Joey Harvey is a junior majoring in communication. He can be contacted at [email protected].This season, the SEC West will look to be an exciting race, but then again, don’t we say that every year?
LSU has the attention and favor of every national college football expert right now, as the Tigers are already being penciled in to face USC in the Bowl Championship Series national title game.
Arkansas still has Darren McFadden in its arsenal, which will allow them to compete well against most teams.
Alabama welcomes in new head coach Nick Saban this year, and Auburn is looking to stay consistent. And then there’s always State and Ole Miss. Blah blah.
It always seems to me that when college football experts or even average joe friends try to preview a conference or division and rank the teams in order that they’ll finish, they always try to be “right” for some reason.
It’s as if they’re right that it actually means that they possess a future-telling power, and rather than admitting it was all luck, they brag about it.
After all, it was I who picked Arkansas to finish second in the SEC West last season and got ridiculed for it. In your face, ridiculers.
So without further adieu, here are my 2007 SEC West predictions, ranked in order of, well, I don’t know.
1. Mississippi
I rank Ole Miss at the top due to them having the best song/video combination on YouTube, the “Coach O Song.”
I also believe they have the talent, especially at the quarterback position in Brent Schaeffer to carry the team to an SEC Title.
I think Ole Miss will dominate MSU in the Egg Bowl this season, but unlike previous years, it will actually mean something. After Ole Miss wins, pigs will get wings.
2. Louisiana State
I rank the Bayou Bengals at No. 2 just to spite all the so-called college football experts out there who claim to know the future.
I’m at least humble enough to know that I can’t tell the future, and I am man enough to admit it. I can say I know how many games LSU will win this season, and I can even say I know the scores they and their opponents will post up.
But I don’t really know. I do know this, however…LSU will finish second in the West.
3. Auburn
I rank Auburn third because it’s the only school in the SEC named after a hair color. The hair color is actually one of my favorites, too.
Auburn was the only team that beat national champion Florida last season, and many of the fortune-telling experts use the previous season to judge how a team will perform the current season. Hence, we have the “Preseason Top 25” and this article.
4. Mississippi State
I rank Mississippi State fourth because we have the best golf course in the nation, and “fore” is a homonym to “four.”
I believe State has what it takes to climb the ranks of the SEC West this year with the new recruits we have coming in. Sure, we say it every year, but why not say it one more time: “We should have a pretty good season.”
5. Arkansas
I rank Arkansas here because I don’t want to push my luck by ranking them too high this season.
I’m not sure what I win if I get all my predictions correct, anyway, but I’m sure it’s a good enough prize that I’d want to win it.
To tie this in, Arkansas’ prize at hand for finishing fifth is a chance to go to a bowl game. Because bowl games are just consolation games for the imaginary college football playoffs, it’s probably a prize they don’t want enough to win it. But Darren McFadden is really good.
6. Miami Dolphins
See below.
7. Alabama
I rank Alabama dead last because Nick Saban is a wanted man. There are at least five losses on the schedule already for the Crimson Tide.
Alabama can count it all a loss to the Official Nick Saban Bounty Hunting Association, made up of LSU, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Auburn, and the Miami Dolphins. Ricky Williams said he was disappointed in Saban’s decision, and he looks to have a big game when the Dolphins and Crimson Tide meet up.
As a result, Miami will finish 1-0 in the conference, but because of the way the NCAA’s rankings are done, a 1-0 perfect record will not be as good as Arkansas’s 4-4-or-worse record.
As you can see, I have the SEC West clearly mapped out for you, and you can hang this on your refrigerator for easy reference when betting on games with your friends. Ridicule me now, but just wait until next year, when I can say, “in your face,” one more time.