2012 SEC Western Division Predictions: Predictions and Analysis of Arkansas, Mississippi State and Ole Miss’ 2012 Seasons
2012 SEC Western Division Predictions: Predictions and Analysis of Arkansas, Mississippi State and Ole Miss’ 2012 Seasons
SEC
Western Division
LSU – 12 – 0
Alabama – 11 – 1
Texas A&M – 9 – 3
Mississippi State – 8 – 4
Auburn – 8 – 4
Arkansas – 6 – 6
Ole Miss – 3 – 9
Arkansas
Head Coach: John L. Smith
Predicted 2012 Record
Overall: 6 – 6
SEC: 2 – 6
Arkansas Number of Cupcake Opponents in 2012: 2 Cupcakes (Jacksonville State and La. Monroe)
Commentary: Paul “Bear” Bryant was quoted as saying once a TRUTH about the game of football…
“If you were to ask me if football is a coach’s game, I’d have to say it is. And always was.”
….and that means no matter what the talent level on the Arkansas football team is….and it is HIGH….there is a BIG difference between a Hogs team led by Bobby Petrino and a Hogs team led by John L. Smith.
Arkansas is in our opinion playing one of the toughest schedules in college football in 2012…
Jacksonville State
at La. Monroe
Alabama
Rutgers
at Texas A&M
at Auburn
Kentucky
Ole Miss
Tulsa
at South Carolina
at Mississippi State
LSU
…even though the Razorbacks are playing 2 Cupcakes, but when a game at South Carolina (with Spurrier REALLY wanted to beat the Hogs this season) is added to the already tough SEC Western Division it could add up to a Complete Disaster in Fayetteville in 2012 and all because of…..well….let’s not talk about that in a family blog.
We expect Arkansas to open the season 4 – 1 with wins over Jacksonville State, La. Monroe and Rutgers and only a loss to Alabama at home which makes the Week 5 game at Texas A&M and the Week 6 game at Auburn the two BIGGEST games of the season for the Hogs because a loss in those two and the Arkansas football season could fall to pieces….BUT….wins at Texas A&M and at Auburn will prove that the Hogs are contenders and that Bobby Petrino or not the ’12 Razorbacks are going to be playing for a championship.
If Arkansas does finish the 2012 season at 6 – 6 as we here at Coaches Hot Seat are predicting then we would recommend that Bobby Petrino stay as far as Damn possible from Fayetteville for the rest of his natural life because in our opinion there is enough talent on this Razorbacks team to win every game on their schedule and anything less than 9 wins forget about 6 would be a Complete Disaster and who do you think the Arkansas fans would blame for that Complete Disaster?
YES, you got it, the Arkansas fans will rightly blame….Bobby “A young blond riding around on the back of my Arkansas themed Harley Davidson without me wearing a helmet should be just fine and won’t attract any attention at all…NOT!” Petrino!
Memo to Bobby Petrino: At your next head coaching gig we would recommend you ditch the Harley and stick to cars with tinted windows!
Mississippi State
Head Coach: Dan Mullen
Predicted 2012 Record
Overall: 8 – 4
SEC: 4 – 4
Mississippi State Number of Cupcake Opponents in 2012: 3 Cupcakes (Jackson State, South Alabama and Middle Tennessee)
Commentary: An interesting question here at Coaches Hot Seat is WHAT IF Dan Mullen had stayed at Florida during Urban Meyer’s on-again and off-again tribulations and eventual “retirement” from the Gators and IF Florida AD Jeremy Foley would have turned to Dan Mullen to take over the Florida football program instead of hiring Will Muschamp after the 2010 season.
Dan Mullen took over at Mississippi State in 2009 so he would have only been at Florida for two more seasons before Urban Meyer “retired” and if we had to guess and it is only a guess if Dan Mullen had stayed as the offensive coordinator with the Gators we believe he would have gotten the Florida job after Meyer left and no matter what anyone tells you including Dan Mullen the difference in every way imaginable between the Mississippi State and Florida football programs is HUGE.
With that being said Mullen has done a nice job at Mississippi State…
2009 – 5 – 7
2010 – 9 – 4
2011 – 7 – 6
….coaching in the toughest division in the toughest conference in Major College Football and now Mullen must take the next step and we see that happening in 2012.
Our predicted 8 – 4 regular season record and 4 – 4 record in the SEC for the Bulldogs includes wins over Auburn, Tennessee and Arkansas at home and a win in the Egg Bowl over Ole Miss to end the season which if it turns out that way it will be another Helluva coaching job by Dan Mullen and no doubt will lead to some big schools both in the SEC and elsewhere calling Dan’s agent to see if he is interested in taking the next step up in his coaching career.
Ole Miss
Head Coach: Hugh Freeze
Predicted 2012 Record
Overall: 3 – 9
SEC: 0 – 8
Mississippi Number of Cupcake Opponents in 2012: 1 Cupcake (Central Arkansas)
Commentary: In the last 7 seasons for Mississippi football under Houston Nutt and Ed Orgeron the Rebels are…
Overall: 34 – 51
SEC: 13 – 43
…and considering that Ole Miss played an average of 2.5 Cupcake Opponents each year over the past 7 seasons over half of the Rebels wins were automatic although Nutt and the Rebels did lose to Cupcake Jacksonville State to start the 2010 season which was the beginning of the end for Houston Nutt in Oxford.
Hugh Freeze takes over the Mississippi football program which is now probably at its lowest state since before Billy Brewer took over in Oxford in 1983 and that means if Freeze is going to get things turned around it is going to be a Helluva long hard slog in a SEC Western Division that will make that turnaround next to Damn impossible…..but not undoable for the right coach.
The THING that Hugh Freeze and the Ole Miss coaches must focus on is making sure their football team is 100% motivated to play EVERY GAME because the out-of-conference teams that the Rebels will have more talent than….Central Arkansas, UTEP and Tulane in 2012….are MUST WIN GAMES because SEC Conference wins are going to be few and far between in the next couple of years and Freeze will need every single win he can get up on the board in order to weather the storm that will come with posting sub .500 records at Ole Miss….even if the football program is down in talent as it is right now.
Best case scenario for Ole Miss in 2012: If Ole Miss can go 3 – 1 out-of-conference and get even ONE SEC Conference win in 2012 that will be a small victory for Huge Freeze and the Rebels and if that SEC win is over Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl to end the season….all the better….and pop the champagne corks in The Grove!
2012 Coaches Hot Seat Team and Coach Predictions, Coaches Hot Seat
Coaches Hot Seat Number of CUPCAKE Opponents Teams Are Facing In 2012, Coaches Hot Seat
