Week Three SEC Predictions: Winners and Losers
As week three of the SEC football season approaches, it's time to look at this week's matchups and who will win and lose this week after what has already been a crazy first two weeks of conference play.
There have been almost unbelievable upsets in each of the first two weeks, and we are guaranteed to have at least one of the four remaining unbeaten go down as Georgia and Tennessee hook up in Athens.
Can Ole Miss or Texas A&M take down Alabama or Florida? It's not impossible to think it might happen, though the odds are likely against either of those two losing.
Which winless team will breakthrough this week? Kentucky, South Carolina, Missouri or Vanderbilt?
The Gamecocks and Commodores meet up in Nashville, so one will grab their first victory of the season while Kentucky hosts Mississippi State and Missouri visits Baton Rouge- though because of Hurricane Delta, plans are being made to move this game to Columbia.
WINNERS AND LOSERS FOR WEEK THREE
Top 25 Matchups
#14 Tennessee at #3 Georgia: The Dogs are a two-touchdown favorite and have arguably the best defense in the league. While the Vols are markedly improved, they still have more questions than Georgia. They haven't exactly played anyone to write home about through two weeks with wins over South Carolina and Missouri.
Georgia, on the other hand, exposed Auburn last week in dominating fashion. Advantage UGA.
WINNER: Georgia
#4 Florida at #21 Texas A&M: The Aggies, 1-1 with a lousy win over Vanderbilt and an embarrassing loss to Alabama, play host to the unbeaten Gators. Florida's defense has been suspect at times, including last week versus South Carolina. However, the Aggies don't have the offense to be able to take advantage.
WINNER: Florida
The Rest of the Pack
#2 Alabama at Ole Miss: The Nick Saban-Lane Kiffin storyline in this one might be the most intriguing off-field thing in the conference this week. The Rebels upset Kentucky last week in Lexington, but it took some help from the Cats to make it happen.
Even at home, the boys from Oxford don't have enough Jimmy's and Joes for this one.
WINNER: Alabama
Arkansas at #13 Auburn: The Tigers got mauled by a pack of dogs in Athens last week and are smarting while the Hogs are coming in riding high following their first conference win in three years. The Hogs aren't the bottom feeders right now, but I don't see them being able to escape the Plains with a win.
WINNER: Auburn
Mississippi State at Kentucky: The 1-1 Dogs versus the 0-2 Cats in a must-win for Kentucky if they want to salvage their season. Going 0-3 would be bad for a team that was projected to take a step forward and compete for the East's upper half.
The Cats have played hard and been close in both losses while the Bulldogs have the impressive win over LSU coupled with an equally unimpressive loss to Arkansas. Which incarnation of the Fighting Leach's shows up in Lexington?
WINNER: Kentucky
Missouri at # 17 LSU: Too many tigers in this one. Too much of the purple version regardless of where this one is played.
WINNER: LSU
South Carolina at Vanderbilt: Perhaps the worst matchup with few storylines other than two winless squads and two hot seat coaches looking to find something positive this season.
WINNER: South Carolina
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