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You know, because of the bye week.
This week is the second of 2014 where the Vanderbilt Commodores don't have a football game. So, while Mississippi State and Alabama boosters will be heavily invested in the third week of November gridiron action, Vandy fans will be stuck playing the waiting game and having yet another conversation about the merits of Johnny McCrary or Patton Robinette at quarterback.
The alternative, of course, is to scour the rest of the SEC for quality football. Fortunately, the league has come through in spades. MSU/Bama headlines a weekend of play that also includes the Auburn/Georgia rivalry, a LSU/Arkansas game where the #17 team in the country is somehow the underdog to a program that has lost 17 straight conference games, and Kentucky's opportunity to ruin yet another Tennessee season.
To get you up to speed, AoG's staff of experts* banded together to share their predictions for this weekend's slate of games.
| GAME | LUNATICS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ------ | Andrew VU'04 | Christian D'Andrea | VandyImport | VandyNOVA | VandyTigerPhD |
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South Carolina 12:00 ET (SECN) |
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#1 Mississippi State (+8.5) 15:30 ET (CBS) |
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#9 Auburn 19:15 ET (ESPN) |
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Missouri (+5.5) 19:30 ET (SECN) |
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Kentucky (+11) 16:00 ET (SECN) |
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#17 LSU 20:00 ET (SECN) |
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| All odds as of Nov. 13, 2014. | |||||
VandyTigerPhD: Well, I did terribly in the first round of these, so I can't do much worse, right? Well, maybe so because I'm going full blown UPSET SATURDAY with my picks. Legitimately, the lines here are hilarious and make me wonder who the hell is setting the odds this week. Then again, as I've been keen to point out - odds are set to entice people into betting much more than a predictor of the victor. Still, let's look at this logically. Carolina may have literally no defense, but I cannot see them losing to the Gators. Sure, they can always win by less than a TD, but I trust enough in Muschamp's ability to screw it up to give Spurdog the nod.
State may lose to Bama (please don't, State), but if they do, it will not be by more than 1 score. Contrasting that great game, Kentucky-Tennessee will be a battle of ineptitude that'll likely just be called on account of boredom. Auburn isn't losing to UGA, but this is the only line that actually makes sense as it's basically even. Did you see how Aggie handled Auburn? Yeah, Mizzou is a much worse team than Auburn. Finally, Arky may have scored a considerable amount this year, but LSU is pissed that it literally gave the game to Bama.
Andrew VU '04: Explanation: I don't have one. Final exams are coming and my students are killing me. I am Andrew VU '04: Professional Cat Herder. I'm going with my gut here.
VandyImport: I'm a giant nerd who failed to get my picks on in time so I got all my terrible picks and this writeup chosen for me. Despite this, I will still wind up with the best w/l record of the group. Also, I got a Menudo tattoo when I was 14 and don't have the heart to get it removed. It's on the small of my lower back, preventing me from wearing belly shirts 75% of the time.**
*citation needed.
**Now canon in the legend of AoG.