Power Five, SEC

2019 College Football Season Conference Predictions SEC

2019 College Football Season Conference Predictions SEC

The South Eastern Conference (SEC) is recognised as the powerhouse of college football largely thanks to Alabama, who since the arrival of Nick Saben as head coach are perennially in the National Championship conversation. Both Alabama & Georgia made the final four last year and there is a good chance both will be pushing for the playoffs again in 2019, although Florida might just crash the party in the East. Anyway, this is how we see it panning out.

Head Coach Nick Saben has won five National Championships in 11 full seasons in charge of Alabama
Editorial credit: Brad McPherson / Shutterstock.com

SEC EAST

1st Georgia Bulldogs

Georgia has been really close to a place in the National Championship Final two years running but just couldn’t finish either game against Alabama off; so is it Third time lucky?  Well, they have a team full of potential NFL players, but a schedule which is filled with banana skin games, including a tough trip to Auburn, a visit from Notre Dame and a neutral territory meeting with Florida. Squad wise they are bringing back most of last seasons O-Line and Jake Fromm is back as QB, however, they are lighter at WR and TE thanks to the draft so may have to rely on their running game a bit more. This shouldn’t be a problem as D’Andre Swift should be fit and another 1000 yards plus season looks on the cards from him. They will be favourites in all of their games and a season with double-digit wins looks assure.

Predicted finish 10-2

2nd Florida Gators

The Gators had a pretty god season under then-new head coach Dan Mullens in 2018 and the early mumblings that followed their loss to Kentucky soon dissipated as UK went on to have their best season in years. Their 9-3 finish was good enough for a prestigious Bowl slot and they crowned the year by drubbing Michigan in the Peach Bowl. Can they go one better and challenge for the conference title in 2019 – well in our opinion no as they still have Feleipe Franks at QB, who is not terrible but is really inconsistent often going from “wow” to “ugg” in a single set of downs. That’s ok when you are beating up on inferior teams but try that against the likes of Georgia, LSU and Auburn and you have three losses. Ironically those are the three games we have them pegged to lose in 2019 so a similar finish is likely, as is a nice consolation bowl game.

Predicted finish 9-3

3rd Missouri Tigers

The Tigers are facing a Bowl game ban this year, and it is a credit to the staff and the players that virtually all the seniors have chosen to stay with the team for their final season rather than transferring in the hope of a Bowl place. This decision is under appeal, but whatever team spirit is huge in football and Missouri will likely win a similar number of games to last year even without QB Drew Lock. Hopefully, the appeals committee will see sense and not punish the players this year for sins committed years ago.

Predicted finish 8-4

4th Kentucky

Mark Stoops has been given time to turn Kentucky around and his steady progress has been rewarded going from a 2 win team back in 2012 to 10-3 last year and at one stage even having a path to the playoffs. After a 7-1 start which included five SEC wins the wheels finally came off against Georgia and the following weeks’ hangover loss to Tennessee knocked them out of the New Year Bowls contention. however, they still crowned their best season in oh – as long as I can remember by beating Penn State in the Citrus Bowl. However with five starters now in the NFL they have some gaps to fill and thus may take a step back this year. Still, they should be heading for a Bowl game again.

Predicted finish 7-5

5th Tennessee Volunteers

The Vols had a poor 2018, not helped by their schedule which pretty much meant their season was over by late October. Still, they won a few nice games, and they have QB Jarrett Guarantano back which is a positive

Predicted finish 6-6

6th South Carolina Gamecocks

The Gamecocks look to be turning around under Will Muschamp, but with this schedule reaching 50-50 would be an impressive performance. Games against Alabama, Georgia & Clemson are bad enough, but then throw in Florida & Texas A&M and you can see that even getting Bowl eligible leaves no real margin for error. Even the non-conference slate includes Appalachian State who will probably walk away with the Sun Belt title and should push for a top 25 ranking. Given the above, we think they will play well but ultimately fall short of Bowl Eligibility.

Predicted finish 5-7

7th Vanderbilt Commodores

Vanderbilt have made a Bowl game in each of the last two seasons, but it’s hard to see where 6 wins would come from on this year’s schedule and they will be without Kyle Shurmur at QB who has played a big part in their recent success. Recruiting at Vandy is never easy and they have taken on a few transfers this season including potential starting QB Riley Neil from Ball State. If he adapts to the SEC they should hang around in a few games but with a torrid start which could easily be 0-3, they will be lucky to reach 50-50. In fact, they could be 2-7 after playing Florida on the 9th November and their season would be over. Hopefully, they will find a long term QB for the 2020 season.

Predicted finish 4-8

SEC WEST

The SEC West is probably the strongest overall division in 2019 and even though they will take games off of each other you can make a case for six of them playing in a bowl game. After Alabama, it looks wide open.

1st Alabama Crimson Tide

Who can stop Alabama? Well, no one in the West looking at their schedule. They have probably the best wide receiver QB combination in college football with Jerry Jeudy & Tua Tagovailoa and Tua will no doubt be in the Heisman conversation again after finishing runner up last season. If there is a weakness its the defense which although still formidable is not quite the force it has been in recent years.

A look at their schedule does throw up a couple of potentially challenging road trips at Texas A&M and of course, the Iron Bowl against Auburn plus they face LSU at home, but it’s hard to see them losing more than one of these and they should make the Conference Championship again.

Predicted Record 11-1

LSU Tigers

Ed Orgeron had big shoes to fill after taking over from Les Miles as head coach, but he is showing signs of succeeding and they got back to double-digit wins again last year, thanks largely to the offense finally clicking towards the season end. They crowned the season by handily beating Power Five upstarts UCF in the Fiesta Bowl – which was the Back Knights first defeat in two years and they have QB Joe Burrows returning (a near-guaranteed top 10 pick if he heads for the draft in 2020) along with Justin Jefferson at WR. There is no reason to think they will take a step back and they should be Alabama’s main rival. A top 10 ranking looks likely along with a trip to a New Year Bowl game.

Predicted Record 10-2

Texas A&M

Jimbo Fisher’s first year at A&M got off to a bit of a mixed start as they went 2-2 but those losses were against the eventual National Champion & Runner up. Still, the ex Florida State Head Coach had a pretty good first season, ending up 8-4 and then going on to trounce NC State in the Gator Bowl. Unfortunately, their schedule includes both Alabama & Clemson again, plus they finish up with road trips to LSU & Georgia. Finishing 8-4 again would be a good result with that line up of games.

Predicted Record 8-4

Auburn Tigers

The Tigers have a knack of beating the top-ranked teams one week and then losing to teams they really should beat the next. Head coach Gus Malzahn has led them to seven wins against teams that were ranked in the top 10 at the time in his six seasons in charge, however, despite beating then 6th ranked Washington last season, Auburn subsequently lost to Miss State & Tennessee to drop out of contention long before being well beaten in the Iron Bowl. This inconsistency coupled with their strong schedule means they will most likely be struggling to better last seasons record.

Predicted Record 7-5

Mississippi State Bulldogs

Joe Moorhead enters his second season in charge with a team which still look like a run-first one, with little else to offer if this doesn’t work. QB Nick Fitzgerald has gone to the NFL, and although he was never a deep ball threat, his running prowess will be missed. The starting job will likely go to Penn State transfer Tommy Stevens who will have his work cut out. If (and it’s a big if) he can change the dynamic away from the one-dimensional run-first offence then the Bulldogs should make a Bowl game.

Predicted Record 7-5

Ole Miss Rebels

The Rebels season will most likely go the way of QB Matt Corral. If he lives up to his first season potential then a Bowl place is possible. We will know a lot after game one, as they have scheduled a tricky non-conference opener at AAC Memphis, win that handily and they could be a 7 plus win team – lose it and well you know the script. The otherwise the opening schedule is quite kind and we think they can win a few early and sneak to six wins.

Predicted Record 6-6

Arkansas

The Razorbacks were pretty awful last year and although second-year head coach Chad Morris has shown he can turn around bad teams (he took SMU from 1-11 to a 7-6 team) but it took him three seasons. Last years dismal 2-10 was not helped by a tough schedule, and this year looks a little easier. An improvement, by comparison, is on the cards but not enough to reach bowl eligibility.

Predicted Record 4-8

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