Randy Smith
The final week of the SEC's regular season is here. Both divisional titles are still up for grabs, and for some teams, (Tennessee) a win is needed to avoid packing up the gear until spring practice in 2015.
Last week: 7-1
Year to date: 83-18
Georgia Tech at Georgia: The Bulldogs are playing their final regular season game of the year, counting on the red-hot Arkansas Razorbacks to send them to the SEC Championship Game, by winning at Missouri. If UGA and his friends spend too much time scoreboard watching, the Yellowjackets are good enough to pull off the upset in Athens.
Tech is a good, solid football team as most of Paul Johnson's teams are. Mark Richt however is 12-1 against the "Ramblin' Wreck in his tenure at Georgia.
Georgia 38 Georgia Tech 31.
LSU at Texas A&M: Both teams have identical records; 7-4, 3-4. Neither team has any real momentum, and the best incentive for both squads is to win the game to avoid winding up in the SEC West cellar; which still means you're a pretty good football team. Both teams are headed to a bowl, though the winner will get a better bowl position. In a close one......
LSU 17 Texas A&M 14.
South Carolina at Clemson: There is a lot of talk in media circles about Clemson's Dabo Swinney getting the vacant Florida job. If there is any truth to that rumor, who else would be better to talk with about it than Gamecocks' Coach Steve Spurrier. Of course, the two men would need to be speaking to one another if that is truly the case. The two very successful coaches actually have a lot of respect for each other, though, like their teams, they don't like each other much at all. If true freshman quarterback DeShaun Watson hadn't been injured a couple of weeks ago, this one wouldn't even be close. The Tigers have plenty of incentive to snap Carolina's winning streak. In another close one...........
Clemson 20 South Carolina 17.
Kentucky at Louisville: The Wildcats are on a five game losing streak and need a win over the Cardinals to get to six wins and a bowl game. Not this year.
Louisville 38 Kentucky 23.
Florida at Florida State: If the Gators lose and finish 6-5, do they still accept a bowl bid in the "Asparagus Bowl" or the "Nobody Cares Bowl"? Either way this will likely be Coach Will Muschamp's final game as the Gators' head coach. The players all seem to like Muschamp, and would like nothing more than to send him out a winner against the rival Seminoles. FSU has discovered more ways to win than any team in America this season, and despite all the motivation to win by the Gators, the Seminoles will pull it out.
Florida State 24 Florida 17.
Arkansas at Missouri: The Hogs have shut out LSU and Ole Miss back to back to snap a long SEC losing streak. Nobody in the SEC wants a piece of that pork right now, but the Missouri Tigers will need to post a win on Saturday to make a second straight SEC Championship Game appearance. Missouri may not be the best team in the SEC East, but they have the best record. (6-1) Plus, they need this game a lot more than the Hogs.
Missouri 20 Arkansas 10.
Mississippi State at Ole Miss: A win by any margin by the Bulldogs seems to be enough to keep them in the College Football Playoff Final Four, and that is all Coach Dan Mullen and the Bulldog faithful can expect. Ole Miss has been hit with injuries and a momentum buzz-saw. They were shut out last week 30-0 by Arkansas and all the cards are stacked against them. But, this is the "Egg Bowl" and emotions always run high.
Mississippi State 34 Ole Miss 20.
Auburn at Alabama: The "Iron Bowl" has been one of college football's biggest regular season games for years. Last year, Alabama lost to the Tigers in an embarrassing fashion, and I'm sure Coach Nick Saban has been thinking about that loss for 364 days. This game had marquee match-up written all over it until Auburn hit the skids in late season. This still should be a great game, simply because it's the "Iron Bowl." But this time, the Crimson Tide gets it done.
Alabama 45 Auburn 24.
Tennessee at Vanderbilt: In the last three college football seasons with James Franklin at the helm in Nashville, members of the sports media, including myself, have used the term,"not your father's Vandy team." to describe the Commodores. Now we can say, "this is your father's Vandy team.....and your grandfathers as well." Vandy is still winless in SEC play and will stay that way. Tennessee needs a win to become bowl eligible at 6-6, and the only real goal that Coach Butch Jones set for his team will be reached. The Vols could very easily be picked to win the SEC East in 2015, which means that Jones and his staff are ahead of schedule. Vol fans are very hungry for a winner, as the last seven seasons have been arguably the worst stretch in modern history. It's still too early to actually think the Volunteers will contend for the SEC East next fall, but they will beat Vandy on Saturday.
Tennessee 38 Vanderbilt 13.
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Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer. He is currently teaching Broadcasting at Coahulla Creek High School near Dalton, Ga.
His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for thirty years.
He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga Television for more than a quarter-century.
In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, (Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith.) They have four grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, DellaMae and CoraLee.
To contact Randy: rsmithsports@epbfi.com