ESPN's SEC Position Rankings

Over the last few weeks, ESPN SEC bloggers Chris Low and Edward Aschoff has been ranking the different position groups in the SEC, including BYU's first-game opponent Ole Miss. I've kept track of all of the ranking and have made a semi-crude attempt at overall rankings.

The verdict? The idea BYU fans have been either thinking to themselves, telling only close friends, or screaming from the rooftops is true: Ole Miss really is not that good of a SEC team.

As you can see by the chart below, Ole Miss comes in as the third-worst team in all of the SEC. Now remember, the third-worst team in the SEC is NOT equal to the third-worst team in the WAC, MWC, or even the Pac-12. But it is looking more and more likely that BYU has a pretty good chance at coming home from Oxford with a win.

I guess the most exciting revelation from these rankings is that the Ole Miss defense is seen as the worst in all of the conference, with the linebackers and secondary coming in at dead last. With Jake Heaps leading an offense that caught fire towards the end of 2010 and is expected to pick up where they left off, this could lead to BYU starting the season off with a bang!

I think Ole Miss is not as bad as they look with these rankings and who knows how accurate these rankings are, but I think it should be safe to say BYU should be favored in this game.

Here are some of Low and Aschoff's thoughts on Ole Miss (Click on the clip for a better view):

On the QBS:
On the RBs:
On the WRs/TEs:
On the O-Line:
On the D-Line:
On the LBs:
On the DBs:

Premature Box Score Prediction: BYU at Ole Miss

In order to fill up some space in this blog during the summer, I thought I would throw out some predictions for the upcoming football season, and I definitely welcome your predictions - negative or positive. This prediction is for the opening game in Oxford, Miss., on September 3.

BYU 42, Ole Miss 20

Passing
Heaps: 24-34, 318 yards, 3 TDs

Rushing
Quezada: 18 carries, 109 yards, 1 TD
Di Luigi: 11 carries, 58 yards
Kariya: 8 carries, 30 yards, 2 TDs

Receiving
Apo: 6 catches, 125 yards, 1 TD
Jacobson: 6 catches, 53 yards
Hoffman: 5 catches , 82 yards, 1 TD
Mahina: 2 catches, 19 yards
Di Luigi: 2 catches, 18 yards
Kariya: 2 catches, 8 yards, 1 TD
Quezada 1 catch, 13 yards

Defense
Rushing yards allowed: 103 yards
Passing yards allowed: 181 yards
INTs: 1
Fumbles Forced/Recovered: 3/2

I think this game would definitely be different if it was played three or four weeks later, but for now, Ole Miss has a heck of a lot more unanswered questions than BYU. For example, the Rebels still haven't selected a starting QB yet, and it's between three possible QBs. With a new offensive coordinator, the last thing Ole Miss needs is a guy under center that didn't have the majority of the reps in fall camp. But that's what they are going to get unless they pick a started EARLY in fall camp. They'll have to rely on RBs, and BYU's rushing defense is one thing I am not worried about.

Also, Ole Miss' defense is what caused its 4-8 2010 record, and it only returns 4 starters. Two starters are lost from the secondary, and it was bad last year. This is why I had so much optimism in putting together BYU's offensive predictions. This seems like a pretty good opportunity for BYU to showcase its new offense.

BYU and Ole Miss both had bad 2010 seasons, but BYU finished 2010 playing its best football. That can't be said about Ole Miss, and I have serious doubts about Ole Miss' ability to make vast improvements by Week One.

Feel free to leave a comment with your own prediction(s).