In an offseason that saw massive addition, the Southeastern Conference said less is more.
Texas and Oklahoma enter the fray and that’s all. The SEC has lived on the moniker of, “It Just Means More” for a few years now. With an expanded playoffs, the SEC gets to prove just that. But exactly how many do they get in?
Nick Saban has moved on to the desk of College GameDay. Are we so sure that the Crimson Tide will just fall off the map? Kalen DeBoer is a great football coach. Don’t spill your sweet tea, I’m not saying he’s Nick Saban, but he’s won everywhere he’s been. The allure of Alabama and a chance to prove it at the highest level was worth the cross country trip. After all, DeBoer’s Washington team squeaked by SEC newbie Texas in the Sugar Bowl before getting rolled by Michigan.
Coach Sark’s incoming Longhorns have a plethora of talent and should transition nicely into the landscape on the arm of Quinn Ewers with Arch Manning lurking in the background. That being said, they’ve been hit hard in the running back room with season ending injuries to CJ Baxter, and freshman from my neck of the woods Christian Clark of Mountain Pointe High School.
Brent Venables’ Sooners, schooner their way into the party with an Oklahoma staple. A defense as tough as a two dollar steak. The downside for the Sooners is their offense might look like a two dollar steak tastes this year. With Dillon Gabriel heading west, the Sooners will see a new QB in Jackson Arnold and five transfers on the offensive line.
In Gainesville, with the Gators’ unbelievably difficult schedule, especially their November finish. Will there be some cranky, booster crocs if Napier starts slow this year? The Gators getting to .500 would be a miracle, and if they don’t fix a very “non Gator like” defense, good guy Billy might not make year four.
Kirby Smart has another loaded roster. He has no problem telling you that either. The Dawgs look to build on a fantastic year from Carson Beck. They’ll need to do the heavy lifting on the road where they’ll visit Alabama, Texas, and Ole Miss.
Losses in Baton Rouge and Knoxville will make for interesting seasons for Kelly and Heupel. The Volunteers have been hyping Nico Iamaleava for the entire offseason. He will get a great chance to prove the hype right. In Death Valley, Garrett Nussmeier isn’t Jayden Daniels. He doesn’t have to be. Nussmeier is more than capable. Is the Bayou Bengals defense capable?
Eli Dinkwitz tries to double down on a great year for Mizzou. Bringing back the dynamic duo of Brady Cook and Luther Burden III is a great start. Add in that they avoid five of the top seven conference opponents in the regular season, they just might.
Dark Horse? Lane Kiffin in Oxford. In fact, I’m so high on the Rebels that calling them a dark horse feels weird. We know Lane has the moxie to lead and has a talent pool of players that can lead them to a deep run. He gets a guy I love for the Heisman back under center in Jaxson Dart and a user friendly regular season schedule.
The battle to get to the conference championship will be fun. No divisional play for the first time since 1991. When all the dust settles, I like the Rebels and the Dawgs in Atlanta and Lane might just finally break through. I also like the SEC to show their strength yet again and send Georgia, Texas, Ole Miss, Alabama, and Tennessee to the expanded College Football Playoff.
