How do you guys see the SEC this year?

[VinnyWho]

I was thinking about this today now that the season has progressed and I found myself kinda suprised about some things...

First off I would say the SEC is down this year...

I say this because this is what I see:

LSU lost some key players and one being an offensive Key
Florida hit a mental BRICK
Tennessee, Arkansas, Ole Miss are young
Alabama looked to be improved with 1s but lack of depth and injuries hurt em

Vandy - well is vandy
Kentucky- was below average now sub bad
Miss State- better but still way down
SC- same

Georgia Solid and Aub Solid


Now my suprises are
-Tennessee despite being young seems to have a little more gritt to them this year over the past few years

-Aub is playing better then I imagined

-Florida mental FARTS

-Greene not having as good of a year that I thought he would have for Georgia

-Vandy I actually thought this was going to be a suprise year for them

- SC defense that looked good early in season has started struggling

What about you guys/gals ... any suprises?

 

[Freak]

I agree with you on a lot of that. I am suprised that Auburn is as good as they appear, but we'll know more on that after the Georgia game. LSU has struggled more than I imagined. Vandy is worse than I thought. Of course the Vols are much better than most of us projected.

My biggest suprise may be (aside from the Florida game) is just how bad MSU is.

 

[Volmania]

First off I would say the SEC is down this year...

Last year was a down year also, even though LSU won the NC.

Will Spurrier's return spark the whole league to improve to a higher level again?

 

[Memphis_Volunteer]

LSU and Florida have definitely fallen below manys' expectations this season. Vandy and KY have met manys' expectations (very low). Tennessee, Auburn, and Georgia are the top three teams in the nation this year, and I think we are the biggest surprise, posting a 7-1 record with two rookie QBs and winning an impressive victory over Georgia. Barring an almost unthinkable upset of us by Vandy or KY, we are going to Atlanta on Dec. 4 to get another try at Auburn. I predict that, by Erik Ainge's junior year, we will be in the running for the NC, and I think that, by Ainge's senior year, we will be in the NC. Let's just hope Ainge can keep from suffering any career ending injuries.

 

[BigDaddyCanes]

Originally posted by vol_freak@Nov 4, 2004 2:24 AM
I agree with you on a lot of that. I am suprised that Auburn is as good as they appear, but we'll know more on that after the Georgia game. LSU has struggled more than I imagined. Vandy is worse than I thought. Of course the Vols are much better than most of us projected.

My biggest suprise may be (aside from the Florida game) is just how bad MSU is.

Freak. How can expect MSU to be any good at all. They're having to learn a new system under Croom and it seems that they have been on probation forever.

I know your response is going to be they're terrible because they lost to a Division II team (Maine)!

 

[rwemyss]

Originally posted by BigDaddyCanes+Nov 3, 2004 11:57 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (BigDaddyCanes @ Nov 3, 2004 11:57 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-vol_freak@Nov 4, 2004 2:24 AM
I agree with you on a lot of that. I am suprised that Auburn is as good as they appear, but we&#39;ll know more on that after the Georgia game. LSU has struggled more than I imagined. Vandy is worse than I thought. Of course the Vols are much better than most of us projected.

My biggest suprise may be (aside from the Florida game) is just how bad MSU is.

Freak. How can expect MSU to be any good at all. They&#39;re having to learn a new system under Croom and it seems that they have been on probation forever.

I know your response is going to be they&#39;re terrible because they lost to a Division II team (Maine)&#33; [/quote]
Ummmm... Have been on probation? Sorry buddy, that&#39;s just not true. They were off of it for a couple of years until last week. Even at that, thy just got another slap on the wrist... not bowl elligible for THIS YEAR. Hell, they were&#39;t elligible BEFORE probation was handed to them. They shouldn&#39;t be elligible NEXT year, when they may have a chance of having the record to go. This one is going to be for four years. I can&#39;t remember how many scholarships are lost, but I think it&#39;s single digits.

 

[allvol]

There are differences between down year&#39;s and not meeting expectations. However, I like to think that expectations were a little too high for some teams this year (and possibly too low for others).

The EAST
Alot of people are saying that the Vols are overachieving this season. Based on the youth of the team, they may be. However, the program is right where it usually is every year... contending for a championship. :twocents: same

IMHO, Georgia has been overhyped the past few seasons. They have the talent, but Georgia always finds a way to lose a couple. For all their greatness, they have only 1 SEC Championship to show for it and won&#39;t even be in the SECCG this season. They are 7-1 now, but could easily lose one more. Greene&#39;s performance is similar to last season. :twocents: same

Florida is meeting expections for me. I had no high expectations as long as Zook is there. He finished 8-5 the last two seasons, so I was expecting them to finish 8-4 or 7-5 this year. The program has been down since Spurrier left.... which is fine with me. :twocents: same

South Carolina is at the same point they are every year... the late season swoon. I think they are getting tired of seeing orange. :blink: (Tennessee, Florida, Clemson) Maybe they can shove Florida further down in the east? :twocents: same

Vanderbilt always talks about having a breakout year during the preseason... then they just end up being Vanderbilt . :twocents: same

Kentucky is down, even for Kentucky. :twocents: down

The WEST
LSU has not been surprising to me so far. I felt they overachieved last year. They are currently 6-2, which is usually where they are at this point. :twocents: same

Auburn hasn&#39;t really overachieved.... yet... because they&#39;ve only beaten 2 good teams so far. If they beat Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee... then wow, I&#39;ll be impressed. :twocents: up (so far)

Alabama is playing much better than last season. However, last year was difficult with the coaching situation to start the season. :twocents: up

Arkansas knew they had major rebuilding to do this season. :twocents: down

Cutcliffe has not done as well replacing a Manning at Ole Miss as he was at replacing a Manning at Tennessee. :twocents: down

Miss State was in poor shape before the season. :twocents: same


By my count that is 7 teams &#39;same&#39;, 3 teams &#39;down&#39; and 2 teams &#39;up&#39;. Technically, that would make the SEC having a down year by 1 team.