Randy Smith: SEC West Predictions

  • Thursday, August 3, 2017
Randy Smith
Randy Smith
We're about a month away now from the start of the 2017 college football season, and while everyone and their brother has already made their official pre-season picks for the SEC divisional races this fall, it's time I put my two cents worth in. Today I'll make my choices in the SEC West 

7. Ole Miss Rebels
As good as things once looked for Ole Miss a couple of years ago, the tide has turned as the Rebs are headed to the outhouse after head coach Hugh Freeze resigned under pressure amidst NCAA investigations.
Now they have an interim head coach and are looking for a permanent replacement for 2018 and beyond. If you forget about the loss of Coach Freeze and the fact that the Rebs are on probation, they would still very likely finish last in the West anyway. The defense was dead last in the league in yards allowed on the ground and points allowed in 2016. 

6. Mississippi State Bulldogs
Year in and year out Dan Mullen has done a more than admirable job at Mississippi State. Heck a couple of years ago, he even had his team ranked number one in the country. There is good news and bad news for Bulldog fans in 2017. The good news.....QB Nick Fitzgerald who was the SEC's total offensive leader last year returns to lead the Bullies. The bad news.....the defense was pretty awful last year, so Coach Mullen is very likely looking at a break even season at best. If State can improve the defense and find some capable offensive performers to go with Fitzgerald, Mississippi State could climb up the SEC West ladder, perhaps all the way to the middle.

5. Texas A&M Aggies
One of the hottest seats in the SEC coaching ranks is the one under Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin. Sumlin has been disliked a while by a small, yet vocal number of fans. This is  not a good year to be forced to replace one of the best SEC defenders from a year ago in Myles Garrett and steady quarterback Trevor McKnight but that is what must happen if the Aggies are to contend for an SEC West title. Wide receiver Christian Kirk returns as one of the SEC's most electric players, but the Aggies have their work cut out if they can match last year's 8-5 mark or their 4-4 SEC record. 

4. Arkansas Razorbacks
The Hogs were just barely an average SEC football team a year ago. They were well above average at quarterback with Austin Allen who was third in the league in quarterback efficiency and Allen returns. Along with him in the backfield will be running back Rawleigh Williams who rushed for 1360 yards in 2016. That's a pretty good tandem but Arkansas was pretty bad defensively last year and just about all those guys are back. I don't know if that will be good or bad for Coach Bret Bielema who is 25-26 in his first four seasons at Arkansas. If the Razorbacks can vastly improve on defense, they can at least make some noise in the SEC West if not contend for the title.

3. LSU Tigers
When Ed Orgeron was hired last year to be the permanent replacement for Les Miles, it surprised a lot of people. Even though the job he did as interim head coach was more than adequate, everyone around the SEC felt the Bengal Tigers would go for a bigger name. Orgeron was obviously big enough and now the job is his. The talent is in place for LSU to put together a ten win season and challenge for the West title. A big concern will be to keep running back Derrius Guice healthy, and of course, the biggest game on the schedule is November 4th when LSU plays at Alabama; a team they haven't beaten since 2011.  

2. Auburn Tigers
Folks around the SEC are talking about how explosive this Auburn team could be. Quarterback Jarrett Stidham is the key on offense but he needs to take the Tiger's passing game to a higher level. Auburn rushed for more than 270 yards per game last year to lead the league, but to beat Alabama and the others in the West, they really need to be able to throw the ball. That' s something they have not done very well at all under head coach Gus Malzahn. It's been almost four years since  Auburn played for a national championship in Malzahn's rookie season. Don't be surprised if the Tigers knock off the Crimson Tide and advance to the playoffs in 2017. Stranger things have happened. 

1. Alabama Crimson Tide
I have heard people say that the tremendous success of the Alabama football team under Nick Saban is not good nor is it healthy for college football. Then other teams in the SEC must do a better job of closing the gap. Alabama recruits the very best players in the country, year after year. Any other team that loses five starters on defense would be looking for a down year, but Coach Saban just plugs in another blue chip prospect and the Tide doesn't miss a beat. That is what's facing Alabama in 2017. Quarterback Jalen Hurts returns to direct the Alabama offense but 'Bama will be breaking in a new offensive coordinator and Brian Daboll will be thrown into the fire early as the Crimson Tide opens with Florida State, another national championship contender in Atlanta on September 2nd. If Alabama wins this one they may not lose again and Saban will likely get national title number six.  

* * *

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.  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 30 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 five grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, Mattingly, DellaMae, and CoraLee.

He can be reached at rsmithsports@epbfi.com

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