Happy New Year’s Eve, y’all!

What a day we’ve got ahead of us. By the time the calendars turn to 2022, we should know who will be playing in Indianapolis for the College Football Playoff title! Will it be Georgia, Alabama, Michigan or Cincinnati hoisting the trophy on Jan. 10?

I’ll make my semifinals predictions in a second, but for now, I just want to say thank you again for reading my work in 2021! Hopefully, you’ll enjoy what 2022 has in store, too.

Here are your questions for this week’s Mailbag:

Robert:

Who do you have winning the College Football Playoff semifinals and advancing to the title game?

I’m going to sound like such a homer here, but I think we’re in for an Alabama-Georgia rematch in Indianapolis on Jan. 10. Cincinnati is a great story. The Bearcats are a great team, too, but they don’t have the Heisman Trophy winner, a first-round pick at wide receiver and the best defensive player in football in Will Anderson Jr.

I think it’ll be a close-ish game, as Luke Fickell will have his team ready to play, but the Tide will be too much for the Bearcats to handle, pulling away late for a 34-20 victory.

Meanwhile, I think Georgia and Michigan are very similar teams. Great defenses, explosive offenses. The difference? Georgia’s defense is better and the Bulldogs have more playmakers on offense. If Dax Hill doesn’t play for Michigan, look for Georgia freshman TE Brock Bowers to have another huge game.

Give me the Bulldogs winning 27-17 in the Orange Bowl, setting up another Kirby Smart-Nick Saban matchup with a CFP championship on the line! The SEC certainly needs it after starting bowl season 0-4.

Michael:

South Carolina just improved from 2 wins in 2020 to 7 wins this year. Which team will make the biggest jump in 2022?

Since only 1 SEC team finished with fewer than 6 wins (2-10 Vanderbilt) this year, that’s a tough question. But, there are 2 answers that stick out to me.

First, I think there are the Florida Gators. A 6-7 record with a bowl loss to UCF wasn’t how this year was supposed to go for the reigning SEC East champions. But, now Dan Mullen is gone, replaced by Billy Napier.

Napier built Louisiana into one of the best Group of 5 teams in the country. I think he can work similar magic with the Gators. I could see them getting back to 8 or 9 wins in 2022. I also think the currently 6-6 LSU Tigers (with the Texas Bowl against Kansas State still to come on Jan. 4) could make a jump under new coach Brian Kelly.

The Tigers consistently bring in elite talent, so there’s no reason this team should have been .500 the past 2 years. Kelly will give this squad a fresh start. Again, like with Florida, 8-9 wins should be the absolute worst this team fares in 2022.

Joe:

Which team has surprised you most in SEC men’s basketball so far?

I’m going to take this in a positive way. My most disappointing team thus far has been Arkansas, but let’s focus on the positives for now. The most-surprising team, in my opinion, is LSU.

Yes, I know the Tigers just lost at Auburn on Wednesday night, but they started 12-0 and kept the game at Auburn close for the most part after going down 18-1 early. I’ve been impressed with the way Will Wade has coached this year’s team and the way the Tigers have played defense.

In recent years, LSU has been terrible defensively. That’s not the case this year. That defense will carry them to a top 5 finish in the SEC, in my opinion. However, it won’t be easy, as plenty of additional tough games loom large on the Tigers’ schedule.

If they lose at home against Kentucky on Tuesday night, maybe I’ll have to revisit my expectations for them.

@Dobbe8:

Which returning SEC quarterback would you most want to have entering 2022?

There are a number of intriguing QB prospects returning to the SEC next fall (as things stand right now, since you never know with the transfer portal). There’s Hendon Hooker at Tennessee, Will Levis at Kentucky, Will Rogers at Mississippi State, KJ Jefferson at Arkansas, Anthony Richardson at Florida and a handful of others.

But, let’s not overthink this. The answer is quite clear, and it is Bryce Young, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner.

There’s no reason to think he won’t continue to be a star in 2022, as Alabama will replace any talent he loses around him to the NFL Draft with even more talent, whether it’s through the top-3 recruiting class the Tide are bringing in or through the transfer portal.

If anything, Young should be even better in 2022. But, will that be enough to win the Heisman for the second year in a row? That’s going to be hard to do, as preseason expectations will be sky high for him.

Still, if you’re drafting returning SEC quarterbacks for next year, Young is the clear-cut No. 1 pick.

Have a question for next week’s Mailbag? Tweet at us using #SDSMailbag or email me at ASpencer@SaturdayDownSouth.com.