SHANE SHACKLEFORD: Kentucky Climbing The SEC Ladder
Last week in the SEC, we saw some separation among the schools as Georgia continued its march to a second straight national championship, Alabama survived in Texas, and Kentucky, Arkansas, and Tennessee put a little space between the top and bottom echelons of their divisions.
Straight from my home office in Speedwell, Tenn., here are the weekly SEC football rankings. It’s sure to be interesting.
Georgia: The Dawgs are just different. They’re here until someone proves they’re better. I don’t see it coming for a while.
Alabama: The Tide is still the antidote to the Georgia war machine. They’re still on that different level.
Kentucky: I like the Cats here because they’re tough, they’re physical, and they’re definitely not soft.
Arkansas: The Hogs are really good. They are without question the second-best club in the SEC West.
Tennessee: The Vols got a big win on the road at Pitt. I see a separation between them and Kentucky in the SEC East from the rest of the schools.
Ole Miss: The rebels are still a dangerous team, but I wonder where the spark on offense is coming from as they had from quarterback Matt Corral.
Mississippi State: MSU went out west and proved once again there really is a difference between the SEC and the Pac-12. Quarterback Will Rogers is the real deal.
Texas A&M: The Appalachian State loss was no fluke -- the Mountaineers are good. Should they have beaten the Aggies in College Station? Probably not. The game this Saturday against Miami will say a lot about the state of the program.
Auburn: The Tigers are 2-0 and their defense is playing well. This week Penn State heads south to face the War Eagles. This game will go a long way in setting the season in motion for the Tigers.
Florida: Guys, listen. The Gators are in rebuild mode. Billy Napier will get the program back to solid ground. Right now he has to get SEC-caliber players back on the roster. That takes time.
LSU: Brian Kelly is figuring out that at LSU, there is no time to build a program. You better do it now.
South Carolina: After all the hoopla about the resurgence in Columbia, it looks like the Gamecocks will most likely be 2-2 like they were last season at this time. Catch phrases and hype videos will only take you so far in the SEC.
Vanderbilt: I like where Clark Lea is taking the Commodores. Currently, they are 2-1 and have a chance to beat MAC favorite Northern Illinois. A 3-1 Vandy squad could be in line for a six-win season and a bowl game. Wow!
Missouri: I’m just not sold on Mizzou. Do I think they are better than Vanderbilt talent-wise? Yes. Are they better coached? No.
SEC PREDICTIONS
Last week, the Backwoods Swami was a respectable 23-4. For the season, the Swami is 46-8. Let’s make some more picks, shall we? Come on it’ll be fun for the whole family.
Predictions are in bold.
GEORGIA AT SOUTH CAROLINA
YOUNGSTOWN STATE AT KENTUCKY
ABILENE CHRISTIAN AT MISSOURI
OLE MISS AT GEORGIA TECH
PENN STATE AT AUBURN
VANDERBILT AT NORTHERN ILLINOIS
MISSOURI STATE AT ARKANSAS
AKRON AT TENNESSEE
SOUTH FLORIDA AT FLORIDA
MIAMI (FLA) AT TEXAS A&M
SUN BELT PREDICTIONS
Listen fellers and fellettes, you need to pay attention to the Sun Belt. There are some good teams, exciting games, and a good time for everybody. You should pay attention, right Texas A&M (a 17-14 loser at home to Appalachian State) and Nebraska (a 45-42 loser at home to Georgia Southern), right?
TEXAS STATE AT BAYLOR
BUFFALO AT COASTAL CAROLINA
SOUTH ALABAMA AT UCLA
OLD DOMINION AT VIRGINIA
TROY AT APPALACHIAN STATE
GEORGIA SOUTHERN AT UAB
UL-MONROE AT ALABAMA
MARSHALL AT BOWLING GREEN
NORTHWESTERN STATE AT SOUTHERN MISS
ARKANSAS STATE AT MEMPHIS
CHARLOTTE AT GEORGIA STATE
LOUISIANA AT RICE
Shane Shackleford is a regional sports columnist from Speedwell, Tenn. He is a member of the Football Writers Association of America and the United States Basketball Writers of America. He has written and published his first book “Bounce: A Basketball Love Story” which can be found on Amazon currently and has another book project in the works. You can find Shane on KySportsStyle.com Magazine, A Sea of Blue, Go Big Blue Country, The Mountain Advocate, Harlan County Sports, Middlesboro News, Claiborne Progress, and The Mountain Eagle. Contact Shane by email at coachshack50@gmail.com and on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
