Florida:
Opponent: Hawaii
My Game Prediction: Florida 54- Hawaii 14
Actual Score: 56-10
Florida took one quarter to get back to full form. They already look as strong as they were last year and I pick them to win the SEC East. Tim Tebow is one of those people who I hate with a fiery passion now, but will learn to respect and maybe even like when he moves on to the NFL (I actually kinda like Matt Leinart now… whoda thunk?). For some reason, I turn the fact that he spends his spring break doing missionary work as a reason to hate him… I don’t think I’ll be able to keep that up for much longer… stupid… super-athletic… nice-guy… Tebow…

Georgia:
Opponent: Georgia Southern
Score: Georgia 45 – GS 21
About as good as they were at the end of last year, if not a bit rustier. This looks like the same team that won’t wake up until the sound of an alarm clock (obnoxious touchdown dances, black-outs). Georgia won’t have a perfect season because they still don’t appear to have a consistent amount of fire. If Georgia gets hot, then they are the nation’s best team, but it doesn’t quite look like they will able to create a spark week in and week out.

South Carolina:
Opponent: NC State
My Game Prediction: South Carolina 32 – NC State 13
Actual Score: 34-0
Uh oh, this is starting to look a little bit scary. Spurrier might actually have his Cock ‘n Fire offense finally rolling. Opening the college football season on Thursday was the first of many displays of SEC dominance. It was an ugly start for the Gamecocks, but when the ‘Ol Ball Coach finally put in Smelley for good, the scoreboard could hardly keep up with the offense. I don’t think they are quite ready to take on Florida or Georgia for the East, but they aren’t too far off.

Vanderbilt:
Opponent: Miami (OH)
Score: Vandy 34 – Miami 13
Atta kid Vandy! A healthy manhandling of a middle-class WAC team by the SEC’s Coach Class team. What’s this, a dual threat quarterback? What an absurd addition to a team’s offensive regime. Vandy’s QB Nickson threw for 96 yards but rushed for 166 more! If this guy stays healthy, there might be a bowl at the end of the season for Vandy…

Kentucky:
Opponent: Louisville
My Game Prediction: Kentucky 48 – Louisville 3
Actual Score: 27 – 2
Atta boy Kentucky! Even though they manhandled Louisville, I still call this team a step back from last year. I can see Kentucky getting away with another 7 or 8 win season, but it will mostly be because a few games fell in their lap, like for instance, this game. Louisville turned the ball over 5 times… that’s sloppy… that’s first three games of 2007 for Auburn sloppy. It’s hard to lose games when the opponent gives you the ball a third of the time they get the ball. Kentucky is looking to be this year’s Mississippi State, which is a step down for them from last year.

Arkansas:
Opponent: Western Illinois
Score: Arky 28 – WI 24
Narrowly avoiding epic disaster is not the way to open up the season (Auburn’s close win against Kansas State ring any bells?). Arkansas is filled with holes and is looking to sink soon if they don’t get their act together. You can’t exactly expect the Hogs to pick up where they left off after losing McFadden and Jones to the draft. Casey Dick, however, has shown that he is actually capable of passing the ball in a 318 yard effort. Trouble still lurks ahead for the Razorbacks in 2008.

Ole Miss:
Opponent: Memphis
Score: Ole Miss 41 – Memphis 24
Good thing this wasn’t a basketball game, because then Memphis would have put up more of a fight. What an absurd and stupid comment. I wish I could untype that, but I don’t have the means or the technology to make that happen. I apologize, this summary is starting to get pretty stupid… almost as stupid as this game was… ZING! But seriously, the Rebels know how to party, however I don’t think anyone should be too worried about them this year in a game of football.

Mississippi State:
Opponent: Louisiana Tech
Score: Louisiana Tech 22 – Miss St 14
Wow. What a huge step back from the moderately impressive 2007 season for Croom. Maybe he did this on purpose to catch everyone off guard and Croom’s plan is to sacrifice their shot at a bowl game in order to pick off a few upper-tier SEC teams. Either way, it was a huge disappointment to see one of my favorite coaches in the SEC crash and burn on the first game of the season like this.

Alabama:
Opponent: Clemson
My Game Prediction: 17-14 (Clemson)
Actual Score: Alabama 35 – Clemson 10
If you didn’t find this win by Alabama to be impressive, you are on crack. A great win for the Tide. JPW actually looked like he knew what he was doing out there, the defense didn’t let Clemson get anything going, the Tide kept control of the game for the full hour of gameplay. A huge step up for Bama from last year. Now is this game proof that Alabama is going to enter a three way brawl with Auburn and LSU for the West? Maybe. As impressive as Alabama looked, Clemson was equally unimpressive. I have never seen a team completely lose their spirit and give up as quick as Clemson did in the second quarter. A shot of the sideline showed every Orange wearing playing with their eyes locked on their toes. I don’t see any team in the SEC showing so little pride as Clemson did. But if Alabama plays the way they did against Clemson for the rest of the season, they’ll rack up a 9 win season.

Auburn:
Opponent: Louisiana Monroe
My Game Prediction: 28-0
Actual Score: 34-0
This is more or less the exact same Auburn we are used to. What might be the best defense in the SEC/Nation, and a bottom 50 in the nation Offense. If we keep this up, we will ride our defense to a lot of close games which we will split them in another 9 win season. As of right now, Auburn hasn’t taken any steps forward from last season, which is why we start the season with three powder puff games slightly progressing in difficulty before facing LSU. Our offense will definitely get better, and if the defense stays healthy, Auburn will start playing some top 10 caliber football by the time they face LSU.

E-mail Ryan at ryan@theauburner.com
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