SEC Football: Kentucky or Missouri to Make 2016 Bowl?
- Thread starter wildcatman26
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JMO but Mizzou and SCar will fight it out for last place in the East this year.
That's how I see things falling too. I think Vandy will be too strong defensively for either of those teams to score very much against, of course Vandy may not be scoring much themself, but I don't think their offense can be much worse than last year.
I agree. Both should be awful, esp on offense. I think UK finishes 4th and Vandy 5th. They have a hell of a defense.
Yes they did but with the coaching transition did they lose any of their defensive staff, don't see much info on them down here.
- I think Carolina will be the worst team in the SEC, an absolute train wreck. QB issues, lost their chief playmaker on offense, switching to a new defense with players that don't fit the scheme. It's gonna be ugly.
- Mizzou lost their guts when Pinkel retired. In a wise move, they promoted the Odom (the DC) to HC. He designed the defense that kept them in games last year, but will he be able to turn unknown two-stars into NFL players like Pinkel? I doubt it. Pinkel was the SEC's version of VaTech's Beamer, a guy that understood his system and found under the radar types to make it hum. Coaches like him are a rare breed. The chance that Odom will be able to do the same thing are slim. I think they'll be better than USC jr. because they have more pieces in place and better continuity, just don't expect them to suddenly turn it around.
On a semi-related topic, I sincerely hope that Mizzou goes down in flames and becomes the doormat of the SEC. Last year's business of holding their university hostage because of they--laughably--asserted that Mizzou had a "culture of racism" is repugnant. The fact that the school administration caved to them is even more disgusting. They can go to hell, for all I care.
Every team goes through ebs and flows of good years and bad years. I just get the feeling the Mizzou hit their high water mark in 2014 and now is declining, whereas, Kentucky feels to me like a program on the rise.
Mathematically it's possible for both of these teams to get to bowl eligibility of course, but while we have bolstered our coaching staff with Gran, Hinshaw and Thomas, they have lost their king pin and are now looking to rebuild under a new leader. For that reason alone I see Kentucky as having a much bigger upside this year that Mizzou.
Mathematically it's possible for both of these teams to get to bowl eligibility of course, but while we have bolstered our coaching staff with Gran, Hinshaw and Thomas, they have lost their king pin and are now looking to rebuild under a new leader. For that reason alone I see Kentucky as having a much bigger upside this year that Mizzou.
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Don't sell Missouri short. They still have 60+ RSs(UK will probably do well to have 20 RSs) on their team which gives them a physically mature roster plus their touted true freshman QB has a year under his belt. Also they no longer have the distractions of last year. Their coaching staff are experienced guys. Missouri could be a surprise team this year.
On paper USC is the worst team in the SEC. However, it's totally plausible that UK, Vandy, Mizzou, and USC could finish in any potential combination of 4,5,6, & 7 in the SEC East.
It's pretty much impossible to have 60+ RS and UK will have around 3 dozen.
Odum, of course, moved up from DC to HC. Not a complete turnover of staff so that should ease some of the normal transition issues. Most of new additions appear to have solid resumes. Link here. Overall coaching outlook is probably a question of how these guys mesh with each other. The 2 times I saw them play last year I thought their FR QB looked pretty good despite mediocre seasonal stats.
Right now it is pretty hard to separate SC, UK, Vandy and Mizzou. However, Mizzou and UK get the other 3 of those opponents at home. Furthermore, the Cats travel to Mizzou and Mizzou travels to SC. Those might be key games in determining #4 in the SECE.
Peace
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Impossible. Mizzou signing class for 2014 was 28 - none of which were red shirted prior to 2014. 85 is the limit so 85 - 28 = 57 and that's if every returning scholarship player on their roster had been red shirted.
You have to be counting non scholarship players for Mizzou IOW walkons - which I did not do when counting UK's.
You have to be counting non scholarship players for Mizzou IOW walkons - which I did not do when counting UK's.
I think UK makes a bowl game but Mizzou does not a bowl game. I don't think usc jr or Vandy makes one either.
I hope it doesn't work out like that, we don't need 3 teams from the East not making a bowl. That wouldn't be good for us nor the conference
No offense to Kentucky fans but until all 4 teams show some kind of consistency on either side of the football it's hard to call any of those teams the worse in the east. Vandy hasn't shown anything in 3 years really. Kentucky has choked the last 2 years. Missouri really has no skill position playmakers and the QB is really bad as well as lost coaches and defensive talent. South Carolina has unknown 4 star QBs that are young and now young but extremely fast and tall players on the edge as well as a pretty good and deep front 7. Am I saying we win the conference? Absolutely not. But we do have talent they're just either young and it's hard to get over a 3-9 season. Point being I think it's way too early to place any of these teams in the bottom of the east until at least a month into the season.
Last year I told some scar fans to not be surprised if UK was more talented everywhere but lber and cooper. Watching our game, we should of won by more. Oc play calling was bad for us last year. If that improves as much as we think we should be 4th in the east. If it doesn't or our qb doesn't improve then we'll be fighting for the bottom with you.
But without skai I doubt your lber group is better than ours now.
I too don't get the preseason Mizzou love (coming from SB Nation and Phil Steele among others). Drew Lock can throw a pretty ball, but he had a 49% completion rate. None of his returning WR scream "NFL talent", and Tiger fans seem to be banking on a Oklahoma transfer making an immediate impact. The offensive line may stink again, and their RBs aren't beating anyone.
Defensively, that line will be very tough but they lost their position coach to Miami. Brothers is a loss at LB, but they get pretty much everyone else back. Seems like the makings of a five win team. It'll be a tough road game for UK to pull out, but I expect them to do so.
Defensively, that line will be very tough but they lost their position coach to Miami. Brothers is a loss at LB, but they get pretty much everyone else back. Seems like the makings of a five win team. It'll be a tough road game for UK to pull out, but I expect them to do so.
All true Gus. Although I would not exactly call any preseason attention "love" for Mizzou; just the circumstances of the 2016 season and schedule. Mizzou is very unlikely to play for a top 3 spot in the east but (as I have noted in other threads) seems to have the most favorable schedule among themselves, UK, SC and Vandy for possibly claiming the #4 spot. JMO.
Peace
I think Missouri will be significantly better than USC and slightly better than Vandy. I dont see much if any drop off to their defense and their offense cant get much worse especially with Drew Lock now a sophomore. To me South Carolina is the worst team in the SEC this year by a wide margin. The QB situation is a mess after Connor Mitch (who in fairness wasnt very good) transferred. They most likely will be going with a true freshman McIlwain (he was a big time recruit) or a former walk on in Orth. They lost their 2 best players BY FAR in Copper who was pretty much their entire offense and Moore who was their best defender. Throw in the coaching change i see a train wreck season for the Gamecocks.
Luckily we get USC & Vandy at home but travel to Mizzou. I think our offense will be significantly better than last year which in turn will help the defense. I see much more clock management and efficiency in regards to the offense this year. The front 7 does have some serious question marks but the secondary is absolutely loaded. If the front 7 can at least hold its own against the run I see a possible 8-4 season as the ceiling with a 6-6 season at worst.
I think UK will be fighting with Mizzou for the 4 and 5 spots in the East with Vandy taking 6th and USC coming in at 7th.
Luckily we get USC & Vandy at home but travel to Mizzou. I think our offense will be significantly better than last year which in turn will help the defense. I see much more clock management and efficiency in regards to the offense this year. The front 7 does have some serious question marks but the secondary is absolutely loaded. If the front 7 can at least hold its own against the run I see a possible 8-4 season as the ceiling with a 6-6 season at worst.
I think UK will be fighting with Mizzou for the 4 and 5 spots in the East with Vandy taking 6th and USC coming in at 7th.
Our lb group has a ton of game experience which is the only thing that helps us get over the whole skai not being here. Our biggest issue against Kentucky was not finishing in the red zone. Way to many missed opportunities for us. I just like to get a feel for what you guys have this year. I know you're very good at the skill position. QB got some playing but didn't look the best. Defensively I read where you guys lost some people especially in the front 7 but I'm not entirely sure who or what impact it really is so I like to find out what our opponents have and get the other sides fans perspective
glass half full outlook for us is that we have about 5 guys for the 3 down positions that seem to be decent. we need for our juco nt to provide depth there to expect much improvement up front though. we lost all our lb'ers but most of us feel we will be better at lber this year. hatcher missed as many games as he played in but was probably our best talent, forrest was fast and good in coverage but not run support. flannigan missed a lot of games and practice to injury and just never quite played 2 good games in a row. so when you see steel talk about us losing 70% of our tackles... a lot of dont see that as a negative.
2 freshmen got a lot of snaps last year at lb'er. couple more got some snaps. 2 transfers, 1 from nebraska, 1 from minn, should change the physical look to our lber group. we have more depth, size, and experience at lber than last year because 2 of our lb'ers from last year had only played the position 3 years. we'll make a lot of learning mistakes but we'll hit you a lot more than last year.... glass half full version mind you.
Our front 7 is definitely going to be decent. We have good depth and talent on the line and a lot of experience in the LB. we have the nations top JC CB and he is the real deal and real sec caliber CB in lammons on the other end and a good nickel back in Fenton. We have experience at SS in Diggs but others are still battling. We are paper thin however in the secondary. We have some really good players but we can't afford injuries.
I think SC this year will be similar to Vandy last season. I think that defense will get much better as the season progresses and Muschamp and his staff get more time to work with them, but that offense probably won't be very good in 2016 which in turn will hurt the defense in terms of field position.
I think SC will scare some better teams, but a bowl berth seems unlikely to happen. Wish you luck though (except for when you play UK of course)!
One thing about SC that I am interested to see is how Kurt Roper does at being the OC. Muschamp admitted his downfall at Florida was the offense and with him bringing in Roper, it seems like a very good hire. With that being said, I don't know a ton about that situation and/or Roper. I just know he did a good job at Dulke Will be titeresting to see how he handdoes with the offense.
Defense will be much better and the offense is a mystery at this point. One thing I have noticed though that young QB succeed when they're duel threat and teams have to take in account his legs. We have length and speed on the edge but they're really young and we have a deep and experience offensive line
Defense will be much better and the offense is a mystery at this point. One thing I have noticed though that young QB succeed when they're duel threat and teams have to take in account his legs. We have length and speed on the edge but they're really young and we have a deep and experience offensive line