The Battle for the SEC West: In a Chaotic Finale, the Tide Takes Home the Title Once More

Even now, with the next set of football games set to kick off tomorrow, you can't escape the fact that we're all just guessing. Come tomorrow, games will start happening, upsets will be sprung, and within two or three weeks everyone's predictions will probably be broken and battered in one way or another. It is one of the reasons we love college football.

I like to think that my guess are educated guesses. I keep up with the SEC about as well as I think anyone can who is not paid a handsome salary to do so. There's a reason I go through the exercise of breaking down the important losses on each roster, noting who is coming back and examining the schedule. Yes, it's content, but it's also my chance to reacquaint myself with each team as the offseason winds down. I hope it's as enjoyable for you as it is educational for me.

But sometimes you have to go with your gut. And my gut is telling me two things right now: (1) that the Hat will use his bye week better than Nick Saban does before the big November game; and (2) that Alabama will end up going to Atlanta anyway after LSU coughs up the following game against the Aggies.

Yes, I'm going with the scenario I alluded to in an earlier post today: chaos. A three-way tie for first place in the SEC West with the entire exercise coming down to BCS standings. And I think that the likeliest scenario in that case is that the pollsters will fall back on what they have already decided: Alabama, Texas A&M, LSU. The closest template we have for this is the 2008 Big 12 South -- and that went to Oklahoma, which was not coincidentally the highest-ranked team at the beginning of the season. People retreat to what they originally thought when things don't make sense, and that's what the pollsters will do.

My guess is that the SEC West team promptly decamps to Atlanta and defeats the SEC East team in a close game. Two SEC West teams will then go to the BCS in some form or fashion. Will the Tide get the opportunity to keep the streak alive in the final year of the BCS? I'm not sure. But since we're just going with a guess and I'm getting excited for the season, I'll say yes.

Key (from least likely to win to most): Loss, Likely Loss, Probable Loss, Possible Loss, Possible Win, Probable Win, Likely Win, Win