SEC Football: Alabama v Tennessee or Field
Most SEC football experts anticipate an Alabama v Tennessee II matchup for the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta. Are they on to something, or should you take the field?
The sport’s information directors of the SEC are just the latest to predict an Alabama-Tennessee II game for the SEC football Championship. It seems like wherever you look, experts and prognosticators are predicting that matchup. One doesn’t need to look far to understand why, though.
Alabama has dominated SEC football in an age where no one thought that was possible. In addition to collecting 4 national championships after arriving in Tuscaloosa in 2007, Saban has made a habit of directing the Tide to the SEC Championship game. His record there is impeccable, as he has only been slowed by an Meyer-Tebow led Gators team. It is fair for many to expect Alabama to continue their dominance SEC football for the foreseeable future. Then comes Tennessee.
While Tennessee doesn’t have the recent track record of Alabama, they are a storied program in SEC football. The Volunteers have added 2 wins each year that Butch Jones has been coach. They also have a propensity for late season win streaks and dominating Big 10 teams in bowl games. SEC football’s sports information directors also believe the Volunteers have the conference’s best returning quarterback in the Joshua Dobbs.
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In the words of Lee Corso, “not so fast my friend!”
Yes. It is easy to assume these two teams will meet in the SEC Football Conference Championship this fall. But it was also easy to assume that Auburn would meet Georgia in the same game at this point last year.
I have a tough time believing Ole Miss or LSU will unseat Alabama in 2016, but that chance exists. If we know anything about predicting SEC football, it is that when something seems like a sure thing, it probably isn’t. Again, most thought Auburn would be competitive and Jeremy Johnson was a legitimate Heisman contender leading into the 2016 season. Alabama winning the SEC West is far from a certainty.
Tennessee was supposed to be a contender in 2015 after putting a stellar finish to their 2014 season. Instead they lost their biggest games and their late season win streak was against less than stellar competition. I haven’t seen that Tennessee can win their big-time SEC football games consistently enough to win their division and challenge for the SEC crown.
must read: SEC Super Regionals: The Good, Bad and Super Bad
The moral of the story is this: no matter if you’re in favor of an Alabama-Tennessee II matchup for the SEC Football Championship Game or not, absolutely nothing is certain in June. Both teams could excel and meet expectations. Either or both could also fall even a little short to mess things up. Such is life in SEC football.