If Ifs and Buts Were Candies and Nuts
EVERY DAY WOULD BE CHRISTMAS!
And the four teams in this category can’t help but to have lots of “ifs” and “buts” in their narrative as they recount their seasons.
5. TIE Arkansas (7-5, 5-3) and Tennessee (8-4, 5-3)
IF Tennessee had held on a 4th and 14, they’d be getting ready for Atlanta right now. IF Tennessee had held on to a 14-point fourth quarter lead at home against Oklahoma, they would have soundly beaten a team that looks for all in the world like one that will be among the final four still standing. It’s maddening to go back and think about the season that Tennessee could have had. Still, finishing second in the East is an undeniable step in the right direction. Your Tennessee Volunteers are the fifth best team in the SEC. Not too shabby. They are tied with…
Arkansas, who, themselves have plenty of Ifs. If they had just taken care of business against Toledo… If they had beaten Texas Tech (which finished just sixth in the Big 12!), then they’d be 9-3 and ranked WAY higher and headed to a far sexier bowl. BUT, they didn’t. They also lost a heartbreaker to Mississippi State.
Both go 5-3 in conference, but Arkansas gets the nod for playing in a tougher division. They also obviously won head to head, so advantage Razorbacks there as well. But you can’t drop two out of conference to such inferior opponents and not expect that to come into play. When you look at the body of work between these two teams, they’re eerily similar. And the teams are similar, too. Both are dangerous and would be dreaded foes for ANYONE in college football, even if their records don’t quite suggest as such. And that’s why I decided to tie them at fifth.
4. LSU (8-3, 5-3)
LSU was cruising right along. Quality wins against Mississippi State, Auburn and Florida, then BOOM, Bama came along and changed everything. They dropped that one and two more just like it and the natives got restless. And their offense was nonexistent. Les Miles got carried off after a win over a decent A&M team to stop the bleeding in a contest that everyone presumed was his last. But it was not. He’ll be around next year when the pressure will most certainly mount. They’re ranked ahead of the other two teams in this category — even Arkansas who routed them head-to-head — so an argument could be made that they deserve to be tied, but in the end, we gave ol’ the Mad Hatter the benefit of the doubt.
3. Ole Miss (9-3, 6-2)
If Arkansas hadn’t converted on a bizarre fourth-down lateral deal, Ole Miss would be the ones preparing to play in Atlanta right now. Not Bama. (Which means that this year’s SEC Championship Game came down to two fourth downs. Florida’s there by taking it to the house on 4th and 14 against Tennessee. And Bama’s there because Arkansas beat Ole Miss after converting on 4th and 25. If Ole Miss had beaten Memphis after going up big early. They could easily be a one-loss team right now playing for the right to be in the playoffs.
But they’re not.
