LCB Picks: SEC/VA Games of the Week

Editors Note: This season, on top of the usual SEC picks, we will be picking the best games on the Virginia D-1 slate. We, as in the LCB, all spent our formative years in Virginia. So, we probably should have been doing this all along. 

On Friday night, Oregon crushed UCLA 49-31 to win the first ever PAC-12 Championship game, earning a spot in "The Granddaddy of Them All," the Rose Bowl. LaMichael James rushed for 219 yards, helping his team roll and giving himself a leg-up in the Heisman race. But this was all news to me. Tonight, I took my fiancee out to eat, came home, took the dogs on a jog, and then started preparation for my upcoming finals. It was a fruitful night. However, when I logged on to write this preview I noticed update after update of the UCLA-Oregon game. To my surprise, it was tonight. Like most my age, I have a fairly busy schedule. However, I still feel like I'm just as likely to hear about a game of this magnitude through word of mouth as I am to see a commercial (which I didn't, at least until the game was finished). I had no clue this was happening and even though I could care less that I missed it. (The fact that UCLA got in a conference championship with a 6-6 record, just 1 win more than the "sky is falling" Tennessee Vols, and a fired coach is laughable at best.) I do have a lot of questions; What went wrong with their advertising campaign? Was this on TV? ABC, ESPN, VS, Animal Planet? Am I the only one that had no clue this game was happening? I can't be, right? Am I developing an east coast bias? Whatever the answers are, we all know that the PAC-12 Championship Game is another reminder of why we should all be thankful for the SEC.

SEC Championship Game
(12) UGA v (1) LSU @ 4:00 on CBS:
Many are saying if LSU loses they are still a lock for the BCS Title game, which is impressive. Not quite as impressive as who they've beaten and how they've done it, but impressive nonetheless. However, if Georgia wins and locks-up the automatic bid, the SEC could get four teams into BCS games. LSU, Bama, and UGA would be locks; with Arkansas having a pretty good argument towards their inclusion. This has to scare the other conferences, right? If you add USC to the equation, five teams in the SEC are eligible for a BCS game (though, they have no shot at a BCS game). No matter how you feel about the absurdity of not having playoffs is, it's still an impressive accomplishment for a conference.

Did you know Glamour Shots slogan is:
"We Bring Out Your Best ... Then We Take Your Picture"
Aaron Murray does!

To make matters worse for the non-SEC, it's clear the SEC East is suffering through a down year and yet they have two teams (that's more than most conferences) in the top 14 of the BCS rankings. This domination by the SEC is only going to get worse in the next couple of seasons. Florida will get better, Vandy is building something, UT will return, and the new guys (aTm and Missou) should be in a decent spot to contend. The SEC will continue to get better, until the rest of the conferences defect from the BCS and force a playoff; which has to be the only way to slow down this train. I like the Dawgs in the upset. Apart from them playing a seudo-home game and knowing Aaron Murray is the best QB LSU will face this season, I don't have much of a reason to believe this will happen. Just call it an inkling. UGA 28, LSU 24.

VA Games of the Week
ODU v (3) Georgia Southern @ 1:00 & JMU v (2) North Dakota State University @ 4:00 on ESPN3/Game Plan:
While trolling the message boards this week, I saw one question that stood out to me: "Would you rather your school make it to the Final Four or win a FCS Championship?" As you would guess, most of the answers revealed what sport that poster preferred. However, it's a fairly good question. If your team makes it to the Final Four, they gain national notoriety for the school, boost admissions, boost athletic donations (simultaneously helping the non-revenue sports), and you get a month of lifelong memories. But, you don't even win a Championship and your teams' coach is probably going to leave in the near future (See; Larranaga, Jim). However, if you win an FCS national championship, your school wins the most legitimate National Title in college football, gains a possible catalyst towards a jump to the BCS, a boost (albeit smaller) to athletic donations, and you get a month of lifelong memories. But noone that didn't/doesn't attend an FCS school cares/knows and while it may be more legitimate than the BCS Title game, it still doesn't include all of Division 1.

For me, I'd take the championship. Only because ODU is on the verge of announcing a major expansion to Foreman Field and they're "this close" to making the jump. I believe a FCS Title would be all they need to speed up the process.

Once again, no picks, but I am interested in what other "mid-major" fans would rather have; Fourth Place or First? CBS, Sports Illustrated, & ESPN or ESPNU?

LCB Picks: SEC Championship Game

(2) Auburn v (18) South Carolina @ 4:00 on CBS
Langston: It's been a historic week, from the discovery of a massive amount of red dwarf stars (dramatically increasing the chances of finding extraterrestrial life) to the unearthing of a new life form. One would think with developments like these that nothing else would be much of importance, but one would be wrong. There was the guy who ate his cocaine to get out of a minor traffic ticket and Cam Newton's being cleared to play. These are things that matter. Many propose that the NCAA opened the floodgates to latch-ons, hang-arounds, and general slimeballs by clearing Cam Newton to play. Supposedly, they've done this thanks to a lack of damning evidence, even though poppa Newton admitted his intent to milk his sons talents for all he could. He gets off, for now, with a wag of the finger. Mississippi State gets off with a minuscule breakup. I still wonder why all of the question marks surround Newton and not State. Their institution had Kenny Rogers bargaining on their behalf with Cecil Newton? Do you really think they report this to the SEC if Newton signs with State? Fuck and no. But I digress. Cam is cleared and now we can focus on arguably the biggest game in both schools histories.

South Carolina has never won an SEC Championship or played in a BCS bowl, their lone conference championship came in the ACC, in 1969. On the other hand, Auburn has gone undefeated  five times, yet only one of those years ended with an AP National Championship. That was in 1957. This game could turn the tide for the Spurrier era in SC, taking it from underachieving to the most successful in the programs history. Auburn, with a win, would finally get the BCS National Championship bid it earned in 2004 and set up for their first National Championship in the modern-era.

South Carolina's chances lie in the legs of Marcus Lattimore, their true freshman RB. In their three losses, Lattimore didn't touch the ball enough. Against Arkansas he only had 11 carries, as Spurrier tried to keep up with the Hogs pass heavy offense at the same time forgetting that he has maybe the best back in the country. Against Kentucky, he touched the ball 15 times. And in their first loss of the season, against Auburn, he had just 14 carries. After this game, I commented that it's clear Spurrier has no idea what to do with a back as talented as Lattimore and I'm still not sure he knows how to best utilize his star back. Comparatively, in their three wins against ranked teams he carried the ball 40, 23, and 37 times respectively, this includes their biggest win of the season over #1 ranked Alabama. If SC has any shot in this game, Lattimore will have to touch the ball early and often. And even if Spurrier has it figured out, I still don't know if it will be enough.

Cam Newton is a freight train. On every play, you can guarantee every defender keeps one eye on the phenom, and yet he continues to make big plays throughout. And that gives reason enough to like Auburn, they make up for getting robbed in 2004. (Coincidentally, they lost their bid to a team (USC) who ended up getting stripped and could presumably follow in their footsteps.) Nick Fairley will hit Stephen Garcia, maybe even questionably, throughout the game. Spurrier's visor will hit the ground a minimum of three times. And Cam will grow his legend. Auburn 42, SC 34.