Which teams will be the biggest disappointments in the SEC at season's end?
My picks are Georgia in the east & a tie between Bama and Arkansas in the West.
Part of my reasoning on two of the three is QB issues that are still unresolved midway through fall camp. And I don't think Bama will have an answer until late season at best (think Casey Clausen's freshman season) and I don't think the QB answer is on the roster for Georgia. Both teams will be one dimensional and for those reasons will lose more games than anyone thinks now in the preseason no matter how much talent they have everywhere else (again see Clausen's freshman campaign). Not saying either team will go 500 but most are picking these two to meet for the SECC and many are picking them as legitimate contenders for the playoff. I don't think either reaches those goals.
And I think Arkansas won quite a few games on defense last year and their defensive line is gone. I'm not one who believes that they can/will simply plug in the next up and be anywhere near as good as last year. I see Arkansas' offensive SEC per game scoring output being 17 to 24 points. Can they hold Tennessee, A&M, Missouri, Bama and Auburn under 24 points? I don't think so. I think Arkansas record winds up very similar to last year.
These three teams are also my picks because I think there are some other teams on their schedules that will be better than anyone thinks. I believe South Carolina will be much better than we are all thinking and they worry me a bit especially because I think they will be a heavy underdog to us and we may overlook them after beating them two years straight and having an improved team this year. And I think Texas A&M will shock a team or two this year on the west side.
My picks are Georgia in the east & a tie between Bama and Arkansas in the West.
Part of my reasoning on two of the three is QB issues that are still unresolved midway through fall camp. And I don't think Bama will have an answer until late season at best (think Casey Clausen's freshman season) and I don't think the QB answer is on the roster for Georgia. Both teams will be one dimensional and for those reasons will lose more games than anyone thinks now in the preseason no matter how much talent they have everywhere else (again see Clausen's freshman campaign). Not saying either team will go 500 but most are picking these two to meet for the SECC and many are picking them as legitimate contenders for the playoff. I don't think either reaches those goals.
And I think Arkansas won quite a few games on defense last year and their defensive line is gone. I'm not one who believes that they can/will simply plug in the next up and be anywhere near as good as last year. I see Arkansas' offensive SEC per game scoring output being 17 to 24 points. Can they hold Tennessee, A&M, Missouri, Bama and Auburn under 24 points? I don't think so. I think Arkansas record winds up very similar to last year.
These three teams are also my picks because I think there are some other teams on their schedules that will be better than anyone thinks. I believe South Carolina will be much better than we are all thinking and they worry me a bit especially because I think they will be a heavy underdog to us and we may overlook them after beating them two years straight and having an improved team this year. And I think Texas A&M will shock a team or two this year on the west side.
