Pre Season Previews: SEC Conference

I'm back with my on-going College Football Previews, with just two left on the docket. Today i'm taking a look at the SEC, a conference many consider to be the best in the country. And, frankly, it's hard to argue with them. The SEC is stacked, from players to coaches to stadiums to traditions. The SEC is college football, and other than my beloved Big Ten, SEC football is the conference i most enjoy watching.

While winning last year's National Championship with a full-out throttling of Ohio St., Florida returned the SEC to national glory, not that it had been far away. The SEC always puts together a title-contending team (or two), including LSU's share of the National Title in 2004. Florida looks to be loaded yet again for another run at the National Title, Georgia is always in the mix, Alabama and South Carolina can't be discounted based solely on their coaches, Arkansas should once again be good with preseason Heisman favorite Darren McFadden, and LSU might have the most talent of all of them.

On paper, this is stacking up as a venerable powerhouse conference, and looks like they could run roughshod over anyone, anytime. The SEC's problem however, as it always has been, is that precisely because it is so good, it it nearly impossible to survive the conference schedule unscathed, especially when you throw in their conference Championship game at the end of the year. Not being able to emerge undefeated at the end of the season has hurt the SEC teams in the past, when you have teams like USC and Oklahoma/Texas running through jokes of conferences like the Big 12 and the PAC 10. Sorry homers, the PAC 10 and Big 12 do not stack up against the SEC from top to bottom. By a lot.

Florida got lucky last year in that there was only one undefeated team, Ohio St. (Sorry Boise St. fans... you guys were awesome, but if you think the PAC 10 Conference is bad, well, you play in the WAC... Great year and great finish though). And due to the SEC's power, Florida got rewarded for only losing once and was given the BCS Championship slot over other 1-loss teams such as Michigan and Louisville. And by the way, a rematch of Ohio St. and Michigan in the National Championship game would have been the worst thing to happen to the BCS since it's inception, and I'm an admitted Big Ten homer...

So the SEC goes into this year with strong hopes of placing a team in the National Championship game for the second year in a row, and has the teams strong enough to do it. The question remains whether or not they can escape each other first. Without further adu...

Team To Beat: LSU
Sorry Florida fans, i know Tebow is going to be good, but you lose too many starters and have too tough a schedule, with games at LSU, at Georgia, and at South Carolina. LSU, on the other hand, returns 14 starters and has a relatively easy schedule, with only Alabama being a tough road game. LSU gets Florida, Auburn, and Arkansas all at home in Death Valley, which is a tough place to play. And while their non-conference schedule is difficult with Va. Tech, they also get them at home. It's too easy of a schedule for too good of a team not to escape with 1 loss at the most. The rest of the contenders in the conference also have a tough road game schedule, so LSU is the pick here.

Surprising Team: Alabama
While much has been made about Nick Saban returning to the SEC in Tuscaloosa, his team hasn't been given much chance to really succeed this year. But Saban is, despite his trouble in the NFL, a great college coach. And Alabama is a tradition rich school ready to return to its glory years. They do have some talent down there, returning 14 starters from last year, including returning quarterback John Parker Wilson. The Tide's schedule is as favorable as one in the SEC can be, with only road games at Florida St. and Auburn being major road hurdles. They host Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee and LSU at home, and avoid Florida all together. It's still the SEC, but behind Saban and a more experienced Wilson, the Tide should surprise a few people and finish with a better record than they did last year (6-7).

Disappointing Team: Arkansas
After on off-season filled with turmoil, including the transfers of two highly-touted players and one coach, the Athletic Director announcing his retirement, attacks on coach Houston Nutt from all kinds of players parents, and allegations of Nutt's infidelity due to someone getting a hold of his cell phone records, the Razorback program enters the season under a cloud of uncertainty. Add to the mix they are returning only 10 starters from last year, and you have a team that looks on the verge of taking a step backwards from last year's 10-4 record. Then again, they have the best player in the nation in McFadden, so who knows. But with games at Alabama, at Tennessee, and at LSU, Arkansas will be hard-pressed to finish with double digit wins again. I expect them to finish with something like 7 or 8 wins. And while not a bad year, it's not 10 wins and a January bowl like last year.

League MVP: Darren McFadden
Even though i don't expect Arkansas to be quite as good as they were last year, i do expect McFadden to run wild over defenses again. The guy is electric, and lines up all over the field, from running back to receiver to quarterback. With another off-season to tinker with their wildcat package, in which McFadden lines up under center, expect even more wrinkles from Nutt. Do not be surprised if McFadden flirts with 2,000 yards rushing and 20 TD's, plus a few more TD's catching and throwing. He will be the favorite in the Heisman race all year, and unless he gets injured expect him to be hoisting the trophy in December.