Tommy Kendrick jumps out to early lead in local football pick 'em contest

Local football expert Tommy Kendrick

The first weekend of our local ESPN College Football Pick ‘Em Contest is officially in the books and when the dust settled after Saturday’s slate of games, Tommy Kendrick sat atop the local standings.

Kendrick correctly picked the outcomes of eight of 10 games last week to take an early lead in the local contest. Mike Dailey came in second, and defending local champion Drew Skipper came in third. Local radio personality Luther Upton finished fourth overall.

When it came to fifth place, we had a four-way tie between Steven Newton, Arthur Ingram III, Travis Presley and Ricky Taylor. From there, we have a three-way tie for ninth place. Tied for ninth place are Clint Hyde, Chad Emmons and Dale Sims.

David Parker comes next in 13^th place and, in the spirit of total disclosure, I’m in 23^rd place.

With that said, if you’re playing in this contest and didn’t do so well in the first week, don’t feel bad. The contest is 14 weeks long and we’ve got 13 more to go. Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint, and you can bet there will be a lot of changes in the weeks and months to come.

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By my count there will be 13 games this coming weekend involving SEC teams, and here are my predictions for those games.

Ole Miss will play UT-Martin Saturday at 11 a.m. in Oxford, Miss., and I look for Ole Miss to win that one. Also starting at 11 a.m., Kentucky will play Eastern Kentucky in Lexington, Ky., and I look for Kentucky to carry the day in that one as well.

Vanderbilt is scheduled to play Alabama A&M Saturday at 3 p.m. in Nashville, Tenn., and I look for Vandy to get the win in that one. Also starting at 3 p.m., No. 25 Tennessee will play Indiana State in Knoxville, Tenn., and I look for the Vols to improve to 2-0 with a win in that game.

Texas A&M will face Nicholls State at 6 p.m. in College Station, Tenn., and I look for the Aggies to pick up their first win of the season in that one. At 6:30 p.m., No. 17 Florida will take on Northern Colorado in Gainesville, Fla., and I look for the Gators to win big in that one.

Also at 6:30 p.m., No. 13 LSU will play Chattanooga in Baton Rouge, La., and I look for LSU to carry the day in that game. Also at 6:30 p.m., Mississippi State will play Louisiana Tech in Ruston, La., and I look for MSU to edge by Tech in what could be a pretty close game.

One of the bigger games of the day will be the TCU-Arkansas game which will kick off at 2:30 p.m. in Fayetteville, Ark. (CBS). I’m predicting that TCU will win that one in what could be a pretty entertaining game to watch.

In the only game of the day featuring two head-to-head SEC teams, South Carolina and Missouri will face off at 6 p.m. in Columbia, Mo. (ESPN2). I expect Missouri to win that game in what could be another good, close game.

One game that I fully intend to watch is the Georgia-Notre Dame game, which will kick off at 6:30 p.m. on NBC. Georgia enters this game ranked No. 15 in the nation, but I predict that Notre Dame will win this one.

No. 1-ranked Alabama will play Fresno State at 2:30 p.m. in Tuscaloosa (ESPN2), and I think there is little doubt that Alabama will win this one. The only question is by how much.

Last, but not least, No. 12 Auburn will play No. 5 Clemson at 6 p.m. in Clemson, S.C. (ESPN), and I look for Auburn to really find out how good they are in this game. This game could be very close, but I look for the home field advantage to give Clemson the edge they need to win in the end.

Last week: 13-1. So far this year: 13-1.