Kirk Herbstreit tabs SEC’s surprise, sleeper teams for 2017
By Kevin Duffey
Published:
ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit unveiled his SEC and College Football Playoff predictions Wednesday. His annual Herbie Awards Show aired on ESPN 2.
Yes, college football is getting close.
Herbstreit, of course, predicted Alabama will win the SEC Championship over Florida for the third straight year. Although the Tide will collect more hardware within the conference, Herbstreit says Ohio State will win the national championship over Alabama.
Nonetheless, he also unveiled a “surprise” team and “sleeper” team in the SEC.
For the conference’s surprise team, Herbstreit chose Missouri, one of his five surprise teams in college football. The other four consisted of Texas, NC State, Notre Dame and Wyoming.
While Mizzou isn’t getting much love after the 4-8 2016 record, ironically, it is the defense that will determine the turnaround, not the offense. Drew Lock should have the offense in the end zone early and often, and it will be on head coach Barry Odom to make sure his defense can show a pulse this year. If that happens, Mizzou could make some noise in the East.
For the biggest sleeper team, Herbstreit chose Kentucky. That’s not as far fetched as some would like to believe either. The positives for Kentucky outweigh the negatives: a returning QB, a talented RB and an improving program. The best thing going for Kentucky is the weaker SEC East, and it’s anyone’s division. Yes, Georgia and Florida are the predominant favorites, but don’t sleep on Kentucky this season. No doubt, though, that South Carolina and Tennessee will have a say, too.
A graduate of the University of Florida and founder of Saturday Down South, Kevin is a college football enthusiast.
