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ESPN College GameDay may be reporting from Columbus today for the big matchup between No. 9 Michigan State and No. 3 Ohio State, but the SEC was still on the crew’s radar.
Analyst Kirk Herbstreit says Tennessee is No. 7 Oklahoma’s statement nonconference win, which may mean trouble for the Tigers today.
In his last home game is Columbia, Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel is facing a talented team. “Josh Dobbs and Jalen Hurd — it’s a great combination for the Vols, and it’ll be a big challenge for the Missouri defense against Tennessee,” Herbstreit said.
The crew also addressed the calls to fire LSU head coach Les Miles because he can’t beat the Crimson Tide enough. The phenomena happening in Tuscaloosa has been going on since the 2009 National Championship season, and if losing to Alabama is grounds for release, a lot of coaches should be on the hot seat right now, according to ESPN analyst Rece Davis.
“There’s more to the story than just what’s going on against Nick Saban and Alabama,” Herbstreit said. “To me, if Les Miles is in trouble, it’s ridiculous. He’s been there 11 years [and] averages over 10 wins a year, so keep Les Miles if you’re smart. He can recruit. [But] he’s got to be willing to change his offense and system.”
“We’ve seen Nick Saban, a defensive guy, willing to do that. I think Les Miles is almost being stubborn when it comes to his offensive scheme,” Herbstreit said. “He needs to go tempo, and he needs to get a quarterback that can make plays running and throwing.”
But can the Tigers still salvage their 2015 season or does the rebuilding for 2016 start now? Fellow ESPN analyst Lee Corso said Alabama ripped the heart out of LSU football, and Herbstreit agreed.
“I think Ole Miss wins the game because you’re catching Ole Miss at the right time for the Rebels — off a bye week, getting healthy—they went through a gauntlet of games themselves, and now they’re finally able to regroup and get ready to go, and now they’re taking on a wounded LSU team,” Herbstreit said. “LSU surprised me. They didn’t show a lot of fight last week.”
Even after beginning his speech saying he thinks Ole Miss wins the game, by the time he finished, he picked LSU to win in Oxford, but he changed his mind again by the end of the show. His LSU pick was probably more of a slip than a wavering decision.
Herbstreit picked Vanderbilt as his SuperDog today. “Vandy’s defense can keep them in this football game,” Herbstreit said. “I like Vandy at home against Texas A&M.”
Fellow analyst Desmond Howard picked against the SEC, predicting Georgia Southern will upset the Bulldogs in Athens.
Herbstreit’s Week 12 SEC picks
- No. 22 Ole Miss over No. 15 LSU (MISS -7)
- Arkansas over Mississippi State (ARK -5)
- Vanderbilt over Texas A&M (upset alert, TAMU -6)
Florida Atlantic at No. 8 Florida (UF -30.5), the Citadel at South Carolina (SC -20), Idaho at Auburn (AUB -34), Charleston Southern at No. 2 Alabama (ALA -38.5), Georgia Southern at Georgia (UGA -13.5), Tennessee at Missouri (TENN -7), Charlotte at Kentucky (UK -24) were not picked by the GameDay crew today.
