midseason-reports-2009 Stories - Team Speed Kills
Midseason 2009: Is Florida Mortal After All?
I don't think it's going too far to say that the perception has taken hold in some corners that Florida has somehow been a disappointment this season. But when you look at the numbers this season, it's an idea that is almost wholly unsupported by the evidence: The Gators are first in the SEC in...
Midseason 2009: Is the Real LSU the W-L Record or the Stats?
Can someone please tell me how LSU is 5-1 at this point? (Georgia fans might snark that we should ask the referees of their game against the Dawgs.) The only even moderately encouraging number on offense is passing efficiency and the only categories in which they're in the top half of the SEC on...
Midseason 2009: Ole Miss Still Has Plenty to Play For
It didn't begin very well -- the 45-14 win against Memphis was far less impressive than the score -- but I think most people who believed in Ole Miss were still willing to give the Rebels the benefit of the doubt. Even some of the skeptics appeared to be reluctantly siding with Ole Miss as they...
Midseason 2009: Which Way Kentucky?
If there's a team that's the most difficult to figure out here, it would have to be the Kentucky Wildcats. After all, they've lost to the three best teams they've played (Alabama, Florida and South Carolina), defeated the two worst (Miami (OH), Louisville) and won the game in between (Auburn). But...
Midseason 2009: Arkansas Confounds Expectations. Every Last One of Them
Maybe it's Arkansas and not Houston Nutt that causes the wild swings in expectation inside of a single season. After all, Arkansas was supposed to be this year's Ole Miss, the team that would be better than the previous year and might ruin someone's season before maybe playing in a premium bowl...
Midseason 2009: South Carolina vs. Its History
If you wonder why South Carolina fans seem nervous despite their team's 5-1 record and a remaining schedule that would seem to put them on track for a New Year's Day Bowl, the answer is quite simple: 2007. That year, South Carolina climbed to a 6-1 record and were ranked No. 6 in the country with...
Midseason 2009: Alabama Seems Bound for Greatness
Well, bet you didn't see that one coming, did you? Alabama ranked fourth in the conference passing efficiency, passing offense the same, total offense the same. (In fact, Alabama is ranked at the same spot in all four of what I consider to be the major offensive statistics, a testament to the...
Midseason 2009: Is the Worst Yet to Come for Georgia?
Faulty predictions are built on faulty assumptions, and so it was that I called for Georgia to have a 9-3, 6-2 SEC record with these words: "I'm giving a lot of credit to Mark Richt because, quite frankly, he's Mark Richt. ... This is, in my mind, an optimistic way of looking at Georgia's season....
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