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#1
If you’re looking for this year’s Auburn, you might want to keep your eye on Mississippi State.
I know I will. With odds at around 60/1 to win the BCS title at most betting parlors, the experience –heavy Bulldogs are worth a shot.
They have the makings of a club that could duplicate Auburn’s feat, which earned savvy futures bettors as high as 100/1 odds last year.
They return 16 starters, including 9 on offense, from a club that went 9-4 last year, obliterated Michigan in a bowl game, and was only really blown out of one contest, a 29-7 loss to LSU.
Miss St. was competitive against Alabama before fading late, lost on a late TD to Arkansas and, coincidentally, succumbed by just three points to eventual BCS champ Auburn.
Quarterback Chris Relf looks more and more like a poor man’s Cam Newton, and coach Dan Mullen might qualify as a poor man’s Urban Meyer. A 6-foot-4, 245-pound dual threat in Newton’s mold, Relf didn’t put up great passing numbers last year but steadily improved as the season wore on and his confidence seemed to grow each time he took the field.
He finished with 1,789 passing yards with 13 TDs, and ran for 713 yards and 5 scores.
Most of the Bulldogs’ top position players also return, including running back Vick Ballard, who went for nearly 1,000 yards and scored 19 times. They also come back with the core of a solid defense that allowed just 20 points per game last season ranking No. 21 nationally.
Mullen is a former protégé of Meyer, working under him while both were at Florida. He’ll be in his third year of the rebuilding process he took on at Mississippi State, and he’ll be in position to give Bulldogs fans the return to prominence they have long coveted.
The timing looks good on several fronts. Auburn, decimated by early departures, looks to have a down season – at least compared to last year – while Arkansas and Alabama will both be breaking in new quarterbacks.
Naturally, the SEC schedule is a murderer’s row, but there’s some benefit in that as well. Not only did Auburn prove that an undefeated season can be accomplished in the nation’s toughest conference, but history also shows that BCS voters are more forgiving of SEC teams. LSU proved this a few years back when a two-loss Tigers club claimed the national title.
The Bulldogs are fortunate to have dates with Alabama and LSU at home, though tough dates with Georgia and Arkansas loom on the road. Even so, this club showed the makings of a special team late last year, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see the Bulldogs contend for a BCS bowl.
At the very least, they should be a team that’s on your radar as a potential point-spread cash cow. Already, most books have moved them from a 3-point underdog to a 1-point favorite at Auburn in Week 2. I think the wiseguys have this one right.
I know I will. With odds at around 60/1 to win the BCS title at most betting parlors, the experience –heavy Bulldogs are worth a shot.
They have the makings of a club that could duplicate Auburn’s feat, which earned savvy futures bettors as high as 100/1 odds last year.
They return 16 starters, including 9 on offense, from a club that went 9-4 last year, obliterated Michigan in a bowl game, and was only really blown out of one contest, a 29-7 loss to LSU.
Miss St. was competitive against Alabama before fading late, lost on a late TD to Arkansas and, coincidentally, succumbed by just three points to eventual BCS champ Auburn.
Quarterback Chris Relf looks more and more like a poor man’s Cam Newton, and coach Dan Mullen might qualify as a poor man’s Urban Meyer. A 6-foot-4, 245-pound dual threat in Newton’s mold, Relf didn’t put up great passing numbers last year but steadily improved as the season wore on and his confidence seemed to grow each time he took the field.
He finished with 1,789 passing yards with 13 TDs, and ran for 713 yards and 5 scores.
Most of the Bulldogs’ top position players also return, including running back Vick Ballard, who went for nearly 1,000 yards and scored 19 times. They also come back with the core of a solid defense that allowed just 20 points per game last season ranking No. 21 nationally.
Mullen is a former protégé of Meyer, working under him while both were at Florida. He’ll be in his third year of the rebuilding process he took on at Mississippi State, and he’ll be in position to give Bulldogs fans the return to prominence they have long coveted.
The timing looks good on several fronts. Auburn, decimated by early departures, looks to have a down season – at least compared to last year – while Arkansas and Alabama will both be breaking in new quarterbacks.
Naturally, the SEC schedule is a murderer’s row, but there’s some benefit in that as well. Not only did Auburn prove that an undefeated season can be accomplished in the nation’s toughest conference, but history also shows that BCS voters are more forgiving of SEC teams. LSU proved this a few years back when a two-loss Tigers club claimed the national title.
The Bulldogs are fortunate to have dates with Alabama and LSU at home, though tough dates with Georgia and Arkansas loom on the road. Even so, this club showed the makings of a special team late last year, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see the Bulldogs contend for a BCS bowl.
At the very least, they should be a team that’s on your radar as a potential point-spread cash cow. Already, most books have moved them from a 3-point underdog to a 1-point favorite at Auburn in Week 2. I think the wiseguys have this one right.
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