We're back for another year of foggy forecasts for both the Vols and SEC. If you invest any of your hard-earned cash on anything I post here...well your obviously new and I take no responsibility for your lack of discretion. Well, let's get on with it. First for the Vols:
2022 VOL FOOTBALL FORECAST
SEPT 1- TENNESSEE 62 BALL STATE 13 Cardinals in wrong place at wrong time
SEPT 10- TENNESSEE 37 PITT 23 Panthers new run-first offense can’t keep up
SEPT 17 TENNESSEE 57 AKRON 13- Joe Moorhead aint at Mississippi St anymore
SEPT 25- TENNESSEE 38 FLORIDA 35: Vols wake up from recurring Gator nightmare
OCT 8- LSU 31 TENNESSEE 24: Tennessee narrowly misses biggest road win in years
OCT 15-ALABAMA 49 TENNESSEE 27- Still a steep hill to climb
OCT 22- TENNESSEE 60 TENN MARTIN 13- ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
OCT 29- TENNESSEE 32 KENTUCY 27 Another close loss for the Cats
NOV 5- GEORGIA 42 TENNESSEE 32- Vols are competitive in Athens for four quarters
NOV 12 TENNESSEE 45 MISSOURI 23- Two programs headed in different directions
NOV 19 TENNESSEE 31 S CAROLINA 24- Really tough late-season test for Tennessee
NOV 26-TENNESSEE 51 VANDERBILT 13- Series order has been restored
JAN 2- CITRUS BOWL TENNESSEE 31 MICH ST 28
TOTALS: 10-3 OVERALL; 5-3 SEC
How about the SEC as a whole?
2022 SEC FOOTBALL PREDICTIONS
EAST: ... RECORD (SEC; ALL) ... SEC LOSSES
Georgia 8-0; 12-0
Tennessee 5-3; 9-3 @LSU, Bama; @Ga
Florida 4-4; 7-5 @TN, LSU; Ga (Jax); @A&M
Kentucky 4-4; 8-4 @Fla; @Miss; @TN; Ga
S Carolina 3-5; 6-6 @Ark; Ga; @Ky; @Fla; TN
Missouri 1-7; 4-8 @Aub; Ga; @Fla; @S Car; Ky; @TN; Ark
Vandy 0-8; 3-9 Whoever they play
WEST: ... RECORD (SEC; ALL) ... SEC LOSSES
Alabama 11-1; 7-1 @Ark
LSU 6-2; 10-2 Miss; Bama
Arkansas 6-2; 10-2 @A&M; LSU
Texas A&M 5-3; 9-3 @Bama; @S Car; LSU
Ole Miss 5-3; 9-3 @A&M; Bama; @Ark
Auburn 5-7; 2-6 LSU; @Ga; @Miss; Ark; A&M; @Bama
Miss St 4-8; 0-8 Everyone
WHAT I LEARNED FROM THE EXERCISE:
WEST
-I’m not sure Alabama loses but they usually slip up somewhere
-I vastly underrated Arkansas last season and I’ve likely overcorrected this season.
-Miss St can take solace in the fact I had the Hogs going winless in the league last year. The Mad Scientist, Mike Leach, will make any prognostication look silly by winning a game or two he has no business winning and losing a couple that make you scratch your head.
-Auburn’s program appears to be in disarray and faces a brutal slate with Penn State visiting the “Loveliest Village on the Plains”, the annual game with Georgia from the East and road games at Ole Miss and Alabama.
-Fit or no fit Brian Kelly can coach rings around the last two guys that led LSU to a National Championship. There’s always talent on the roster and now they have someone who can develop and direct it. An uncertain QB situation however may make my first-year prediction for Kelly overly optimistic.
-A&M will as usual have several games when they look like Arnold Schwarzenegger and several where they resemble Arnold Ziffel
-The LSU, Arkansas, Ole Miss and A&M round robin will be fascinating to watch. I think you could place all of them anywhere from second in the West to fifth and I would have a hard time arguing the order.
EAST
-I don’t really believe Georgia goes undefeated but I can’t find anyone I’m comfortable picking them to lose to.
-I will be happy with an 8-win season for the Vols (especially if one of the eight is Florida) but I’m pretty wooly about a jump start in September.
-I’m not sure what happened to Florida post-Tennessee last year but I believe the winner of the Gator-Vol matchup in Knoxville finishes second in the East and the loser finishes third in 2022.
-Mark Stoops has done more than an admirable job in Lexington but Kentucky is a 7-win program masquerading as a 9-win program solely based on scheduling. If they beat Florida for a third time in five seasons however even the most avid Kentucky haters would have to tip their cap.
-There seems to be some genuine momentum occurring in and around Shane Beamer’s Gamecock program. We’ll see soon enough if it’s a true flame or smoke and mirrors
-I’m in Matt Dixon’s camp. I think Eli Drinkwitz is a phony-baloney at a fugazi SEC program
-Evidence of Clark Lea’s quest to build “the best program in America” likely won’t be detectable by the top CSI-Wherever agents in 2022
