SEC West
Alabama
Start with the minor miracle in all of this – the NFL talent appears to be sticking around. There’s still a question mark about a secondary that wasn’t quite good enough last year, and the quarterback situation will be the story of the next few weeks, but boo hoo. Win the national championship.
Arkansas
The Hogs are sort of in a fun place in the first year under Sam Pittman – there are NO expectations whatsoever, and they can let loose and do everything possible to build the program back up. They have a brutal SEC schedule, the weakest talent in the West, and none of it matters. Get just a few wins and it’ll be a wild success.
Auburn
No one’s going to put Auburn in the mix for the SEC title with Alabama, Georgia, and even Florida and LSU, but there’s enough in place to make a good run if it can pull off another win over the Tide. It’s on QB Bo Nix to be great, but there’s enough talent in place to win just enough to hang around the West race.
LSU
Don’t set the bar any lower than another SEC title. Great programs replace amazing players with more amazing players, and LSU might have just done that. Of course there won’t be a repeat of 2019’s dominance, but the receiving corps is amazing, the secondary might be the best in college football, and now it’s time to show just how great the program really is. Last year was incredible, but Clemson and Alabama are Clemson and Alabama because of their consistent high-level greatness. LSU can be there. too.
Mississippi State
Who doesn’t want to see this offense do its thing? Mike Leach’s Bulldogs might not challenge for anything huge, but if this O gets up and going, and if Stanford QB KJ Costello really is the NFL-caliber talent he’s supposed to be, the SEC West has a problem.
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Ole Miss
Good luck figuring out what this team is right out of the gate. Alabama and LSU are Alabama and LSU – they’re amazing – and Auburn and Texas A&M have veteran coaches and teams good enough to at least provide a push. Arkansas is the rebuilding program, and Mississippi State has the identity of the Mike Leach offense about to kick in. Ole Miss has Lane Kiffin, and an interesting collection of parts with a great receiving corps and strong group of linebackers. To be trite, here’s your division’s X factor team.
Texas A&M
At SOME point this is going to flip to on. There’s no reason why this very rich program with every possible advantage can’t turn into a superpower under Jimbo Fisher, but it needs to start now in this strangest of seasons. The Aggies have the veteran quarterback in Kellen Mond, and they have a defensive back seven with the upside to be phenomenal. Stick this team in what would’ve been the Big Ten West or Pac-12 South – sky point – and it’s probably the preseason favorite.
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