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Record predictions after Week 8: We still like Alabama and Georgia for 12-0
By Joe Cox
Published:
The round of SEC blowouts that made up Week 8 weren’t shockers … but they might have shocked our season record predictions. How do we see the rest of the year shaping up? Here’s our 2017 season predictions after Week 8.
SEC West
Alabama: 12-0
In kind of a dozy day, the Tide won by 38 points and outgained Tennessee by almost 500 yards. Ho-hum, another day at the office.
Arkansas: 4-8
In the past, we’ve pointed out that there weren’t six wins on the Razorbacks’ schedule. Now, it’s not looking like there are five. Next week’s game in Oxford looks like a loss. Coastal Carolina and home vs. Mizzou are the remaining wins for the 2-5 Hogs.
Auburn: 8-4
Some will see this and think we’re anti-Auburn. No, but what a brutal November schedule the Tigers have coming. Georgia and Alabama look awfully hard to beat.
LSU: 9-3
Lose to Troy and by 30 to Mississippi State and finish second in the West? It’s still incredibly possible. Tennessee and Arkansas look like gimmes.
Ole Miss: 5-7
Matt Luke has done a phenomenal job of keeping his team focused, but the challenge will become exponentially bigger after news that Shea Patterson will be lost for the rest of the year with a knee injury.
Mississippi State: 8-4
State will lose the four games it loses by about 120 points, but might win the other eight by about 300. It always ends up being feast or famine with this team.
Texas A&M: 8-4
Two road games to finish won’t be fun, but the Aggies may be better than we think. There’s nine wins and second place in the West out there for the taking.
SEC East
Florida: 6-5
There’s a very real possibility of a 5-5 Gators team taking on a lackluster 5-5 Florida State squad with a bowl game on the line. Would that not be the weirdest game ever?
Georgia: 12-0
The Bulldogs had a week off, and aside from the fact that Auburn was relatively impressive in its game, we saw little to change our minds about an undefeated UGA season. (And that wasn’t enough to change our minds.)
Kentucky: 7-5
Yeah, yeah, the Wildcats were in the 9-3 hunt a week ago. Losing by 38 will sober up Big Blue Nation in a hurry. Realistically, Kentucky has an excellent shot at the next three games — home vs. Tennessee and Ole Miss, and at Vandy. The Wildcats probably nab two of the three, and finish with seven wins.
Missouri: 3-9
The last time Mizzou played UConn, the score was 9-6. Going to guess it doesn’t end up that way this time.
South Carolina: 8-4
Georgia and Clemson are losses, but 8-4 probably earns the Gamecocks second place in the East. After they lost to Kentucky and Deebo Samuel got hurt, that seemed unimaginable.
Tennessee: 6-6
At this point, we’ll stay the course with predictions of wins over Southern Miss, Mizzou and Vandy. By the time Vandy rolls around, most UT fans would probably just as soon lose that game and end this misery.
Vanderbilt 5-7
Vandy’s path to a bowl is a home sweep of November games with WKU, Kentucky and Missouri, or two of those plus an upset of UT. Is it still an upset? Guess here is that the Dores fall short and have to rely on their APR score to keep playing.
Joe Cox is a columnist for Saturday Down South. He has also written or assisted in writing five books, and his most recent, Almost Perfect (a study of baseball pitchers’ near-miss attempts at perfect games), is available on Amazon or at many local bookstores.
