Offseason College Football Thread

[Vern Gagne 0]

Spurrier doesn't vote in the AP poll.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

Should've paid closer attention to that one. Duke's 1 vote is the coaches poll, of course.

[Art Sandusky 0]

Another year, another +/- #15 preseason ranking for Tennessee. I like that though. Expectations are there, but not massive like a USC or Texas, perennial preseason Top Five teams. All I want is an SEC title. Nine years is an eternity in Big Orange country.

 

EDIT: After looking over last season's results in detail, I'm going to go ahead and say that the Vols take the SEC East. The loss of Erik Ainge early in the LSU game was massive, because Tennessee couldn't run last year to save their lives. When we remember that power football is at least the majority of our playing style this year, losing Erik Ainge, MVP of the Knoxville healthcare system, won't be such a huge deal. As an added bonus, he'll be a senior this year and among the top ten quarterbacks in the country. A very real blend of making short yards and downfield bombs make Tennessee scary.

 

On defense, we're gravy in the right circumstances, only pretty good in the worst. The days of nasty Volunteer D-lines are gone, but they're good enough for SEC work. The secondary is young, but has potential and the returning senior lead tackler as one of the starting corners. The good stuff is in the linebacking corps. If everyone stays healthy, we might go to a 3-4 just to put that versatility to work. There's three year experience in at least one starting player in each phase.

 

Yes, the East. I'm convinced. I won't say the whole conference until after a few games have actually been played and the West just beats each other up.

[Broward83 0]

Meh, if we're starting to pick at least divisional titles.. well, I'll go and say Texas will take the South. As always, it comes down to the Red River Shootout and the Lonestar Showdown. The latter of the two I'm more worried about, especially if AnM is able to figure out how to use Martellus Bennett in its passing scheme along with letting Javorski Lane to just run over our guys.

 

I'll say either an 11-1 or 10-2 record...the losses coming from either K-State, AnM, or Nebraska.

[Bored 0]

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?slug=ap...p&type=lgns

 

As expected Miami is leaving the Orange Bowl next season for Dolphins Stadium.

[iggymcfly 0]

Yes, the East. I'm convinced. I won't say the whole conference until after a few games have actually been played and the West just beats each other up.

 

I don't know if I'm feeling that. Ainge is great, but who's he going to throw to? With all the receivers gone, you have to think the UT passing game's going to be down somewhat. The running game's solid, but it's not enough to carry the team by itself. And no returning corners or DTs isn't really something to gloss over on the defensive side of the ball either. Don't get me wrong, the Vols will still be good this year, but they lost too much for this to be the big breakthrough season when they win the division. I'd say 8-4, maybe 9-3 at best.

 

If I were going to make a pick for the SEC East this year, I might have to go out on a limb a little bit and take South Carolina. They had a really young defense last year (I think only 1 returning starter), but were still one of the best in the conference by year's end. This year, they've got pretty much everyone back and should be very very good, right off the bat. Blake Mitchell should really be ready to be a starter now and the passing game shoudl be solid too. The only real question mark I have is the offensive line. If that unit can play even decent, I think S. Carolina will be playing LSU for the conference title in December.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

South Carolina isn't a bad pick. They're only half a step behind the three perennial winners in the division this year. I think whoever comes out of the SEC East this season will be doing it with 2-3 losses, so it's more or less anyone's game. I'm tremendously impressed with Urban Meyer, but have 3 question marks on UF this time around:

 

1) Close games last year. They often won by less than a score, and had a lot of things go their way (although the Auburn game was a distinct case of things not going their way, so there was a bit of balance there).

 

2) The defense. The superstars and big-play guys who really drove those close wins are mostly gone, and the new guys might need a little time to get to top-level.

 

3) Tebow. Leak wasn't all-world by any means, but he was a capable 4-year starter. Since Tebow was basically a fullback who only threw maybe 25 passes against real defense, I expect him to go through plenty of growing pains.

[Secret Agent 0]

Meh, if we're starting to pick at least divisional titles.. well, I'll go and say Texas will take the South. As always, it comes down to the Red River Shootout and the Lonestar Showdown. The latter of the two I'm more worried about, especially if AnM is able to figure out how to use Martellus Bennett in its passing scheme along with letting Javorski Lane to just run over our guys.

 

I'll say either an 11-1 or 10-2 record...the losses coming from either K-State, AnM, or Nebraska.

 

You forgot about Oklahoma handing them a loss. You're also forgetting that TCU shouldn't exactly be a walk in the park. As far as K-State goes, your boys have them at home, they should be chomping at the bit to destroy this team.

 

I am interested in seeing what the new D. Cordinators come up with this season though.

[Broward83 0]

Meh, if we're starting to pick at least divisional titles.. well, I'll go and say Texas will take the South. As always, it comes down to the Red River Shootout and the Lonestar Showdown. The latter of the two I'm more worried about, especially if AnM is able to figure out how to use Martellus Bennett in its passing scheme along with letting Javorski Lane to just run over our guys.

 

I'll say either an 11-1 or 10-2 record...the losses coming from either K-State, AnM, or Nebraska.

 

You forgot about Oklahoma handing them a loss. You're also forgetting that TCU shouldn't exactly be a walk in the park. As far as K-State goes, your boys have them at home, they should be chomping at the bit to destroy this team.

 

I am interested in seeing what the new D. Cordinators come up with this season though.

 

 

First: Forgot Oklahoma handing them a loss? Naw.. just realize that OU isn't going to be much of a threat outside of the first half of that game.

 

Second: TCU isn't a walk in the park and I'll give that to you...but Texas will pull it out. The only question is if Texas falls asleep like the do with Baylor and have it be a somewhat close game, or if they play thru and slaughter the Horned Frogs.

 

Third: K-State at home is a game I wish I could go up to see. I'm expecting the Longhorns to have the game finished by the first half..the only bad thing to this is OU is the game right after and I hope we're not looking forward to the OU game.

[Art Sandusky 0]

People:Spurrier-lead South Carolina::battered women:abusive husbands.