SEC: Everything East & West

The SEC East is relatively easy to figure out, if Georgia beats Kentucky on Saturday, they win the division, lose to the Wildcats and South Carolina is the champ. It’s that simple! South Carolina (6-2) is finished with SEC play, all they have left on their schedule is an FCS opponent, The Citadel and in-state rival, Clemson. After opening the season with a 35-21 loss to Boise State, and losing a wild score-fest, 45-42, to South Carolina, Georgia has won 8 in a row! They are 6-1 in the SEC and a victory this weekend will leave them at 7-1 and headed to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game. If the Bulldogs lose at home to the Wildcats, they will finish tied with the Gamecocks @ 6-2 and bases on Carolina’s head to head win, they, (South Carolina) not Georgia, will travel to Atlanta! So we are down to one game to decide the East.

The West, better get a fresh cup of whatever you are drinking, make a P call, and settle in… as this may take a while. The Game of the Century, LSU’s 9-6 overtime victory over Bama, I believe will turn out to be the beginning of something special rather than the end to determining who wins the West.

I heard Mike Greenberg, from Mike & Mike in the Morning comment on the LSU / Alabama battle, by stating that “the game, at times, was hard to watch”. I really do not agree, as my good buddy, Jack Roeder, likes to say, “those guys are faster than the sound of light!” No one in America, including the best scientific minds at NASA have any idea what that means or how fast the sound of light travels? I get Greeney, he’s a NFL guy and the Tiger/Tide affair had little to no offense, but Jack’s Sound of Light really came to mind watching the speed of those defenses. I enjoyed the game and I believe there is more, a lot more, on the way!

This week Arkansas (5-1) takes on Mississippi State (1-5), Alabama (6-1) host Georgia Southern (FCS Team out of the Southern Conference), and LSU (6-0) travels to Oxford to take on Ole Miss (0-6). This is the calm before the storm, it begins the following Saturday (11-19) with Alabama traveling to Auburn (4-3) for the “Iron Bowl” and the Razorbacks heading south to Baton Rouge, to tame the Tigers.

I think Alabama will find a way against their hated in state adversaries, while Auburn will compete hard, it will not matter, the Tide Rolls. This means Bama finishes with a 7-1 conference slate.

Arkansas has, arguably, the best receivers in the country with Joe Adams, Darius Wright, Chris Gregg, & Greg Childs and no question the best the vaunted LSU secondary has faced this season. The Razorback Quarterback, Tyler Wilson, has proved he can take a hit and keep on keeping on… he will need to do just that as he will be punished in this game. The two wild cards are the Hogs O-line and the Tiger’s QB, Jordan Jefferson. If Arkansas is going to prevail, the Offensive line has to control LSU’s front seven and give Wilson the time he will need to throw the ball. Arkansas has to get an early lead and force Jefferson to play from behind, put in this position, he is quiet capable of making poor decisions. Given the right circumstances, Arkansas has the talent to beat LSU and I, for one, (perhaps the only one) believe the Razorbacks are going to get this done!

That said, we will have a log jam at the top of the SEC West; Alabama, Arkansas, and LSU will all be at 7-1. In looking at the SEC Divisional tie breakers; it looks like you would need to get to the 8th level …. the highest ranked BCS team….. to determine a division winner! How about Georgia vs Arkansas in the SEC Championship Tilt….. Enjoy the Games.