By
Brian Harbach
Last February I took a chance and decided to make some ridiculously early SEC predictions for the 2009 SEC football season. It is hard enough to predict what will happen in August let alone February, but it didn’t turn out all bad with me hitting on 8 of the 15 predictions and some of the others being close. With recruiting coming to an end it makes sense to try and talk some actual football and discuss 13 SEC Predictions for 2010.
13) 2010 will be Steve Spurrier’s last in the SEC
This was the first prediction on my list last year and while I softened a little in the summer 2009 but my opinion will not waiver one bit this time around. Last year I thought he would resign, this year he might be fired. Carolina fans don’t want to hear this, but he has done a miserable job in his five years as the Gamecock head coach and with some fans expecting (I can’t make this up) their first trip to Atlanta in 2010, Spurrier is in serious trouble with another 7-8 win season.
12) Les Miles will not be coaching at LSU in 2011
This one could happen a number of ways, I think another 4 or 5 loss season will cost him his job, but it is just as likely that Rich Rod will be gone from Michigan and Miles’ alma mater goes at him harder than they did a couple years ago. I think UM will have to hire a Michigan man and with Les feeling some pressure from LSU it makes sense for him to make a move while he can.
11) Urban Meyer will coach every Florida game this year
At this point I am just kind of annoyed at this entire situation. Will he, won’t he, health issues, family pressure…honestly I don’t care at this point. Either you are going to coach or you are not. It seems pretty obvious that whatever statement he made back in December was worthless and after announcing he will coach spring practice, Meyer will be coaching the Gators this fall. We may never know the entire story as to why he decided to resign/leave of absence/take a role the Athletic Department/screw it, I’m going to coach.
10) Expect Arkansas to take a big step forward this year.
Last year I went out on a limb to say that Arkansas would battle for the West this year and that was probably one year early because the Razorbacks have the team to make a serious push this season. Ryan Mallett, a strong group of talented running backs and a young defense that has been playing for two seasons should help push Arkansas into double digit wins this fall.
9) Expect Ole Miss and Tennessee to take big steps backwards..
Both the Rebels and Volunteers are going to take some lumps this year and while Tennessee is unlikely to make a bowl for the second year in a row due to a nasty schedule; Ole Miss may once again be saved by their scheduling philosophy. Ole Miss is the only SEC team not to play a BCS opponent out of conference, but at least this year they only have one FCS program on the slate. Tennessee is completely rebuilding their team and coaching staff while Ole Miss is only looking for replacements, neither team will be pretty this year but one will be in a bowl game and it won’t be the first time HC in Knoxville.
8) Each team from the SEC West will play in a bowl game
The West is going to have a distinct advantage over the East this year and each Western division team has an excellent shot at winning six games. MSU has a much more manageable schedule than they have in past years even with a road game at Houston. Ole Miss will struggle but once again their AD loaded up on cupcakes to ensure another postseason bid for Houston Nutt and the other four teams are good enough to make return trips to post New Year’s games.
7) The SEC Game of the Year will be the Iron Bowl
This predictions assumes two things, first is that Alabama is going to be really good next year and the second is that Auburn is going to be better in year two under Chizik. Looking over the conference schedule there are some heavy hitters like the yearly clashes between LSU and Florida, the Cocktail party, Saban’s second return trip to LSU, but the Iron Bowl will be the best of the bunch. The 2009 Iron Bowl may have been the best game in the SEC a season ago and this year is shaping up to be another classic. Right now, this is the game I have circled in the SEC.
6) The SEC East will be a One Team Race Again
The five other SEC East teams all think they have a chance with all that Florida has lost, but with all the talent they have on the sidelines don’t expect any other SEC East team to compete with the Gators in 2010. UGA has a new defensive philosophy and will be breaking in a new QB, South Carolina lost a ton on defense and still has no running game, Tennessee has no QB and we don’t need to bring up the other two. The Gators are still the class of the East with or without Meyer and without Tim Tebow.
5) The SEC’s Highest Heismen Vote-getter will be Ryan Mallett
This is not assuming anything negative about returning Heisman winner Mark Ingram, but Mallet could have an even better season this year after playing a full season of SEC games. It is very hard for players to repeat as Heisman winners because it is so hard to improve on numbers that were worthy of college football’s greatest individual award. If Tim Tebow can’t win multiple Heisman trophies, I am willing to bet that Mark Ingram will not do it either.
4) The SEC Championship Game matchup will be the same for the third year in a row.
Obviously from prediction number eight I really like Florida to win the East, but even in an extremely competitive SEC West, Alabama is the team to beat. They bring back a Heisman trophy winner, a Championship quarterback and the best defensive mind in college football. Even with the losses on defense, the Tide will have plenty of fire power to repeat as the SEC West Champs.
3) Alabama will repeat as SEC Champions
Every team needs to be able to run the football and play good defense to win championships and Alabama definitely has that in 2010, but the biggest reason I like the Crimson Tide to repeat is Greg McElroy. McElroy is a winner, he won in high school, he won in college and the player that was once thought to be the reason Alabama wouldn’t win a title, was one of the biggest reasons they did. With all the weapons coming back on offense (Ingram, Richardson, Jones, etc) it is hard to imagine the offense not being better in 2010 and McElroy will be a big part of that offensive success.
2) The SEC will put two teams in BCS Bowl games for the 5th Straight Season.
There is no questioning the respect the SEC gets in terms of BCS games and this year the league will put another two teams into the BCS. The SEC’s record the last four years in BCS games is 7-1 and of course you know four of those victories were in the BCS Championship game. The BCS will find a way to put two SEC teams in their stadiums because they travel well, sell tickets and play great football.
1) The SEC will not have a team in the BCS Championship Game
This one is not going to make most SEC fans happy, but I don’t see the league getting an opportunity to play for a fifth consecutive national championship this season. In the last decade only two teams have gone unbeaten from the league and it is such a difficult task to accomplish. I can see the SEC Champion being at least a 1-loss team. There will be two unbeatens, maybe three in college football this year from other conferences. Looking at the schedules for teams like Boise State (who will be given every chance to make the championship game), Ohio State, Southern Cal, Virginia Tech and a few others it looks like there will be multiple unbeatens again in 2010. Now all records being equal the SEC Champ will get into a BCS Championship game, but they will not jump another BCS team or College Football sweetheart if those records are not equal.
What do you think of my early predictions? Let me know where I am right, where I am wrong and your thoughts for the SEC in 2010. E-mail
me Brian Harbach
|