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As Auburn proved, a team can come out of nowhere and win the National Championship.

The way I see it, 2011 is a three horse race between Alabama, LSU and Oklahoma. It will become a two horse race after November 5th when LSU travels to Tuscaloosa. I expect the winner of that game to go onto New Orleans and beat the Sooners.

The rest:
Boise – Schedule is too weak. The only way they get in the big game is if all the big boys have 2 or more losses.
Stanford – I know everyone is in love with Andrew Luck, but his head coach is gone and historically hyped players have a less than stellar follow-up season: Mark Ingram, Tim Tebow, Jake Locker, etc.
Florida State – With a weak ACC, the Seminoles could sneak in there if they beat Oklahoma.
Oregon – After losing bad to LSU, it’s going to be tough to get back in the mix.
Arkansas – if they can go undefeated (Alabama, LSU, Texas A&M, Auburn. MSU, S Carolina) they deserve the BCS birth.
Wisconsin – The Badgers could sneak in the back door behind NC State transfer QB Russell Wilson but they will have to go through Nebraska and back-to-back road games versus Michigan State and Ohio State. Then there is the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game.
Nebraska – The Cornhuskers basically the same story as Wisconsin but have OSU & MSU at home. October 10th in Madison, WI will be huge.

Alabama: The defense did not give up their third first down until the 4th quarter when all the freshmen and walk-ons were in the game. The offense should improve once Duron Carter debuts this week and Darius Hanks next week. Superfrosh Cyrus Kouandjio is a starter by Week 4.

Arkansas: Joe Adams had two electric punt returns for touchdowns. However, part of the credit goes a lame undisciplined Missouri State team. Tyler Wilson looked pretty good at QB but Ark had 102 rushing yards.

Auburn: Last year, they made a lot of daring escapes. This year, there is no Cam Newton to help out. Auburn may have already used up this season’s allotment of luck.

Florida: Urban Meyer leaving Florida was a good thing for them. Will Muschamp will turn the program around but don’t expect them back in the top 2 any time soon. The Gators are my dark horse pick for the SEC East title.

Georgia: Everything about this match-up was bad news for the Bulldogs – the uniforms were stupid and distracting to the players; UGA was looking ahead to South Carolina; UGA did not respect their opponent;  heaping all their hopes on Isiah Crowell was a big mistake; Richt’s recruiting did not address needs. Richt has lost his edge and is not fully dedicated to the program. Time to go.

Kentucky: Rich Brooks had 4 straight winning seasons and bowl games. Last season, UK went 6-7 & a bowl game. Could that have been due to leftovers from the Brooks era? Randall Cobb, Derrick Locke and Mike Hartline are all gone. Joker Phillips’ cupboard is bare.

LSU: I fully expected LSU to beat Oregon but that was due to my lack of faith in Oregon. I fully agree that they are highly overrated despite the way Brent Musberger was gushing over them. No disrespect to the Tigers. They are a legitimate candidate for the big game. The quarterfinals begin November 5 in Tuscaloosa.

Ole Miss: I blame this on the curse of the Rebel Bear. It is so pathetic that Ole Miss gave into the politically correct crybabies and did away with the Colonel. The real curse is Houston Nutt. He can’t coach, he can’t recruit and he is finding it harder to find anyone left to believe his BS. Let the next coach speculation begin.

Mississippi State: The other Dawgs did what you’re supposed to by beating their cupcake du jour. Vick Ballard had a good game. Dan Mullen is doing good things in StarkVegas. He’ll never win big at MSU but 8-9 wins ever year might be enough.

South Carolina: I have been saying all summer that this is Spurrier’s swan song. He is putting it all on the line to win this season before he retires to the golf course. This should be evident in the fact that he has no solution at QB after Garcia finished his seventh year of eligibility. The Gamecocks are good for a couple of trap games. They may win the East but after they are trounced again in the SECCG, it’s tee time.

Tennessee: UT has some rocky roads ahead but step one is beating the teams you are supposed to beat. Tyler Bray will be a beacon of light but not much else after that. If Dooley wants to stick around in Knoxville, he needs to find his “Herschel Walker”.

Vanderbilt: They have excellent academics.

Let’s face it. Auburn’s success in 2010 and the difference between 14-0 and 9-4 were squarely dependent on quarterback Cam Newton and D-lineman Nick Fairley. Without them, the Tigers lose to Clemson, LSU, Alabama and possibly Arkansas, Mississippi State and Kentucky. But those two are gone and have left big gaping holes in the team.  That said, it could be a loooong year for the War Eagle.

Utah State Win
Mississippi State -  this game is a  toss-up. MSU is much improved and dangerous but the game is at Auburn.
at Clemson – another toss-up. Clemson will be hard-pressed to forget last year’s heartbreaking loss, when they missed an easy OT touchdown and an easier field goal. Played at Clemson.
Florida Atlantic Win
at South Carolina is going to have a better team than last year. 19 of the 21 projected starters are seniors and juniors and some of them will probably be leaving for the NFL (Alshon Jeffery, Stephon Gilmore). It is now or never. Plus, Steve Spurrier is getting old. Prediction: LOSS
at Arkansas – on the road against a team that also might be better even without Ryan Mallett. Prediction: LOSS
Florida – what a  tough SEC stretch! Finally, the Tigers get a home game. Too bad the also get another  LOSS
at LSU – and Baton Rouge makes four straight:  LOSS
Ole Miss – finally a  Win
Open Date
at Georgia – in Athens = LOSS
Samford Win
Alabama =  LOSS

*Bonus Prediction: reports of the deaths of the Toomer’s Corner trees were greatly exaggerated.

SEC WEST:

ALABAMA
Start of spring practice: March 21
Spring game: April 16

ARKANSAS
Start of spring practice: March 15
Spring game: April 16

AUBURN
Start of spring practice: March 23
Spring game: April 16

LSU
Start of spring practice: March 11
Spring game: April 9

MISSISSIPPI STATE
Start of spring practice: March 4
Spring game: April 9

OLE MISS
Start of spring practice: March 28
Spring game: April 16

SEC EAST:

FLORIDA
Start of spring practice: March 16
Spring game: April 9

GEORGIA
Start of spring practice: March 10
Spring game: April 16

KENTUCKY
Start of spring practice: March 30
Spring game: April 23

SOUTH CAROLINA
Start of spring practice: March 15
Spring game: April 9

TENNESSEE
Start of spring practice: March 22
Spring game: April 16

VANDERBILT
Start of spring practice: March 18
Spring game: April 17

It is probably best for underclassmen to declare for the NFL draft ONLy if theythink they can go in the first round. Many of these guys will, but some of them are delusional:

SEC (14)

Alabama: Marcell Dareus, DE; Julio Jones, WR; Mark Ingram, RB – these three could go in the top 15.
Arkansas: Ryan Mallett, QB – mid-first round to mid-second round
Auburn: Nick Fairley DT; Cameron Newton, QB; Darvin Adams WR – UnFairley should go top 10; SCam in late 1st round; Adams 3rd round
Florida: Will Hill, S – meh, shoulda stayed
Georgia: Justin Houston, DE; A.J. Green, WR – AJ is a top 10 pick. Houston probably 2nd round or later
Kentucky: Randall Cobb, WR/KR/QB – interesting prospect but not a first rounder; maybe 3rd
LSU: Patrick Peterson, CB; Stevan Ridley, RB – Peterson is top 5; Ridley, are you kidding me?
Ole Miss: Jerrell Powe, DT – 2nd to 3rd round
South Carolina: Tori Gurley, WR – insane

ACC (9)

Clemson: Da’Quan Bowers, DE; Jamie Harper, RB – Da’Quan is a top 10
Georgia Tech: Nick Claytor, OT
Maryland: Torrey Smith, WR/KR; Kenny Tate, S
Miami: Brandon Harris, CB
Virginia: Zane Parr, DE
Virginia Tech: Darren Evans, RB; Ryan Williams, RB

BIG TEN (7) – I am truly surprised none of the Ohio State Tattoo-gate 5 are going pro.

ILLINOIS: Mikel Leshoure, RB; Corey Liuget, DT; Martez Wilson, LB
INDIANA: Tandon Doss, WR
IOWA: Tyler Sash, S
WISCONSIN: John Clay, RB; J.J. Watt, DE

BIG 12 (3)

MISSOURI: Blane Gabbert, QB; Aldon Smith, DE – not good for Mizzou. Blane will be 2nd or 3rd rounder
TEXAS: Aaron Williams, CB

BIG EAST (5)

CONNECTICUT: Jordan Todman, RB
PITTSBURGH: Jon Baldwin, WR; Henry Hynoski, FB; Dion Lewis, RB
WEST VIRGINIA: Robert Sands, S

PAC-10 (7)

ARIZONA STATE: Lawrence Guy, DT
CALIFORNIA: Shane Vereen, RB
OREGON STATE: Jacquizz Rogers, RB
UCLA: Akeem Ayers, LB; Rahim Moore
USC: Jurrell Casey, DT; Tryon Smith, OT

CONFERENCE USA (1)

SOUTHERN MISS: DeAndre Brown, WR.

MID-AMERICAN(1)

TEMPLE: Muhammad Wilkerson, DT

MOUNTAIN WEST (2)

UTAH: Brandon Burton, CB;  Sealver Siliga, DT

INDEPENDENT (1)

NOTRE DAME: Kyle Rudolph, TE

Damian Swann – UGA
Harvey Langi – Utah
Tobias Singleton – Ole Miss
Colt Lyerla – Oregon
Donovan Smith – Penn State
Lateek Townsend – Clemson
Gerrod Holliman – Louisville
James Sample – Washington
Wayne Lyons – Stanford
Viliam Moala – Cal
Kris Frost – Auburn
Odell Beckham – LSU
Dee Hart – Alabama
Brent Calloway – Auburn

Coming off an 8-5 2009 season, Georgia football coach Mark Richt made the insinuation that the Class of 2011 recruits in the state of Geoergia might all come to UGA and be a “Dream Team”. Despite, Georgia going 6-7 in 2010, many of Georgia’s elite bought into the slogan.

Below are recruits from Georgia with a Rivals.com rating of 4-stars or higher (updated 2/7/11):

The Bulldogs ends up with eleven of the Top 22 players in the state of Georgia. Only time will tell if the “Dream” pans out.

After last week’s snoozefest of games, we finally got some exciting games.

In the SEC, Auburn wins at Alabama 28-27 to stay undefeated. Arkansas upsets LSU 31-23 to possibly sneak their way into the Sugar Bowl. UGA and Tennessee both win to become bowl eligible.

Going Bowling:

SEC will again send ten teams to bowl games. The Pac 10 currently has THREE teams bowl eligible. Oregon State would need a miracle win over #2 Oregon to get to 6 wins. Washington has to win at Washington State.

SEC – 10

ACC – 9

Big Ten – 8

Big XII – 8

Pac 10 – 3

To date, there are 35 bowls and 70 bowl eligible teams including such 6-win stalwarts as UTEP, Western Michigan, Florida International and Troy.

Army (Armed Forces), Navy (Poinsettia) and Air Force (tba) will all go bowling. Congratulations to our awesome military academies!

Teams that needed a home win to become bowl eligible and lost:

Texas A&M defeated Texas 24-17 in Austin. Sad.

All Louisiana-Monroe had to do was beat lowly La.-Lafayette (3-9). Laffers win 23-22.

Cal and shifty head coach Jeff Tedford lose in Berkeley to Washington (5-6) 16-13.

Now to the fun part: the HAHA awards.

Top HAHA this week goes to Boise who lost to Nevada 34-31. God bless the Wolfpack for exposing these imposters. You did not belong. Now go away.

Georgia Tech (6-6) fans got pretty cocky after beating UGA in 2008 and then winning the ACC in 2009. It’s been all downhill from there. The Jackets lost their second straight to a weak Georgia (6-6) team who was looking to become bowl eligible 42-34.

Miami loses to South Florida? At home? Pathetic.

Rich Rodriguez might be on his way out in Ann Arbor finishing 7-5 and losing yet again to Ohio State 37-7. This was the Buckeyes 7^th straight win over Michigan.

Kansas finished 3-9 under coach Turner Gill. Professional loudmouth Charles Barkley called Auburn racist for not hiring Gill. I think things turned out okay for the Tigers.

Mixed feelings HAHA of the Week:

Despite three Notre Dame interceptions and a fumble, Lame Kiffin and his uninspired USC Trojans lost to the Irish in L.A. 20-16. Both teams finish 7-5.

Game of the WEAK:
Buffalo (2-10) feeling charitable, allowed Akron to get their first and only win of the season 22-14.