This thread has 2 rules: 2 new teams a day and only those 2 teams... and no thread drifts. If it's Miss State day, I'd like your thoughts on the bulldogs and you can mention opponents that may cause problems for them and why... but do not turn it into 'Ya know the Gator's have a similar problem with the 3 deep at TB as well'.. The Gators will get their day... If you don't know anything about the team, maybe read up on them a bit and make a contribution..or ask a question..As for thread drifts... I'm sure Uncle Vern's cornbread is the best anyone has had, but if the fact that he lives near Athens doesn't mean it's relevant to Georgia football.. Let's see how long this lasts... Today's teams.. Vanderbilt and Georgia.. I'll post those in a sec.
Vandy beat Tenn last year for the first time in forever and Georgia surpised no one by losing comfortably to LSU in the SECCG. Once again I think Ga has the cakewalk SEC schedule into Atlanta.....playing Ole Miss and Auburn from the west and missing Bama, LSU and Ark. Was Vandy getting that much better or was Tenn that bad? Combination I think.....
Vanderbilt. I like Coach Franklin and if they stick with this guy, he could take them places. SEC fans arrogantly proclaim that Vanderbilt will never be a power in the SEC. This is one of those examples in which SEC fans, while knowing a LOT about football, don't understand college football as a whole. Vandy could become a Stanford. It won't be as easy, but it's possible. Tennessee is not California when it comes to talent in number but Nashville is quite possibly the crown jewel of SEC cities and the education is second to none in the conference. The South is a weird area because it is growing so fast, and something people don't seem to be talking about it... those people moving here aren't from the South.. They don't like being told they have to chose between 'Auburn/Alabama' and they don't like the 'if you ain't cheatin, you ain't trying' mindset that seems to plague this conference... Vanderbilt is in a very good strategic position. Will they piss it away? Who knows, but it's right there for the taking. This isn't one of the cream teams in the SEC yet, and won't be for a few years, but they are moving forward. People should take note of that. They finished 6-7 last year losing a bowl game to Cincinnati. A closer look at their schedule shows some tales that should not be forgotten or overlooked. 1. Vandy pissed a game away against Arkansas (yes, that Arkansas) that it had no business losing. They also coughed up a game against Tennessee that I felt could have/should have gone either way. They played Florida tight losing 26-21 as well as Georgia 33-28. Only two teams thumped Vandy last year (Alabama 34-0 and South Carolina 21-3). The thing to note here was that Vandy was in all of the games sans two. Think about that... This is one of those things that could swing either way, but if these guys grow and continue to buy into Coach Franklin's crazy ass ways.. some of those breaks might start falling in their favor. 2. The difference between Vandy and the rest of the conference is linemen. They have some decent linemen, but they do not have depth. Only recruiting can cure this, and this will be the biggest test of Coach Franklin ultimately. 3. They are doing some creative things (for now) offensively. They've dumped their 5 deep QB chart and put more athletes on the field. Their #3 QB is now their starting slot WR. I would not be shocked to see them fluidly go no huddle wildcat and try to create matchup problems for some defenses with this. I think they have a transfer coming in at QB but I can't see him beating out Aaron Rodgers brother for that spot. Their WRs are ok and they have shifty RBs but no real bruisers. There is also the saga of 3 Maryland players who want to transfer to Vandy. Edsal finally released the players but then filed charges against Vandy for tampering. We'll see if anything comes of it. 4. Gone from Vandy's schedule is the annual ass kicking at the hands of the Crimson Tide. Their slate looks like this: Sept: SCAR, @Northwestern, Presbyterian, @Georgia and BYE Oct: @Missouri, Florida, Auburn, UMASS Nov: @Kentucky, @Ole Miss, Tennessee, @Wake Forest If this team wins 8 games or more, I think it will be a sign of good things in Nashville to come. If they go .500.. there will be questions.. anything less than .500 and it will be business as usual and Franklin will be in trouble. They have some expectations there, and they should.
BTW: Dave... further proving that you only watch/know Gator football... Tennessee beat Vandy 27-21 in Knoxville last year in a game that many Vandy fans are still angry about because they feel they let it get away.
Georgia Georgia appears to be the cream of the SEC East on paper. Last year they were hammered by Boise State and LSU. No shame in either. I was surprised to see by season's end that this was the nation's 3rd ranked defense. That defense only loses two starters and they return quite possibly the best tandem of interior LBers in college football. Defensively, this should be a very good, athletic team. Offensively, they appear to be loaded in terms of skill players. Aaron Murray looks special at QB, they have a ton of great WRs and I was/am really shocked to hear from Bulldog camps that super stud freshman (to be sophomore) RB Crowell may well wind up being replaced by a freshman in the lineup as the season goes a long... The big problem? They have to replace 3 OLs and that's never a good thing. We'll see what Richt had stocked up in the cupboard. If they can reload on the OL, this is a team that could be playing in Atlanta again. Looking at their schedule.. I don't see a game they shouldn't win. Sept: Buffalo, @Missouri, Florida Atlantic, Vanderbilt, Tennessee (4 of those 5 at home and the Dogs could be 5-0 at the end of Sept... Oct: @SCAR, BYE, @Kentucky, Florida @JAX (they spend the whole month of Oct on the road but should be favored in every game). Nov: Ole Miss, @Auburn, Georgia Southern, Georgia Tech There are teams that COULD beat them. I could just as easily see them run the table. Something to keep in mind.. I believe they replace both kicker and punter.. special teams and defense wins championships.. It's tough to start a title run with a question mark on either of those.
Georgia goes 10-2.....losing to UF and SC but still wins the East due to their cake schedule. The Dawgs are at SC and heck....UF sucked pretty bad last year but still would have beaten Georgia with a healthy John Brantley. They lose again to either Bama or LSU in Atlanta. You're right about Vandy....I got them confused with Kentucky.....who did finally beat the Vols last year.
well **** Dave, you would have beaten them if Tebow had another year of eligibility.. Thems the breaks.. Sid. Thanks, (provided that's not sarcasm) I'm just trying to stoke up some real football conversation and we have forever fallen into our respective camps.. Being an ND and Pac12 guy, but who has now spent 11 years in the heart of Dixie.. I feel I have a pretty good grasp on things here so why not toss my hat in the ring and see if we can get talk going.
My point Corey is that a bad Florida team should have beaten Georgia. The preseason hype on Ga. may be a case of many bad players returning.....I've seen that before....and it fools people into thinking that they will excel in a new season. Saw it last year with UF.....lots of "studs" on offense who were abysmal when it counted. Georgia will be the worst 10-2 team this year....a team that in reality is more like 7-5 or 8-4 with a different schedule.
your division was shitty last year, it will probably be shitty again this year.. just wait, we're getting to Florida.. I promise.
Not at all. I liked it. I look forward to what you have to say about other teams. Heck, it may influence me to follow the SEC closer than I have in past years.
Thanks for the topic Corey... it will help me get acquainted with my new foes. I'm not yet qualified to speak on any of the teams other than A&M, Mizzou, and maybe Arkansas, so I'll sit back and read for the most part...
Dooley at Tennessee has another coulpe years grace period to reverse the damage done by Kiffen and his band of merry men. I look for improvement over last year but not expecting miracles at this point.
I hope coach Franklin keeps building Vandy, it would be good for Vandy and the SEC. The Gators currently hold a 21 game winning streak against Vandy but it typically doesn't come easy for the Gators. In two of our Championship seasons, 1996 and 2006 the Gators were lucky to squeeze by Vandy 28-21 and 25-19. In 2005 we won 49-42 in OT in a game that was somewhat controversial. Vandy scored in the last seconds where the extra point tied the game. However at that point Vandy had the momentum and the coach planned on going for 2 and the win. However a celebration penalty put the ball back 15 yards so Vandy kicked the point. If they had gone for 2 it is very likely they would have beat us. Also on a personal level I will long remember one the the games I attended. In 1958 when I was a student we played Vandy in Gainesville in a driving rain. It rained almost the whole game and was pouring with just a few minutes to go and the Gators were losing 6-0. Many of the fans had left, and with about 3 minutes or so to go and the Gators doing nothing I finally had enough of the rain and left myself. I was outside the stadium heading back to my Frat house where I lived. I was less than a block away when a tremendous roar went up. The Gators had scored to tie the game. I think we recovered a fumble and then scored. We missed the extra point and the game ended 6 - 6. But I will remember the rest of my life getting drenched that day then missing the comeback. Vandy does very well in other sports in the SEC, basketball in particular. They won the SEC tournament this year against eventual NCAA winner Kentucky. That was Kentucky's only loss to an SEC team this year. I agree with Corey that it is possible when a school gets the right coach and things break right to build a program and I would like Vandy to do it.
Georgia is a team that annually gets good talent and does very well. They have won the SEC twice under Richt and appeared in the Championship game one other time, last year, and lost to LSU. I am not sure what to make of Richt as a head coach. He gets the talent, wins a lot of games but if you look at the talent you would think they could have won more Championships. Arron Murray is a good, and maybe great, QB, their defense should be outstanding and the SEC East is still not as good as the West right now. Georgia does not have to play either LSU or Alabama during the regular season which should be a major advantage to them. Tennessee and Florida are down from past years, but S. Carolina has risen and is very tough. I see the East as Georgia being favored but S. Carolina could beat them out, and the dark horse if Florida.
Indeed, Georgia has always been a head-scratcher to me. They are a perennial "up and comer" and Richt is usually ranked as an elite coach, but year after year they seem to underperform.
Georgia's bad luck was that some of their best chances for a national title were the 2007-2009 teams that all had the misfortune of playing a much more difficult schedule when the dawgs actually fielded some pretty good teams. Playing at LSU in 2008 the week before the revenge game against UF killed the preseason #1 pups.....losing 49-10 in Jax. Corey hasn't moved on to LSU yet but still Les Miles plows ahead with questionable answers about the BCS Title game vs. Bama: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/eye-on-college-football/19205075/les-miles-we-would-have-called-the-exact-same-plays-in-bcs-doover Same plays....with better execution changes the miserable results?? I don't think so Les you grasseatin son of a gun...... :roll:
sorry, life got in the way for a bit.... today's two teams are men who I think are officially 'on the clock'... not the hot seat..yet, but certainly on the clock. Tennessee and Mississippi State