Off Season Random Musings

* This year’s race for the title should be fascinating. There are no obvious choices for the title game as there have been in the past. Remember, USC and Texas started the 2005 season 1 and 2 and finished that way. In 2004, USC and Oklahoma debuted at number 1 and 2 in the polls and played for the Crystal Football.

* Since the inception of the BCS, at least one of the two top teams in the initial Coaches Poll has been in the Championship Game. So Ohio State and Texas would seem to have a leg up, if you believe in streaks.

* I like Ohio State and Florida State to play in the Championship game. Ohio State is loaded on offense and the defense will develop quickly. The Noles lost their focus last season once they secured the birth in the ACC Title game and went on a three game skid to end the regular season. As for the Orange Bowl, you knew once it went to kicks, FSU was going to lose.

* These are re-treds from last year but still true:

I am sick of T.O. Go blow out a knee or something and let ESPN move on.

The number of games on TV is staggering. I’ll have four going at once and it still won’t be enough.

* I like the fact that LSU has stayed off the police blotter when a number of other schools have had off the field issues.

* Blue Moon and Hoegaarden are damn good beers.

* The media is going to get lock jaw this season from smoking Notre Shame’s pole all season.

* I think Notre Shame’s Brady Quinn will win the Heisman. All he needs to do is win 9 games. The media will be smoking his pole too much to notice that Adrian Peterson and Troy Smith are more deserving. Lots of pole smoking by the media this season.

* I think LSU will go 9-3 and end up in the Liberty Bowl.

* I like Auburn to beat Georgia in Atlanta for the SEC Title.

* As long as John David Booty starts for USC, the Trojans have no chance of winning the Pac-10 or appearing in the BCS Title game.

* ESPN’s Kirk Herbstriet loves “the U.” He loved them last year and he’s on the bandwagon again picking them to play in the BCS Championship.

* Is Beano Cook dead? (As a side note, did you know his real name is Carroll Hoff Cook?)

* Go to Buffalo Wild Wings. You’ll like it.

* I will be busy this fall dealing with a-holes. (A-hole #1, A-hole #2, A-hole #3)

* Check out a big win for yours truly. 1-0 at the Louisiana Supreme Court.

2006 SEC East

Most of the media is picking the Gators to win the SEC East for the first time since 2000. It’s not going to happen. I like Georgia to repeat as champs of the East. Right now, Mark Richt is the best coach in the SEC. Not small praise when you consider that Spurrier and Fulmer have won national championships, Tuberville has coached a 13-0 Auburn team and Miles led LSU to the SEC title game in his debut season, and oh yeah, that Urban Meyer guy too.

Georgia has to replace a number of starters, but they are deep and experienced. Ten of the starters on defense are juniors and seniors. Nine of the starters on offense are juniors and seniors as well. Most importantly, three seniors start on the O-line and two on the D-line. The Bulldogs’ special teams are the best in the conference with PK Brandon Coutu and P Gordon Ely-Kelso. The real question will be whether QB Joe Tereshinski can manage the game and keep the offense moving. Georgia lost three games last season by a total of nine points. I think the Dawgs will surprise this season.

Florida will win a bunch of games this season, but I don’t expect an appearance in the SEC Title game. There are way too many questions about the offensive line. Plus I have my doubts about Leak’s ability to fully exploit the spread system. RB is a huge question as well. The schedule is tough as Florida plays Alabama, LSU and at Auburn in a brutal three game stretch. The Gators were 1-3 on the road last season and will be tested in Knoxville early in the season. The defense is nasty and returns three starters on the D-line. Florida will be in every game this season because of the defense, but the inexperience on the offensive line will give Meyer fits.

Tennessee will not lose six games this season, but they won’t compete for the East crown either. Bringing back David Cutcliffe as the offensive coordinator was a great move by Fulmer. The offense will be better as QB Ainge will be “the guy.” Potential problems exist along both lines as only one starter returns on the O-line and one starter returns for the defensive front seven.

Can you believe that a Steve Spurrier team finished ranked 100th in the country in total offense? While the South Carolina will put up more points this season, they will also give up more. The Gamecocks must replace seven starters on defense and five on offense. This year USC will struggle to get bowl eligible, but next season, look out.

There is not much to say about Vanderbilt and Kentucky. The Commodores made a great run last year, but Jay Cutler is gone and there is no way that team gets better without him. Rich Brooks has been a disaster at Kentucky going 9-25 overall and 4-20 in the SEC the past three seasons. (Those four wins were over MSU twice and Vandy twice.) I look for Brooks to get run at the end of the season as the Cats will end up with only three or four wins.


Prowler’s Predictions

1. Georgia
2. Florida
3. Tennessee
4. South Carolina
5. Kentucky
6. Vanderbilt

2006 SEC West

Any discussion of the SEC West must begin with the Auburn Tigers. Auburn starts five seniors and four juniors on the offensive line and defensive line combined. Kenny Irons is the best RB in the conference and their schedule is definitely favorable. The Tigers play LSU, Arkansas, Florida and Georgia in Jordan-Hare Stadium. (As a side note, the home team in the AU v. UGA series is only 3-10 since 1992.) Having been to Auburn three times, I can assure you it gets as loud as Tiger Stadium (I know, that statement is heresy in the eyes of most LSU fans) and is rough on opposing teams. Auburn’s games at South Carolina and at Alabama could be difficult, but remember, the Plainsmen beat those two by a combined score of 76-25 last season.

LSU will contend for the West but a difficult road schedule may keep these Tigers from repeating. LSU faces Auburn, Tennessee, Florida and Arkansas on the road. The Tigers are breaking in a number of new guys on the offensive and defensive lines and running back is still a question mark. No one doubts that LSU is one of the most talented teams in the country, but over the past few campaigns, even numbered years haven’t brought SEC West titles. The importance of the LSU v. Auburn game can’t be understated; in four of the last five years, the winner of this game has represented the SEC West in Atlanta.

Arkansas is a bit of a wild card in 2006. The Hogs return 19 starters on offense and defense. Unfortunately for Houston Nutt, Arkansas’ biggest offensive threat, Darren McFadden, broke his toe in a bar fight this summer. The schedule is favorable as the Razorbacks miss Georgia and Florida from the East and get LSU, Tennessee and Alabama at home. Nutt is a good coach and has been rebuilding the last two years. Don’t be surprised if Arkansas somehow sneaks its way to Atlanta.

Alabama won’t win 10 games again this season, but 8-4 is definitely possible. The Tide must replace 7 starters on defense and QB Brodie Croyle on offense. Alabama is experienced across the board, but I wonder if the prior probationary sanctions have created a lack of depth. The schedule is about as brutal as LSU’s; the Crimson Tide play at Arkansas, at Florida, at Tennessee and at LSU. Shula is 0-3 against Auburn and really needs to win the Iron Bowl this season. It’s hard to believe, but Bama hasn’t been to the SEC Championship since 1999.

Ole Miss and MSU will again battle for the SEC West cellar. MSU hasn’t been bowling since 2000 and Ole Miss regressed in Ed Orgeron’s first season. Last season, MSU ranked 113th in scoring offense, Ole Miss 115th. I give MSU a slight nod because the Bulldogs return the entire D-line and four of five starters on the O-line. Plus, as bad as the Bulldogs were, they throttled Ole Miss 35-14 in last season’s Egg Bowl.


Prowler’s Predictions

1. Auburn
2. LSU
3. Arkansas
4. Alabama
5. MSU
6. Ole Miss

25 years ago...

On October 23, 1982, I was baptized into the fanatical southern religion of LSU football. I remember it vividly. Former Tiger great Jerry Stovall stalked the sidelines as Alan Risher threw two touchdown passes to Eric Martin leading LSU to a 14-6 win over South Carolina.

But that probably isn’t what sticks out in my mind the most.

In a telling sign of things to come for anyone who knows me, my dad had to pull off I-10 so I could go pee. We get off at Airline highway and pull on the side of the road. (Ironically, 23 years later, not 100 yards from that spot, a wacko named Corey Smiley would dump his ex-girlfriend’s clothes he had stolen in a burglary, but I digress.) Of course my dad is hurrying and pressuring me so I can’t even go, and as it turns out, back in ’82 there was no entrance ramp to continue west on I-10. So we hauled ass down Airline (reminding you that I still had to pee) and barely made it for the start of the game. Needless to say, my dad was pissed.

We literally walked thru a portal in the upper deck as Juan Betanzos kicked off. The site of a fully packed Tiger Stadium, an LSU record crowd at the time, was awe inspiring to my nine year old eyes. Surely this is how a plebian of ancient Rome felt on his initial entrance to the Coliseum. I was hooked from that day forward.

Thus 25 years ago I began my journey with the LSU Fighting Tigers. Here is looking forward to 25 more great years.

Check back soon as I will post my thoughts on the 2006 SEC race, the national picture and the off season Good...Bad.