SEC 2009 // Tomorrow's Tide
by cocknfire on Aug 6, 2009 10:30 AM EDT
in SEC Football
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PrintC&F's predictions for the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Finish: SEC West Champion
General: In case you haven't caught this at some point this week, the only question for Alabama this year is the offense. The defense is scary good and should keep most of these games from being too terribly interesting. I'm not sure that Alabama fans should go ahead and reserve hotel rooms in Atlanta for the first week of December, but I don't see anything except maybe Ole Miss to keep them from getting there. One thing: Yes, I called the SEC Championship Game along with the rest of the them. It's weak, in my mind, to follow the all-too-common practice of projecting them to win the West and then not taking the next logical step of calling how that game will happen. Is it too early to do so? No more than it's too early to be calling the Iron Bowl the week before.
More specific: Alabama will go undefeated again ... in the SEC. I don't see anyone in today's college football going 24-0, but even so, Virginia Tech is a tough first draw for an inexperienced offense. No doubt at Ole Miss is the most challenging game in the regular season. Apologies to Kentucky -- I've said before that I don't predict any team except maybe Mississippi State against maybe Florida as a locked-in "win," but I did just that to UK earlier this year. That said, I think the Tide is likely to handle the 'Cats just fine.
Game-specific:
9.5 :: vs. Virginia Tech (Atlanta) :: POSSIBLE LOSS
9.12 :: vs. Florida International :: WIN
9.19 :: vs. North Texas :: WIN
9.26 :: vs. Arkansas :: PROBABLE WIN
10.3 :: at Kentucky :: WIN
10.10 :: at Ole Miss :: POSSIBLE WIN
10.17 :: vs. South Carolina :: LIKELY WIN
10.24 :: vs. Tennessee :: LIKELY WIN
11.7 :: vs. LSU :: POSSIBLE WIN
11.14 :: at Mississippi State :: LIKELY WIN
11.21 :: vs. Chattanooga :: WIN
11.27 :: IRON BOWL: at Auburn (Friday) :: LIKELY WIN
12.5 :: SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: vs. Florida (Atlanta) :: PROBABLE LOSS
Final record (pre-SEC Championship Game): 11-1, 8-0 SEC
MONDAY: Alabama Aims for Something Special
TUESDAY: Tuscaloosa Nights (and Days); Nick Saban Runs for Congress
WEDNESDAY: How About That Defense? We Also Have to Play Offense?
TODAY: Predictions
EARLIER TODAY: Feedback and Conclusions
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The Va Tech game
The only issue with this projection is the fact that Virginia Tech’s offense also has to face Alabama’s defense, not just the other way around. Virginia Tech’s offense ranked 90th in the country last season and they have to replace as much of their offensive line as Alabama does. True, they don’t replace anyone nearly the caliber of the players Alabama lost, but the quality of the players leaving has no bearing on the experience of those replacing them. And as far as QBs, McElroy might be a question mark, but Taylor is a clear negative in the passing game.
They fought off a late comeback against Ole Miss
and won in OT against LSU. They escaped those games by the hair on their chins. They won’t win both of those this season. Book it.
Red Cup Rebellion - Changing the Culture of Ole Miss Athletics
Take a picture, trick.
by The Ghost of Jay Cutler on Aug 6, 2009 3:18 PM EDT reply actions
The Voice of Reason disagrees with The Ghost of Gay Buttler..
Ole Miss will be the biggest underachiever in the SEC! Alabama will dominate Ole Miss and defeat them by 3 touchdowns minimum………LSU on the otherhand is actually a decent program who I actually respect a little more…. that said we will defeat LSU by 20 points minimum
Jealousy is the thread that holds TET threads together!
by The Voice of Reason on Aug 6, 2009 4:29 PM EDT reply actions
I'll make the guarantee again
If Alabama defeats Ole Miss by three touchdowns or more, I will sing Yea Alabama on the following episode of Team Speed Kills Now.
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
I love illogical/baseless reasoning
Ghost makes a factual point only to be answered with the trite “But they’re only Ole Piss” argument. Let’s try to look at how things actually are this year and not how the last 40 years have been (although, i realized Tide fans continually dwell in the past). Ole Miss experienced vast improvement last year, particularly the as the season progressed. They faced Alabama at the beginning of their upswing in Alabama and still almost came back to win. A sub-par LSU team took them to overtime. This year, the tide will be breaking in a new helmsmen for the offense while the other two programs should be much better. Don’t make irrational predictions because that’s what you want to happen. Also, if Alabama drops its opener to VaTech it’ll be interesting to see how the players handle this setback (think: florida loss followed by utah train wreck).
I think the "they're Ole Piss" argument is factual
When you consider Ole Miss had a banner year and lost to Vanderbilt, South Carolina, and Wake Forest with Michael Oher and Peria Jerry on their lines. They had to hold off the worst defense in the league in Arkansas in the last minute to win by two, and failed to dominate a terrible Auburn team. Their banner win against Florida was by one point and very fluky.
But anyway, no team ever escapes unscathed through a regular season like Alabama did without winning a couple close games. When you consider how much Alabama overachieved based on the 2008 preseason predictions, the team will likely be even stronger a year into Saban’s system.
Remember that before the 2008 season, nobody knew of guys like Glen Coffee, Terrence Cody, or Donta Hightower as stars, but now people like you take it for granted that Alabama is guaranteed to drop off because it lost some good players.
If Alabama fans dwell in the past, Ole Miss fans can only dwell in speculations about the future.
more past history
45-9-2 maybe this is Ole Miss year but I’m not buying it.Bama laid down in the second half of a few games last year that were turning into a blow outs by half.Bama had Ole Miss 17-3 last year and held on it wont get that close this year.I’m not claiming another undefeated year but I see LSU or USC beating Bama before Ole Miss.
I think you know what I mean...
Okay, that's way overboard
and I can’t agree with TVoR but I will say that a close win in the past is not a predictor of a loss in the future. Especially—as the Ghost of Jay Cutler says—Ole Miss had to comeback to make it a close finish.
I'm sorry I just can't see VT beating us
I have done a quick matchup check on it and I just don’t see it. There offense was anemic last year, and that was against an average ACC. This is ALABAMA’S defense were talking about. They won’t be able to score. Tyrod Taylor is a joke, and the fact that people keep hyping him up to be some Heisman candidate is ridiculous. Our offense will do much better against their defense than you think. McElroy is the perfect game manager, and he has weapons all around him. Julio, Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson, Marquis Maze, Colin Peek, and Roy Upchurch just to name the main ones. With that being said, I think we will lose to either Ole Miss or LSU.
36-0
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