SEC (plus 3) Week 6 Picks

I picked all my picks correctly straight up last week (36-6). (Again, we are swaying from the spread because I want to try to at least look somewhat credible.)  A few games ran a lot closer than I thought they would, and I think it brought up some interesting questions about several teams.

Question 1: Is Tennessee that bad?

It's honestly the time to say they are definitely not a contender in the SEC East, but I think they are slowly turning it around.  They have a work horse in Rajon Neal, and I think he is the most underrated running back in the SEC.  They have to avoid turnovers and somehow reinvent the wheel on that wretched defense.

Question 2: What happened to Ole Miss against Alabama last week?

I think Ole Miss has a very good, young team this season.  I surely thought they were going to give Alabama a better game last week.  However, I had to remind myself that they were, in fact, playing Alabama.  Two things stood out to me on the stat sheet for the Rebels.  They only had the ball for 21 minutes and they were 4-for-14 on third down conversions.  When you only have the ball for a third of the game, it's tough to score a lot of points if any.  Not converting third downs and sustaining offensive drives has a lot to do with this.  Ole Miss can't afford to take a break this week, as they travel to Jordan-Hare Stadium to complete their tour of Alabama.

Question 3: What was up with South Carolina?

The ole "trap" game on the schedule almost got the best of South Carolina this past week.  The Gamecocks lost Connor Shaw in the first quarter to injuries.  South Carolina is going to have to improve on defense, as Brian Bortles was torching them at the beginning and end of the game.  Luckily, he made two critical mistakes, but I honestly think he could start on a lot of SEC teams.  Carolina escaped on the back of Mike Davis, and I think they will be a vastly improved team this week playing Kentucky at home.

So, now its time for our week six picks (got a nice ring to it).  I'm adding three out of conference games to make an even ten picks.  So we will start with them first:

(15) Washington 31

(5) Stanford 29

This is my upset pick of the week, so I had to put it on here.  If Stanford wins this game, which they very well could, then I would consider them to be more credible.  Until then, I'm picking the Huskies to upset the Cardinal on the road.

(4) Ohio State 35

(16) Northwestern 14

The Buckeyes travel to Illinois to play Northwestern.  I just don't see this one being really close, and I think Northwestern is overrated.  The Buckeyes are the only reason game day is there, honestly.

(3) Clemson 56

Syracuse 17

I think Syracuse is ten points better than Wake Forest.

Georgia St 0
(1) Alabama 45

Why???

(6) Georgia 38
Tennessee 16

I think Tennessee will have the ability to use the home crowd and hang around. Until the second half.

(24) Ole Miss 26
Auburn 20

Ole Miss wins a big game for them on the road.  However, I don't think people are giving Auburn enough credit.

Arkansas 10
(18) Florida 27

The Gators will win a big SEC game at home.

(10) LSU 34
Mississippi St. 10

The Bayou Bengals recover on the road after a heartbreaking loss in Athens last weekend.

Missouri 26
Vanderbilt 28

I personally think this battle between unranked teams is the most interesting match-up in the SEC this week.  I think Vandy is tough enough to squeak by Mizzou at home.

Kentucky 10
South Carolina 52

The HBC hangs 50+ on the Wildcats and then goes in search of a Bud Heavy.  Connor Shaw expected to play.  I think this might be one of those games that makes people not like Steve Spurrier.

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