NWADG College Football

2017

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You Swipe. WE GIVE. #MoneyForSchools Give back to your schools with every swipe of your Truity spirit debit card! Get Yours Today! TruityCU.org/SpiritCards FOR 100 YEARS, THE SISCO FAMILY HAS TAKEN SPECIAL CARE TO HONOR YOUR LOVED ONES WITH A CELEBRATION OF LIFE. SISCO FUNERAL CHAPEL 100 YEARS OF FAMILY VALUES. FAMILY CARE. FAMILY SUPPORT. CELEBRATE MEMORIES. C ELEBRATE LOVE. C ELEBRATE LEGACY. C ELEBRATE LIFE. 705 W. MEADOW • SPRINGDALE 479-751-4577 • siscofuneral.com Sunday, August 27, 2017 41 NWA Democrat-Gazette College Football Preview heralded new offensive coordinators with Chip Lindsey calling plays for Auburn and Matt Can- ada calling plays for LSU. When Auburn held on to beat LSU 18-13 last season, it wound up being Les Miles' last game as LSU's head coach. He was fired the next day. 8. FLORIDA VS GEORGIA OCT. 28 AT JACKSONVILLE, FLA. This game hasn't had as much national impact in recent years as it used to traditionally, but "The World's Largest Cocktail Party" remains an SEC staple. CBS should consider bringing Vern Lundquist out of retirement so he can keep calling the game for old times sake. A subplot is that it's a head coaching matchup of former Nick Saban coordinators. Florida's Jim McElwain was Saban's offensive coordinator and Georgia's Kirby Smart was his defensive coordinator. They were on the same staff when Alabama won national champion- ships in 2009, 2010 and 2011. 9. LSU AT ALABAMA NOV. 4 Alabama Coach Nick Saban continues to process his love for all things LSU, where he coached for five seasons and won a share of the national championship in 2003 before leaving Baton Rouge for Miami and the NFL to coach the Dolphins in 2005. Saban's departure was tough for LSU fans, but his return to the SEC was tougher because he became the coach at SEC West rival Alabama. It's safe to say LSU fans don't love Saban. His Alabama teams are 8-3 against LSU and he's won four national championships for the Crim- son Tide since 2009. Alabama has a six-game winning streak against LSU, starting with a 21-0 victory in the 2011 national title game after the Tigers had won the teams' regular-season matchup 9-6 in overtime. 10. GEORGIA AT AUBURN NOV. 11 The game is billed as the "Deep South's Old- est Rivalry." Auburn and Georgia first met on Feb. 29, 1892 at Piedmont Park in Atlanta with the Tigers winning 10-0. The teams have played against each other 119 more times since then with Georgia holding a 57-55-8 series advantage, including victories the last three seasons since the Tigers won 43-38 in 2013 on a tipped touchdown pass known as "The Prayer at Jordan-Hare." The Bulldogs' winning streak makes Auburn Coach Gus Malzahn a combined 2-6 against Georgia and Alabama, the Tigers' two biggest rivals. Auburn does get both the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide at home this season. 11. OLE MISS AT MISSISSIPPI STATE NOV. 23 The Bulldogs and Rebels may be fighting to stay out of the SEC West cellar when they meet on Thanksgiving night, but with the increased animosity between the in-state rivals resulting from the NCAA's investigation into Ole Miss' pro- gram, this game is taking on Holy War status. Some Mississippi State players who were re- cruited by Ole Miss talked to the NCAA about the Rebels' alleged violations. Ole Miss can't play in a bowl game because of its self-imposed sanctions, but winning the Egg Bowl over Mississippi State would make the Rebels' season. 12. ALABAMA AT AUBURN NOV. 25 This game figures to have SEC title and na- tional championship implications for both teams if the Crimson Tide and Tigers live up to preseason expectations. Plus, it's the Iron Bowl. Enough said. Even if Alabama and Auburn aren't in cham- pionship contention, this game is the most heated rivalry in college football. It's possible Alabama will stumble against an SEC team before playing at Auburn, but if the Tide are 7-0 it will mean they have won 24 consecutive games against conference oppo- nents going into Jordan-Hare Stadium. OTHER GAMES OF SIGNIFICANCE Florida-Michigan, Texas A&M-UCLA, Ten- nessee-Georgia Tech, South Carolina-North Carolina State Sept. 2; Arkansas-TCU Sept. 9; Arkansas-Texas A&M, Auburn-Missouri Sept. 23; Alabama-Tennessee Oct. 21; Arkan- sas-Missouri Nov. 24; Florida-Florida State, South Carolina-Clemson, Georgia-Georgia Tech and LSU-Texas A&M Nov. 25. v Continued from preceding page AP/Alabama Media Group/VASHA HUNT Alabama tight end Major Tennison works through drills Aug. 19 during Alabama's fall camp football practice at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala. As it usually is, Alabama will be an important SEC team to watch this season.

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