Egg Bowl/Rivalry Week Thread

[Dawg83]

Also, allow me to eat crow on State’s defense tonight. Did not see that performance coming at all, especially in run defense. That may be the best game Zach Arnett has coached since he’s been at State.

[MSTSatchmo]

I see a lot of OM fans saying they’ll be fine if Kiffin stays or leaves, but if he stays he should NOT get a raise.  That’s crazy since last Monday, most were saying pay him whatever he wanted.  
 

Im also reading that 8-4 is not bad for a “rebuilding year”.  I know OM lost their backfield and QB, but these days you don’t raid the portal to rebuild.  If you’re picking up one of the top portal class, you expect results that year.  LSU and USC did.  

[Bulldogs4]

MST, the portal is like a double edge razor blade. It did help USC and LSU (though they had some fortune go their way as well). It helped Ole Miss too. But the quirky schedule kind of masked everything this year for Ole Miss. The struggle against Tulsa was a bit of a warning sign early. 
 

But it is difficult to build the bulk of your roster off of the TP. If you are plugging a couple of weak spots, then yes, it is great. Building a football team and developing chemistry takes time. 
 

Back to LSU, I predict that they take a step back in 2023. They are still going to be good and Kelly is a good coach. However, this year they benefited from zero expectations. Next year, everyone is going to be gunning for them. In fact, they may have the season everyone predicted them to have this year. Still good but maybe 7-8 wins. 
 

Unfortunately, the TP is here to stay. Teams can benefit (and suffer) from it. But trying to build a roster with transfers is a risky deal. Sherrill did that (to some extent) at State with Juco players in the late 90’s with success but it eventually bit him in the early 2000’s and the program went South. HS recruiting is still vitally important though with NIL and TP, it is going to be a challenge to hang onto to your talent for 3-4-5 years. And once the freebie COVID year players (in two more years) run out of eligibility, it will be interesting to see how this shakes out. 

[Dawg83]

I think OM fans were duped by the 7-0 start. If you started 4-3 or 5-2 and finished 8-4 then the mood would be a lot different. But the hot start convinced some that this team was just as good as last year’s and I even saw some suggesting it was better.

 

In reality, OM was always just a pretty good team that benefited heavily from an extremely light front half of the schedule. When they finally hit the meat of it, they were pretty much exposed for what they are. That said, OM could still win a bowl game and get to 9-4 and that’s not remotely a bad season.

[pancho]

So, as folks waited for Lane to sign the ole miss extension prior to the egg bowl, do they now wait for the iron bowl to be completed and see what shoe drops next? 

[Wcchaingang]

3 hours ago, Bulldogs4 said:

MST, the portal is like a double edge razor blade. It did help USC and LSU (though they had some fortune go their way as well). It helped Ole Miss too. But the quirky schedule kind of masked everything this year for Ole Miss. The struggle against Tulsa was a bit of a warning sign early. 
 

But it is difficult to build the bulk of your roster off of the TP. If you are plugging a couple of weak spots, then yes, it is great. Building a football team and developing chemistry takes time. 
 

Back to LSU, I predict that they take a step back in 2023. They are still going to be good and Kelly is a good coach. However, this year they benefited from zero expectations. Next year, everyone is going to be gunning for them. In fact, they may have the season everyone predicted them to have this year. Still good but maybe 7-8 wins. 
 

Unfortunately, the TP is here to stay. Teams can benefit (and suffer) from it. But trying to build a roster with transfers is a risky deal. Sherrill did that (to some extent) at State with Juco players in the late 90’s with success but it eventually bit him in the early 2000’s and the program went South. HS recruiting is still vitally important though with NIL and TP, it is going to be a challenge to hang onto to your talent for 3-4-5 years. And once the freebie COVID year players (in two more years) run out of eligibility, it will be interesting to see how this shakes out. 

Lsu and Usc got experienced qbs in the portal. I know Dart played some at Usc but this was his first full time starter job and it showed in some big moments.

[MSTSatchmo]

4 hours ago, Dawg83 said:

I think OM fans were duped by the 7-0 start. If you started 4-3 or 5-2 and finished 8-4 then the mood would be a lot different. But the hot start convinced some that this team was just as good as last year’s and I even saw some suggesting it was better.

 

Very similar to 2012 State right down to the 4th place SECW finish.  
 

I think most OM fans knew the early schedule could be misleading, but while they were winning, Arkansas and A&M were losing and State was struggling against good teams.  That kind of changed expectations for the last quarter of the season.  

[MSTSatchmo]

If the rumors were true of Kiffin having a contract extension from OM on his desk last Monday, does OM withdraw that contract and change the numbers.  How the last two weeks have unfolded, especially the past week, as well as it not being a given that Kiffin is Auburn’s top choice, may have given OM more leverage than before.  

[MSTSatchmo]

And shoutout to 83, for calling 8-4 for both.  

[Dawg83]

Sounds like Kiffin is staying put after all and Freeze may be the guy for Auburn.

 

Kiffin sure is spiking the football a lot on Sokoloff today. But hey, if I could get a huge payday after going 1-4 in my last 5 games then I’d be celebrating too.

[pancho]

I thought lane had matured..............

[MSTSatchmo]

1 hour ago, Dawg83 said:

Sounds like Kiffin is staying put after all and Freeze may be the guy for Auburn.

 

Kiffin sure is spiking the football a lot on Sokoloff today. But hey, if I could get a huge payday after going 1-4 in my last 5 games then I’d be celebrating too.

That seems pretty immature, especially since he has never said this whole time he was definitely staying at OM.  Even after Sokoloff’s report he said “probably”.  
 

Talking about the portal earlier, I think what hurt OM more is the OC and DC changes from last year.  More so than the transfer players.  

[MSTSatchmo]

I don’t really buy the whole, “I didn’t want it to be about me staying instead of the team” excuse for not announcing before the Egg Bowl.   
 

With the uncertainty why not announce it before.  It would rally the fanbase and players before a big rivalry game at home.  

[pancho]

cuz the auburn deal was still viable at the time.

[MSTSatchmo]

12 minutes ago, pancho said:

cuz the auburn deal was still viable at the time.

So Kiffin is lying to the media that he accused of lying about him.  Sounds about right.  
 

 

[pancho]

He and the agent played tag with auburn as well as the ole miss boosters to raise his salary and build up the ole miss NIL. I still think he wants  the A&M job.

[rebmus]

South Carolina finished 8-4 (4-4) same as Ole Miss and MSU with back to back wins over top 10 (at the time) teams. 

I suspect South Carolina gets picked for the higher bowl between the three teams, then MSU, then Ole Miss. 

 

 

[MSTSatchmo]

31 minutes ago, rebmus said:

South Carolina finished 8-4 (4-4) same as Ole Miss and MSU with back to back wins over top 10 (at the time) teams. 

I suspect South Carolina gets picked for the higher bowl between the three teams, then MSU, then Ole Miss. 

 

 

Right.  Those last two games were impressive by S Carolina.  

[rebmus]

Southern Miss beat UL Monroe to get bowl eligible today. Kudos to them. 

 

Between MSU/OM/USM/Jackson State, it's a pretty good year for this state. 

 

[pancho]

amen to that

[rebmus]

A&M upsets West champion LSU. 

IF LSU upsets UGA in the SEC Championship next weekend, the playoff picture gets even more muddy than it already is. 

[Bulldogs4]

A&M spanked LSU. If UGA were to lose the conference championship game, it would interesting to say the least. 
Look for the SEC officiating to prevent that from happening. 
But given that Clemson lost, UGA is probably still in unless they get blown out. 
Of course, TCU and USC could both lose and really throw a wrench into it. 

[Dawg83]

If TCU and USC win next week then the Playoff is really straight forward. A loss by either complicates things majorly, I would think Ohio State is probably the next in line if either of those two loses. If both lose then I have no idea.

 

Tennessee and Bama will be in the NY6 at the very least.

 

South Carolina winning and LSU losing both were negative results for State and Ole Miss today. I am assuming LSU loses to Georgia next week, if that does indeed happen then they likely fall all the way out of the NY6 and to the Citrus Bowl.

 

I am guessing SC goes to the Reliaquest/formerly Outback Bowl over State and OM.

 

My assumption is the Gator Bowl takes either State or Ole Miss. Whoever doesn’t go there probably goes to the Music City or Texas Bowl. And whichever of those bowls doesn’t take State/OM probably takes Kentucky,

That then leaves three 6-6 teams (Florida/Mizzou/Arkansas) to go to the Las Vegas, Liberty, and Birmingham Bowls. Who goes where is anyone’s guess.