SEC: Week 12

Ole Miss 5-5 / 2-4 @ LSU 8-2 / 4-2: A West Division battle between two teams going in different directions. The Tigers have won 3 of their last 4 SEC games, while the Rebels lost their last two conference tilts. Surprisingly, Ole Miss has outscored LSU, 124 to 120, in their last five games in Baton Rouge … yet … have only one win to show for their scoring the greater number of points! Last year, the Bengal Tigers put the worst whipping, in the 100 game series, on the Rebels, 52-3, in their backward …. @ Vaught-Hemingway Stadium!

Western Carolina 1-9 / 0-8 @ Alabama 9-1 / 6-1: The Mighty SEC is taking the week off… as six of their teams are taking on FCS opponents! Bama …. needs to avoid injury in this contest! Other than that … not really much to say… The Tide is 2-0 vs WC and won last meeting, 52-6!

Arkansas 4-6 / 2-4 @ Mississippi State 7-3 / 3-3: MSU won its first three SEC games and seemed ready to step up and challenge the SEC elite…. not so fast my friend … Bama, A&M, & LSU translated to three straight losses … same old … same old …. for the fellows from Starkville! The fact is, none of these games were close, Alabama, 38-7, The Aggies, 38-13, & LSU 37 Mississippi State 17! Former coach, Bobby Petrino’s off field decision making doomed his team for the 2012 season! Meanwhile, Interim coach, John L. Smith’s decisions in the market place … well … they at the very least … rival Patrino’s … in his not-so-private …. private life!  

Alabama A&M  7-3 / 6-3 @ Auburn 2-8 / 0-7: I’m not sure why Auburn scheduled an in-state FCS team … usually not a good idea …. as it tends to become their super bowl … a win for A&M … and the thing from which legends are born comes to pass! This motivating factor for AAMU coupled with the year the Tigers have had … well … stay tuned … as this could be interesting!

Sam Houston 8-2 / 6-1 @ Texas A&M 8-2 / 4-2: When A&M was shopping for a new conference … they should have considered the Southland Conference (not to be confused with the Southern Conference) as they are a perfect 16-0 against these teams & 10-0 vs Sammy Houston! Enough said!

Jacksonville State 6-4 / 5-3 @ Florida 9-1 / 7-1: Please note: This team…. Jacksonville State (Ohio Valley Conference) is from Alabama … not Florida … that would be simply … Jacksonville (Pioneer Conference). This is the first meeting between the Universities!

Georgia Southern 8-2 / 6-2 @ Georgia 9-1 / 7-1: Georgia is 5-0 vs Georgia Southern with the average win being 23 points! These teams last met in 2008, a 45-21 result! That said … this is a very good FCS team … lost to North Dakota State in the Semi final of last year’s FCS playoff and rushed for 302 yards againist Bama’s defense in 2011… let me say that again … 302 yards… against the best defense in the FBS in 2011!

Wofford 8-2 / 6-2 @ South Carolina 8-2 / 6-2: No one is buying into the identical records … this is a clear mismatch! USC has beaten this in-state opponent 15 straight times. In fact, the last time Wofford won …  the US was @ war … World War I … that right … 1917! Nothing to be learned from that game!

Tennessee 4-6 / 0-6 @ Vanderbilt 6-4 / 4-3: This is do or die for Derek Dooley! He needs to win this week in Nashville or … sad to say  … it is Signora for the coach! Even if they find a way … last week’s loss to Missouri may have sealed his fate! I, for one, hope not … I still believe given time (one last year in 2013) he can succeed in Knoxville! The Vols won this game in OT last year, 27-21 and have won 14 straigth times in Vandy’s Memorial Stadium! The last time the Commorders beat the the Volunteers at home was in 1982! Coach Dooley really … really … really … needs to make it 15 in a row in Music City!!! 

Syracuse 5-5 / 4-2 @ Missouri 5-5 / 2-5: The winner of this game becomes bowl eligible for the 2012 season. Both teams roll into the contest with 5 wins and seeking the required 6th win for the ticket needed to ride the Bowl Express in December! No small accomplishment for either team, given this was Missouri’s first experience in the Mighty SEC and Syracuse surviving a rough start to the 2012 season with an impressive win over an undefeated Louisville, 45-26, last week! The Orange are 2-0 vs the Tigers … but their last meeting was in 1987!

Samford 7-3 / 5-3 @ Kentucky 1-9 / 0-7: Joker Phillips, Kentucky’s Head Coach, was fired after a 40-0 pounding by Vandy on November 3! The Wildcats have not only been beaten in the SEC … they have been beaten badly … and have shown little to no improvement during the season! This is the first meeting between the programs and given the mental of the Kentucky players … well anything is possible …. in the mind!