Sports

Like the retirements of Michael Jordan and Floyd Mayweather Jr mine won’t last very long…OK it’s a lot more like James Harrison’s. But I’ll be taking the next week off to pursue my dreams of living on an all-liquid diet for the Kentucky game and in preparations for the Florida game. The chances of columns and podcasts are extremely low but the tweets are definitely still in play. Here’s the gameplan.

We’re leaving for Lexington, one of my favorite places in the country, at noon today. First stop: Qdoba. Better than Moes, Barberitos, Chipotle. Trust me. After that, my memory will fade quickly. We’re heading to Keeneland during the day on Saturday to watch the horse races and to the bars to watch the Dawgs take down the Cats. Sunday we’ll head to my parents house for dinner and then back to Athens. Tuesday morning to Tallahassee. I’ve never been to Tallanasty but I’ve been told they still bring it on Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s. Twitter will verify. Thursday, St. Simons for the beach. If I make it to Saturday I’ll be at Jacksonville for the game and Sunday I will hopefully return home. Senior year.

You may ask, how the hell can you miss that much class? Well, I planned this trip out over the summer and told my professors. None objected though it did make this week rather unbearable with all the early work I had to do. That’s the main reason I don’t have a real column today but I think this is a pretty decent alternative. Lets get to the lines. After a great week last week I’m back over .500 to 15-13-1.

South Carolina heads to Vanderbilt. The question is, rebound or collapse? After seeing Vanderbilt last week, I don’t think there’s any way they can slow down Alshon Jeffery nor whatever running game South Carolina puts together. But it’s all about mentality. We’ll learn alot about USC this week. Cocks – 13.

Ole Miss at Arkansas. The line didn’t come out until late this week for Vegas to learn about Mallet. Truth is, I don’t think it matters. Arkansas has to get a big win here to get back on track and Ole Miss is poor. With Vandy coming up next, Arkansas will take out all their frustration on Ole Miss. Punishment. Arkansas – 9.5

Alabama heads to Tennessee where they’ll be dropping 16 points. Can Saban get this team motivated enough to beat them before the bye week. I think the players will be just looking for the win before they can rest. This offense has slowed down week after week since the Arkansas game. It’ll be survival mode until they can rest up. Tennessee + 17

LSU at Auburn. UPSET ALERT! I like LSU here. Toughest defense Auburn has faced and they’ve squeaked by too many teams for my liking. Granted, LSU has also, but you can see marked improvement in LSU over the last few weeks. With a week to prepare for Auburn (McNeese St.) they’ll be rearing to go. LSU + 7

Finally, Georgia at Kentucky. Really, is there any point in me picking this one? I’ve missed it every single week since South Carolina. Sometimes I pick with my head, sometimes my heart; I’m wrong either way. What the hell, Dawgs -4

Until next time, Ball Hard.