SEC Football: Surprise Team of 2016
Every year an SEC football team seemingly comes out of nowhere to finish with a top 10-type season. SEC football is supposedly stacked with pretenders this year, but surely there will be a surprise team.
SEC football has its have’s of 2016: Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss in the West; Georgia and Tennessee in the East. The other 9 teams in the conference, though, are thought to be non-factors in the race for the 2016 SEC Football Championship.
That could not be further from the truth.
There are several fringe contenders entering the 2016 SEC football season — including Florida after having just played in the 2015 SEC Football Championship Game. Arkansas should be tremendously improved on defense based on experience, Auburn is due for their random rise to greatness, South Carolina was hitting their groove just a few seasons ago and Missouri is only one season removed from playing in back-to-back SEC Football Championship Games.
But none of them will be the surprise SEC football team of 2016. That distinction has a decidedly “everything’s bigger” flavor to them.
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Yes, the Texas A&M Aggies will be the surprise SEC football team of 2016. While many in the media use terms like ‘competitive edge’ and ‘growth’ to describe the hope for the Aggies in 2016, I’m here to tell you they’ll do better than just grow and be more competitive.
John Chavis will have the defense performing like a well-oiled machine in his second season. Noel Mazzone will help transfer Trevor Knight light up the scoreboard like Manziel was still playing — beginning with Mazzone’s employer last season in UCLA. They’re going to exceed the 7ish win mark most have them slated in for, and it begins with their schedule.
Not counting the toss-ups, A&M should collect 6 wins against Prairie View, Auburn, South Carolina, New Mexico, Mississippi State and UTSA. Those wins alone would put them one game of where most analysts think they’ll finish — with games remaining against UCLA, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Ole Miss and LSU.
I think the Aggies will split those 6 games. I think they’ll take 2 out of 3 from UCLA, Arkansas and Tennessee; 1 out of 3 from LSU, Ole Miss and Auburn. That would put them at 9 wins on the season, the same win total as Ole Miss the past two regular seasons. The reason the Ole Miss win total is relevant is that 9 wins and an SEC football schedule have been enough to get the Rebels into New Year’s Six Bowls in back-to-back seasons.
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Yes, I’m stopping short of saying the Aggies will be in the SEC football Championship Game. But I’m also telling you to not be surprised if you see the Aggies welcoming 2017 in a New Year’s Six game. That would certainly have them being declared the surprise SEC team of 2016. And I’ll be reminding you I told you all in July.