| FTBL SEC Forecast from ESPN

[bamabass23]

1. Winner of the Cocktail Party will play for the national title.

Florida and Georgia have both been in the top 10 four times when they've staged their annual brawl in Jacksonville; this year, for the first time, they could both be in the top five. And there will be plenty of pregame chatter about Mark Richt's rush-the-end-zone ploy last year.


2. Tim Tebow will not repeat as the Heisman Trophy winner.

Florida will have more options at running back, which means fewer carries for its bulldozer quarterback. And fickle voters who love finding flaws will overlook them in fresher candidates.

3. Jordan Jefferson will get on the field for LSU -- early.

With a good August, the touted true freshman quarterback could wind up at the controls of a low-risk offense by week No. 3 against North Texas. Redshirt freshman Jarrett Lee and Harvard transfer Andrew Hatch are not the answer.

4. Mississippi will be the surprise team of the year.

Houston Nutt walks into a pretty swell situation: 16 returning starters, including a veteran offensive line; a talented transfer quarterback in Jevan Snead; and a user-friendly schedule (Ole Miss draws Florida from the East but not Georgia or Tennessee). With good play and good luck, the Rebels could be 5-1 by mid-October, which would be more victories on the season than they've had since 2003.

5. Nick Saban will pull an upset -- either to open or close the regular season.

Alabama opens in Atlanta against Clemson, which is ranked in the top 10. It closes, of course, with Auburn -- potentially another top-10 opponent. The Crimson Tide will win one of the two, either spoiling Clemson's season early or ending their losing streak to Auburn late.

Pat Forde is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at ESPN4D@aol.com.

I do like what my eyes are seeing. Could it be possible that we pull the upset...possibly upsets?

And also where is all the hype coming from all of sudden about Ole Miss?

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Coach Yaw Yaw left Nutt a boat load of good talent to work with. Problem is Yaw Yaw couldn't coach in games and so couldn't do anything with the talent. They have a very good offensive line coming back, rb's are in good shape, they got an upgrade at the qb position. They're looking at being pretty good.

 

[Guest]

Ole Miss will be a much better team under Nutt.

For some reason I feel the last orange team we play will not be considered an upset when we get to that part of the season.

 

[rammajamma]

I think this year we will be much better than expected and Auburn will be much worse. But I feel that way every year...

 

[Guest]

I think this year we will be much better than expected and Auburn will be much worse. But I feel that way every year...

I do not. I got what I expected last year from the program and Aubrun was as expected. I feel totally different this year, not that it means much. Old guts says we play much better football and with a few injuries the Barn could be in trouble.

 

[ghice]

I think this year we will be much better than expected and Auburn will be much worse. But I feel that way every year...

I do not. I got what I expected last year from the program and Aubrun was as expected. I feel totally different this year, not that it means much. Old guts says we play much better football and with a few injuries the Barn could be in trouble.

Your old gut, and my young gut agree

 

[AFF]

I think this year we will be much better than expected and Auburn will be much worse. But I feel that way every year...

I do not. I got what I expected last year from the program and Aubrun was as expected. I feel totally different this year, not that it means much. Old guts says we play much better football and with a few injuries the Barn could be in trouble.

Your old gut, and my young gut agree

I don't know about Auburn, but I do think we'll be a better team this year than we were last year. And, given the fact that we could/should have beaten the #1 and the #2 teams last year - along with the fact that we blew out the #12 team - I think we could surprise a lot of folks provided we find a way to finish games this year.

 

[Guest]

If (I hate the word IF)....we can fire on all cylinders I believe that the possibilities are endless for us this season. I can see a 10 win season if it all comes together and we play well.

 

[Guest]

Mississippi has had a quality core to their program for a while. Near upsets to L.S.U., Alabama & Florida are no fluke! :!: