Anchor Drop, January 2, 2020: The Clark Lea Special

Good morning.

Optional Musical Accompaniment

Well, we’re pretty light on Vanderbilt news at the moment what with women’s basketball being in its second COVID-related pause of the season and men’s basketball for some reason having almost a full week between games, and football season being over... but, hey, our new football coach did an impressive job as defensive coordinator yesterday.

Alabama came into Friday having scored 35 or more points in 24 straight games. It scored 31 against Clark Lea’s Notre Dame defense. Accomplishments!

What I will say after yesterday is that, well, the SEC has become the Big 12 of a few years ago. One clear takeaway from the Rose Bowl and the Citrus Bowl and the Peach Bowl, all played yesterday, is that the SEC’s offensive explosion of 2020 was exacerbated by some, ahem, pretty bad defenses, and teams that actually play defense (Cincinnati, Northwestern, Notre Dame) were actually able to not give up 50 points. Funny how that works, eh?

Anyway, if you had any qualms about hiring a defensive guy, just remember that all the offensive guys this league has been hiring in recent years have a blind spot on the opposite side of the ball too. “But that’s the way the game is going today!” Yes, and I hate it.

SEC Basketball Schedule

Bad Gambling Advice, Season to Date: 25-33-1 ATS, 25-34 totals

Missouri at Arkansas (11:00 AM CT, CBS): Missouri +7, Over 146

Florida A&M at South Carolina (12:00 PM CT, SEC Network): Florida A&M +18.5, Under 142.5

LSU at Florida (1:00 PM CT, CBS): Florida -1.5, Over 152

Auburn at Texas A&M (2:30 PM CT, SEC Network): Auburn +1.5, Over 135

Kentucky at Mississippi State (5:00 PM CT, SEC Network): Mississippi State +2, Under 132

Alabama at Tennessee (5:00 PM CT, ESPN2): Tennessee -9.5, Under 143

Wichita State at Ole Miss (5:00 PM CT, ESPNU): Ole Miss -7.5, Over 133.5

Today’s Bowl Schedule

Gator Bowl (11:00 AM CT, ESPN): NC State vs. Kentucky

Outback Bowl (11:30 AM CT, ABC): Ole Miss vs. Indiana

Fiesta Bowl (3:00 PM CT, ESPN): Oregon vs. Iowa State

Orange Bowl (7:00 PM CT, ESPN): Texas A&M vs. North Carolina