SEC Football: 7 Bold Predictions for the Rest of the 2011-12 Season

The SEC now seems so predictable after the November 5th defensive struggle in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

People considered the LSU vs. Alabama game to be the national championship.

While the Tigers and Tide field two of the greatest defenses in college football history—and while both teams look otherwise unbeatable—this is the Southeastern Conference. As the season progresses, so do the teams, which means that problems are magnified and nerves set in...

So, here are seven bold predictions in order of importance. These picks are certainly "out there"—but isn't the BCS chaotic anyway?

Here we go!

7. James Franklin and Vanderbilt Win 2 of Their Last 3 and Make 5th Ever Bowl

With the unexpected departure of Bobby Johnson as head football coach at Vanderbilt, the program was, to put it mildly, stunned.

Enter James Franklin.

How would you like to shake this guy's hand after a ballgame? Step aside, Jim Harbaugh—there's a new exuberant sheriff in town.

6. Joker Phillips Becomes the Next Coaching Casualty

After only two years at the helm, Phillips is yet to show any improvement. Instead, the Kentucky football program is at a standstill. I understand that SEC competition is unparalleled, but sometimes you just have to change things up.

I see the Wildcats losing their last three to Vanderbilt, Georgia and Tennessee, respectively. A 4-8 record just won't cut it—not in these times.

Ten wins in two years?

That is grounds for termination.

5. Arkansas Upsets National Front-Runner

LSU can dominate anybody in the country except, apparently, Arkansas.

In 2007, Darren McFadden and Felix Jones ran rampant on the eventual national champions. If I were a Tiger, I'd have an eye on this one. There might be just as much at stake in this game as there was in the Alabama game.

Arkansas has LSU's number...

4. Three's Company: Complicated Tie-Breaker Awaits

What happens:

Alabama beats Arkansas

LSU beats Alabama

Arkansas beats LSU

So who wins the SEC West?

If a three-way tie emerges, and if the second highest-ranked team is within five spots of the top-ranked team in the BCS standings, it will come down to head-to-head competition.

Now it gets crazy. 

It obviously would help Alabama if it the Tide get the higher spot, with the second spot going to Arkansas. Alabama beat Arkansas 38-14 back in September and would go to the Georgia Dome. 

If LSU and Arkansas were to wind up in those top two spots, then Arkansas would go—if they come out on top on November 25th.

Arkansas would pass LSU in the polls, but the Tigers wouldn't fall behind Alabama.  LSU beat the Tide—that's the bottom line.

No matter what, Alabama won't win its division—which should take it out of national championship contention immediately.  The Tide are an excellent team, but that's the way the system works.  

Fair?

No.  

The way it is?

Unfortunately.

3. Just Like Jimmie Johnson's, the Streak Ends at 5

If this were a perfect world, that number would read "6."

I even propose a new rule: an SEC team must always be in the national championship.

But unless the computers go haywire, I think LSU, Arkansas and Alabama will all fall short..

I guess for the first time (not counting last year—Auburn was a hybrid SEC school), you will get a competitive national championship game. That all goes out the window if the SEC isn't involved. Without an SEC team, ratings would suffer.

Football is a religion in the South.

Are you going to tune in to watch Oklahoma State vs. Stanford/Boise?

Not unless you are an NFL scout looking at Luck, Kellen Moore or Justin Blackmon.

2. "Look at the Sugar Falling out of the Sky!"

After six tumultuous years, coaching changes and Ford commercials, Mark Richt finally proves his doubters wrong—by winning the big one.

In case you haven't noticed, the Georgia program has done a 180-degree turn. This isn't the same team that played Boise State and South Carolina.  This is a team doing what made it UGA.  There is no A.J. Green, no Matthew Stafford and no Knowshon Moreno—but there are kids filled with heart. 

This one is for Richt, and in some ways Erk—who helped pave the way for UGA's success.

Ford Commercial:

"When you play Georgia, you know you have been hit..."

Now the nation is getting it. 

1. How Sweet It Is

If you have to be bold, then go balls to the wall. What a scenario this would be: Mark Richt, on the burning chair at the beginning of the 2011 campaign, and four months later, he is all smiles in New Orleans.

Instead of LSU fans partying in the Big Easy for the BCS national championship, the street will be bleeding red and black...

I wonder if Larry Munson would go through a metal chair.

I think I know what would happen that night in New Orleans, Athens and all over Bulldog Nation. I think there would be some property destroyed.

Two things would be missing from this title...

-Erk Russell

-Larry Munson play-by-play