Well sportsfans, the regular season has bid itself adeau. But we do have a championshiop and a bowl season to end the year on a high note, so there’s still a lot left to be thankful for.
Out of the 25 next-best pigskin pickers, no one saw a Georgia – LSU championship, and therein lies the wonder of the SEC. You have to bring your A-game every week, every quarter, and every play or you run the risk of head-scratching yourself at the end of the season. In fact, the whole season had lots of games that just left us with our mouths open scratching our heads. Folks, that is just the nature of the SEC, the league with the most surprises the most often of seasons.
One of these teams ends next week as the latest loser and here we go to tell you who and why.
LSU vs Georgia – in Atlanta for the SEC Championship – I’d say “And for a shot at the National Championship”, but would a two loss LSU make it in any scenario? We don’t think so.
So it’s Bulldogs fighting Tigers in a brawl that’ll show no quarter with jowls snapping and snarling and claws a scratchin’ for more than a championship, for for pride and showing they belong there.
Georgia has done something no other SEC team did this season, they ran they gauntlet through the toughest season in the toughest league without a blemish. Home games, road games, big games, trap games, they made it through them all. Congrats to both, but only one gets the loser’s title and this week it falls upon the the tired Tigers who end up as Larry’s Loser and that should be no surprise.
Regular Season Ending Thoughts
Starting with the losers in the East
Vanderbilt, you may have finished last, but your record was no worse than Auburn’s or Texas A&M’s, so how bad were you really? You outdid everyone’s expectations, and though you’re at the bottom, you’re clearly on the road upward. I could see enough in you that I knew you were capable of beating a big boy and you did this season. You missed the bowl season by just one game and though you were last, it wasn’t a head-hanging season.
Missouri – You had highs and lows, lost games you shouldn’t and won some you shouldn’t. You just don’t have a culture to win the close ones and you look like a team without a plan to get ahead. Sometimes a bowl game can make all the difference. Here’s hoping it does.
Florida – We thought you had the hire to go higher. You could look so good and then just fall apart. You have the talent, do you not have the coaches to coach them up? I never saw steps as the season went on to show me that you had a plan you were following. Tying for second worst in the East should embarrass you and maybe spur you on to better things. Let that sink in, you were second to last in your league with that name and that talent. Shame on you.
Kentucky – You had it going and let it slip away. Every season it seems you just can’t get to that next step, but you were a consistent fighter who had a couple of heartbreakers that kept a solid season from becoming sensational. Still come bowl game, nobody will say, “Oh Boy! We got the Wildcats!” You can whip some ass and everyone knows it.
South Carolina – You were supposed to be plucked, but instead showed pluckiness. You were the southpaw slugger that some teams just didn’t see coming ’till you knocked their ass out. Had you not let Missouri catch you blindsided, you would have had a super solid season. That loss leaves us wondering whether you are a one-season wonder or a powerhouse in the progress of building? Maybe your bowl game will tell us.
Tennessee – After so many years of jokes about waiting till next year, this was your year. You were officially back. Beating Bama got the biggest monkey off your back, but your thorough butt thrashings by Georgia and South Carolina showed up you still have a few more building blocks to gather to truly be back where you want to be. Still, no team in the post season that plays you won’t have a chill going up their spine.
Georgia – The class of the SEC this season and last. What else needs to be said? Everyone else is wondering who can give you the best game, not beat you.
Now in the West
Texas A&M – Tied for last place, but the team that is truly the biggest loser, not just in the West, but in all the SEC. From a preseason top six to worst in the SEC and enjoying bowl season from your parent’s couch. What can anyone, including myself, say to explain just how pitiful your play was this season? Though you share a tie in stats only, you were the worst and Larry’s and the SEC’s biggest loser.
Auburn – You were a shit show from the end of last season. Undermining your own coach, backroom infighting, and inspiring no confidence in your program. We all knew this season would be a disaster, so you didn’t disappoint us. In fact, you actually did a little better than most thought you would do.
But you spent the offseason trying to frame your coach as being a family sleaze and couldn’t, so what did you do, you went out and hired the biggest sleaze in football, whose ties with hookers aren’t imaginary but fact. The “Backroom Boys” told him he could have the job, but had to hire Carnell Williams as Assistant Head Coach, so there’s the guy who the fans and players love while all the new coaches decisions will be second-guessed with the coach in waiting to breathe down your neck the whole time. Way to go Auburn, you really know how to write a soap opera, doom your coach from the get-go and provide drama. But there’s always some sucker waiting to take the big check isn’t there?
Arkansas – High was the excitement level at the first of the season. The hire last season seemed to be working, and we all wondered how high the ceiling was going to be for you. As the season went on, you lost four close ones that could have got you to a ten-win season. As your culture improves, hopefully, you’ll learn to win those close ones. You finished about where we thought and congrats on making a bowl game.
Mississippi State – A solid eight-win season, an Egg Bowl win over your rival, Ole Miss which was the only close win. In other games, when you won, you really won big, but when you lost, you were killed. We never knew which team would show up, but you were always a team your opponent worried about. You did slightly better than our projection and deserve kudos.
Ole Miss – Statistically tied with Mississippi State – Even though you lost to the Dogs, your biggest rival, we place you above them for making some noise toward the top rating for so long this season. You ended up just a game worse than we initially thought you’d be. With your coach in place for next season, the outlook is bright. No school wants to tangle with you in bowl season.
LSU– You won the West but lost as the best. Your 9-3 record is second to the Tide’s 10-win season. Still, you made it to Atlanta in record time and showed the world the hire of Kelly was a great move and you may be a power to contend with for a while in the SEC. You actually won the number of games we thought you might, but we didn’t think you’d beat the Tide and play for an SEC Championship. So kudos for a really great season.
Alabama – With ten wins you were the class of the West. You lost two games by a combined total of 4 points. Those were games you should have and could have won but didn’t. Instead, you were sloppy with penalties and turnovers in those games and lost close games you usually win. You never were the same in road games as you were at home and the best teams don’t let that matter. Without some chaos, there’s no Championship game for you this year and it’s your own fault.
Well that’s it for this regular season folks. I hope I’ve entertained you and given you some things to think about. We’ll have two more editions. the bowl game and national championship edititions, the good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise. So let’s all bathe in the beauty of bowl season together and see it all out together. Till then, God bless you all and the SEC.
LARRY BURTON HAS BEEN PUBLISHED IN ALMOST EVERY MEDIA OUTLET FOR COLLEGE SPORTS. HE WRITES THIS ARTICLE IN A COLLOQUIAL AND IRREVERENT STYLE FOR THIS SERIES OF ARTICLES. LARRY’S VIEWS AND SENSE OF HUMOR MAY OFFEND, BUT HE AIMS TO OFFEND EVERYONE EQUALLY. IF HE HASN’T INSULTED YOUR FAVORITE TEAM WITH LARRY’S LOSERS, JUST WAIT. FOLLOW LARRY ON TWITTER FOR INSIDE THOUGHTS AND FUNNY GAME-TIME COMMENTS AT HTTPS://TWITTER.COM/LBSPORTSWRITER and share this article on your own pages.
Alabama and the SEC 