EDITOR’S NOTE: Opelika-Auburn News sports designer Tim Cottrell picks the winners for this week’s SEC games.
LAST WEEK’S RECORD: 5-3
Week 4 of the college football season is a slow one for SEC teams.
How slow? The most interesting game is Arkansas’ trip to No. 3 Alabama.
There is little drama to who will win this one.
It’ll be the Tide.
We will, however, get our first shot to see just how good Alabama’s defense can be.
The Hogs put up some huge numbers in their loss to Georgia last week, have a budding star at quarterback in Ryan Mallett and an innovative coach in Bobby “You’re paying me in cash, right?” Petrino.
The Tide’s only real opponent thus far — Virginia Tech — doesn’t play offense. So all that talk about how this defense could match the 1992 team’s will get its first test.
Arkansas will probably get its yards, but points will probably be a bit tougher to come by.
The pick: Alabama 31, Arkansas 20
No. 1 Florida at Kentucky
The Wildcats might actually be good. It won’t really matter, as the Meyer/Tebow Destruction Train will be rolling after a disappointing performance against The Fightin’ Kiffins.
The pick: Florida 49, Kentucky 17
No. 7 LSU at Mississippi State
If you think hard enough, you can find reasons to think upset.
The Bulldogs have played fairly well so far. At least at head coach, MSU has a mismatch in its favor. The Tigers haven’t looked particularly sharp so far, and are in the rare position of having to wake up early for a game.
But then you remember that LSU’s third stringers would probably all start for Mississippi State.
The pick: LSU 33, Mississippi State 17
Arizona State at No. 21 Georgia
I really have no idea what to make of the Bulldogs at this point.
Only 10 points against Oklahoma State, followed by almost 100 combined against South Carolina and Arkansas?
Your guess is as good as mine.
One thing that doesn’t require guesswork is that Dennis Erickson’s Sun Devils won’t be making the cross-country trip and coming away with a win.
The pick: Georgia 34, Arizona State 10
Ball State at Auburn
The only real drama when it comes to this game is how many points the Tigers will score.
In short? A lot.
The pick: Auburn 70, Ball State 7
Ohio at Tennessee
The Bobcats are frisky enough to stay with a team as bad on offense as Tennessee is for awhile.
They won’t win, but it’ll probably be closer than Volunteer fans would like.
The pick: Tennessee 23, Ohio 14
Vanderbilt at Rice
I’m pretty much off the Commodore bandwagon now, but let’s be honest here, there’s no reason they shouldn’t beat the Owls.
Rice couldn’t beat UAB.
The pick: Vanderbilt 24, Rice 7
Tim Cottrell is sports designer of the Opelika-Auburn News. He writes a weekly column during college football season. He can be reached at 737-2511 or tcottrell@oanow.com.
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