LCB Picks: SEC & VA Games of the Week

Editors Note: I'm back, picking the best games on the SEC and Virginia D-1 slate. Sorry for missing last week, times are crazy. Work, school, wedding prep and three dogs make free-time a commodity.

SEC Games of the Week

(24) Florida v Texas A&M @3:30 on ESPN:
One of the LCGs best friends is an A&M grad. We had dinner the other night and talked about the upcoming season. She is extremely happy about their move to the SEC. She is even prouder of her school. With plenty of reason. The fans are great, teams competitive and have some of the best traditions in college football. Texas A&M is a fantastic addition to the SEC. However, it may be a while until there ready to compete. Sumlin will need a couple of years to transition from the predictable ground-and-pound offense of Mike Sherman to his spread. They should be competitive. They may even beat Florida today (Muschamp seems like Zook 2.0 and the offense isn't helping), but the SEC West can be a murderers row for a new head coach. The Aggies may have added two conference championships and two national titles this offseason, but I don't see '12 being added to the exterior of Kyle Field any time soon. Florida 28, Texas A&M 24.

Washington v (3) LSU @7:00 on ESPN:
This game is getting a lot of push from the networks. I have no idea why. While the team from Seattle has been prepped for Mike, they aren't ready for the Tiger defense or Tiger Stadium. LSU 35, UW 17.

(7) Georgia v Missouri @7:45 on ESPN2: 
Mark Richt just cannot catch a break. First Crowell, Commings and Vasser; and now Ogletree and Rambo piss dirty. The former is now playing FCS football for HBCU Alabama State. The latter four, all defensive starters, have been rumored to be suspended for this game. Despite the suspensions and their "old man football" style, the Dawgs are good. Aaron Murray is probably the best quarterback in a great group of QBs in the SEC, though the Tylers -Wilson and Bray- have pretty good arguments. And I like him to lead the Dawgs to a victory in Columbia, with a little help from John Jenkins and the defense. Pinkel's team will be more competitive than Sumlin's in the first year but I think today they struggle with the difference in size and speed from the top-heavy Big 12 to the loaded SEC. UGA 24, Missou 21.

Virginia Game of the Week
Penn St. v Virginia @12:00 on ABC:
This is the only "good" game in the state of Virginia today. The Dukes play host to Alcorn State, who haven't been relevant since Steve "Air" McNair was suiting up for the Braves. The Monarchs travel across the bay to play Hampton, a team who hung tough in Norfolk in 2011. However, Legree has graduated and taken any shot of an upset with him. The Tribe plays Louisiana-Lafayette, a patriot league team that should be destroyed at Zable. Though, if there are any upsets, it will be in Williamsburg. The Hokies have their annual bodybag game. This year's opponent, Austin Peay. It will get ugly. UR takes the weekend off to recover from their trip to Charlottesville with a game against Gardner Webb. Finally, Liberty plays Norfolk State. It should be a good game between two quality opponents. But neither team is good enough to warrant further mention here.

As for the Cavaliers and their game against Penn State. I think it will give us a good read on how much the Cavs have improved from last years bowl run to now. The Cavs struggled to put away FCS Richmond last week. The reason, starting quarterback Michael Rocco. Some may even call him a game manager. But when the game manager was lucky to not have multiple interceptions in the first game against a bad FCS team, that's not a good start. It doesn't help Rocco's future as a starter to know that the uber-talented Phillip Sims is waiting in the wings. I think, if Penn State can rebound to make Rocco pay for his mistakes, Sims plays the second half. But that's a big if. The Nittany Lions got beat by a good (better coached) but less talented Ohio Bobcat team last week. And the score was a lot closer than the actual game, leading me to believe the Wahoos win this one ugly. Hopefully, for the Cavs sake, this is Rocco's last start. It's time to unleash Sims on the ACC. UVA 24, PSU 20.