Week 12 SEC Power Poll Ballot: Raise Your Hand If You've Won Your Division
by T Kyle King on Nov 20, 2011 9:36 PM EST
in SEC Football
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PrintIt was, to put it mildly, an interesting weekend of SEC football, which clarified the picture only slightly. The Eastern Division crowned a champion, but we are still waiting for one of those Western Division weaklings to show enough gumption to step up to the plate and win the darned thing already! (I kid, I kid.) In my estimation, the twelve current teams in the Southeastern Conference stack up against one another as follows:
1. LSU Tigers (11-0 overall, 7-0 SEC): The Bayou Bengals are on cruise control. I’m really glad Georgia ducked Louisiana State on this year’s schedule. Wait, what? Aw, crap!
2. Alabama Crimson Tide (10-1, 6-1): Nick Saban is most thankful for the fact that three teams whose names begin with "O" all choked this weekend.
3. Arkansas Razorbacks (10-1, 6-1): I hope the Hogs find a way to sneak into the SEC Championship Game, both because I would enjoy giving Bobby Petrino a warm welcome back to the Georgia Dome, and because I’d be glad to know the ‘Dawgs were the title game participant that faced the tougher schedule to get there.
4. Georgia Bulldogs (9-2, 7-1): It could’ve been worse. Instead of leading Kentucky, 12-10, at the half, the Bulldogs could’ve been leading The Citadel, 20-13, at intermission.
5. South Carolina Gamecocks (9-2, 6-2): It could’ve been worse. Instead of leading The Citadel, 20-13, at the half, the Gamecocks could’ve been leading Samford, 14-10, at intermission.
6. Auburn Tigers (7-4, 4-3): It could’ve been worse. Instead of leading Samford, 14-10, at the half, the Plainsmen could’ve been trailing Furman, 22-7, at the end of the first quarter.
7. Florida Gators (6-5, 3-5): It could’ve been worse. Instead of trailing Furman, 22-7, at the end of the first quarter, the Gators could’ve needed instant replay to beat Vanderbilt in overtime at home.
8. Tennessee Volunteers (5-6, 1-6): It could’ve been worse. Instead of being coached by Vince Dooley’s son, the Big Orange could be coached by Urban Meyer’s protégé, in which case the benefit of the doubt separating mediocre squads with identical overall and conference records would’ve broken this tie the other way.
9. Mississippi St. Bulldogs (5-6, 1-6): I go back and forth over whether to regard Dan Mullen as a much less inspiring Sylvester Croom or a much more intelligible Ed Orgeron.
10. Vanderbilt Commodores (5-6, 2-6): For all the sound and fury, Vandy is still a middling Eastern Division team from Tennessee with a whiny coach who is all mouth and has delivered only moral victories. I’ve seen this movie before, and James Franklin should be hired away by Southern California any time now.
11. Kentucky Wildcats (4-7, 1-6): Despite playing a non-conference schedule reminiscent of original Bill Snyder-era Kansas State or Mike Leach-era Texas Tech, the Wildcats still were the first team in the SEC East to be eliminated from bowl contention. Think about that for a minute.
12. Mississippi Rebels (2-9, 0-7): Black bears are presenting themselves to hunters and asking to be shot, just to spare themselves the misery of being associated with this team.
That’s how it looks to me, but, as always, I welcome your feedback in the comments below.
Go ‘Dawgs!
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Stop raising your hand, Alligator.
You didn’t win your division. You are an alligator.
The 984 Has Spoken!
by The984 on Nov 20, 2011 9:54 PM EST reply actions 5 recs
and accurate in my opinion
I can’t believe Arky is 10-1. I’ve called them a pretender all season. I think they come crashing back to earth this week. LSU is fo real. I think the distance between 2 and 3 is massive.
going on the road to #1 and #2 should more than make up...
… for the lack of a marquee OOC opponent like Boise in terms of SOS. And beating the #1 team on the road should make up for the (admittedly embarrassing) loss at Bama.
The Hogs match up as well as anyone could hope for with LSU’s defense – if they have a weak point it’s pass defense in the middle of the field where the Hogs are primed to exploit with an above average TE and RBs that excel catching out of the backfield. If our young o-line has gelled enough since Bama to make sure their d-line leaves Tyler Wilson some higher level brain functions after the game, there’s a chance.
Not predicting a win, but it won’t be a blowout. Hogs have won 3 out of the last 4 against LSU, with the one loss being in OT after a very questionable call in LSU’s favor at the end of regulation (cough Wagers cough)
by Smokehouse42 on Nov 21, 2011 1:34 AM EST up reply actions
Forgot to add
I hailed from the great state of Georgia before getting moved to Arkansas and cheer for Georgia in any and all instances except where a Dawg loss would somehow help the Hogs, so an AR/UGA SECCG would be a win-win for me!
by Smokehouse42 on Nov 21, 2011 1:37 AM EST up reply actions
I'm just not buying
Arky struggled with too many teams – Vandy, Ole Miss, Texas A&M….none of those teams is in the same stratosphere as LSU. It is fortunate that the game is not at night.
by skigator93 on Nov 21, 2011 10:46 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
good teams can go through rough patches
Vandy has given plenty of schools trouble, Texas A&M has a talented d-line and at the time of that game we were still playing without our two best defensive players and our two top RBs were still attempting to come back from severe injuries.
Ole Miss was inexcusable, other than the Nutt factor. He can come out of nowhere and has admitted to spending significantly extra time getting ready for AR compared to any other game. Still, should have blown them out.
by Smokehouse42 on Nov 21, 2011 2:09 PM EST up reply actions
one thing is for sure
You’re one of a couple teams that can actually help itself without needing help from anyone else.
Arky is a pretender
LSU is the real deal and I am really afraid at the number of underclassmen they have returning next season…..
Barnhardt and Spence just gave UGA a puncher’s chance….whatever that means.
This has got to be one of the most cleverest and humorous Power Poll Ballots you've written, Kyle King, See Numbers 5-8
Or at least it was humorous in my opinion. I needed a little bit of a pick me up in any way I could find it after the tragedy that happened to our late beloved radio announcer.
by thefirstgenesis on Nov 21, 2011 1:37 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
You know
instead of us being lucky to have avoided the big 3 in the west maybe the #1,2 and 3 teams in the country were lucky to avoid playing us and thus having another loss on their record ;)
by dawgfan17 on Nov 21, 2011 3:25 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
Lulling the opponents to sleep
We wouldn’t want the West champ to realize how good we actually are by holding onto the ball and blowing the Mildcats out…
"Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees." Thomas J. Jackson
Strength of Schedule / Georgia v. Arkansas
So, you think Georgia played a tougher schedule this year? I disagree. Looking at SEC teams, common opponents of Georgia and Arkansas were South Carolina, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and Auburn. We beat them all, you lost to South Carolina. SEC teams Georgia played which Arkansas did not include the powerhouses of Florida and Kentucky, while the conference opponents Arkansas played and Georgia did not include LSU and Alabama. Non-conference opponents aside, it’s clear that Arkansas played a tougher schedule.
"Non-conference opponents aside"?
So, if you ignore inconvenient facts, you’re right all the time?
All right, fine. I choose to ignore Georgia’s two losses and Arkansas’s ten wins. Why, the Bulldogs are 9-0 and the Razorbacks are 0-1!
If you want to have a serious conversation, I’m perfectly willing to engage you, but, frankly, your position is just silly.
Manager, Dawg Sports, SB Nation's Georgia Bulldogs weblog.
Go 'Dawgs!
Argue with Sagarin
He list Arkansas’ schedule as 49th in the nation and UGA’s as 43rd. so it is about as clear as that little river that separates Arkansas from Tennessee
SEMPER FI and I HATE ORANGE, and GREEN notebooks
by Dawg2011 on Nov 21, 2011 9:06 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
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