Two Daves Pick The SEC

Welcome to Two Daves Pick the SEC!  Late August in the South means three things:

-         Ragweed counts are through the ceiling

-         Hurricane season is halfway over

-         SEC Football is about to start

Staying with the number three, we have three new head coaches in the SEC this year:  Gene Chizik at Auburn, Lane Kiffin at Tennessee and Dan Mullen at Mississippi State.  Each of these coaches inherit a program that is deficient (read sucks) to some degree.  Mullen probably has the toughest job, cleaning up after Sylvester Croom Croomed himself.   Then again, on signing day, Lane Kiffin set himself up to get repeatedly bitchslapped by peeing in the swimming pool, accusing Florida’s Urban Meyer of recruiting violations.  Call him boy genius.  Auburn caught some grief by hiring Gene Chizik over Buffalo’s Turner Gill.  What’s the big deal?  A black man can be President of the United States but cannot be head coach at Auburn?  Turner should be thankful; would he really want to coach where one down year does not overcome six consecutive wins over your instate rival?

I’d like to welcome Doug Miller, longtime friend of the Two Daves, as the new permadave.  Doug brings a wealth of SEC football knowledge and smartassedness to the show.   Wit and humor, that’s what we’ve been about for 15 years.  We’re here to help!  So go get yourself a cold coke, boil some peanuts and sit back; it’s finally football season!!!

Doug says:

Well, the most wonderful time of the year is nearly upon us.  No, Mississippi State fans, I’m not talking about deer season.  Of course, I’m referring to the college football season.

I’m thrilled that Dave Magee asked me to write with him this year.  The Two Daves have been a big part of SEC football for many years, and I’ve been fortunate enough to be a “friend of the program” for quite some time.  At its height of popularity, “The Two Daves Pick the SEC” was distributed to thousands of SEC football fans each week, and many fought for the honor of being a Guest Dave and picking alongside the pros.  With your help, I’d like to see us get back to that level.  We plan to develop a blog, allowing us to go interactive, and giving our readers a forum to agree, disagree, curse at us, or send us naked pictures of hot chicks.  On second thought, allowing cursing is probably not a good idea.

 And now, on with the football discussions…

The SEC welcomes three new coaches into the fold this year.  Lane Kiffin has taken over on Rocky Top, and his first few months on the job have been rocky, to say the least.  He’s committed a handful of minor NCAA infractions and managed to piss off a couple of his peers with some red meat comments at alumni gatherings.  Personally, I like it, and I miss the days when coaches would ding each other in the press and the fans’ hatred for their rival would reach the obsession level.  I doubt that Mike Slive shares my enthusiasm, though.  As far as Kiffin’s coaching ability, the jury is still out, but his two biggest recruiting coups so far are his dad, legendary defensive guru Monte Kiffin, and THE ORGERON.  Whether Kiffin is successful or not, watching it all unfold is going to be highly entertaining.

At Mississippi State, Dan Mullen takes over.  This hire is a screaming success already, even before Mullen coaches his first game.  Why?  Well, simply put, he’s not Sylvester Croom.  Croom was a likable guy, but he fielded some of the worst SEC offenses in modern history.  This is a case of addition by subtraction.  Unfortunately for Bulldog fans, their football team could be significantly better, but their record could still be worse than last year, thanks to their brutal schedule, which sees a home slate that includes LSU, Alabama, Georgia Tech, Florida, and Ole Miss.

 The Gene Chizik era begins at Auburn, and I must admit that I chuckled a bit as I typed that.  Getting rid of Tommy Tuberville was a mistake of epic proportions, and you’d be hard-pressed to find many Auburn fans who disagree with that.  To Chizik’s credit, he made a great offensive hire in bringing Gus Malzahn into the fold, which will certainly help with offensive production.  Chizik has history at Auburn, but he’s got a lot of work to do and I’m not sure if he’s the right guy for the job.  Mark your calendars:  September 12 is when Mississippi State visits the Plains and they battle it out for fifth place in the West.

Dave’s SEC East predictions:

1.  Florida.  Tim Tebow has a Heisman Trophy and two BCS Championship rings, so what else could he possibly want?   Obviously, he wants to continue being the God of Gainesville!  Florida lost offensive coordinator Dan Mullen to Mississippi State and Percy Harvin to the NFL.  Not a problem, Urban Meyer is much more than a legend; he’s got the goods to back it up.  Most of the 2008 squad returns and they should breeze through to the SEC Title game,and perhaps another BCS title.

2.  Georgia.  Unlike Florida, Georgia lost its starting QB Matthew Stafford, the overall first draft pick, to the NFL.  Knowshon…gone.  Swanger always says that Georgia has more talent than any other team in the SEC.  Georgia has a history of choking when they should be dominant and being better than expected in down seasons.  Mark Richt will guide this team to eight or nine wins.

3.  South Carolina.  Florida is probably feeling pretty good about hiring Urban Meyer over its once favorite son as head coach.  The visor would have been more successful during his tenure at South Carolina if he had a quarterback that could play his system.  Blake Mitchell, Chris Smelley, Stephen Garcia, these guys simply have not stepped up as Spurrier would like.  When Spurrier has his quarterback, a strange relationship, something akin to the Wonder Twins, he is successful.  Look at the years with Danny Wuerffel…those two were in some kind of Vulcan mind meld.  Da Spur has enough to place third in the SEC East this year, winning seven or eight games.

 4.  Vanderbilt.  What?  Vanderbilt ranked this high??  A sure sign of the Apocalypse!!  Well, maybe not.  Last year Vandy started off 5-0 and struggled to win that sixth game to become bowl eligible.  They did it and won their bowl game.  What more could a Commodore fan ask for?  A repeat!  I think Vandy has a legitimate chance to win six again and go bowling.  Two consecutive bowl games, now that is a sign.

5.  Kentucky.  Rich Brooks has done an admirable job as head coach of the Cats.  I could say the UK will run the table and UK fans will simply not care.  Why?  Two words:  John Calipari.  So what if Memphis is about to get nailed by the NCAA for what happened under Calipari’s watch?  Oh well, this is a football column, so we’ll talk about LB Micah Johnson, a beast that’s on the watch list for the Butkus award, among others.  Kentucky still has a lot of youth at key positions, and that is not a formula for success in the SEC.   If UK fans want to get hung up on two words, they should be Ashley Judd.

6.  Tennessee.  Lane Kiffin came to Tennessee from the coaching graveyard known as the Oakland Raiders.  When Al Davis cans you, can you go much lower? Kiffin did, he hired Ed Orgeron.  In the long run, that might work out for Tennessee.  Hell, Bubb Rubb probably has bad things to say about Kiffin.  Right now, the Vols have a lot of question marks on the field, and Eric Berry.

Doug’s SEC East Predictions:

1.  Florida.  Is there any doubt that the Gators are the best team in the conference this year?  I mean, they return much of their national championship squad, including Tim Tebow.  The loss to Ole Miss was the best thing that happened to them last year, and I don’t think anyone will sneak up on them this year.

 2.  Georgia.  These guys lost a ton.  I’ve always respected Mark Richt as a good football coach, but they have seemed to underwhelm when burdened with high expectations.  This year, there’s less pressure, and I think the Dawgs will perform better as a result.

3.  South Carolina.  I still can’t get used to watching a Spurrier-coached team that has a stout defense as its calling card.  The Cocks have an enigmatic but capable QB and some good talent at the skill positions, but their defense will be the strength of the team.  In the SEC, that’s not a bad thing.

4.  Tennessee.  The Vols could finish as high as second and as low as fifth.  They’re that much of a wild card right now.  Nobody knows what to expect from Kiffin.  Their inconsistencies at QB are well-documented, but this team is not without talent.  They probably have the defensive player of the year and one of the best safeties to come out of the SEC in recent memory.  I expect the Vols to be fairly good defensively, inconsistent on the offensive side of the ball, and outcoached in the fourth quarter of games.  Also, I’m pretty sure Florida will try to hang 60 on them if they can.

5.  Vanderbilt.  It’s the sign that the apocalypse is on us:  the Commodores went to a bowl game last year (and won).  Of course it’s easy to forget that they started out 5-0 and limped down the stretch, losing to Croom’s Bulldogs along the way.  They return a solid nucleus and have one of the best and certainly most underrated head coaches in the league.  A fifth-place prediction is solely due to past history, but this team should be in the bowl picture again.

6.  Kentucky.  Speaking of signs of the apocalypse, Rich Brooks has actually gotten the Wildcats to a level of respectability on the gridiron.  Most Kentucky fans could care less because they’re all still on cloud nine about the John Calipari hiring.  Once the calendar flips to November, football will be forgotten yet again. 

 

Dave’s SEC West Predictions:

1.  LSU.  If Lester starts or plays Jarret “Pick 6” Lee, immediately remove this team from the SEC West title picture.  Jordan Jefferson, allegedly no kin to George, came on strong last year and led the Tigers to a win over Jawga Tekk in the peach bowl.  If you want to talk talent, look no further than Red Stick; they’ve got tons of it.  TE Richard Dickson is the second coming of Jason Witten.  Throw in Charles Scott, Keiland Williams and Chad Jones (who pitched exceptionally well in the College World Series championship game), you’ve got plenty to work with.  LSU should win at least 10 this year.

2.  Ole Miss.  Houston Nutt is showing what good coaching of Ed Orgeron’s recruits can do.  The Rebels went to Dallas and beat the bejesus out of Texas Tech, a team that swore they belonged in the BCS title game.  Right.  Jevon Sneed has plenty of tools to work with, and I see no reason for this team to not win nine games this year, unless its themselves.  The Sports Illustrated Cover kiss of death looms.

3.  Alabama.  After finally using his eighth year of eligibility, John Parker Wilson is gone.  My inbred Alabama relatives think the Tide will be better off without him.  That’s a tough one to argue against.  Talent doesn’t always beat out experience.

4.  Auburn.  Gene Chizik put together a really good recruiting class despite all of the turmoil surrounding his hiring.  The problem is that the freshmen will not immediately make up for deficiencies in talent.  Like Arkansas and Mississippi State, Auburn faces the challenge of rebuilding it’s program.  In the SEC, that usually means you are the punching bag.

5.  Arkansas.  Bobby Petrino is in his second year at pigville, and he should begin seeing some improvement in his program.  Rebuilding takes time, and Petrino will need another year or two in order to right the ship.

6.  Mississippi State.  The SEC’s doormat of the decade.  When Mississippi State fans thought all hope was lost and that Sylvester Croom would be given even more time as head coach, new Athletic Director Greg Byrne called Croom into his office and Sylvester left unemployed.  Enter Florida’s offensive coordinator Dan Mullen, a welcomed breath of fresh air.  Mullen immediately brought hope to a program that desperately needed it.  The problem?  Croom left exactly two players that are of all SEC caliber (second team, at that) for Mullen to work with.  That means this season will be painful for State fans, but hopefully we will not have to endure another 3-2 thriller against Auburn this year.

Doug’s SEC West Predictions:

1.  LSU.  Les Miles can’t lose four games with this kind of talent again, can he?  I foresee a bounce-back year for the Tigers, but that seat is going to get mighty hot if it doesn’t happen.

2.  Ole Miss.  I know the Rebs are the sexy pick to get to Atlanta, and I think they will certainly challenge for it.  They’re just too thin for my taste in key positions.  You don’t lose two first-rounders in the trenches without taking a step back.  Jevan Sneed is the best pure QB in the league, but Reb fans are probably changing the words of Hotty Toddy as I type this to include the phrase “Please God Don’t Let Jevan Get Hurt”.

3.  Alabama.  Bama a little low here?  Maybe so.  I felt that they pulled off a lot of their success last year with smoke and mirrors, and a key injury later, they were getting mauled by Florida and Utah to close out the season.  This year, they break in a new QB.  Julio Jones will make that task a little easier, if the offensive line can protect the QB.

4.  Arkansas.  Bobby Petrino has the type of QB he covets for his offensive philosophy.  One thing that’s never been a concern is Petrino’s offensive output.  My biggest concerns with the Hogs are their defense, and their brutal schedule.  I think Arkansas will be competitive for a bowl spot, but I am going to be very interested in the rematch with LSU this year.  If Petrino can win that game again, he may cement himself as a big game SEC coach.

5.  Auburn.  I flipped the coin, and it came up tails, so that’s why I have Auburn here.  I really think they and MSU are interchangeable members of the SEC West cellar.  There’s some decent talent on the Plains, and the Tigers should be a good defensive football team.  Their problems are offensive.  Malzahn is the right guy to fix that, but it’s going to take time.  It’s one thing to implement a finesse-type spread against C-USA defenses, but it’s something else entirely to do it in the SEC.

6.  Mississippi State.  With a decent kicker, State probably would’ve gone bowling last year.  Of course, then they’d still have Croom under the lopsided cap if that happened.  Sometimes you have to take two steps backward to take three steps forward.  Unlike Malzahn’s spread, Mullen’s spread will be a more physical version, looking to establish the run, which I think is better suited for SEC play.  Better days are coming, but they probably won’t be this year.

Summaries:

Dave:

SEC East

1. Florida
2. Georgia
3. South Carolina
4. Vanderbilt
5. Kentucky
6. Tennessee

 SEC West

1. LSU
2. Ole Miss
3. Alabama
4. Auburn
5. Arkansas
6. Mississippi State

 Doug:

SEC East

1. Florida
2. Georgia
3. South Carolina
4. Tennessee
5. Vanderbilt
6. Kentucky

 SEC West

1. LSU
2. Ole Miss
3. Alabama
4. Arkansas
5. Auburn
6. Mississippi State

Tags: Picks

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