Two Daves Pick The SEC 2010 Bowl Edition
Welcome to Two Daves Pick The SEC! Congratulations to the Auburn Tigers for running the table in the toughest conference in all of college football. Put the Cam Newton payoff stuff aside and look what they accomplished on the field. Regardless of the situation, they found a way to win, even being down huge on the road at Alabama. Here we sit with the last breath of the 2010 college football season. Well, there is signing day in February, spring practice and then two a days in August. Time flies and before you know it, we will be writing the 2011 preseason edition. Doug says: Every year, the football season goes by in a flash, and I'm completely shocked by it. This year is no different. Just yesterday, we were talking about #1 Alabama and if they could repeat. Of course, the season has yielded some results that we really didn't foresee back then, like Auburn going undefeated, Mississippi State getting to a New Year's Day bowl, Ole Miss failing to gain bowl eligibility despite their easy schedule, Florida and Georgia being barely mediocre, Urban Meyer stepping down, and the Ol' Ball Coach winning the SEC East. Of course, these are just many more examples of why the SEC is the best conference in the land. With Meyer out and Mark Richt on the hot seat, the SEC could look quite different next year. We'll also have a new coach at Vandy, and a couple of more coaches likely on the hot seat next season. Gene Chizik is everyone's media darling right now, but I think the honeymoon will be over quickly since he will lose almost all of his playmakers. For my money, the best coaching job this year was done by Dan Mullen, who took a QB with a limited skill set, a bunch of undersized receivers, and a mix-and-match backfield to 8 wins and a Gator Bowl berth. Franklin American Mortgage Music City: North Carolina - Tennessee Dave says: I'm impressed that North Carolina is a bowl game, period. After having half of the team suspended for violating team rules and still giving LSU all they wanted in the season opener, they continued to play very good despite the adversity. Now I do not understand how come Ohio State can have players making money on the side and these guys are eligible to play in their bowl game. North Carolina was in the same boat, they took it on the chin. Something is amiss here. Joining North Carolina in the "we almost beat LSU" club is Tennessee. This Tennessee team pulled out some magic by running the table in November to gain bowl eligibility. Derek Dooley's best decision of his young career was to start Tyler Bray at QB. He's a skinny bean pole, but he's making good decisions and good throws, all against SEC competition. If the Vols running game were a little stronger and their defense a little more stout, I would pick them. I think the Tar Heels pull this one out. North Carolina 27 - Tennessee 20 Doug says: This should've been North Carolina's big year, but eligibility issues cast a dark cloud over the program early in the year. They've done a good job of persevering and find themselves in a decent bowl game. Unfortunately, they don't have a decent opponent. Tennessee has been fairly putrid all year, although they took advantage of a late season cupcake schedule to sneak in the back door of bowl eligibility. Truthfully, they are a different team with Bray at QB, and they will have an enormous home crowd advantage, so I expect this to be a competitive game. In the end, I think NC will prevail. Tar Heels 31 Rocky Top 28 Autozone Liberty: Georgia - UCF Dave says: Speaking of lucky to be here, enter the Georgia Bulldogs. After losing to Colorado, Mark Richt appeared to be road kill. The dogs Aaron Murray improved as the season went on and managed to avoid serious injury from Auburn's Nick Fairley. Fairley's cheap hits would have drawn huge fines in the NFL. This is probably A.J. Green's last season in Athens, there's a lot of money waiting for him on the other side. UCF head coach George O'Leary is probably the most thankful man in the world that he did not end up with the Notre Dame job. The problem for O'Leary is that he's facing SEC talent, not CUSA talent. He's not facing the impotent Sylvester Croom team he faced in 2007 either, Georgia knows how to put point on the board, and they will do just that. Adios AJ 42 - CUSA CHAMPS 24 Central Florida Doug says: The consensus here is that Georgia will destroy the Conference USA champions. I agree, but you just never know about this Georgia team. They have challenges on the defensive side of the ball, and the Knights have a pretty dynamic offense, so that could pose a matchup problem. Georgia should be able to control the clock just enough to pull it out, but don't be surprised if the bad guys win this one. Honestly, the SEC East wasn't much better than Conference USA this year, anyway. Hairy Dawgs 28 C-USA 27 Chick-Fil-A: South Carolina - Florida State Dave says: The Ol' Ball Coach takes his ass kickin' chickens back to Atlanta where they will not face the number one team in the nation. They will face a Florida State team that has been rejuvenated with new head coach Jimbo Fisher. Florida State dismantled the Gators in their season finale, and they looked really good doing it. I've preached it before, and will continue to do so, Ellis Johnson is a defensive mastermind, he's had a month to prepare for this game. The same thing can be said for Visor Boy and Jimbo Fisher. Look for this to be a close game with one or two big plays making the difference. AKC 27 - Dad Gummit 24 Doug says: The Seminoles shocked me with their dismantling of Florida at the end of the year, and they didn't look half bad against VT in the ACC championship game. Simply put, FSU is improved, dadgummit. Ol' Ball Coach always says the Gamecocks are like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're going to get. If we get the team that showed up against Alabama this year, no problem. If we get the team that showed up against Kentucky? Yeah, that could be a problem. Let's hope for the former. Cackolackey 28 Free Shoes 24 Outback: Florida - Penn State Dave says: In year one A.T. (after Tebow), Florida did not look like we've grown accustomed to. The Gators looked beatable, and in fact, they were. Urban's heart was not into this, you could tell as the season went on. Fortunately he recognized this and stepped aside, that was the right thing to do. Will Muschamp, no longer a head coach in waiting, has hit the ground running in Gainesville, building the future of Gator football. There are rumors everywhere that Joe Paterno is retiring after this game. I don't believe it. While he needs to step down so the program can move on, I just don't know that he will. Hopefully getting 400 wins did the trick for him. He'll add one more W to the column. Penn State 27 - Florida 24 Doug says: Well, if you told me at the beginning of the year that these two teams would meet in the Outback Bowl and the game would be the swan song for one of the coaches, I would say that it's about time JoePa made his exit. But, while JoePa is continuing on, it's Urban Meyer who is ready to exit, citing the dreaded "I want to spend time with my family" excuse. He'll turn up somewhere in a year or two, tanned, rested, and no longer wanting to spend time with his family. Meanwhile, the Gator brass is hoping to catch lightening in a bottle with Will Muschamp. My philosophy is never bet against a man who is unafraid of dropping F-bombs on national television. Boom, motherf- 21 Pass the Metamucil - 17 Capital One: Alabama - Michigan State Dave says: Nick Saban gets to face his former team. Will he be nostalgic? Hell no. He's the freakin' Terminator, he kills without prejudice. Another guy heading off to greener pastures will be Julio Jones, likely playing in his last game for Alabama. Ol' Sparty better get ready for a healthy dose of Ingram and Richardson, these guys will be rested and ready. So will the rest of the Saban machine. Alabama 37 - Sparty 20 Doug says: Do you think Nick Saban will feel nostalgic about playing the Spartans? Is it possible that he will have a soft spot in his heart for the team he used to coach? Do you think he has enjoyed watching the resurgence of the Spartans, and the feel-good story of their head coach, Mark Dantonio, who suffered through a heart attack at the start of the year? Nick Saban does not have time for emotions. His computer chip has been programmed to destroy, son, and he's got Sparty in the crosshairs. Many folks credit Ricky Bobby's daddy with the motto, "If you ain't first, you're last," but it was Nick Saban who created it, branded it, and has it tattooed in a strategic, unmentionable place. If Dantonio plays his cards right, he might get to see it. Rolling 31 Happy to be here 17 Progressive Gator: Mississippi State - Michigan Dave says: Playing one of the toughest schedules in the nations, nobody would have expected Mississippi State to be in a New Years Day bowl game this year. Dan Mullen did just that, and may have been two or three plays away from a BCS bowl game. Mullen won't win coach of the year, but he should be, and he will do so one day. He's brought a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm to Starkville. Rich Rodriguez is on the other end of the spectrum. Many believe Rodriguez is already walking the plank and a loss here pushes him off the edge. State will have trouble containing Denard Robinson, he's fast, he's shifty, and he'll be 100% healthy. Conversely, Chris Relf, Vick Ballard and LaDarius Perkins will have some huge lanes to run through. It's been a theme for State this year, win with ball control and a strong running game. Mstate 31 - Michigan 24 Doug says: Does Michigan fully understand what they're getting themselves into here? We all know the drill: stop Denard Robinson, and you stop the Wolverines. Defensively, Michigan doesn't know the meaning of the word stop. State QB Chris Relf will come to the line, tell the defense who is getting the ball and which gap the ball carrier is taking, and they'll still run it and get five yards a pop. This game will actually be a great litmus test for the conference. Well, in theory, anyway. Most folks, justifiably, expect the SEC team to roll here. Not Your Father's Mississippi State 38 Not Your Father's Michigan 21 Allstate Sugar: Ohio State - Arkansas Dave says: Bobby Petrino did a great job this year, finishing with a strong win over LSU. This should be a bitchslap because Ohio State should be without five players including starting QB Terrell Pryor. Somehow the NCAA, who punished numerous players immediately for the same behavior, decided to let these guys play in the bowl game and suspend them next season. Like many of them will be there next season, right. With Ryan Mallet pulling the trigger and the surprising emergence of RB Kniles Davis, Arkansas should put up strong numbers against the Buckeyes. In turn, with Pryor playing, Ohio State will put up numbers against Arkansas too. I just don't think they can hang with an SEC team, as demonstrated by LSU and Florida. Arkansas 34 - Cheat and Play, it's the tOSU way 24 Doug says: Beating the fool out of Ohio State in a BCS bowl is the SEC's birthright. LSU, Florida, Arkansas, it doesn't matter. Jim Tressel probably hasn't had a good night's sleep since the matchup was announced. Arkansas scores points by the bucketful against SEC defenses, so why would anyone think they couldn't do it against a Big 10 defense? Add to this the fact that the game is played indoors, on field turf, and wow, the Razorback offense could be scary here. Bobby Petrino has found himself a permanent home in the Arkansas hills, but his boys will make a temporary home in the Ohio State endzone in this one. Sooie - 48 Stinky - 24 AT&T Cotton: LSU - Texas A&M Dave says: Texas A&M was regularly skull dragging LSU until the Tigers chickened out of this rivalry game (hey to Goob). With RB Steven Ridley being ruled ineligible (if he only played for Ohio State), the Tigers offense will be missing a key component. They do have a cast of talented receivers and the best cornerback in the nation, along with the luckiest coach in the history of the game. He's also the only one that's been grazing on the field. Jerry Jones will shoot him if he chooses to graze on his turf. LSU 28 - TAMU 24 Doug says: The Aggies should have strength in numbers from a crowd standpoint, but while the coonasses might be outnumbered, they'll come in, take over, and make everyone uncomfortable anyway. On the football field, A&M doesn't have the talent to hang with the Tigahs, but like we all know, Lester Miles is the great equalizer. Expect LSU to win on a last-second fake punt or something ridiculous like that. Coonasses 27 Aggies 24 BBVA Compass: Pittsburgh - Kentucky Dave says: Joker Phillips made it to a bowl game in his first season, meanwhile Dave Wannstedt made it to the exit door. This game will be about two things: The suspension of public drunkard QB Mike Hartline and the awe inspiring ability of Randall Cobb. Sure, they will talk about Wannstedt, but Hartline and Cobb get the headlines. Kentucky 31 - Pitt 27 Doug says: Wait..in the midst of the BCS bowls, we get this stinker? Legion Field has seen many memorable football matchups, and this isn't one of them. Kudos to Kentucky for gaining bowl eligibility, but how can anyone get fired up about this? The Wannstache has stepped down as Pitt coach, which is really the only thing that adds to the watchability factor. Mildcats 31 Pitt 21 Tostitos BCS National Championship: Auburn - Oregon Dave says: So here we are, the unstoppable force versus the unstoppable force. If you want to see defense, you need not watch this game. Oregon and Auburn both possess potent offenses. Each has shown they can play some defense, just not with consistency. Each of these teams has a superstar, Oregon with LaMichael James and Auburn with Cam Newton. Newton has shown that despite an ongoing NCAA investigation, he can still bring his A game. Just ask South Carolina about that. This track meet probably comes down to who scores last. Auburn should do just that, and being home a fifth consecutive BCS title for the SEC. Auburn 45 - Oregon 42 Doug says: Auburn really has a chance to win a legitimate national championship. Truthfully, they probably have the better team here. I think Chizik is overrated, but the mad scientist, Gus Malzahn, should scheme ways to get Cam Newton in the endzone early and often. Of course, the issue is going to be stopping the dynamic Oregon offense, and a Heisman candidate of their own in LaMichael James. The 400 pound gorilla in the room is the NCAA investigation that is ongoing (don't believe for a second that it's over), but that won't have anything to do with the game, since Auburn has been playing under that cloud for weeks. Expect Auburn to bring home the hardware. They might actually get to keep it for a couple of years, too. 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