We’d like to think we got back on track at the Bold Prediction department last week. We told you UT would take down Mississippi State, and that Lynn Bowden would find a way to win for Kentucky. We told you Georgia would have a statement game — although we might have misunderstood what that statement would be.

In any case, right or wrong, last week is gone, and we’re going back to the drawing board to bring you a series of off-the-wall predictions for this week’s SEC action.

Muschamp’s season of redemption continues

He beat Kentucky, he beat Georgia, but with the possibility of a very limited or missing QB, how can Will Muschamp do it again? Simple, South Carolina has a vastly improving pass defense, and Florida’s run game has been hit and miss all year long (12th in SEC in rushing, 13th in yards per carry). Carolina will run and eat the clock and shock the world yet again.

Bo Nix gets right

Arkansas couldn’t beat Kentucky, and it isn’t going to beat Auburn. Meanwhile, the Gus Bus has had an extra week to get things back on track, and Bo Nix is going to have a big, big day. Put him down for 300 yards passing as Auburn wins by 35.

LSU struggles … for a half

In the up-and-down emotional world of college football, LSU can’t sustain this kind of sharp play. Can they? Well, maybe. But meanwhile, an up-against-it MSU team with Garrett Shrader getting the call is going to give them a handful for the first half on Saturday. Late in the game, LSU will pull away and win but won’t cover the point spread. At least it’ll give Coach O something to improve.

Larry Rountree outgains Vandy

Vandy is very, very bad. Mizzou, since that horrific first game loss to Wyoming, is very, very good. Mizzou is 4th in the SEC in rushing, gaining right at 200 yards per game on the ground. Vandy is last in the SEC in rush defense (and scoring defense, and total defense, and 13th in pass defense). Missouri won’t just dominate, it will also shut down Vandy to such an extent that Rountree might outgain the entire Vanderbilt team. Vandy averages 338 yards, but that includes Northern Illinois and UNLV. If Rountree can end up with around 150 yards (and with Kelly Bryant still a little banged up, that’s not implausible), he could outgain the Commodores.

Georgia covers the spread and pounds on the ground

Take an offensively limited Kentucky team (with or without a QB other than wide receiver Lynn Bowden), add in an incredibly fired up Georgia squad with something to prove, and watch this one get ugly. We’ll take Georgia not only to cover the point spread (35 sounds more accurate), but to have two players rush for 100 yards each — D’Andre Swift and Zamir White.

Plumlee pulls the upset

On paper, a month ago, this was a no-doubter. Texas A&M is probably a more talented team than Ole Miss. But meanwhile, with John Rhys Plumlee, Ole Miss has become a grind-and-pound team that hung with Missouri last week. Missouri is better than A&M … and A&M is not far removed from just surviving against Arkansas, which is worse than Ole Miss. By the commutative property of college football, Ole Miss wins this game.

Plumlee will run it some (125 yards), Matt Corral will throw it some (150 passing yards), and A&M doesn’t have enough firepower on the ground to offset it. Make it 35-31 Rebels.

Alabama doesn’t cover

Similarly, a month ago, you could not set a spread for UT/Bama that Tennessee could cover. 40? 45? Sure. But that was then. Even if UT isn’t a force — and they’re not — they do have some vestige of competitiveness and pride. Meanwhile, Bama just gave up 31 and 28 points to Ole Miss and A&M. There’ll be some kicking woes, some unfocused penalties, and some bad defense against the pass (the Tide have given up 9 passing TDs this year). Alabama wins and wins comfortably — maybe by 25 — but UT puts up a couple of touchdowns and covers the point spread.