Week 0 kicks off this weekend with seven games. Last Word on College Football has everything you need to prepare for the action. We’ll highlight the biggest conference stories each week and preview the weekend’s top matchups. We’ve already compared and contrasted the SEC’s non-conference schedules, from Georiga’s sweet cupcakes to Florida’s splitting headache. This week, Vanderbilt is the lone SEC representative playing in Week 0. Before we get to all the excitement in Nashville (and an update on stadium construction), here are the Week 0 Schedule and three SEC predictions.
Week 0 Schedule
Starting next week, we will have the schedule for your favorite SEC teams. All times are E.S.T., and the lines are at the time of publication.
| Date | Time | Television | Matchup | Line |
| 8/26 | 2:30 p.m. | NBC | Navy vs. Notre Dame | ND -20.5 |
| 8/26 | 5:30 p.m. | CBSSN | UTEM vs. Jacksonville State | EVEN |
| 8/26 | 7:00 p.m. | ESPN | UMass vs. New Mexico State | NMSU -6.5 |
| 8/26 | 7:00 p.m. | FS1 | Ohio vs. San Diego State | SDSU -2.5 |
| 8/26 | 7:30 p.m. | SECN | Hawai’i vs. Vanderbilt | Vandy -17.5 |
| 8/26 | 8:00 p.m. | Pac12 | San Jose State vs. USC | US -31 |
| 8/26 | 9:00 p.m. | CSBSN | FlU vs. Louisiana Tech | LT -11 |
Week 0 Preview: Vanderbilt vs. Hawaii
Nashville is the place for Saturday night football in the SEC to kick off the 2023 college football season. Dores’ Nation is excited to see what Clark Lea and his staff have in store for year two. Vanderbilt finished 5-7 in Lea’s first year, highlighted by conference wins against Kentucky and Florida. Offensively, Vanderbilt will need to replace leading rusher Re’Mahn Davis. AJ Swann will begin his second season as the starter for Vanderbilt. The sophomore took over for Mike Wright last season and threw for more than 1200 yards and 10 touchdowns. Vanderbilt looks to improve defensively on the conference’s worst pass defense. The return of Miles Capers from a season-ending knee injury in fall camp should help.
Last season, the ‘Dores got off to a hot start with a 63-10 victory. With Hawai’i still, deep in a rebuild, Lea and the ‘Dores should be able to get off on the right foot in 2023. Now about that stadium issue. FirstBank Stadium is undergoing significant upgrades that will reduce Vanderbilt’s capacity to 28,500. While it is great for the university for the improvements to occur, there is no reason why the team shouldn’t be playing at nearby Nissan Stadium, home of the Tennessee Titans. In a conference where it just means more, that’s precisely what we should expect from the Vanderbilt administration.
Vanderbilt has a home football game in 11 days.
This was yesterday. pic.twitter.com/87ds8khTDX
— Saturday Down South (@SatDownSouth) August 15, 2023
SEC Predictions
SEC Prediction #1: Who can challenge Georgia?
Georgia looks to win its third straight and fifth overall title in Kirby Smart’s return to Athens. The Bulldogs were the media favorite to win the East and the conference at SEC Media Days. As was the case in 2022, Georgia likely will be double-digit favorites in every regular season game this season. Looking at the East, Tennessee is the only team positioned to challenge Georgia’s dominance. Josh Heupel led the Vols to an 11-2 season with wins against LSU and Alabama. The Vols will look to Joe Milton to replicate Hendon Hooker’s offensive leadership in 2023. Milton has a big arm that Heupel’s offense can exploit to dissect opposing defenses and score early and often; ask the Tigers and Tide. The game in Knoxville between Georgia and Tennessee on November 18th will likely decide who punches its ticket to Atlanta for the championship.
Prediction: Georgia makes a third trip to Atlanta.
SEC Prediction #2: Can Brian Kelly and LSU make it two in year 2
Is the media still discounting Brian Kelly? LSU was picked to finish second in the SEC West and fifty fewer first-place votes than Alabama. We can call that Alabama bias. Kelly returns both of his coordinators, quarterback, and first-team preseason All-American Harold Perkins. On the other hand, Alabama is replacing both coordinators and is still unsure who will be his signal caller this season. Texas A&M poses the other threat to challenge the Tigers. More on that in a moment. The Aggies also look to bounce back after a dysfunctional and disappointing 2022. While Kelly will never win a personality or popularity conference, he knows how to build a winner. The Tigers will reap the benefits once again in 2023.
Prediction: Kelly and the Tigers win the West and return for a rematch against Georiga in Atlanta.
SEC Prediction #3: Yell Practice Disrupts College Station
$77 million. No that is not the next outrageous NIL contract; that is the buyout number if Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M part ways in 2023. The buyout would be the largest ever in college football. But you have to wonder how much Texas A&M and its boosters can put up with. Fisher has underperformed and outside of the 2020 season, has not reached double-digit wins with the Aggies. The 2022 season was a culmination of this frustration, which saw the team finish with a 5-7 record despite having plenty of preseason hype heading into the season. Fisher brought in Bobby Petrino to help “fix” his offense, which is the “official” story.
Fisher has seemed lukewarm to the idea since it first came out and it seems like it could be a powder keg situation for Fisher and the Aggies in 2023. Petrino and Fisher are both strong personalities. I am sure cameras will be on the coach’s box and the sideline trying to decipher the conversations between the two. Another disappointing year in College Station could lead to a historic season but for all the wrong reasons.
Prediction: Joey McGuire will be named Texas A&M’s next head coach in December 2023.
