Alabama vs Mississippi

Alabama vs. Mississippi

Now that we have seen that Ole Miss isn’t that top 5 team some thought they were, now it is time for them to show that they are at least a top 25 team.

And on the other end, this is Alabama’s golden chance to make a serious statement in the SEC and in the nation.

I’ll be honest, I am not totally sold on Alabama, even though they were 12-2 last year. The Crimson Tide beat a Clemson team that had nothing in them last year, and the only legit wins for the Tide was beating Ole Miss by 4 at home, and LSU on the road by 6. I gotta be honest, I am not too impressed by the record last year, and it showed when they played Florida and lost…then played Utah…and lost.

But beating Virginia Tech is impressive, considering what the Hokies have done so far this year, so I cannot argue on that. And beating Arkansas and Kentucky do count for conference wins, but are they a true top 5 team…I am not too sure about that. While the SEC was one of the two best conferences last year, there were a heck of a lot of teams that submerged rather than rose to the surface. Alabama could have possibly taken advantage of being at the right place, at the right time.

But the same can be said for Mississippi. Sure they were 9-4 last year, but they did lose to Vandy, South Carolina and Alabama…oh they also lost to Wake Forest too. Much of their fanfare was based on the fact that they did beat Florida, and also beat a good Texas Tech team last year…but all hopes of an undefeated season ended early when South Carolina punched them in the guts this year, kicking them off the top 10 polls. Now hanging on at #20, they need this win to prove that last year was no fluke.

If Miss can beat Florida, on the road, then why can’t they beat Alabama…at home? This could very possibly be a game that Ole Miss can win, and the victory at home will have the entire state of Mississippi rejoicing. But can they do it?

I have no qualms believing ole Miss is a top 25 team, considering who they beat last year and who they have beaten this year, I see them about right where they should be, about #20 if not a spot or two lower. But a win here validates any moves up, and considering how tough the SEC is this year, that says a heck of a lot.

But do I believe Alabama is a top 5 team? Do I believe they can beat USC, or Penn State, or teams like that? Well, they did beat Virginia Tech, so there is great credibility, but I think they have what it takes to beat Mississippi. Remember, they won by 4 points last year at home, how will the Tide do on the road? Mississippi has lost a few at home, so it’s not like a clear cut home field advantage, but I will nod ever so slightly to the Rebels for some advantage.

But I still pick Alabama to win, by 5 points…yeah I said FIVE!

Mississippi vs South Carolina: One minute left

Mississippi vs. South Carolina: One minute left

Ok, so I am blogging this on the idea that South Carolina wins this game 16-10, and a game that exposes a few things about both teams….

Wait, it’s official, the #4 team, Mississippi, loses to South Carolina 16-10.

So what have we learned? Several things.

First, we see that neither team has a really potent offense, but both have some pretty good defenses. For awhile we wondered if anybody was going to score a touchdown.

For South Carolina, the win is HUGE, but there are some very glaring problems with the offensive. The score should have been more like 28-10 instead of 16-10 because of their inability to get in the end zone. Folks, when you are first and goal, you simply MUST punch that in and cash in.

South Carolina failed to do that many times, either because they can’t run the ball or because Mississippi is good on defense. I think it’s a little of both, because last year South Carolina showed that they don’t run the ball all that well.

We also saw how Mississippi plays, and it seems that the hype about their quarterback seems to be just that…hype. Not that he did a terrible job, because every college quarterback is going to have off days, but the great ones have to be able to take the team on his shoulder and move forward…something the Rebels just were not able to do.

What we also saw was that South Carolina does not have the offense to finish an opponent, while Mississippi refused to give up, credit given to their defense. At one point the score was 16-3 and I remember saying to somebody that if South Carolina could get one more touchdown, they would ice the game…this was in the third quarter.

But was it me, or did it seem like South Carolina seemed to put it on “cruise control” after they scored 16 points? This is very unlike a Steve Spurrier coached team, who was well known for running up the scores while at Florida. It just seemed that this Gamecock team had just enough to win the game…no more than that.

Yet this also speaks of Mississippi, which some questioned the ranking at #4. To be sure, they benefited from other teams losing, allowing them to slide up the rankings, but in the end, they proved that they were not the 4th best team in the nation…not playing like that.

So Mississippi will drop in the polls, losing to an unranked team, one I feel they will see a few more times before the year is out. Let’s not forget that they did lose to South Carolina last year, and although they won a host of games late last year, the jury is still out on their greatness. As one guy on ESPN said, the last game Miss played against Texas Tech seemed to be one that was given to them. Some say that Texas Tech gave up on the game because they felt they should have gone to a bigger bowl…maybe there was some truth to it.

In any case, Mississippi is now off the ranks of the unbeaten, making room for other teams to take their place….could this be the beginning of a weekend of upsets? Or was it that South Carolina beating Mississippi was never an upset to begin with…

Time will tell. But for now, the final score rests at 16-10, South Carolina Gamecocks.

Mississippi vs South Carolina 2009

Mississippi vs. South Carolina 2009

Looks like we got us a SEC matchup tonight….

Tonight on ESPN there will be a pretty interesting matchup between two SEC foes, as South Carolina will host the Mississippi Rebels. This is a game to watch, because for a lot of folks like myself, we are waiting to see if this Miss team is really the real deal.

I think the jury is still out on it.

Now Mississippi is ranked #5 on one poll, and #4 on the other, so we’re talking about a top 5 team in the nation. I can’t argue that. Mississippi has two wins already, while South Carolina is 2-1. By numbers alone, one might assume that South Carolina is doomed to lose…I mean, even under Steve Spurrier the Gamecocks have not really kicked open the door to the SEC Championship, have they?

But let’s look a little further, and see if we can find out what may happen tonight, shall we?

South Carolina, as mentioned, is 2-1, but came off a 7-6 record last year. Since they are playing home, let’s look at their home games from 2008. The Gamecocks beat NC State 34-0 to start the season, lost to Georgia 14-7 and barely beat Wofford 23-13...

Only ten points? What’s up with that Spurrier?

South Carolina beats UAB 26-13, loses to LSU 24-17, beats Tennessee 27-6 and stops Arkansas 34-21. So the home record for South Carolina is 5-2...not bad. When you consider that they lost to Georgia and LSU, that’s nothing to get too upset about. It might appear that South Carolina has a strong home field advantage.

Add to this that they beat Mississippi away last year 34-21, and one could guess that a little home cooking might make things better. This year they started out with Wolfpack, sweaking by 7-3, then lost at Georgia 41-37 before beating Florida Atlantic 38-16. I think the Gamecocks are a tad better this year than last year. Consider last year about this time they had about 58 points, this year they have scored over 80. If they can improve their defense just a little, it might make the difference in winning 7 games, or winning 9. To be sure, they have a chance tonight.

But Mississippi is a top 5 ranked team, with a quarterback that has been mentioned as a Heisman hopeful. With a 9-4 record last year, their losses were to Wake Forest on the road, Vanderbilt at home, South Carolina at home and Alabama away…hmmm.

The strength of Mississippi rests on the fact that they beat Florida, LSU and Texas Tech last year…not a bad trio to hang your hat on. So the Rebels get a nice big ranking early this year, and with upsets already abound, it was easy for them to move up the BCS ladder.

Question…are they REALLY a top 5 team?

That’s hard to answer right now, because even at 2-0 they have no conference games yet…until tonight. Beating Memphis isn’t saying a lot, crushing the Tigers 45-14, and beating Southeastern Louisiana 52-6 does not really make a real mark either. Granted, two wins is two wins, but who have you beat so far?

But you can’t ignore a quarterback that has thrown only 50 times this year, and has 5 touchdowns. With a high powered offense, this could be a team that will give South Carolina fits. We know the Rebels love to score, whether home or away, so the South Carolina fans better be ready for scoring galore.

Can Mississippi win on the road against Steve Spurrier? Can the Gamecocks beat a top 5 team, which would give an incredible boost to the university and the team? I think Mississippi can beat South Carolina in their house, after all they beat Florida AND LSU last year in their houses…why would this be any different?

It’s different because South Carolina beat them last year.

But folks, I am going to drink a little bit of that Rebel Gatorade, and think that this team can…and will pull out a victory. This will be their first real test of the year, and I do wonder if they are mentally ready for that. Whipping up on lesser foes can make you dull, but I think this South Carolina team is average at best, and may put up a good fight, but it won’t be enough.

I see Mississippi winning by about 7 points, maybe as much as 10.

#5: Mississippi, Penn State or Oklahoma State?

#5: Mississippi, Penn State or Ok State

Speedblog

Ah, an interesting debate.

Who SHOULD be the 5th best team in the nation? Mississippi, Penn State or Oklahoma State?

On the two major polls, one has Oklahoma State, Penn State and Mississippi, in that order. The other has Penn State, Oklahoma State and Ohio State, in that order, with Mississippi trailing the three.

So I guess in theory one might say that Mississippi is not in this argument as the top 5 candidate. I would agree.

The Rebels had a great year last year, in fact beating Texas Tech in a bowl, and also handing Florida their only defeat, so there is credibility to the team. And with a lot of offensive returners, this is indeed a good team initially. And with no Florida and Georgia on the schedule, the greatest fears are teams like Alabama, South Carolina, LSU and maybe Auburn or Tennessee. But I don’t think anybody is predicting the Rebels to go undefeated, even with a “softer” schedule in the SEC than some will admit.

So the real debate is, who is better at this point of the year, Oklahoma State or Penn State? If you are basing it off last year, Ok State had a great year but ran up on some of the best teams in the nation, that being Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma, and lost in the bowl game to Oregon. Those are four HARD games folks.

Some may argue that their only real quality win was over Missouri, meaning their wins might be kinda…inflated. But beating Georgia was exactly what the doctor ordered. I can’t see them going undefeated, but the way things have gone already this year, be mindful of injuries and upsets.

Penn State lost two games last year, a loss to USC and an embarrassing loss to Iowa just after beating Ohio State. They have the ability to repeat from last year, and I think the Big 10 is a very quality conference, so wins do mean a lot. Losing to a 9-4 Iowa team isn’t that bad, especially when you lost at their house. I think the Nittany Lions has what it takes to at LEAST repeat last year’s record.

If that is true, then I would give the nod, by slightest of margins, to Penn State over Oklahoma State. But mind you, this is only after 2 weeks, so whether one is #5 and the other #6 has no real bearing right now, it’s what they do over the next 10 or so weeks that will determine that.

Is Mississippi worth a top 10 ranking?

Why is Mississippi ranked in the top 10?

Hmm, this is interesting to think about on the day that all college football breaks out and makes that dash for the BCS Championship. It kinda struck me as odd that Ole Miss would be ranked in the top ten, at #8. This means that people think that this team is one of the best teams in the nation.

The AP Poll has them #8, better than California, LSU, Penn State and Oklahoma State…hmm. The USA Today Poll has them #10, above teams like Oklahoma State, California and Georgia.

Is this a legit ranking? Let’s look into this by first going to last year.

It’s important that a team that is ranked high this year has to have had something to springboard off from last year. You don’t go 1-11 and get ranked in the top 25 the next year. So to see why the pollsters put Mississippi in the top 10, we have to see how they finished last year.

In 2008 the Mississippi Rebels finished 9-4, a pretty strong record for any team, but particularly strong for the state of Mississippi. I mean, let’s face it, no team out of that state is scaring anybody, whether Ole Miss, Miss State or Southern Miss. But how did the Rebels get to this record?

The season started with a huge win over Memphis, a Conference USA foe, but lost the next game to Wake Forest. A cupcake win over Samford followed by a conference loss to Vanderbilt evened the Rebels to 2-2.

But Mississippi shook the world by beating Florida 31-30...in the Gator’s own house. Now people were taking some notice, but the very next week, they lost at home to South Carolina 31-24. It just seemed that the Rebels could not string together back-to-back wins. A close loss to Alabama moved the Rebels to 3-4 and in danger of MISSing… post season.

There must have been some magic in that old Mississippi hat they found, for when they placed it on their heads….oh wait, that’s something else….

But it was at this point that Mississippi began to separate themselves from the “average pack” in the conference, winning at Arkansas by 2, beating Auburn by 10, crushing LA Monroe 59-0 and even beating LSU 31-13. They capped off the regular season beating state rival, Miss State 45-0. All of a sudden, this team has made some serious noise.

They capped off the season by beating high-scoring Texas Tech 47-34, sending a message that next year (2009) people had better recognize the Rebels.

So, are they legit?

Consider last year they actually finished the season ranked #14 or #15, depending on which poll you trust more (AP or USA Today), so one can’t argue them moving up a few spots to begin the season. But the secondary question has to be, were the wins last year strong enough to validate that?

Examine their 9 wins, and more importantly the conference ones. We know Memphis last year was 6-7, and well, Samford does not really count. Vanderbilt was a 7-6 team, both Arkansas and Auburn was 5-7. LSU was 8-5, Mississippi State was 4-8. To me this is a legit schedule of foes to beat, granted there was some under .500 but you get that in every conference. Oh by the way, they also BEAT Florida and Texas Tech.

This year, they don’t have to see Florida in the regular season, and some say their schedule might be a little weaker than you’d like. But they still have to go through the SEC, meaning games against Alabama, LSU for key notes. In looking at their schedule, and if they play like last year, they COULD be the sleeper team. Many people say they have an excellent quarterback, and they don’t lose a lot of weapons from last year.

I gotta tell you, I was skeptical when I first saw them in the top 10, but after looking at some things, I think maybe they were properly placed. I might have had them maybe #10 or #11, but that’s about where they are now. If they play like they did the second half of last year, they will shake the conference up. But if they rest on the deeds of last year, they might find themselves back in the midst of the SEC bottom. The thing about teams that find lightning in a bottle is that all the other teams get a special bead out for them next year. Any team can have one good year…but the great teams keep it going.

We’ll learn more about these Rebels as the season progresses.