Dan Mullen shares preseason predictions for Georgia, rest of SEC
Former Mississippi State and Florida head coach Dan Mullen is out of coaching for the time being and working with ESPN during the 2022 College Football season. With SEC games set to begin on Thursday, Mullen released his preseason predictions for how the season will play out. Mullen fully expects to see a familiar Georgia-Alabama matchup at the end of the season, but how he thinks other things will shake out might be more interesting.
SEC East
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Kentucky Wildcats
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Florida Gators
- South Carolina Gamecocks
- Missouri Tigers
- Vanderbilt Commodores
In the SEC East, it’s the Dawgs on top in Mullen’s eyes. Not too surprising considering that was the pick for most of the media at SEC Media Days. The Bulldogs have won the Eastern Division four out of the last five years. The only time they didn’t, it was Mullen’s Gators that made the trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game in 2020.
Like many, Mullen believes that Kentucky and Tennessee are Georgia’s toughest competition to take home the Eastern Division title. Interestingly, he’s got the team that he coached last season at No. 4, now led by Billy Napier.
South Carolina, Missouri and Vanderbilt round out Mullen’s predicted order of finish in the SEC East.
SEC West
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Arkansas Razorbacks
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Mississippi State Bulldogs
- LSU Tigers
- Auburn Tigers
In the SEC West, it’s Alabama’s world and everybody else is just living in it. Nick Saban has led his team to the SEC Championship Game nine times since coming to Tuscaloosa including appearances in six of the last eight years.
After Alabama, the West would seem to be wide open. Texas A&M enters the season ranked the highest by both the AP and Coaches. Arkansas and Ole Miss are certainly on the rise while LSU looks to return to greatness under Brian Kelly. Meanwhile, Auburn is going through some tough times with Bryan Harsin on the hot seat.
Mullen spent 13 seasons as a head coach in the SEC after four as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Florida. As a head coach, Mullen was 103-61 including a 7-3 record in bowl games. However, as Florida coaches are many times judged by, he was 1-3 in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party against Kirby Smart and Georgia. Those three losses to Georgia came by a combined 53 points including a 34-7 Bulldog beatdown this past season. Mullen was fired less than a month later.
