3. The new records
PLEASE don’t get mad at the SEC Predicted Records For Every Game piece, but going from eight SEC games to ten is going to be devastating to the records of a whole lot of mid-range teams.
There will be upsets, and there are certain to be several twists and turns, but find the game on the game that Arkansas can win. That’s what Kent State, ULM and Charleston Southern were originally supposed to be for.
And Missouri? It was probably going at least 6-6 with its original schedule, but even getting to three might be hard. Central Arkansas, Eastern Michigan and Louisiana were supposed to provide a base of three wins, with a trip to BYU, too.
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Mississippi State with a losing record? Again, find the way Mike Leach’s club rocks with this slate. Playing New Mexico, Tulane and Alabama A&M was going to fatten the schedule.
And this can go on for all of the SEC teams that aren’t Alabama, Georgia, Florida or LSU.
Fans of Tennessee won’t be happy with 5-5, but Charlotte, Furman and Troy were supposed to make this a special year, and Auburn is more like a 7ish-win team than a strong 9-3 type now that it doesn’t get Alcorn State, UMass and Southern Miss to play.
Remember this. Only six SEC teams finished with winning conference records last year. Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Vanderbilt were all league losers, and Texas A&M finished 4-4.
Now add two more conference games to the pile.