Blowin' Smoke Presented by Weston Tobacco

What's more fun than us giving you a chance to mock us every single week? In our new feature, Blowin' Smoke presented by Weston Tobacco, we will do that each and every Thursday. Gabe DeArmond and Mitchell Forde will make five predictions almost sure to go wrong every week in this space. These will range from big games to big picture predictions with a bit of the comedic and absurd mixed in most weeks as well. On to this week's predictions.

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Mitchell: Missouri has crashed back down to earth the past couple games, and Alabama is certainly capable of beating the Tigers, and anyone for that matter, if it gets hot from three. But the Crimson Tide are also moving in the wrong direction after a loss to Vandy on Tuesday, and Mizzou will want to send Reed Nikko out a winner, so I'm taking the Tigers 75-70.

Gabe: Neither team is all that good. Neither team is playing well. When in doubt, go with the home team. Mizzou 78, Alabama 77.

Mitchell: After Wednesday night's loss, it appears Missouri is most likely destined to to play on Wednesday night at the SEC Tournament again this season (believe me, no one is more upset about it than I am). The will most likely face Vandy, maybe Georgia. Probably should win either of those. A couple weeks ago I might have picked the Tigers to steal another win in the second round as well, but I think this team is pretty worn down at this point. So I say one win, then done.

Gabe: Well I waited till the second half of the Ole Miss game to write mine, so I now think Missouri is playing Vanderbilt on Wednesday. And I'm not sure who I'll pick in that game. Vandy beat Bama on Tuesday and I can see them coming out and playing well for a home crowd that needs something to cheer for after the devastating tornado on Monday in Nashville. If it came down to it, I guess I'll probably pick Mizzou to beat Vandy and then lose to whoever they play next, but losing to Vandy wouldn't shock me.

Gabe: If there's ever a league where somebody completely out of the blue could go win four games in four days, this is it. The top four seeds aren't exactly juggernauts and aren't exactly playing well (LSU, Auburn and Kentucky all lost their last game). I'll go with Mississippi State. I think they've got a ton of talent. I don't actually think they'll probably win it, but what the hell?

Mitchell: I'm in a similar boat. I think Kentucky is clearly the best team in the league, but it's boring to just pick the favorite, and college basketball in March is wacky enough that I can realistically hope for chaos. So I'll take Florida. The Gators have won six of nine and might still be the most talented team in the league.

Mitchell: On offense, I'll go with Thalen Robinson. It's hard for an offensive lineman to be a breakout performer in the sense of turning heads, but everyone raved about Robinson last season, and now that Mizzou desperately needs some players to step up on the line, I think Robinson gets a shot to work with the first team and runs with it. On defense, Ish Burdine. Again, this is mostly based on necessity, as Missouri really needs a cornerback to step up after DeMarkus Acy graduated and Christian Holmes transferred. Burdine has been on campus for a full year and the staff liked him enough last season to get him significant snaps once he got healthy in the season finale. Presumably, that was David Gibbs' doing, and he's still around.

Gabe: Man, you went deep in the well. I'm not sure I can get quite that obscure. I'm going to go with Messiah Swinson on offense. Two years ago the staff couldn't talk about him enough. Then he got hurt and I don't think rehab went as well as they hoped and he just got buried. I think a fresh start could do him good. Defensively, how about Darius Robinson? There's going to be playing time along the defensive line. He looks the part for sure.

Gabe: Almost certainly none, although it was a thing that one group proposed. I would, however, propose that fans protest the First Four on Tuesday night in Dayton and not show up, therefore getting it forever removed from the NCAA Tournament and going back to a 64-team field which makes more sense and makes brackets easier to fill out without waiting until Wednesday morning.

Mitchell: It's looking every day like that's a more realistic possibility, but I'll still say zero. I'm no expert on the severity of the virus, but the NCAA Tournament has never been played in empty arenas in my lifetime, and this doesn't seem to me like a big enough deal to take that drastic a step.