SEC Sports Blog

Each year they get out-spent on their recruiting budget. Each year their recruiting classes are ranked #12, dead last, in the SEC. Each year the academics of Vanderbilt keep them from admitting the top athletes in the nation. Thursday night that did not matter as the Commodores came out firing in the 2nd half against the #24 South Carolina Gamecocks. Vanderbilt handle South Carolina at home, beating them for the second straight season, causing a rush to the bookstores from the students for new Vanderbilt apparel and to buy Vanderbilt football tickets. With the win Vanderbilt, an underdog just a week ago @ Miami of Ohio, is now 2-0 as they look to play in a bowl game for the first time since 1982.

Week #1 of the 2008 college football season is not over yet, but it sure did start well for the SEC (as expected). The nation’s top conference has won 9 of 10 games thus far with only Mississippi State’s surprising loss @ Louisiana Tech as the lone blemish for the conference. #1 Georgia rolled over Georgia Southern as did #5 Florida over Hawaii and #7 LSU over Appalachian State. #10 Auburn not only put up 34 points on Louisiana-Monroe, but their defense shut out the Warhawks just like South Carolina in their 34-0 win over NC State. Vanderbilt was an underdog @ Miami (OH) but won easily 34-13 and Ole Miss handled Memphis 41-24. Arkansas struggled to a 28-24 win over FCS member Western Illinois and Sylvester Croom’s Mississippi State Bulldogs fell @ LA Tech 22-14. In the nightcap on Saturday, the ACC’s top-ranked team, the #9 Clemson Tigers were man-handled by Nick Saban’s #24 Alabama Crimson Tide 34-10.

Two games involving SEC teams remain for Week #1 incluing Kentucky @ Louisville on Sunday and #18 Tennessee @ UCLA on Monday. Fans can find a great variety of SEC merchandise items online including Alabama apparel, Ole Miss clothing, Georgia hats, Auburn apparel & more at College Sports Fans.

The best team in the country from top to bottom may be the Georgia Bulldogs, and at the end of the year last year (with all do respect to LSU) USC and Georgia were the hottest and best two teams in country. Georgia had won seven straight to finish the season, after getting their feelings hurt last year at Tennessee in game that they did not even seem to show up for. The Bulldogs also lost to South Carolina 16-12 in a game in which their offense just could never get the big play in the passing game.

The Bulldogs return 17 starters which include Matthew Stafford who will be a seasoned junior and completed almost 56% of his passes while throwing for over 2500 yards in 2007. The receiving corp needs a breakout year from Mohamed Massaquoi and one more receiver to step up like Kris Durham or one of their two wide outs that are freshman that maybe counted on from this great incoming class. The running will be fine with the best running back in the country Knowshon Moreno in the backfield. He just may have been the second best runner in the SEC behind Darren McFadden last year. He had 1396 rushing yards and 253 receiving yards and runs through tackles like Adrian Peterson did when he ran for Oklahoma. Will all of that back on offense and 6 of the top 7 tacklers back on defense along with 28.5 sacks which include 7 of there top defense lineman from a year ago, and a much more experienced  linebackers and seven of their top defense backs returning the defense will be at a championship level. All that said their schedule the toughest in the country for a team trying to win a national championship may be too much for the bulldogs to handle.

The season starts off with Georgia Southern which will not be this year’s Appalachian State and maybe the only that is over now. Things get a little tougher with Central Michigan coming to Athens. The Chippewas have a talented team that will win the MAC. Quarterback Dan LeFevour is a very good player and a couple of thousand yard rushers in their backfield with him. That said the game is in Athens, no MAC school has the speed or Talent to prepare them for Georgia, and the Bulldogs will win in a blow out, maybe the last of the season.

With back to back road games to an improved South Carolina and last year’s surprise team Arizona State, with Alabama in the back of this three game stretch everybody will find out how tough UGA is going to be. South Carolina is may actually finish higher than fourth in the east this year, and are always tougher at home and they did beat Georgia last year in Athens and will play Georgia tough. This game is important to Georgia, and South Carolina will have already played and SEC team along with NC State so they will be ready for the Bulldogs, and will have a couple of days head start on Georgia because they play on the Thursday night game the week before the Georgia game. Arizona State will not catch teams off guard this year, but this game will be a measuring stick for Arizona State and is in Tempe and will their fourth straight home game. The next week Alabama comes to town with revenge on their minds after Georgia beat the Crimson Tide in OT, Alabama should be better with a good recruiting class coming in and one more year under Saban. If Georgia can come out of this three game stretch they may have a chance to go all the way.

Take a week to get ready for a Tennessee, a team that beat Georgia in a game they trailed 35 points by half. Georgia will want his game more than any other on their schedule. I look for Georgia to repay Tennessee in this one. Then Vanderbilt comes to Athens and plays Georgia tough losing by only a field goal last year and winning the last time they came to Athens. Look for Georgia to restore the dominance in this series this year. As long as they are not looking ahead to the next two games.

LSU and Georgia should were the best teams in the SEC last year, and with LSU coming off a lost to Arkansas before the Championship game last year and a playing with a backup quarterback I still think UGA would taken LSU to the woodshed, but that was last year and this maybe a night game in Baton Rouge and a game that LSU will need to win to stay in the SEC West race. This will be a typical SEC battle, with Florida looming the next week it is a must win.
Florida and Georgia may both be undefeated coming into this game and match up as two teams in the top five. Georgia won by 12 last year in a game where Tebow -15 yards rushing and was forced to beat Georgia in the air. This game will live up to the hype, and the hype should be great. This maybe the best two teams in the country and the winner should have the road to the SEC Championship game paved. This game is flowered by two roads games to Kentucky, who should be down this year and Auburn a game that will loom large for both teams and could be a preview of the SEC Championship game. Auburn will have a different Offense and will return 16 starters 9 of which on offense with a quarterback that is will suited for the spread offense and will be coming off their easy part of the schedule and will be looking forward to playing Georgia after last year game in which Georgia won 45-20. Then Georgia ends the regular season  with instate rival Georgia Tech who will have new coach Paul Johnson roaming the sideline and trying to break Georgia’s seven game win streak against them.

Georgia has the one if not the most talented teams in the country, to go with one of the best’s coaches in the country, Georgia is good shape for a schedule like this, and if they can get off to a fast start, Athens maybe celebrating in early January.
By C.J. Watson
DFN Sports Guest Writer

As we mentioned in the 2008 SEC East preview post, the SEC is known as the toughest conference in all of college football. The staff at College Sports Fans brought you their 2008 college football preview last month which includes previews for all 6 SEC West teams. As a conference, the SEC sent 8 teams to bowl games at the conclusion of the 2007 football season, and the SEC West sent 5 of it’s 6 members to bowl games. National Champion LSU defeated Ohio State in the BCS Championship to lead the way as Auburn, Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi State all went bowling as well. Only Mississippi (3-9) missed out on a bowl game in 2007.

So what will happen in 2008? Will LSU drop off with several key players gone after their National Title? How will Arkansas respond to Darren McFadden’s departure to the NFL? Will a new coach at Ole Miss make the difference? How about Nick Saban’s influence and great recruiting class for Alabama. Find out as the expert staff of College Sports Fans previews the 2008 SEC West football programs below.

• 2008 Alabama football preview
• 2008 Arkansas football preview
• 2008 Auburn football preview
• 2008 LSU football preview
• 2008 Mississippi (Ole Miss) football preview
• 2008 Mississippi State football preview

The SEC is known as the toughest conference in all of college football and the staff at College Sports Fans is pleased to bring you their 2008 college football preview including previews for all 6 SEC East teams. After another dominating 2007 football season, the SEC East sent 4 of it’s 6 members to bowl games as Georgia picked up a Sugar Bowl win over Hawaii despite not being the SEC East’s representative in the SEC Championship game. Georgia and Tennesse finished 2007 tied atop the SEC East while Florida was 3rd, Kentucky 4th, South Carolina 5th and Vanderbilt 6th.

A new season is almost upon us and the slate it wiped clean. Will Georgia live up to the exectations in 2008? Will Florida take another SEC and National Championship? Will Phil Fulmer get the Tennessee fans off his back? Will South Carolina bounce back from a disappointing 6-6 campaign in 2007? Or will Vanderbilt surprise us all? Find out as the expert staff of College Sports Fans previews the 2008 SEC East football programs below.

• 2008 Florida Gators football preview
• 2008 Georgia Bulldogs football preview
• 2008 Kentucky Wildcats football preview
• 2008 South Carolina Gamecocks football preview
• 2008 Tennessee Volunteers football preview
• 2008 Vanderbilt Commodores football preview

The Athlon Sports and Lindy’s college football preview magazines are out and the SEC is well-represented in the preseason Top 25 for both publications. Lindy’s features 6 SEC teams ranked in the Top 25 and a 7th ranked 27th nationally while Athlon has 5 Southeastern Conference teams in the Top 25 and 7 in their top 34 teams. Let’s take a look at each:

Lindy’s SEC Teams in the Preseason Top 25:

• #1 - Georgia
• #6 - Florida
• #7 - LSU
• #13 - Auburn
• #20 - Alabama
• #24 - Tennessee

South Carolina is ranked #27 followed by Mississippi State (46), Ole Miss (53), Arkansas (54), Kentucky (63) and Vanderbilt (78).

Meanwhile, the Athlon Sports preview has a lot of similarities:

Athlon’s SEC Teams in the Preseason Top 25:

• #1 - Florida
• #5 - Georgia
• #8 - Auburn
• #9 - LSU
• #17 - Tennessee

Alabama comes in at #30 followed South Carolina (34), Mississippi State (48), Arkansas (55), Kentucky (58), Ole Miss (69), and Vanderbilt (73).

Note to all SEC fans. SEC Talk is looking to expand their staff and add writers. Long known as one of the best SEC sports message boards available online, this SEC fan site is now looking to add content. It doesn’t matter if you are a Georgia fan or a Tennessee fan, a Alabama fan or an Auburn fan, SEC Talk wants you. Whether you’re an experienced writer with an impressive resume, a die hard fan with a passion for your team and good writing skills or looking to build your resume in the world of sports writing, we advise you to contact the staff at SEC Fans today and join the team.

The 2008 College World Series has been a thrilling one and the final is set with the Bulldogs of Georgia facing the Bulldogs of Fresno State beginning tonight at 7 pm ET on ESPN2. Georgia, the #8-ranked team in college baseball before the CWS tournament, comes into the finals after having most recently defeated Stanford by a 10-8 score on Saturday. The opposing Bulldogs have the college baseball world talking after an improbably run as they came into the CWS unranked and have knocked off 5 ranked teams to advance to the CWS finals.

Want to learn more about the CWS? Talk about the Georgia vs. Fresno State CWS finals online at SEC Talk, the SEC’s premeir sports fan message boards and forums. Also do not miss out on the Georgia hats and Fresno State clothing & apparel available through DFN Sports partner sites.