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Reactions: SEC Alabama fans' favoriteLatest: Tuesday August 22, 2000 01:01 PM
CNNSI.com users were asked to share their predictions of what to expect in SEC football during the 2000 season. A sample of the responses we received follows: The SEC showcasers will start their season with pretty good to OK rankings. But unlike many of the other conferences (ACC, etc.), you can't take off even one week. The Vols, Dawgs, Gators, even the Tide will beat up on each as usual while teams like FSU, Miami and Nebraska skate through their half of an excuse for a conference with merely a scratch. Put in the extra SEC title game and it leaves no wonder why bowl games are so important for us southerners. Not only do we worship them, our teams have actually deserved them.
In my opinion, the SEC and Big Ten will duel for the best conference title, with the Big Ten probably being a little deeper this year. Georgia is still a pretender, despite the media bandwagons. Florida and Tennessee will compete for the East. The preseason favorite has to be Florida. Also reports of the Vols' demise and exit from the top 10 have been exaggerated. Expect the winner of the East to win it all.
Alabama will be the class of the SEC this year, which is no surprise. Is Freddie Milons the most exciting player in the country this year? Look for a battle between Deuce McAllister of Ole Miss and Cedric Cobbs of Arkansas for the SEC rushing title and possible Heisman contention. Go Hogs!
The Auburn Tigers will be the SEC darkhorse, Ronney Daniels is going to have a bash brother named Deandre Green to his other side! Both of them are identical receivers, they do their damage with the run after the catch. And they will be the most feared WR duo in the SEC. Rudi Johnson will come in at RB and be one of the SEC's best and will really help out Ben Leard, the most efficient passer in the nation! Auburn's offensive line is healthy now, the LBs and CBs are veterans, the defensive line is starting to take shape and Auburn has all the weapons to win the SEC.
The national champion will not come from the SEC. Since the SEC has three potential champions, Georgia, Alabama and Florida, they will more than likely cancel each other out. Alabama will be tough with Freddie Milons putting on a show every Saturday. Look for Brock Berlin to start after game two and lead Florida to a two-loss season. Jasper Sanks, Quincy Carter, the receivers and the defense will bring a SEC championship home to Bulldog country. Take that to the bank!
The SEC schools will play their usual style of hardnosed football, and the media won't notice until all the dust settles around early January when they realize that the six SEC teams won a bowl game. They will then declare that some other conference is still the best football conference. It is the same story year in and year out. Just admit it guys. The SEC is the most dominant conference in the game.
The University of Florida will once again rise to its proper position atop the SEC. The only team that will even give Florida a decent challenge within the SEC will be Georgia, and they will fold as usual. Florida will dominate Alabama in the SEC title game after soundly whipping Free Shoes U (FSU). Finally, the Gators will avenge the 95 title game loss against the Cornhuskers (that is if Nebraska can get by KSU). UF national champs.
I think that Miss. State is the most underrated team in the nation. They will be just as good as last year, possibly better. Most polls have them at 40 or higher, but I think that MSU, not Ole Miss, will give Bama the most trouble in the West.
Alabama No. 3? Wasn't Dubose facing a firing last year before Shaun Alexander pulled him out of the line of fire? With Alexander gone, the Tide can't be a top 10 team. Georgia has not proven that it can win big games, much less championships. Guess what, Florida and Tennessee are the class of the SEC again.
Nobody is giving LSU any respect and I completely understand why. However, this team will surprise people. Our defense will improve 100 percent. Bradie James, Trev Faulk and Jeremy Lawrence make up the best linebacking trio in the SEC. I don't care how good Saleem Rasheed is. Alabama is overrated. Mike DuBose may replace Jackie Sherill as the worst coach in the SEC this season. LSU has a quarterback named Matt Mauck that will take over hopefully next season. If Josh or Rohan can play with a little confidence we will win seven games this season. Lookout for a running back named LaBrandon Toefield. He will be running behind a much improved offensive line.
Sports Illustrated picking Arkansas as "couch dwellers" for bowl season is insane! With the young talent the Hogs have (Cedric Cobbs, Sparky Hamilton, Fred Talley, etc.) mixed with an offensive line that returns almost intact and the best linbacking crew in the SEC, the Razorbacks will spend New Years somewhere in the Sunshine State. So it is written, so it shall be done!
The Florida Gators will go into Tennessee and stomp them in front of 100,000 people. The young Gator offense will light up the scoreboard while the defense will stifle the SEC opposition. The Gators will run away from the rest of the league, and win the SEC championship. After crushing FSU in Tallahassee, they will go on to win a second NCAA championship in the Orange Bowl vs. Nebraska.
I like Alabama and Georgia to go undefeated in the regular season and play each other in the SEC title game. I see Bama winning the game and playing Nebraska for the national title. Bama will win the game 27-24 en route to a 13th national title.
This is shaping up to be the most unpredictable season in recent memory. If ever the rest of the SEC wanted to exact revenge on Tennessee and Florida it had better be now because recruiting has these two powerhouses back at the top real soon. Some things never change though -- while Ole Miss, Alabama, Kentucky and (yes) even Vandy will be improved, Georgia will still be the SEC East's whipping boy. There is just something about a place that has no self-confidence, yet (self) proclaims contention every year. Maybe it is the eternal scowl on Donnan's face that causes the 'Dawgs to underachieve every year.
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