Game of the Century of the Year of the Week SEC Picks

Home teams in Crimson.

Alabama 27, LSU 18
Vandy 23, Florida 20 (yeah, I said it)
Georgia 51, New Mexico St 10
Kentucky 24, Ole Miss 21
MSU 24, UT-Martin 6
Arkansas 34, USC 12
Middle Tennessee 8, Tennessee 7

120 thoughts on “Game of the Century of the Year of the Week SEC Picks”

  3. I love the bold Vandy pic

    Alabama 21, LSU 23
    Vandy 23, Florida 24
    Georgia 38, New Mexico St 3
    Kentucky 14, Ole Miss 21
    MSU 38, UT-Martin 3
    Arkansas 28, USC 7
    Middle Tennessee 7, Tennessee 20

  4. Sansho from last thread:

    Yeah, I don’t get the Lorenzo Cain idea at all. Many 25-year-olds have mashed PCL pitching through the years — hell, the Dodgers used to make a living making people believe their hitting prospects were otherworldly. Then they started believing it themselves, and ended up with Greg Brock and Mike Marshall.

    Billy Ashley

  5. Yup, that’s another. Obviously Cain is a different type than those guys, but the PCL is the rising tide that lifts all boats.

    I’m waiting for someone to predict a LSU/Ala score that will allow me to go under the 41.5….

  12. Even BYU beat Ole Miss and BYU is thoroughly mediocre.

    Not that I’m disappointed that they’ve completely blown their opportunity to make a good impression with their first year of independence and increased exposure by getting beat down by merely half-decent teams. No, not disappointed at all.

  13. Two games where I’d lean toward the under: Vandy/UF & Bama/LSU.

    I wonder how many passes Aaron Murray will throw this weekend.

    And yeah, sooo-ey pig-pig-pig…

  14. Lorenzo Cain didn’t do that badly in the Brewers’ system, including his short stint in the majors.

    The whole thing could make sense if:
    -the Braves don’t think they can keep Bourn after this year
    -they think Prado has turned back into a pumpkin for good (and they’re right)
    -Cain isn’t all they get in a deal

    I guess Prado would supplant Giavotella for the Royals? Not sure how else he works for them.

  16. Maybe I missed something but arent the Royals after JJ, not Prado? The Royals want pitching depth.

    The Braves just said they were open to trading both, not necessarily in the same deal. I just dont see the Royals having interest in Prado.

  17. Any trade for Jurrjens with the Royals should include one of their top young guys (including those already in KC) and another player. Oh yeah, and of course we have to get (207 hits) Melky back.

  18. Without Jair:
    Hudson, Hanson?, Beachy, Minor, Teheran.
    Delgado, Medlen, Vizcaino, Venters, Kimbrell, O’Flaherty, Lisp

    If you have to be deep in something let it be pitching.

    No skin in the game but just to be a contrarian – Go Cocks!

  19. I was a real JJ booster during his All-Star worthy run last year, but I think the naysayers had it right. No way does any reasonable team trade a guy like that at the All-Star break like some were suggesting we do, but had we done it, I think we’d have been trading really high and likely improved our team for the pennant run. He’s had a spotty record for being healthy over the last few years, but I think we’d still get a mighty nice return should we trade him over the winter.

  20. No skin in the game but just to be a contrarian – Go Cocks!

    I’m not invested in UGA per se, except when they play UF. But USC has the taint of Spurrier on it, plus, it’s South Carolina, or as we like to say, “the wrong Carolina.” Yet all of this must be balanced against Arkansas and Bobby Petrino, who I hate more than I hate Spurrier now.

    I will not root for anyone in this game.

  22. #20 – All good points. I am a Wrong Carolinian and I guess I am sort of glad that after 2 thousand years of football futility that UWC is having some success.

  23. Josh Willingham wants security of a 3-year deal and wants to be closer to his home. Know where he lives? Florence, Alabama. Sounds like a hometown discount!

  24. As a “right” Carolinian, I find Spurrier quasi-amusing, which is a luxury I suppose they don’t have in SEC country.

  25. Spurrier has been mostly harmless since his burnout in the NFL. Certainly he hasn’t put together an SEC team to inspire fear and loathing like his Gator teams of old. But it’s still like old Nazis. Yes, they’re mostly harmless old men drooling on themselves at this point, but you can’t really forgive them for having been Nazis at all. Spurrier’s like that. Only, probably worse.

  27. Hasnt Willingham had some pretty serious back issues? 3 yr deal seems a bit risky, esp for someone who is going to miss 40 games. Maybe a 2 yr deal with a team option.

  28. “Old Nazis”

    Sam, every now and then you get it exactly, perfectly right. Bravo, sir.
    —————–

    For those of you of a wagering nature, UK is starting a true freshman quarterback for the first time tomorrow. This will actually be an improvement and could likely yield our only SEC win.

    Warning: betting on the Cats to cover the spread is most often suicidal, but tomorrow might be that rare exception.

    Bettor emptor. (Or would that be “caveat bettor”?)
    ————————

    So, you really think the Nashville Christian Haters will beat the Spawn?
    (heh, heh, heh)

  29. Anybody know anything about Western Carolina University? (culture, topography, baseball program, etc.)

  30. @29 – the proximity of the terms “Western Carolina” and “culture” confuses me.

    Western Carolina is gorgeous mountains, topographically.

  31. Nats want Oswalt…

    Halladay, Lee, Hamels
    Strasburg, Oswalt, Zimmerman
    Hudson, Hanson, Beachy
    Johnson, Sanchez, Nolasco

    then –

    Santana, Pelfrey, Dickey

    Poor Mets

  33. #30
    Having just spent a weekend at Moogfest in Asheville, N.C.—very much in Western Carolina—I can say that there’s plenty of culture & art in that town.

    Maybe not so many direct flights…

  34. Hawks sale is off. The “Hawks” are a theoretical franchise in a currently suspended organization called the “National Basketball Association” that pays Joe Johnson way too much money.

  35. Asheville is a nice little town for a getaway weekend. There are far worse places to spend four years as an undergrad.

  36. @34 – oh, good grief.

    What happened? Did the Spirit Group actually find someone less able to afford an NBA franchise than them?

  37. DOB –

    •Hearing from colleague at KC Star, Royals saw price of Myers and Cain too high for Jurrjens and possibly Prado. #Braves

  42. Western Carolina University is about 45 minutes west of Asheville, near Sylva. It’s a real small town, but beautiful country. I know they’ve had some good baseball teams in the past, but I don’t know what the current state of the program is.

  43. I hope Ryan Howard never plays another game of baseball again and the Phillies are crippled by that deal and at the end of the contract both parties have a bitter parting of ways that taints them both forever.

    Just my general thoughts on Ryan Howard.

  45. I thought Thome couldn’t play first anymore. I guess they got him to DH in all of those AL road games.

  46. @29

    They are in the SoConn (A great football conference) The Asheville area is a great place to be in your 20-30s there is a lot to do there. Great music scene

  48. A one-month retirement seems about right for a 92-year-old writer.

    Weirdly, I had a dream last night that Furman Bisher died (this is weird for a number of reasons, I realize). Then I wake up to this news, then I see that Bisher turned 93 yesterday. Better keep writing, Furmy….

  50. My money is on Mac and Bama today.

    Glad they moved it to a night game. Hope to remain sober until at least kickoff.

  55. I’ve been reading Taylor Branch’s biography of Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement and, of course, it goes into detail about the horrors of the early 60s. I can’t help wondering how those people would have felt about the game today–I guess some are still aroung, but if you had told them (Klan members and others who abused the Freedom Riders and so forth) in 1961 that fifty years later, LSU and Alabama would be playing as No. 1 and 2 with heavily African-American teams, their heads would have exploded. It’s simply astonishing. (Not to mention, of course, what their reaction would have been to the idea of an African-American POTUS.) I love the ironies of history. Of course, Bear Bryant (and Sam Cunningham) might have had as much to do with integration as anything else.

  60. DOB –

    Yes, not many RH power bats avail. RT @RobSmithUSF: @ajcbraves If there are really 10 tms interested he’s probably going to be too expensive 58 mins ago

    So far, #Braves aren’t among 10 or so teams to express interest in Willingham, an Ala. native who’s made it known he’d like to play for ATL 1 hour ago

  61. IMO, Vandy really got hosed on that 4th-quarter interference no-call. It would’ve given them a first down & kept a potential winning drive alive.

    Who knows how the game would’ve turned out, but that was about as bad a no-call as you’ll ever see. It was the very definition of defensive pass interference.

    #58
    That’s such an awful story & none of it makes Penn State look very good. I read a version of it in the NY Times today, but this Pa. Attorney General account is much more disturbingly detailed.

    Looking forward to a late night of football-watching on DVR. Go Hogs.

  64. It’s hard to think about without getting really angry and/or sad. If I was a Penn State student or alum…well, torches and pitchforks, like you said. This is Greek tragedy stuff.

  65. Looks like we could have won one in the swamp. Too bad we missed the opportunity. I’m not sure the Gators will be this vulnerable next time we visit.

    Do we need to win our last 3 to be bowl eligible? I’m not sure how that Elon victory qualifies.

  67. Rosenthal says the Braves are increasing payroll from the $87 million they were at this Opening Day. I wonder if a Jurrens / Prado trade would be making room for a run at Reyes. Probably wishful thinking, but still…

  72. Jose Reyes

    a) is good
    b) actually seems to enjoy the game (games I’ve watched, anyway)
    c) would replace Alex Gonzalez
    d) provides (not game-changing, but more than enough) speed
    e) can play SS
    f) can actually hit

    What? We’re probably not getting the guy, but you don’t want him? Even with his injuries, I would argue that he’s only behind Tulowitzki in the SS category.

    After watching this team give Derek Lowe 15 million a year for four years, I’d say that Reyes at the same price is a much better signing.

  74. Two of the best defenses I’ve ever seen. Bama missed way too many opportunities. About 2/3 of McCarron’s passes were to people he shouldn’t have thrown to. His stats don’t look that bad, but they don’t tell the story. For some reason he was lofting several passes when he should have zipped them in.

  76. @72 I’m right there with you, but just let it go. Perhaps he qualifies as “a thug,” or perhaps it’s something else, but there are almost no baseball-related reasons not to want Jose Reyes as your team’s starting shortstop. Thus your logic will fall on deaf ears.

    In the end, Reyes will want more than $15 million per year, as kc said, and the Braves aren’t going to be willing to give him that amount for 5-6 years anyway. Expect them to extend Bourn with their extra cash flow instead.

  79. I also smell a rematch. This is how it will unfold:

    Penn State (having burned its campus to the ground) will lose all its remaining games. Michigan State will lose to Northwestern. Houston will lose to Southern Miss in the C-USA championship game. Clemson will lose to Wake Forest, who will then defeat Virginia Tech in the ACC championship game. Stanford will lose to Oregon, who will then lose to Arizona State in the PAC-10 championship game. Oklahoma State will lose to Oklahoma, who will have lost to Baylor. Boise State will lose to TCU. Alabama will lose to Auburn. LSU will lose to Arkansas, who will then lose to Georgia in the SEC championship game, thus setting up Georgia vs. South Carolina in the BCS championship. I’m almost sure of it.

  80. Jose Reyes will be expensive and is prone to injury. Otherwise, he has dreads and claps when he hits a triple against your favorite team.

  81. Sure both defenses are really good but man that was not much fun to watch. Neither team has a decent quarterback nor hardly any offensive fire-power.

    I may get banned for saying this but it’s pretty clear that Miles out-coached Saban. Richardson is your only play-maker on offense, and you throw the ball three straight times in OT? Having Maze throw a WR pass while you’re driving at the 30 yard line? Sending someone that can’t even move in to return a punt only to let it go 15 yards over his head?

    I don’t want a rematch, but then again it’s a moot point because UGA will crush LSU in the SECCG ;)

  82. This: http://mlb.sbnation.com/2011/11/5/2539681/the-craziest-baseball-video-youll-see-this-week
    reminded me of a (probably stupid)question that I have been asking myself for quite some time. Why aren’t there any lefthanded catchers? I can understand SS, 2B and 3B, but what difference does it make for a catcher whether he’s right- or lefthanded? Could someone here please enlighten an European who never played baseball himself?

    Oh, and I’d really hate it, if the Braves trade Prado!!!

  83. There are a number of reasons given, but the real reason is simple. Catchers need strong arms. If a guy throws lefty and has a strong arm, you’re not going to make a catcher out of him, you’ll use him on the mound.

  84. Sorry about the game, Mac.

    FWIW, I enjoyed watching 2 crushing defenses. The mistakes were disappointing and kept more points off the board. Disappointing in the de facto championship game.

    It was kind of like watching 2 teams pitch terribly and kick the ball around the field in the World Series.

  85. @81 But Trace, don’t you know that this Alabama team is “The most talented ever” and NOTHING can keep them from the championship they deserve?!

  86. Also, lefties have to turn their body to throw down to third (like a southpaw SS would to throw to first), which is a small, yet discernible disadvantage against a swift runner.

  87. Interesting tid bit from MLBTR

    – The Braves are open to trading Martin Prado this winter and given the attention currently being lavished on Michael Cuddyer in the free agent market, Prado figures to be quite popular. An AL official told Olney that Prado is like a younger version of Cuddyer and might be a better hitter.

  88. 58: How normal people can know about stuff like that happening, or even suspect it, and not do anything about it…I just can’t comprehend that.

  89. @81 – I don’t see how you can say neither team has offensive firepower. They have both been averaging more than 30 points per game and have blown out everyone that they’ve played until now. I think McCarron is better than he looked, but he’s still young prone to mistakes. Lee has looked good all year for LSU, but a good defense has a way of making him look bad. Jefferson is decent, but not great.

    I know I’m biased, but I think both teams are better than the last 4 or 5 nat’l championship teams right now. it remains to be seen how they will both finish up. I have to agree though that Saban was outcoached. The offensive game plan was incoherent. But again, LSU deserves a lot of credit for that.

  90. Something to also think about.

    IF Oklahoma beats OSU and Oregon beats Stanford. Both Alabama and Oregon will be one loss teams with both of them losing to LSU. I think Alabama would have the nod over Oregon, but who knows what the media and polls would look like after Oregon beats Stanford.

    Arkansas could still mess up a lot of things by knocking off LSU also.

  91. 76,

    True. Unsubstantiated and undeserved, unless I’m blissfully unaware of some transgression.

    80,

    Even with the injuries, he’s a top-5 SS.

    90,

    Well, when Boise wins out…. you know what, never mind. Same conversation every year.

  92. 76: “Expect them to extend Bourn with their extra cash flow instead.”

    Expect them to work with Scott Boras? Is that something Wren’s willing to do?

  93. It seems to me the game involved two nearly NFL-calber defenses and quarterbacks who were not.

  94. Despite our offensive woes at SS, Jose Reyes just seems like the last guy the Braves would ever sign. But could you see him in Boston? In Philly?

    #74
    I actually enjoyed watching the LSU/Bama game. I think Miles coached that game very conservatively & Saban took the chances. But like Chris Evert playing on the baseline, Miles just waited for some mistakes (and some luck)—and he got enough to win.

    Yes, Bama’s OT was a disaster. The play calls were a bit curious & the execution was worse—dropped screen pass (best I could tell), bad read/incompletion, substitution penalty, unconscionable sack. It just seemed like Saban was going to do anything he could to get a TD there & avoid sending his kicker back out.

    In the end, when you go 2 for 6 in FG attempts in a game like that, it’s tough. I’m not sure Saban can be faulted in that category.

    #81
    Of course, let’s worry about those War Eagles first. You know the history there: The visitors win an inordinate amount of times & whenever one school has a chance to win the SEC title, it’s often derailed in that game. (But thank you, Hogs.)

  97. Should have gone for it the first time, punted the next two.

    Why wasn’t Honey Badger tossed out? They banished the Georgia and Vandy players for less.

    Everything Bama’s coaching staff decided turned to merde. Just very disappointing.

  98. I agree about punting Mac. I thought the trick play was stupid where the WR threw a pic (thought the LSU guy made a heel of a play)

    Bama was moving the ball well, no reason to get cute there.

  99. MLB trade rumors wonders if Prado to the Rockies for Seth Smith could work. I think we should hold out for more if we move Prado

  101. I’m not sure the BCS would be happy with a rematch. It would just toss fuel on the “BCS is unfair” fire.

    My guess is LSU absolutely destroys Boise in the NCG and everyone finally shuts the hell up about them. It’ll be a terrible game put away by the half, but at least the goldfish in sports media will have a lot of points and Les Miles sound bites to slobber over.

  102. Anyway, I don’t see Oklahoma State losing. Oklahoma is running out of playmakers. I think we’re getting the Les Miles Bowl for the BCS championship.

  103. 99,

    The idea of trading a multi-position player that’s been much, much better than Seth Smith in a non-Colorado environment is baffling to me.

  104. Out of LSU, Oklahoma St., Stanford, and Boise St., at least 2 will lose before the bowls begin.

  105. I was thinking the same thing about Seth Smith, Mac.

    If Boise is the only other unbeaten, I think Bama gets in.

  107. @106

    I guess they decided that to save the “Third Saturday in October” I wonder if they will be rivals w/ A&M or Arkansas.

  108. I was probably exaggerating a bit when I said both offenses had no firepower, but I’m just not very impressed with either team’s quarterback situation. Lee’s interceptions were awful, awful throws that I don’t think you can really attribute to Bama’s defense. Jordan Jefferson is Jordan Jefferson. And McCarron looked pretty shaky as well.

    And ububba, I’m certainly not overlooking the War Eagles/Plainsmen/Tigers. A little bit of tongue and cheek on my part.

  109. The musing on the Seth Smith trade was by the Rockies beat writer, so nothing to worry about there.

  111. Alabama is actually still ahead of not only Boise but Stanford in the BCS. I don’t think Stanford will win out — I think Oregon will thrash them this week — but can you imagine the wreckage that would result if an unbeaten Pac-12 team got left out of the championship game in favor of a rematch?

  112. 111, wouldn’t bother me – I don’t think they are all that after their performance against USC. Maybe it would be their just fate to get crushed by LSU, but really, I don’t see them as one of the top two teams in the country.

  113. I think Oklahoma gets OSU and Oregon gets Stanford. Then you’re left with a bunch of one loss teams who are wayyy ahead of Boise St. Sorry Boise, wake us up when you play more than one ranked opponent per season.

  114. I wish the SEC (we?…feels weird) would get away from the directional divisions. Having the 2nd westernmost school in the “East” is absurd…although I guess it’s an improvement when coming from a 10 team conference called the Big 12.

    I keep reading the Braves are clearing money and/or are increasing payroll and I wonder as to what end. We don’t need pitching except a middle reliever or two, and apparently aren’t interested in Willingham. I couldn’t imagine the Braves signing Reyes, but if not, what’s the point?

  116. Reyes has actually been better by bWAR despite having ~300 fewer games (and better average/season by fwar) and is younger than Crawford. I’m not sure someone won’t pay the man.

  118. Pet peeve alert! From the AJC notes on the Falcons game:

    “The Falcons have forced a turnover in 27 consecutive games, which is the longest active streak in the NFL and the longest streak since Chicago posted 25 straight games with a takeaway between 2007 and 2008.”

    This used to happen all the time. I don’t see it as much anymore — probably because Stats, Inc. does a lot of the stat notes in game recaps, and they understand that a 27-game streak is not the longest since a 25-game streak. But still, c’mon.

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