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Southern Exposure: SEC Week 1 Preview

September 2, 2010  |  By Benjamin Miraski

They should change the name of the SEC. Maybe the Dynasty conference would be more appropriate.

The SEC has won five of the last seven National Title games and four in a row. There is little reason to believe that they won’t have at least a representative in the game this season, most likely the winner of the Western Division.

Alabama looks ready for another run, with Arkansas hot on their heels. And neither of the teams should sleep on Auburn this season, who draws all of their tough games at home.

Yes, that means an Iron Bowl that might actually mean something this year.

As usual, the season will kick off with the SEC playing a few creampuffs to get their bearings before the crush of conference play.

Here are the picks for the opening weekend.

Thursday Night:

Southern Mississippi at South Carolina (-14) - There are a lot of rumors that Spurrier is on the hot seat in South Carolina. Understandable since he hasn’t gotten it done in his five years there. Granted he has run into two very hot Florida teams and the rest of the East has been less than kind. Changing him out would be a mistake considering South Carolina wouldn’t be expected to do much of anything without him. Southern Miss won’t be expected to do much of anything against him. Take South Carolina and lay the points

Saturday:

Miami (Ohio) at Florida (-36.5) - It is a new era in Gainesville with Tim Tebow playing on Sundays. Florida will still have a high-powered attack, but it might take a few games before it is truly on display. Take Miami and the points.

Louisiana Lafayette at Georgia (-28) - Do we even need to talk about this? Even with Georgia breaking in a new QB, expect the Bulldogs to cover.

Kentucky at Louisville (+3) - My how the Cardinals have fallen. Remember when they were in the hunt for a title? Now they are the underdog at home against Kentucky. This seems like a trap bet to me. Take Louisville and the points and pray for the push.

Arkansas State at Auburn (-31) - Auburn, at night, at home, against no one? Take the Tigers.

San Jose State at Alabama (-37) - I would have been more confident that Alabama would cover this game had Ingram been healthy and playing. Then the Tide would have been trotting out two mega star running backs back to back. As it is, they will only have Trent Richardson running the ball. That should be enough to win — showing up is good enough to win this one — but not to cover since I expect the starters to rest after halftime. Take San Jose State.

Memphis at Mississippi State (-21.5) - Memphis is one of the bottom teams in Conference USA this season, but Mississippi State isn’t expected to do much either. Are the conferences that much different? You bet. Take Mississippi State and lay the points.

Northwestern at Vanderbilt (+4.5) - A new coach at Vandy but the same results. Northwestern should easily cover.

LSU at North Carolina (+4.5) - North Carolina could be without a healthy chunck of its team come Saturday night. Since they are only getting 4.5 even without 18 players, that is a signal that LSU is not as strong as we are used to seeing. I think there is a little extra motivation for Butch Davis’ team so I say take North Carolina.

The rest of the patsy party: Arkansas (vs. Tennessee Tech), Tennessee (vs. Tennessee-Martin), Mississippi (vs. Jacksonville State).

Posted September 2, 2010 10:00 AM

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