CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Five => SEC => Topic started by: Cincydawg on January 05, 2024, 03:01:47 PM
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Do you see a dark horse team for next season (a la Missouri this past year)?
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Do you see a dark horse team for next season (a la Missouri this past year)?
No dark horses, but I see some orange cows coming.
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Moo
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There will be more than 1 tradition power that has a backward season. These schedules are tough.
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I guess I could see Ole Miss as a dark horse to win the conference and make a post-season run. They won 11 games this year so they wouldn't exactly be coming out of nowhere, but 11 games is the most they've ever won and probably nobody expects them to exceed that. They did well in the portal and the Ole Miss NIL Collective has its stuff together right now, so add that on top of an already-good team and they might exceed expectations.
Obviously Alabama and Georgia are the perennial favorites for now, but that's why Ole Miss would be a dark horse.
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Teams I think could win the SEC next year (this year) with a half decent outside shot of a chance aside from the Big 2:
Ole Miss
Missouri - have to include them I think
Tennessee
LSU
Texas
OU???
I don't think anybody else has more than a 0.1% shot.
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dude we aren't winning the league ever but we could have a similar yr & make the playoff b/c we return a lot & are currently doing pretty good in the portal. if history is a teacher we'll slip some though. we'll see.
it'll most likely be one of ala/tx/ga/tenn. nico looked the part in their bowl.
lsu has to replace jd & fix their defense.....they just hired our dc who did a good job here so we have to replace a key assistant & of course there could be more movement. nussmeier played well in their bowl but wisc was ordinary.
idk what to do with okla....i don't think much of venables & think they'll be moving on sooner than later but obv they have to be taken seriously in a broader sense.
not sure what ole miss has coming back (?). this will be a good topic to revisit after the spring & more portal movement etc to see what we all think.
the other powers have a lot of questions to answer or so it seems at the moment.
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We had The Purple Wedding at LSU the other day with the defensive coaching staff (GoT reference, since many probably won't understand that).
Hired Missouri's DC, who coached LBs at LSU in 2021. Honestly not who I was hoping for, but it's not like we were going to get the people on my short wish-list, and when you wait until now to make moves, the hiring pool of coaches is pretty shallow. Definitely not a "splashy" hire, but the positive is I figure he literally can't be worse than what we had this year.
Remains to be seen who we'll go after for position coaches. I think the rumors are pretty well confirmed now that we're interested in pulling Texas' DL coach, Bo Davis. Doesn't appear that Davis is interested however, and that likely won't happen.
Also rumors about bringing Corey Raymond home to coach DBs, and it's no secret Raymond wants to come back to BR. While he was the best DB coach in the nation for a long stretch, imo, and produced multiple high NFL picks and recruits extremely well, I have to note his final two years at LSU (2020 and 2021) began the dropoff on defense and the secondary was as much to blame as anyone. Which resulted in him not being retained by Kelly. He went to Florida, where DBs have also struggled under his watch. Corey-Raymond-Prime....I'm all in. Is he the same coach he used to be? I'm not sure, and so I don't know how I feel about bringing him home.
Switching to a related topic....how common is it for the board to have to approve contracts? Especially for position coaches. We might have lost OC Denbrock anyway, since Notre Dame puts him so much closer to family and he has more history with coaches there than he has with Kelly. But LSU offered him an extension, which he agreed to, but then LSU f'd around and never actually put it in front of him to sign. We're told that the Board of Regents had to sign off (literally) on the contract and they couldn't be bothered to stop their Thanksgiving-thru-New-Year's revelries long enough to meet and complete the paperwork. Notre Dame swooped in with a more tangible offer, signed and ready, waved it in his face, and he signed it and hit the road. I would've thought an Athletic Director's approval is all you need for a new contract for a position coach. Is this how it works at your school? Many are the times I've found out that Louisiana's political shenanigans cause unique red tape situations at LSU, and I'm wondering if this is one of them. It's possible the Board just cost us a great OC, and I can't imagine it's sitting well with Kelly, or even the AD, who took all the steps they could to retain the guy.
Will be a very different looking staff next year. We'll see how it goes.
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yes but it's usually a formality - or it's supposed to be anyway. if the ad & board aren't on the same pg chaos ensues. which is exactly what happened during our last football coaching search when our ad at the time brought 3 turds to the board - someone on that board leaked the names to the press & then our board essentially went out & hired eli. needless to say that ad moved on later that yr. it was a circus.
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When an athletic department financially operates completely independently from the university, it makes no sense to me why the AD can't control his own budget and approve contracts.
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Well now that the football season is officially over... how's it going, my SEC brethren?
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Welcome.
We should probably get the hazing out of the way, so you and the OU fans can start cleaning the toilets and buying our beer.
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Well now that the football season is officially over... how's it going, my SEC brethren?
Feeling like 'it just means more' yet?
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Welcome.
We should probably get the hazing out of the way, so you and the OU fans can start cleaning the toilets and buying our beer.
No problems, we'll have our servants take care of all that jazz. What's next?
Feeling like 'it just means more' yet?
You better believe it. I even tried on a "Texas didn't want to be in the Sugar Bowl" for size. It didn't feel quite right just yet, but I'm sure I'll grow accustomed to it!
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Sorry, you're in the SEC now, only Alabama is allowed to have servants, and they all work in the Birmingham front office. The only way to shorten the hazing period is to prove your SECness by beating a Big Ten team, so be sure to take care of Michigan in the opener. If not, at minimum, the hazing period extends an undefined amount of time, at maximum, we kick Texas back out of the SEC.
Alabama and Auburn are already on notice.
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We got Texas DL coach Bo Davis after all.
Welp, he's got his work cut out for him. Smith has followed Wingo into the draft, both of which I think is a mistake. They should've been rather good--and were, in previous years and one at a different school--but they were a train wreck this year. And that's after Smith was injured on the first play of the season last year. He's really only got a promising freshman season that's worth showing film on.
Point being, it's thin on that interior DL and there are no T'Vondre Sweats or Byron Murphy's in the room. Davis has a long term project on his hands, I'm afraid.
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Sorry, you're in the SEC now, only Alabama is allowed to have servants, and they all work in the Birmingham front office. The only way to shorten the hazing period is to prove your SECness by beating a Big Ten team, so be sure to take care of Michigan in the opener. If not, at minimum, the hazing period extends an undefined amount of time, at maximum, we kick Texas back out of the SEC.
Alabama and Auburn are already on notice.
Alabama's about to be missing a heck of a lot more than the servants we just hired away from them.
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Alabama's about to be missing a heck of a lot more than the servants we just hired away from them.
Proves my point. Look at what happens when you don't beat a B1G team.
So....beat Michigan next season, or something similar could befall your team.
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p.s.,
Auburn lost to Maryland as well, so you might be asking what their punishment is. The answer is, they're Auburn, and that's generally deemed punishment enough.
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Horns currently have scoreboard over both Michigan and Ohio State and are 3-1 all time against those two opponents.
Do not ask about the record vs. Maryland, thanks in advance.
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...or Vanderbilt.
Oh, you thought it was gonna be all cordial and nice over here once you became conference rivals?
I know all your weaknesses.
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I thought were were just talking about the B1G.
But if we're gonna talk SEC, well then:
Alabama: 8-2-1
Arkansas: 56-23-0
Auburn: 5-3
Florida: 2-0-1
Georgia: 4-1
Kentucky: 1-0
LSU: 9-8-1
Ole Miss: 6-2
MSU: 2-2
Missouri: 18-6
Oklahoma: 63-50-5
Texas A&M: 76-37-5
Tennessee: 2-1
South Carolina: 0-1
Vanderbilt: 3-8-1
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Heh.
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So, we're just one game away from tying you up, like Clanga, and two games away from owning yer arse. Easy peezy.
The rest of these chumps have some work to do.
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So, we're just one game away from tying you up, like Clanga, and two games away from owning yer arse. Easy peezy.
The rest of these chumps have some work to do.
Not me, pal. I'm in the same boat as you.
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Definitely looking forward to some games against LSU and Tennessee. Overall I don't love the direction college football is heading, but at least there's going to be some fun games in the near future.
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Definitely looking forward to some games against LSU and Tennessee. Overall I don't love the direction college football is heading, but at least there's going to be some fun games in the near future.
TN and Texas are tied at the hip, and have always been.
Us TN guys have wanted a "rivalry" with Texas for as long as I've been born.
Who is the real UT ? Better orange -- baby shit burnt orange, or beautiful Tennessee Orange?
It just makes sense. I look forward to the matchup.
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Beautiful classic Fall burnt orange, or traffic cone creamsicle orange? Easy call.
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Beautiful classic Fall burnt orange, or traffic cone creamsicle orange? Easy call.
The colors that originally represented Rocky Top — orange and white — were chosen by UT Athletic Association President Charles Moore for the first UT field day (https://www.utk.edu/history/orange-white-colors) on April 12, 1889.
Moore’s reasoning (https://utsports.com/sports/2017/6/14/history-traditions-html.aspx) for choosing UT’s beloved orange and white highlights the foundation the university was built on — agriculture. The American daisy sports the same two colors and could be found all over The Hill overlooking Neyland Stadium.
(https://i.imgur.com/NoTOkt9.png)
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Yeah, but then y'all decided to checkerboard your endzone with it.
I don't care which orange is "better," but it's an easy call on whose field looks better.
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Yeah, but then y'all decided to checkerboard your endzone with it.
I don't care which orange is "better," but it's an easy call on whose field looks better.
I agree. Ours.
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Actually, that's quite interesting about Tennessee's colors.....I never knew that.
Any other interesting back stories for how your team got its colors and name?
LSU's purple and gold was originally supposed to be blue and white, the official school colors. On their way to New Orleans for the program's first game against Tulane, the team stopped by Reymond's Department Store for ribbons to make badges (Badges? We don't need no stinking badges!) Although it was November, the store had begun stocking ribbons for the coming Mardi Gras season and had no blue and white, but an abundance of purple and gold--the green had not come in yet. So they bought up the stock and brought purple and gold flare to the game. Although they lost, the team loved the colors, and so despite the disappointment of the university president for not adhering to blue and white, the team retained purple and gold as its colors, with the rest of the university following suit thereafter.
The "Tigers" came from the first coach, Charles Coates, a chemistry professor from John Hopkins, who founded the team because he was taken aback by the school's lack of sports, which he had participated in while in school himself. He thought a fitting name was to reference the Louisiana Tigers, a group of notorious Civil War companies from Louisiana sent to fight in Virginia which frequently found themselves in the worst battles, and were known for their fearlessness and ferocity.
A few years later the original university president returned to the job and was dismayed that the school hadn't stuck to the blue and white, chosen by him early in his first tenure. But by then the colors were popular and he never did anything to change it. He also liked the name "Tigers" since he had been one himself in the Civil War. Interestingly, William Tecumseh Sherman, the Union Army general, was the first superintendent of LSU and heavily involved in its founding. At that time it was called Louisiana State Seminary of Learning and Military Academy.
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Actually, that's quite interesting about Tennessee's colors.....I never knew that.
Any other interesting back stories for how your team got its colors and name?
LSU's purple and gold was originally supposed to be blue and white, the official school colors. On their way to New Orleans for the program's first game against Tulane, the team stopped by Reymond's Department Store for ribbons to make badges (Badges? We don't need no stinking badges!) Although it was November, the store had begun stocking ribbons for the coming Mardi Gras season and had no blue and white, but an abundance of purple and gold--the green had not come in yet. So they bought up the stock and brought purple and gold flare to the game. Although they lost, the team loved the colors, and so despite the disappointment of the university president for not adhering to blue and white, the team retained purple and gold as its colors, with the rest of the university following suit thereafter.
The "Tigers" came from the first coach, Charles Coates, a chemistry professor from John Hopkins, who founded the team because he was taken aback by the school's lack of sports, which he had participated in while in school himself. He thought a fitting name was to reference the Louisiana Tigers, a group of notorious Civil War companies from Louisiana sent to fight in Virginia which frequently found themselves in the worst battles, and were known for their fearlessness and ferocity.
A few years later the original university president returned to the job and was dismayed that the school hadn't stuck to the blue and white, chosen by him early in his first tenure. But by then the colors were popular and he never did anything to change it. He also liked the name "Tigers" since he had been one himself in the Civil War. Interestingly, William Tecumseh Sherman, the Union Army general, was the first superintendent of LSU and heavily involved in its founding. At that time it was called Louisiana State Seminary of Learning and Military Academy.
Good choice sticking with the purple and gold. Among the best color combos and uni's in all of CFB.
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Daisy orange britches!
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Florida's colors are orange and blue because alligators are orange and blue. Duh.
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Yeah, but then y'all decided to checkerboard your endzone with it.
I don't care which orange is "better," but it's an easy call on whose field looks better.
FWIW, I really love the way UTenn does the checkerboard and their colors. Really looks great.
As far as the "real" UT...that one is super easy.
https://www.ut.edu/
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https://volopedia.lib.utk.edu/entries/interlocking-ut-logo-trademark-shared-by-tennessee-and-texas/#:~:text=In%201986%20the%20University%20of,trademark%20that%20both%20schools%20use.
But what's a lot more concerning than who might be "the real UT" is that the SEC has three Tigers and two Bulldogs, that's 5 teams or nearly 1/3 of the conference with only two mascots. Talk about a major issue.
And there's talk of adding Clemson? Sheesh. Why not grab Fresno State while they're at it?
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I try and ponder each year which team might excel and vice versa, like Mizzou last season. I'm not very good at it of course. A thing I look for is "team toughness", and a returning solid QB. Kentucky fooled me a couple of times with this, so did Arkansas. What I'd call "flashy teams" can have a nice season at say 11-2 and then fade the next season of course.
Alabama will be interesting to watch of course. Florida will as well also vis a vis coaching security.
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So, who might exceed expectations next season? Oklahoma? I say that knowing nothing about them. LSU? Florida? Auburn? What about Auburn? They had woeful QB performances, maybe that gets fixed?
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Against my better judgement, I will say A&M returns a lot of talent from last years team, along with some upgrades from the portal. And with a new coaching staff, who knows what to expect except that it won't be Fisher bland.
Now watch us go 2-10. FWIW we open with Notre Dame.
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I keep forgetting A&M is in the SEC.
Next thing someone will tell me Oklahoma is too ... sheesh.
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Florida will NOT exceed expectations.
The Gators play 8 teams that are projected to win 8.5 games or more (Vegas).
We could be the 25th-best team in the country and go 4-8.
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Not sure what the "expectations" for Texas actually are, switching leagues and all.
The schedule is certainly top-heavy with both Michigan and Georgia, but it ain't nothin' like what Florida faces.
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I think Texas fans should expect to be "competitive", as usuall needing a break or three to make the CG, but it's possible.
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Not sure what the "expectations" for Texas actually are, switching leagues and all.
The schedule is certainly top-heavy with both Michigan and Georgia, but it ain't nothin' like what Florida faces.
@ Michigan...on paper looks heavy, but with a new coach, lots of new players, etc I would take Texas and 2 TD if they can return most of their roster from '23.
The tough games I see are obviously OU, Ga (In Austin), and @ College Station.
Florida will have a new coach by 11/9 ( or at least fired the old one), so will Arkansas, and UK will be tough but UT should be able to notch a win there. So overall not a super tough schedule in the way that SEC schedules go.
No LSU, No Bama (and the GOAT is gone anyways), No Auburn, No Ole Miss.
Really the UGa game on 10/19 should set the tone for the rest of the season.
(https://i.imgur.com/HxJGeQy.png)
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I would also say that A&M has a very favorable schedule this year as well.
Obviously, ND to kick things off is tough, but not a conference game. We can take an early loss like that and still be in the running for a 12 team CFP.
@Florida will be a real test, I guess it depends on if Napier has them on the upswing, but Florida is a 21BB so you can never discount them. Ark we've won 12/13 or something, they will be looking to fire what'shisname by 9/28, Mizzou may be tough, LSU will be tough (but in CS where we have won a lot). No Bama (No goat anyways), No Ole Miss, Auburn at home, Texas at home.
Hell, I may not understand the new conference set-up, but Texas and A&M may be playing for a spot in the CCG on 11/23, and maybe more.
Someone enlighten me...no more E/W division, it's best record vs best record? I don't know how it works anymore.
(https://i.imgur.com/1M81x3X.png)
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@ Michigan...on paper looks heavy, but with a new coach, lots of new players, etc I would take Texas and 2 TD if they can return most of their roster from '23.
The tough games I see are obviously OU, Ga (In Austin), and @ College Station.
I'm not certain I'd dismiss the defending national champs quite so quickly. Your own Ags have had more turnover in both coaching staff and roster than Michigan has, and yet you appear to be pretty positive about your team's outlook. I think Michigan fans have plenty of reason to feel at least as confident as you do.
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The top tier appears to include Ole Miss this season, plus Bama/Texas/UGA. Tennessee has a plausible shot to catch fire, maybe LSU as well if they can fix their D. Mizzou? Dunno.
UGA plays AT every top tier team.
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I'm not certain I'd dismiss the defending national champs quite so quickly. Your own Ags have had more turnover in both coaching staff and roster than Michigan has, and yet you appear to be pretty positive about your team's outlook. I think Michigan fans have plenty of reason to feel at least as confident as you do.
Well, I don't necessarily disagree with that, but from the outside looking in they've lost a big chunk of their coaching ranks, and I think a good chunk of their players, but I don't follow them that closely. I feel the same way about Alabama. Obviously both should be great programs next season, but I'd argue that losing the GOAT at one and the modern day GOAT in the other is a big blow.
As far as my teams fortunes go, I figure we do good about every 12-15 or so years. 1998, 2012, oh lookie here, we're right in the sweet spot for our 12 year upswing ! Unless you count 2020, in which case we'll see you guyz in 2032-2035 !
But seriously there is some good talent on the roster, IMO a somewhat favorable schedule (except ND to open), and perhaps our first great coach of this century. TBH is just feels like things are shaking up in the SEC.
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I didn't watch our spring game or pay any attention to what the "experts" had to say about it. I'm sure it's a nice tuneup especially for the newbies to get some feel for what a game will be like. This team of course should be "good", which means they could drop three games, or none, depending on some breaks. They have three apparently tough road games. I haven't checked into tie breakers for who goes to the CG, I imagine we'll need'em.