South Bound & Down
Fansided

How to predict the 2018 SEC football finishes

By Richard Gnann

SEC football Georgia head coach Kirby Smart
SEC football Georgia head coach Kirby Smart /
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ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 08: Rodrigo Blankenship #98 of the SEC football Georgia Bulldogs kicks a field goal during the second quarter against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on January 8, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA – JANUARY 08: Rodrigo Blankenship #98 of the SEC football Georgia Bulldogs kicks a field goal during the second quarter against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on January 8, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

Special people

One third of a football game is special teams, and a great place kicker or punter is the margin of victory or defeat in many games each Saturday. The SEC Team Predictor adds two points to a team’s total score for each 2018 Preseason All-SEC place kicker or punter.

Missouri placed both punter Corey Fatony and place kicker Tucker McCanna on the 2018 Preseason Coaches All-SEC team, making it the clear number two team in the East, although still six points behind Georgia. Georgia stretched its East lead by placing kicker Rodrigo Blankenship on the all-SEC team.

In the West, Texas A&M also placed both kicker and punter, Daniel LaCamera and Braden Mann, on the squad, pulling Texas A&M solidly into the pack with Ole Miss and LSU.

Joker’s wild

One wild-card factor included in the SEC Team Predictor has nothing to do with the Preseason All-SEC picks, but it’s a factor that can’t be ignored.

Teams led by new coaches always prove to be at a disadvantage, often because they do not know their players as well as an established coach may. At the same time, players on second year teams are overlooked because they did not fulfill their potential during the previous year’s transition. The SEC Team Predictor accounts for this by subtracting a point for new coaches and adding a point for teams with second year coaches.

The SEC has five brand new head coaches and two one second year head coach – truly Jokers wild. The point taken from Arkansas and Tennessee further depresses a depressing situation while keeping Florida and Mississippi State in the middle of the pack. Ole Miss gained a point by counting Matt Luke as a second-year coach.

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