The most wonderful time of the preseason is coming up… SEC Media Days.
The annual event to kick off the college football season will get underway on Monday from Grand Hyatt in downtown Nashville, with [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] and the Auburn Tigers set to take the stage on Tuesday.
The anticipation is setting in for those who cover the SEC on a daily basis, including Brad Crawford of 247Sports.
Ahead of SEC Media Days, Crawford revealed his SEC power rankings. The usual suspects of Georgia, Alabama, and LSU are at the top of the list, but where is Auburn? Auburn’s expectations will begin low, as he has placed the Tigers at No. 12.
Crawford references the uncertainty surrounding the program, plus sharing a division with Alabama and LSU, for the low rating.
It’s dangerous slotting a Hugh Freeze-coached team at the bottom of the SEC West standings in the preseason, but the handful of teams in the division behind LSU and Alabama difficult to project at this point. The Tigers will look a good bit different when they step on the field in September and that’s a testament to the roster manipulation that Freeze has been able to accomplish during the offseason. Unsold on his quarterback after the spring game, Freeze added Michigan State’s Payton Thorne from the portal, one of several new expected starters via the transfer market. Thorne has ample experience and has played at a high level at Michigan State, at times.
Auburn is ahead of Florida and Vanderbilt and is one step behind Missouri according to Crawford’s rankings. Here’s a complete look at Crawford’s Power Rankings ahead of SEC Media Days.
| 1. | Georgia |
| 2. | LSU |
| 3. | Alabama |
| 4. | Tennessee |
| 5. | Texas A&M |
| 6. | Ole Miss |
| 7. | South Carolina |
| 8. | Kentucky |
| 9. | Arkansas |
| 10. | Mississippi State |
| 11. | Missouri |
| 12. | Auburn |
| 13. | Florida |
| 14. | Vanderbilt |
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