Despite the Georgia Bulldogs taking the week off, there are still plenty of massive matchups in the SEC. The week will be headlined by the top 15 matchup between the LSU Tigers and Texas A&M Aggies.
The Alabama Crimson Tide and Texas Longhorns are both looking to get back into the swing of things in Week 9. Alabama has a Missouri Tigers squad that is coming off an emotional comeback against the Tide’s in-state rivals. Texas has to play a red-hot team that is playing with house money at this point. A team picked to finish last in the SEC is a win away from bowl eligibility.
What about the Ole Miss Rebels? They have dropped two of their last three games and don’t look like the team many expected to be at the top of the SEC along with the likes of Georgia, Texas, and Alabama. They will host another struggling team, the Oklahoma Sooners.
Who has this edge in these four SEC showdowns in Week 9?
LSU Tigers vs Texas A&M Aggies
No offense to Indiana, but the LSU Tigers vs Texas A&M Aggies should have earned a visit from ESPN’s College Gameday crew. Not only are they the last remaining undefeated teams in SEC play but we get Brian Kelly facing his former assistant Mike Elko. What a difference a year makes after firing Jimbo Fisher and bringing Elko back to College Station. LSU has been a problem for every team since the opening weekend loss to USC. Keep your eyes on Garrett Nussmeier and this attacking defense.
Mike Elko is on the verge of doing something that Jimbo Fisher never did, well two things actually. After starting 6-1, the Aggies could win 10 games in a year for the first time since 2012. Ironically that was the season Texas A&M first joined the SEC. Elko also has this team believing in College Football Playoff aspirations. This will be a major test for the Aggies. As long as Conner Weigman stays healthy, they are a problem for a lot of teams.
Prediction: I will go with the visitors, just like the way the defense has played since Harold Perkins went down.
Texas Longhorns vs Vanderbilt Commodores
If you had told me that the Texas-Vanderbilt game would be one of the ranked matchups in Week 9, I would have sent you to be drug tested. But here we are and the Longhorns need to get back on track this week. The good news is that they won’t face the Georgia front that made Kelvin Banks Jr look like a walk-on. The bad news is that Vanderbilt is a tough matchup this season. Texas just needs to get back to what they were doing the first six weeks of the season.
No one has meant more to their team than Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia. Based on what he has done for the program and college football, he should be one of the favorites to win the Heisman. It will be another major test this week at home against the Longhorns. The big question is which Commodores team shows up, the one who lost to Georgia State or the one that punched Alabama in the mouth for 60 minutes?
Prediction: Texas prevents Vanderbilt from becoming bowl-eligible for another week, Longhorns win by 14.
Missouri Tigers vs Alabama Crimson Tide
One week after the epic second-half comeback against the Auburn Tigers, Mizzou gets to go for the Alabama state title against the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa. Despite the shortcomings this season for Bama, winning at Bryant-Denny Stadium is no easy task. However, this might be Missouri’s best chance to do so. They just need to avoid falling behind early as Alabama is a lot better defensively than Auburn by a long way. The Tigers haven’t bested the Tide since Aug. 8, 1975.
It hasn’t looked like Alabama football as of late. Following the emotional win over the Georgia Bulldogs on Sept. 28, it has been rough going for the Tide. They have lost to Vanderbilt and Tennessee and narrowly escaped with a two-point win over South Carolina. Kalen DeBoer needs to get things right this weekend against Missouri and work on the kinks in the open week before they travel to Death Valley.
Prediction: Alabama gets a critical win to keep their fading playoff dreams alive, but it will be a close game.
Oklahoma Sooners vs Ole Miss Rebels
It will be “put up or shut up” for Billy Bowman and the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday in the Sip. Bowman is no stranger to the microphone and even took to social media to rip on Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart during the offseason. If he isn’t careful he might have to eat his words once again. But if the Rebels win, he can always claim they “didn’t earn” the win as he did with Texas right?
As Dart said in his response to Bowman back in June, “Yeah okay buddy we gone see.” We might need to see some life from the Ole Miss Rebels this weekend after suffering losses in two of the last three games. They fell to Kentucky in the last home game, 20-17. Fortunately for the Rebels, the OU offense has posed much of a threat in recent weeks with a combined 12 points in the last two losses.
Prediction: Ole Miss handles an overmatched Oklahoma team by 17, 31-14