SEC Predictions Week 4

Michael continues to lead the overall standings with an impressive 23-3 mark, but Eddie was able to gain ground and move into 2nd with an overall record of (21-5) while Jay with his moronic pick of West Virginia over Auburn as fallen to last place with a (20-6) mark. By the way, it is always fun to take shots at Jay, so please go to the comment section and let him have it. Enough joking around, on with the picks:

Michael McCoy's Picks:

Ole Miss @ South Carolina- South Carolina (Upset Special)
LSU @ Mississippi State- LSU (Upset Alert)
Arkansas @ Alabama- Alabama
Florida @ Kentucky- Florida
Arizona State @ Georgia- Georgia
Ohio @ Tennessee- Tennessee
Vanderbilt @ Rice- Vanderbilt

Ball State @ Auburn:
After an emotionally and physically draining game against West Virginia last Saturday night, Auburn should be granted a reprieve against a hapless Ball State team that has lost all three of its games thus far, including one to FBS opponent New Hampshire. With seven more games to come after this one without an off week (including six SEC games), I'm sure the main priority for the coaching staff this week is correcting mistakes from last week (missed tackles and establish the running game) and building a sizeable lead before emptying the bench to give the young guys lots of reps. The other priority, of course, is avoiding injury, which we hopefully do. I think our offense should be able to stretch the field and run the ball at will and often, giving us a good chance to look at other guys like Caudle, Eric Smith, as well as Benton and Blake at receiver. Ball State has a decent running back, but their offensive line is new and has struggled. Our defensive line should be able to set the tone there and dominate. It's hard to see anything but a big Auburn win here, especially after Malzahn said the pace of the offense would not change if a bunch of second teamers get in there. Assuming we build a big lead, I could see us giving up a few points late in the game when we have a bunch of young, inexperienced guys out there. But it shouldn't take anything away from a straightforward win. I'll say Auburn 45, Ball State 13.

Eddie McCoy's Picks:

Ole Miss @ South Carolina- Ole Miss
LSU @ Mississippi State- LSU
Arkansas @ Alabama- Alabama
Florida @ Kentucky- Florida
Arizona State @ Georgia- Georgia
Ohio @ Tennessee- Tennessee
Vanderbilt @ Rice- Vanderbilt

Ball State @ Auburn:
The simple fact of this game is that Ball State is very bad. The Cardinals cannot stop the run and they have struggled to average a couple of touchdowns a game against lousy competition. This is a mismatch. Auburn is going to rack up a lot of rushing yards early and often and we should see a lot of players play. This is a good tuneup for the Tennessee game to correct the fundamental mistakes of the last game. Look for Auburn to roll. I like the score to be Auburn 46, Ball State 9.

Jay Skipworth's Picks:

Ole Miss @ South Carolina- Ole Miss
LSU @ Mississippi State- LSU
Arkansas @ Alabama- Alabama
Florida @ Kentucky- Florida
Arizona State @ Georgia- Georgia
Ohio @ Tennessee- Tennessee
Vanderbilt @ Rice- Vanderbilt

Ball State @ Auburn:
Forget what you remember about the Ball State team that won 12 in a row before losing its last two games in 2008. That coach and the talent that led that team are long gone. This team has lost to North Texas, New Hampshire (I-AA or FCS team), and Army. That's bad. Auburn's resurgence and resilience early on have fans excited as a team with severe depth and experience questions is on pace to win it's first four games of the 2009 campaign. The Tigers defense has given up the yards and points this season, but they should be able to tee off on the Cardinals weak offense. Auburn 37, Ball State 10.

You can also find a more detailed summary of all Jay's predictions at his BC column listed below:

http://blogcritics.org/sports/article/sec-week-four-previews-and-picks/

That's our picks for the weeks. Be sure to share your thoughts in the comment section.

War Eagle!