It’s possible we go the whole season without a point spread under 3. Season will be determined by the five or six games in that 4-10 range (Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Texas A&M, Kentucky, maybe Missouri or South Carolina if they get a couple big wins early). We’re good enough to hope for wins over Georgia and Bama, but I’m not really at a point where I can bring myself to expect it. So can we go 3-0/4-0 against the second tier on our schedule? We certainly can, but I’m afraid we slip up against Florida or A&M. ~30 years of fandom has me terrified it’ll be in Gainesville, even if they aren’t good this year. 9-3. Which is a reasonably good season but will feel bad after last year.
I have no idea what to expect from TAMU. They're extremely talented but horribly coached. I don't see the Fisher/Petrino pairing ending well either. If they get their shit together, it's a national title roster. Florida is going to have to rush for over 200 yards per game to do anything offensively, their defense isn't great either, but games in Gainesville never go the way they should.
I believe that TAMU will be crap by the end of the season, but they will have moments and games where they look like a contender even after the wheels start getting wobbly. It's about time for their decline to start happening with Jimbo if he follows his FSU trajectory, but the talent is undeniable.
Yeah I think at minimum A&M will have moments/games where they play at a playoff level. I can see a universe where they sustain it and actually make the playoff. But no matter what I don’t think it takes that long for the wheels to come off. If the offense falters Jimbo will tinker. If the offense is incredible Jimbo will eventually tinker because what other value does he have. Ticking time bomb.
Yet somehow ranked to start the season. Preseason polls can be silly. Another that confuses me a bit is the talking heads' love affair with LSU. I kind of get it, but I think they are becoming wildly overrated.
TAMU gets more credit for almost beating Alabama and beating LSU by 15 points, then Tennessee gets for actually beating Alabama and blowing out LSU. Both teams lost to South Carolina, TAMU also lost to Florida.
This is the logic that is hard to reconcile. I think a lot of the reasoning is they are returning their starting quarterback, but that's still overblown. To me it comes off as they won the West while Tennessee failed to knock off eventual national champion UGA and win the East which makes little sense.
It only makes sense if you are churning out content every day all day and don't think about it critically. The truth is that Tennessee was the second best team in the SEC last year. That's a fact, proven on the field. The divisions have obscured this such that Tennessee is viewed as behind LSU, Alabama, and TAMU. When they are objectively not.
It’s will feel as hot at the game next week as any game fans have attended. Probably feel like 110+ on the field, 100 in the stands
I'm thinking that we might have an average just just slightly above average defense this year. If offense can go at 90% of last year's rate.......
I am hoping you forgot to put the word "defense" in here. Because I like what that post would mean more than any other thing I can mad libs in there.
