For the first week of the season, all SEC teams in action play other SEC teams.  There are five games on tap including the Cats and Cocks.  How many jokes will we hear this week involving cocks?  Seroiusly, probably enough to start a drinking game. 

SOUTH CAROLINA @ KENTUCKY  12:30 pm  RAYCOM

Oh well, I guess everybody loves when USCjr comes to town because they can openly make jokes about cocks and no one cares.  I just hope this week that everyone is in a good mood after the game as well.  I look for the Cats to prove once again that they are superior on the defensive side.  USCjr’s offense hasn’t been much to talk about this year but like the Cats, they have relied heavily on their defense.  Remeber last year’s contest when a couple of turnovers cost the Cats the game.  If those same mistakes can be avoided, look for the Cats to finally send the Old Ball Coach home crying.  If it happens, Spurrier’s seat may become a little warm considering  he has yet to have a good season in Columbia.  PREDICTION: KENTUCKY 20, USCjr 6.

LSU @ FLORIDA  8:00  CBS
The Tigers go into “The Swamp” fresh off of a bye week while Florida basically had a bye week even though they did travel to Fayetteville for a scrimmage with the Hogs.  After their 38-7 win, they flew back home and began preparations for LSU.  If Tim Tebow keeps his word, it was probably one of the toughest practice weeks the Gaotrs have had yet.  I think after this showdown, there will be one less unbeaten team in the SEC.  PREDICTION: FLORIDA 24, LSU 21

TENNESSEE @ GEORGIA  3:30  CBS

The first half of the SEC doubleheader on CBS takes us to Athens where the Dawgs host the Vols.  As much as it will kill Billy Bob and Bertha, Fat Phil will still be leading the Vols out of the locker room for yet another week.  I think that if the Vols don’t perform well and keep it close, someone may be out of a job next week, and I’m not talking about any coordinators.  Two blowout losses to SEC East opponents would not be taken well in Knoxville.  I just hope that if they do get rid of Fulmer this year, it is done before the end of the year instead of at the end of the season because teams tend to play differently for their coach when they know it’s his last game.  Yeah, we get them in their last game of the year.  Here’s to hoping Georgia can get it done this week.  PREDICTION: GEORGIA 35, TENNESSEE 13

VANDERBILT @ MISSISSIPPI STATE  1:30

After their victory over Auburn, Vandy travels to Starkville to take on the mighty cowbell backed Bulldogs.  Vandy looks to get to 6-0 for the first time in 80 years and extend their SEC winning streak to the longest in school history (3?).  It’s unknown which quarterback the Dores will use.  Starter Chris Nickson injured his shoulder last week and his status for this week is unknown.  If needed, MacKenzie Adams is more than qualified to step in and lead the team to victory.  Mississippi St has lost three in a row and looks to spoil Vandy’s cinderella season.  PREDICTION: VANDERBILT 21, MISSISSIPPI STATE 14

ARKANSAS @ AUBURN  3:00

A week before coming to Lexington, Arkansas travels to Auburn to battle with the Tigers.  Arkansas got blown out by Florida at home last week and Auburn lost to Vanderbilt for the first time ending a 13-game winning streak against the Dores.  Auburn fired it’s offensive coordinator earlier this week and really have no identity on offense.  Although I don’t think Arkansas will win, I think it will be a close game because of Auburn’s lack of offense.  PREDICTION: AUBURN 10, ARKANSAS 6

Alabama and Ole MIss have the week off.  Bama is still #2 in the national rankings after their win over the Cats last weekend while Ole Miss is regrouping after the letdown they suffered against South Carolina last week.

Florida @ Tennessee

I know the games are always close at Knoxville, but have you seen Tennessee this year? They played like absolute garbage against UCLA and didn’t look that much better when they beat UAB last week. I still don’t have the kind of trust in Jonathan Crompton to convince myself that Tennessee will keep this one close. On the other hand, Florida has done everything a championship contender is supposed to do in the first three weeks of this young season. I think I saw on ESPN that they were outscoring opponents 65-3 in the first three quarters of the game. That is scary precision, folks. I like Florida to roll in this one, let’s say 49-17.

Alabama @ Arkansas

This will tell us something about both teams. Is Alabama for real, or did they just catch fire against Clemson and their games against Tulane and WKU indicative of how they will play the rest of the season? Is Arkansas as bad as they have looked in 4th quarter comeback wins against Western Illinois and UL-Monroe? I’d say that yes, Alabama is for real, and yes, Arkansas is that bad. The Razorbacks are just missing the kind of talent all around that is necessary to achieve any kind of success this year, and I think the Crimson Tide will win comfortably. I think we’ll go with 38-14 in this one.

Vanderbilt @ Mississippi

The two most underrated teams in the conference square off in Oxford Saturday. Vanderbilt has been great on defense this season, just like they have been throughout the Bobby Johnson era. Ole Miss showed the world just how good Houston Nutt is when they were a blown pass interference call away from beating Wake Forest, the best team in the ACC. Jevan Sneed is the best quarterback you haven’t seen so far this season. I might be inclined to call this one a must win for Vandy because of their struggles against Florida, Georgia and Kentucky. They play a few more OOC games, so in order for them to get that sixth win, they’ll have to take this one. I think the Rebels win a very close defensive slugfest. Let’s call it 14-10.

LSU @ Auburn

Now we’re talking the good stuff. I had Auburn winning the West and eventually the entire conference this year, but I didn’t plan on them benching their quarterback after only one week. Chris Todd did not fare very well in that offensive explosion in the land of the cowbells, and the more I watch LSU, the more I think they can win this thing again. Charles Scott has been the best offensive player in the conference up to this point, and if something happens to him, no SEC team has a deeper pool of runners than LSU. I’ll say this: If LSU wins this game, they will go on to win the national championship again. However, you can’t just waltz into Jordan-Hare and expect to beat Tommy Tuberville in a big game. I think the War Eagle Tigers will beat the Bayou Bengal Tigers in a classic. Auburn wins, 24-21.

In other news, I think Georgia will make like a Mountain West team and destroy Arizona State in the desert.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, and watch me be completely wrong on all of these picks except Alabama/Arkansas.

With UK having an off week, it’s time to tackle some things about that good old Southeastern Conference that just may or may not be true. Feel free to add anything you want in the comments.

Myth No. 1: Vanderbilt is good enough to go bowling
Let’s be for real here guys. The ‘Dores give up 350/yards a game, worse in the SEC. They’re highest profile win is a 1-2 South Carolina team that lives off it’s coaches name. Maybe Vandy can go bowling, but let’s wait until they get blown out by Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and maybe UK. Also, Ole Miss will probably beat them this week.

Myth No. 2: Auburn’s offense is good enough to help them win the SEC West
Here’s the thing, when you score only three points in a game, you don’t have an offense. When you score three points and still win, you have one helluva defense, but no offense. And Auburn isn’t winning the SEC West. It’s going to be either LSU again or a surging Alabama.

Myth No. 3: Tennessee/Mississippi State are darkhorse candidates to win their divisions
Well, the Dawgs have lost to Lousiana Tech and sit at a pretty 1-2. They can’t score and their defense isn’t that tough either. Tennessee got whooped by UCLA who got killed, and I mean killed, by BYU. Plus they play Florida this weekend, and it’s going to be ugly. No way either of these teams finish better than fourth in their division.

GAME OF THE WEEK

GEORGIA @ SOUTH CAROLINA 3:30 pm CBS
This was a tough choice but I guess I’ll go with the game that’s being nationally televised. Georgia visits South Carolina at 3:30 pm with live game coverage airing on CBS. The Dawgs pounded Central Michigan last week 56-17 but have lost two defensive players to season ending injuries in the first two weeks of the season. This will be the Dawgs first trip outside of Athens this year as they travel up the road to Columbia. South Carolina comes into this game off of a loss at Vanderbilt last Thursday night. The offense for the Cocks has yet to find it’s flow but the defense has picked up the slack for the most part. Who would have ever guessed a Spurrier team would be led by it’s defense.
PREDICTION: Georgia 38, USC 17

AUBURN @ MISSISSIPPI STATE 7 pm ESPN
This was the second best game of the week in my opinion. Auburn won it’s first two games fairly easily over Louisiana Monroe and Southern Miss, with the latter being a lot closer than the first. Mississippi State hasn’t had quite as easy of a first couple of weeks. They traveled to Louisiana Tech for their first game and came back with a loss 22-14. Last week they had a much easier game against SE Louisiana where they won 34-10. Last time I checked, Auburn is not in Louisiana which is not good news for MSU.
PREDICTION: AUBURN 34, MSU 7

UAB @ TENNESSEE 12:30 pm Raycom
The Vols return to action after a week to think about their loss at UCLA. Hopefully they worked on getting points off of turnovers a little in practice. They should cruise easily this week but I’ve seen stranger things happen. UAB has lost their first two games to Tulsa and Florida Atlantic. They apparently don’t have much of a defense because they allowed 45 and 49 points in their first two games. I look for Rocky Top to be played plenty of times this weekend.
PREDICTION: TENNESSEE 42, UAB 17

WESTERN KENTUCKY @ ALABAMA 7 pm
This games features the next two opponents for the Wildcats after this weekend. WKU comes to town in two weeks and UK travels to Tuscaloosa in three weeks. Western beat rival Eastern Kentucky last week pretty easily but I guarantee this week will be a little tougher. Alabama comes in 2-0 after wins over Clemson and Tulane. Last week’s game wasn’t as a strong of performance as the previous week’s but it got the job done. I think the Tide will move to 3-0 this week.
PREDICTION: ALABAMA 24, WKU 7

NORTH TEXAS @ LSU 8 pm
In this game, I look for LSU to score at least 49 points. If they don’t I will be a little surprised. This shouldn’t be much of a game but I guess after last year, nothing is a definite. I look for the Tigers to roll.
PREDICTION: LSU 56, NORTH TEXAS 10

RICE @ VANDERBILT 7 pm
Vanderbilt could quite possibly enter the rankings with a win on Saturday over Rice and some help from the teams in front of them. Of course, they would be behind UK if they do because I look for the Cats to be ranked by this time next week. After beating South Carolina last week, the Dores look to keep the momentum up as they play their last non-conference game before the heart of the league schedule begins. It should be a good one as Rice scores a ton of points and beat Memphis last week.
PREDICTION: VANDY 35, RICE 28

SAMFORD @ MISSISSIPPI 7 pm
In a game of who cares, I look for Ole Miss to get back to winning with an easy victory over Samford. Samford is 2-0 with victories over West Georgia and Faulkner but I think Ole Miss should be too strong for them.
PREDICTION: OLE MISS 34, SAMFORD 14

Arkansas was supposed to visit Texas in a matchup of old Southwest Conference rivals but Hurricane Ike has postponed that game until September 27. Nice job Ike!

Florida is off this week as they prepare for Tennessee next week.

That’s all for this week. I’m DJ and I think the Kentucky 6A 7th Region could compete in the Big East or ACC this year. With St X, Trinity, and Male, I think they could probably win several league games this year. GO CATS!!

We told you before we are very thankful to be invited to be part of the SEC Power Poll. And even more thankful to be able to air our comments and ballot here. So this is what was just turned in. You get the first look! In reverse order.

12. Mississippi State
Anyone who put Croom higher thsn 10 in a ranking of SEC coaches should publicily apologize. Those who believed the Bulldogs were anything but a one-year wonder, please excuse yourselves. We’ll wait.

11. Arkansas
Petrino comes deathly close to hell, but the Razorbacks still pull out a comeback win over Western Ill. Will fight MSU for the most crappy team this year.

10. Tennessee
Hang it up Fulmer. Claw-fense my butt. How about a defense that has 4 INTs in the first half and a team that can’t score on those mistakes. You’re awful. Say hello to fifth place in the SEC for us.

9. Vanderbilt
Gets lucky since three other teams played bad.

8. Ole Miss
See: Vanderbilt. Real test comes this week.

7. Kentucky
Did you see that defense? Did you see the awful play of four of UK’s conference opponents? Looking good for the Cats.

6. South Carolina
Maybe Spurrier has something brewing in Columbia. Finally.

5. Alabama
Saban has a growing monster in Tuscaloosa.

4. Auburn
Still waiting to see if they can rise up and take the SEC West

3. LSU
Their handling of App State proved they weren’t ready to hand over the SEC to anyone else.

2. Georgia.
Playing Georgia Southern means nothing except you get to stay where I think you should be.

1. Florida
If those freshmen speedsters continue to play well = championship.

Mississippi State has played West Virginia. Georgia has played Oklahoma State is will play Arizona State in Tempe. Tennessee did a home-and-home with California and will play UCLA in Los Angeles. Alabama played Florida State in Jacksonville and will play Clemson in Jacksonville this season. LSU did a home-and-home with Virginia Tech. Vanderbilt went to Michigan. Auburn did a home-and-home with USC near the peak of the Trojans’ run, and last year they played Kansas State and South Florida. This year they play West Virginia in Morgantown. I don’t mind Arkansas vs. Texas, Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, South Carolina vs. Clemson, Florida vs. Miami or Kentucky vs. Louisville because those are rivalries and nothing tops a college football rivalry. Still, I wanted to take a look at the marquee games SEC teams play out of conference in the first two months of the season.

September 1: #18 Tennessee @ UCLA

Why does Tennessee keep going to the West Coast? I know they’ve gotten some recruits from there (Casey Clausen comes to mind), but they rarely win the game. I’m going to put down the Pac-10 when I talk about Georgia vs. ASU, but I think UCLA might be a little better than people expect. I’m not saying they’ll win their conference (they won’t – USC will in a landslide), but Rick Neuheisel and Norm Chow know offense, and that had been the Bruins’ weakest area. Also, I’m not sold on Tennessee. Jonathan Crompton is very green at QB, the running backs are powerful, but don’t have the blazing speed possessed by Georgia or LSU, and the defense is still suspect. I don’t think UCLA would beat Tennessee if they played at the end of the season (Tennessee always has a top-heavy schedule and closes out seasons well), but I like the Bruins in this one.

Prediction: UCLA 28, Tennessee 27

September 6: Miami @ #5 Florida

Florida is either going to go undefeated in the regular season, or they will have one loss against Georgia. People bring up how mediocre their defense was last season, but I’ll counter by bringing up how young that defense was last season. Tim Tebow is a pretty good football player, and they have a ridiculous amount of talent returning at the skill positions, even taking into account the injury to Cornelius Ingram. Randy Shannon will turn Miami back into “The U” by 2010, but his young Hurricanes won’t be ready to take a gameplan into the swamp and execute perfectly, which is what they’d have to do to win. Also, I don’t like betting against Urban Meyer.

Prediction: Florida 42, Miami 24

September 13: Arkansas @ #11 Texas

Arkansas is in a major rebuilding mode with the loss of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, plus having Casey Dick return at QB. Bobby Petrino will probably achieve success on the same level of Houston Nutt at Arkansas (which I’d kill for as a Kentucky fan), but not this season. Texas might be a tad underrated this season. Their talent level is always top notch, but I wonder if Mack Brown caught lightning in a bottle with Vince Young. This is the last game in this rivalry for several years, and I don’t see Texas losing.

Prediction: Texas 38, Arkansas 21

September 20: #1 Georgia @ #15 Arizona State

Arizona State is overrated because the Pac-10 is overrated. Every team besides USC has a great offense and a terrible defense. A lot of the people I’ve seen on TV have begun to hump on the “Georgia is overrated” bandwagon, but I disagree. If any team is capable of getting through that meat grinder of a schedule, it’s the Bulldogs, and it will start against Arizona State. I think Rudy Carpenter will rack up a lot of yards against Georgia, but I think Georgia has the kind of red zone defense that can take points off of the scoreboard, and Georgia will control the ball with the running game enough to win comfortably.

Prediction: Georgia 34, Arizona State 19

October 23: #10 Auburn @ #8 West Virginia

I really like Auburn to do big things this year. They looked like a totally different team as the big underdog against Clemson in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, and with Tony Franklin calling the plays and Cody Burns at QB, the Tigers’ new spread offense should be lethal. Auburn people don’t like Tommy Tuberville, which is one of the biggest mysteries ever. Somebody exhume Robert Stack’s body so he can figure that one out. WVU will be awesome on offense with Pat White and Noel Devine, but I wonder if their blowout win over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl might have been a bit of an illusion. Those guys rallied behind Bill Stewart as the interim coach, but can they carry that into this season? Morgantown is a tough place to win, but if Pittsburgh can do it on a night where WVU could have made the title game, Auburn can certainly do it. I think they will, in a wildly entertaining game.

Prediction: Auburn 34, West Virginia 31

And finally, there’s Louisville vs. Kentucky.

Yeah, that one will have to wait for another day. I don’t want to waste that one on Monday because I’ll be dead for the rest of the week.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, setting the DVR for 5:00 today. ESPN Classic is showing a replay of last year’s Kentucky vs. Louisville game. There will be good times tonight.

The pre-season is usually a bunch of crap. Lies are told, bold predictions made and most people have no idea what they are talking about. That’s why we’re here to seperate the cow from the bull****.

1. Louisville’s experience at quarterback will be enough for the team coast to a 6-6 or 7-5 season.

Verdict: Total bull. Listen here Louisville fans, have many teams have you seen with a good quarterback, and Cantwell is good but not great, will his team to victory? Sure, you have a 6’8 receiver who will be hung out to dry some many times he won’t have ribs. Your best returning WR has a bullet in his back. And you’re running game isn’t THAT great. Your defense won’t put you in the best field position. Sorry folks, this pre-season myth is bull.

2. Mississippi State is a dark horse candidate for the SEC West.

Verdict: TOTAL BULL. Listen, you guys did well last year, beat UK and went to a bowl game. Congrats. But you still have to play Auburn, LSU, and Alabama. Not to mention a stacked Ole Miss team with a better coach. Oh and UK wants revenge too. I like you Croom, but everyone crowning the Bulldogs needs to take a chill pill.

3. The SEC will be won by the East (Georgia or Florida) this year.

Verdict: Maybe bull. I mean, Percy Harvin hasn’t stepped on the field for Florida. Georgia has had injuries and off-season problems that might affect the team. If Auburn gets this spread offense down quickly watch out. If LSU finds a serviceable QB, watch out. Until Florida and Georgia get straight, I’m not so sure.

4. Spurrier will be done if South Carolina doesn’t seriously contend this year.

Verdict: Maybe true? But here’s the thing, Spurrier better quit now. He’s best QB has been suspended from the team before (Garcia) and while the defense is supposely stout, they said the same thing last year. Heck, UK might actually break their Spurrier winless streak, which should have been done last year. Columbia isn’t Gainesville, sorry OBC.

5. UK won’t have a winning season this year.

Verdict: TOTAL BULL. Four winnable non-conference games. The typical tussle and win over Vandy. A depleted Arkansas at home. Six easy wins boys. Throw in swinging something against Alabama (6-6 last year), South Carolina (6-6 last year), Mississippi State (7-5 last year) or Tennessee and looky here, a very attainable 7-5. What now, haters?