? Here is my answer and how I came to my conclusion:
THE AUBURN TIGERS:
-I prefer an SEC School with a long-standing, storied football tradition
-Tigers have historically been a hard-nosed, physical football team especially on the defensive side
-I enjoy their blue-collar approach and mentality both on the field and in the stands
-I could keep the persistent chip on my shoulder from seemingly always being under someone’s thumb
-Could still wear some orange
-Could still hate Alabama and even ramp up my animosity to a higher level
-Could still despise Georgia
-Wouldn’t have to intermingle with Florida fans -who have proven themselves over and again to be the dregs of the SEC- nearly as often as currently required
-I love Auburn’s campus
-Would actually have a place to park my car without facing an iron-man-like endurance trek to the stadium
-They have the best fight song in the league.
Check it out
IN A PERFECT WORLD: There wouldn’t be seven weeks between SEC Media Days and SEC Football
IN THE REAL WORLD: My heart breaks for the four Marines killed in Chattanooga in a senseless act of hatred. We must continue to be vigilant, prepared and unrelenting in our defense of the freedoms we so cherish and others hate. May God comfort those that lost their lives loved ones and may he also continue to bless this great country.
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