College Football 2010: 10 Biggest Potential Upsets in the SEC
Upsets are as much a part of college football as bands and cheerleaders. They usually happen when fans least expect it, but the avid fan knows that it could happen on any given Saturday.
The SEC is no stranger to upsets.
In '08, Florida's national championship run was temporarily halted when Houston Nutt's first Ole Miss team went into the Swamp and came out with a win. That upset propelled Ole Miss into an unexpected winning season and a Cotton Bowl win. It put that team on the map, where it stayed throughout '08 and '09.
During that '08 season, No. 8 Alabama went to Athens to play a Georgia team that many expected to play for a national title. Coach Mark Richt decided to break out the black jerseys for the much anticipated matchup that many expected Georgia to win.
The Bulldogs were down 31-0 before they knew what hit them.
Since that game, Alabama has gone 19-2. Georgia is 14-7 since that Saturday night in September of '08.
Sometimes one upset is all it takes to change a team's entire outlook. One upset is all it takes for a new coach to make his presence known. One upset is all it takes to make an also-ran into a potential champion.
In 2010, the SEC landscape is rife with opportunities for teams to make a name for themselves. The potential is there, week-in, week-out, for a team to change its program from a middle-tier has-been to a potentially elite program.
Here are just a few of those opportunities.
September 11 -- Tennessee Vs. Oregon
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Traveling 2,500 miles to play a football game can be difficult. Just ask the California Golden Bears, who made the trip to Knoxville in '06 and left with a 35-18 loss. Then, you can ask those same Vols, who traveled to California the next season and were quickly sent home with a 45-31 loss. Tennessee would also fly to UCLA in '08 and lose to a far inferior Bruins team.
Although Oregon looks to be one of the five or six best teams in the country, on paper, one should never underestimate the difficulty of visiting Neyland Stadium from the west coast. Since 1990, teams from Washington, Oregon, and California are 1-6 in Knoxville.
Granted, this particular Tennessee team is nowhere close to the Tennessee teams of the past, but in the SEC's biggest house, an improbable win over a higher-ranked opponent would be nothing new.
September 11 -- Florida Vs. South Florida
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On the day when their top-10 brethren are playing star-studded, nationally relevant games, the Gators will host South Florida.
The Bulls feature athletically-gifted quarterback, B.J. Daniels. South Florida is also debuting a brand new coach this season. Skip Holtz will bring his team into the Swamp for what should be an embarrassing, "welcome to big time college football" moment.
Don't forget, however, that this Bulls team is still a potential Big East threat that went into Tallahassee last season and beat Florida State. Granted, that Florida State team would never beat this Florida team, but the precedent of beating big brother has been set by this South Florida squad.
It will be a tall order to defeat the Gators at the Swamp, but it would be a signature win for both Holtz and South Florida if the unthinkable were to happen.
September 25 -- Alabama at Arkansas
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Many will disagree that this would be considered an upset. But anytime the No. 1 team in the country gets beat, it's an upset.
While it certainly would not be a huge surprise if Arkansas, led by the Heisman front-runner and potential No. 1 pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, Ryan Mallet, beat Alabama in Fayetteville, it would be the SEC's biggest conference upset since Ole Miss went to the Swamp and defeated eventual national champion, Florida, in 2008.
Alabama will be in the middle of a stretch that sees it host Penn State, travel to Duke and Arkansas, before coming home to face Florida, who will most certainly be in the top 10.
If there's any chance for the Tide to lose their first regular-season game since '07, it is at Fayetteville, against the Hogs.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
September 25 -- West Virginia at LSU
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I really haven't figured out which result would be an upset in this matchup. On the one hand, you have an LSU team that will be lucky to be ranked in the top 15 at this point. On the other hand, you have a West Virginia team that might be ranked in the top 20.
One could consider this an upset if a Big East team goes into one of the toughest stadiums in the SEC and comes out with a win. Another would consider it an upset if this happens to be LSU's first win over a top 25 this season.
If that's the case, LSU would be unranked when the game takes place. Still, it's hard to argue against a team from the lowly Big East winning in Death Valley and it not being an upset.
October 2 -- Georgia at Colorado
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Remember what I said about the whole traveling across the country deal? Yeah, well, same goes here for the Georgia Bulldogs.
There is no logical reason that Colorado could or should beat this Georgia team. But the 'Dawgs have only traveled west of the state of Arkansas in the regular season twice since 1967. Those two times were in each of the past two seasons, Arizona State in '08 and Oklahoma State in '09.
The 'Dawgs are definitely not used to this kind of travel. Colorado played at Georgia in '06 and lost 14-13 in a game that should have never been close.
This "trap" game for Georgia is also situated between games at Mississippi State and at home versus Tennessee.
The more you think about it, the more you can see the Buffaloes pulling off a shocker.
October 9 -- Arkansas Vs. Texas A&M
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Arkansas will coming off of games at Georgia, versus 'Bama and will be looking ahead to a road game at Auburn the following week.
This is a prime opportunity for the Aggies to make some big time noise this season—especially if Arkansas is riding high after defeating No. 1 ranked Alabama the previous week.
A&M has a very talented quarterback in Jerrod Johnson. If Arkansas has not improved on defense, the Aggies could shred that unit. On the other hand, if A&M's defense is even close to as bad as it was last season, the winner of this game could be whichever team gets to 50 first.
October 9 -- Alabama at South Carolina
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Alabama will be coming off a stretch that includes Penn State, Arkansas, and Florida. The Tide could very well already have a loss or two by the time the game in Columbia rolls around.
If South Carolina is anything close to what many expect them to be in 2010, this could end up as one of the top games of the year in the SEC.
A win over a top 10-ranked Alabama team would easily be Steve Spurrier's signature win as the Gamecocks head coach. Even more important, it would all but guarantee that the 'Cocks would be firmly entrenched in a battle for the SEC East title.
October 30 -- Florida Vs. Georgia
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Georgia almost never beats Florida. Georgia has only beat Florida three times since 1990. Now, Florida has no Tim Tebow. But the Gators do have a young, talented team.
Georgia promises to have one of the top offenses in the SEC.
It's not completely out of the question that Georgia could sneak into the SEC Championship Game in December. But in order to do that, it will have to beat Florida in Jacksonville at the game formerly known as the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.
A win for the 'Dawgs in this game, could signal the beginning of the end for Florida's SEC East dominance of the last five years.
November 27 -- Florida at Florida State
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Say Florida is undefeated and getting ready to play Alabama, Auburn, or Arkansas for the SEC title. Pretend Florida State is a week away from playing for the ACC title, but it has two or three losses.
Florida State hasn't defeated Florida since '03 when Ron Zook was steering the Gators program into oblivion.
A win in this game, especially with Florida ranked in the top 10, would give Jimbo Fisher a huge shot in the arm for recruiting while establishing the 'Noles program as being officially back. It could also hasten Urban Meyer's departure from Florida. All this on top of dashing the national title hopes of its bitter rival. I'd call that an upset of mass proportions.
November 27 -- Kentucky at Tennessee
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Ask any random Kentucky fan if the Wildcats defeating Tennessee would be an upset.
Sure, Tennessee is about to embark on what appears to be a very trying season, at the very least. Sure, the Vols have very little depth and the outlook is quite bleak. But to write off a Kentucky win in this series as 'just another win' would be a mistake. Kentucky hasn't defeated Tennessee since 1984.
The last time Kentucky beat Tennessee, Ronald Reagan had just won his second term as President of the United States. In 1984, the Colts had just embarked on their first season in Indianapolis after leaving Baltimore amidst a shroud of darkness. This writer hadn't even turned two years old in November 1984.
The collateral advantage of beating Tennessee in Joker Phillips' first season as Kentucky head coach would be enormous for the Wildcats program and potentially detrimental to Derek Dooley's rebuilding efforts in Knoxville.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
