Georgia, as you would expect, is the overwhelming favorite to win the division.
I can’t wait to hear from the guy who voted for UT.
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UPDATE: You’ll be shocked, shocked to learn that ‘Bama is picked to win the conference.
Somebody will have to explain to me how Mizzou didn’t get a vote to win the division, but did to win the SEC.
Filed under Media Punditry/Foibles, SEC Football
Hey, looks like somebody’s got an official media narrative now!
Who becomes the popular SEC sleeper pick?
Every year some team gets dubbed as the popular sleeper pick to win the conference. Look for Mississippi State and South Carolina to get that buzz this week as national and local experts talk themselves into both teams’ superior quarterback play. The Bulldogs are a wild card with a new coach, Joe Moorhead, but Nick Fitzgerald gives them a big edge in what should be a weak SEC West outside of Alabama and Auburn. South Carolina has a star in the making in Jake Bentley and could finally get over the hump this year with Florida down and Georgia losing multiple key playmakers from last year’s run. [Emphasis added.]
From former Gamecock players and message board pundits to regular media in a matter of days. Georgia’s doomed, I tells ‘ya. Doomed.
Which ESPN College GameDay talking head picks the ‘Cocks?
Filed under 'Cock Envy, Georgia Football, Media Punditry/Foibles
With SEC Media Days kicking off next week, Barrett Sallee takes a look at how the media’s done with its team predictions over the past six seasons.
We looked back at the past six preseason predictions (since expansion in 2012) and compared them to how division races actually turned out. Teams are ranked based on their final standing within the division relative to where they were picked in the preseason media poll. Head-to-head results and standard SEC tiebreaker procedures were used to prevent ties being factored into the final standings.
Team Performance vs. hype (wins) Average (wins) Mississippi State +10 +1.67 Missouri +6 +1.0 Kentucky +4 +0.67 Vanderbilt +3 +0.5 Florida +1 +0.17 Ole Miss +1 +0.17 Texas A&M +1 +0.17 Alabama -1 -0.17 Auburn -1 -0.17 Georgia -4 -0.67 South Carolina -4 -0.67 LSU -5 -0.83 Arkansas -5 -0.83 Tennessee -6 -1.0
It’s natural to see the top and bottom of the list as the big stories, but for me the amazing number there belongs to Alabama. To live up to sky high expectations every year except 2017 (and even there, it was nothing worse than a second-place finish — and they still won the natty!) is a testament to Saban’s coaching.
As far as Georgia goes, here’s what Sallee writes:
(-4) The Bulldogs used to be known as the king (or, at least co-king) of preseason hype. However, in four of the six years since expansion, the media has been spot-on. The only two swings and misses were 2013 and 2015, when they were the preseason favorite in the division and finished third.
Hopefully, those days are gone for a while.
Filed under Media Punditry/Foibles, SEC Football
I’ll bet most of you won’t find any serious fault in Pete Fiutak’s ranking of the SEC’s head football coaches.
Filed under Media Punditry/Foibles, SEC Football
I genuinely don’t know how much snark to push at Pete Fiutak’s top 30 quarterbacks list. On the one hand, he’s got Jalen Hurts at #12 and Tua Tagovailoa, for whom I really should come up with a catchy anagram, at #7.
On the other hand, he’s got three SEC quarterbacks, including Fromm at #4, ranked ahead of Tua.
I feel so conflicted.
Filed under College Football, Media Punditry/Foibles
Danny Kanell goes from disparaging Alabama’s national title…
… to calling Georgia’s 2017 season a “fluke”.
By the way — Auburn, “the best team in the SEC”? That explains why they faced off against UCF, hunh.
Son, you’re trying too hard to be noticed.
Filed under General Idiocy, Media Punditry/Foibles
To his credit, Paul Myerberg compiles a list of college football’s top ten quarterbacks that (1) includes Jake Fromm and (2) excludes Tua Tagovailoa.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure you were allowed to do that.
Filed under Media Punditry/Foibles
