SEC Football - Week 14 SEC Preview and Predictions

Heading in to week 14 of college football game play, we wrapped up week 13 15-4 against the spread, and 17-2 overall since starting to publish predictions in this forum. Closing out week 13, the SEC had some movement in/out of the BCS top 25 with Ole Miss getting ranked for the first time in the BCS at #25 and LSU dropping from the rankings after getting defeated by the Rebels last week. The other teams in SEC Football that are ranked in the BCS are: Alabama (#1), Florida (#4), and Georgia (#11).

Entering the final week of regular season play in SEC Football, the conference has eight teams that are bowl eligible with Auburn (5-6,2-5) remaining on the cusp of bowl eligibility needing to defeat #1 Alabama in the Iron Bowl on Saturday to become eligible. Mississippi State knocked Arkansas out of the bowl picture last weekend with their upset victory and are looking to take down Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl this Friday!

The Florida Gators will look to stay on course towards the SEC Championship game on December 6th and potentially the BCS National Championship if they can get past Florida State and Alabama!

Conference Match ups

Friday Games

1. LSU Tigers (3-4, 7-4) at the Arkansas Razorbacks (1-6, 4-7)

LSU has now lost three straight SEC Football games for the first time this decade with their 31-13 loss to Ole Miss last week. You know confidence has been lost in the LSU team when the odds makes are only making them a 4 1/2 point favorite over the Razorbacks! I look for Coach Miles to have the Tigers ready to play this weekend and predict that they will cover the spread against the Razorbacks! To get to the Cotton Bowl, the Tigers will likely need a strong showing Saturday along with help from Mississippi State to knock off Ole Miss. If Ole Miss wins, LSU would likely go to the Chick-Fil-A bowl this bowl season.

2. Mississippi State (2-5, 4=7) at the Ole Miss Rebels (4-3, 7-4)

Ole Miss is coming off of one of their strongest showings this year with their 31-13 upset of LSU last week. That win was more impressive than their 31-30 upset of #4 Florida earlier in the season! Rebels quarterback Jevan Snead had one of his best games of the season with 274 yards passing, 2 TDs and no interceptions against LSU last week. State is coming off of a big home win over Arkansas last week with quarterback Tyson Lee having a huge game going 23-40 for 239 yards and 2 TDs and Anthony Dixon rushing for a career high 179 yards and three TD's.

Ole Miss is favored by 13.5 points in the 2008 Egg Bowl. Although I think they will win, State has a knack for knocking off good football teams. This game will be a lot closer than predicted. Our prediction - Ole Miss wins but does not cover the spread.

Saturday Games

1. Kentucky Wildcats (2-5, 6-5) at the Tennessee Volunteers (2-5, 4-7)

This will be Coach Fulmer's last game at the helm of the Volunteers football program. A short summary of our game prediction from earlier this week is that Tennessee is favored to win by 4 1/2 points in this game. Our prediction is a Vols victory but they will not cover the spread and Kentucky will lose to Tennessee for the 24th consecutive year!

2. Alabama Crimson Tide (7-0, 11-0) host the Auburn Tigers (2-5, 5-6)

Auburn has been victorious more often than Alabama in the Iron Bowl in this decade. Bama holds a 38-33-1 advantage in the series. Bama is favord by 14 points in the game. Our prediction is that the Tide rolls into the SEC Championship game against Florida unscathed and will cover the 14 point spread!

Non-Conference SEC Football Play:

1 - Florida (8-1, 10-1) travel to play the Florida State Seminoles (5-3, 8-3)

Tim Tebow and the Gators face their last test before taking on BCS #1 Alabama 6 December this Saturday against the #20 Seminoles. Florida enters the game favored by 16 1/2 points over Florida State. Our prediction is that the Gators will continue their hot-streak that the team has been on since losing to Ole Miss earlier in the season and thrash Florida State this Saturday keeping their BCS Title and Tebow's Heisman-Repeat hopes alive!

2 - Georgia (6-2, 9-2) hosts the #22 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets(5-3, 8-3)

Georgia coach Mark Richt has never lost to in-state rival Georgia Tech! Georgia is favored to beat the Yellow Jackets by eight points. Our prediction is that Georgia will not cover the spread! Georgia Tech still has a chance to win the ACC Coastal division!

3 - South Carolina (4-4, 7-4) At Clemson (4-4, 6-5)

As the home team, Clemson is favored by one point. The last three games between the two teams have been decided by four points or less with Clemson winning last year on a last second field goal! Our prediction - Spurrier doesn't allow a repeat and the GameCocks win by more than three.

4 - Vanderbilt (4-4, 6-5) at Wake Forrest Deacons (4-4, 6-5)

Both of these teams started out the season strong and are trying to avoid entering the bowl season with .500 records. After seeing Wake not be able to handle Navy's option attack earlier in the season, our prediction is that they will not be able to cover the five point spread against Vandy and the Commodores will win by six or more!

SEC Standings through Week 13 of SEC Football:

SEC East

Florida (7-1) (10-1)

Georgia (6-2) (9-2)

S.C. (4-4) (7-4)

Vandy (4-4) (6-5)

UK (2-5) (6-5)

TENN (2-5) (4-7)

SEC West

Alabama (7-0) (11-0)

Ole Miss(4-3) (7-4)

LSU (3-4) (7-4)

Auburn (2-5) (5-6)

Miss St (2-5) (4-7)

Arkansas(1-6) (4-7)