Alabama (coming off a NC, great defensive scheme experience at QB)

Georgia (second best returning defense in the league, experience at QB, dinged for being unproven at RB and the suspensions early in the year)

Auburn (abysmal on defense last year, but can only get better with BVG. May be a bit high with all the change, but the recruiting would suggest that this will be like LSU's 2009. Coming out of the funk but still some distance from the top. Beat USC last year, somewhat unbelievably. I think they are more dangerous than most probably do.)

South Carolina (goes in cycles with its defense from having a great one to one of the worst in the SEC. Legit D Line talent. Shaw is a question mark as is Lattimore coming off of injury. Healthy Lattimore obviously changes the calculus. Still have questions about his workload and ypc falling late in the season)

Arkansas (Petrino put them in a tough spot. If the other Petrino can call a game to keep that offense humming, they will be much higher than this. The turmoil is a big concern and largely influences this position)

Florida (they were awful last year, I know, but you can't be located in Florida and haul in the talent they get and not have a punchers chance with a better approach on offense, right? Defense should be very good as that is Boom's bread and butter.)

Missouri (Great QB and offense. Will not have the benefit of familiarity with most of its foes. That being said, they also will be an unknown quantity for their opponents. Though they were good against the run last year, their D will have to hold up against more of a power rushing attack league.)

Mississippi State (Loss of Ballard is a big deal. Needs to mature as a team and not let a loss or string of losses make their season fall apart. Hopefully added depth on the offensive line which sunk a promising start last year.)

TAMU (Has talent, maybe some defensive deficiencies. Came off a promising 2010 with a laughable effort in 2011. The Defense was a sieve. New qb, losses at the WR position, and a scheme that emphasizes those positions. Could be some growing pains. Going to have to stop someone in a league that is known for its D.)

Tennessee (The offense when healthy is dangerous, but it isn't ever healthy. Dooley has had some, shall we say, problems at the end of games. His fanbase is not exactly sold on him, and the defense's best secondary player seems to oscillate from CB to Safety every other week. They need to show vast improvement in the back 7 to be competitive this year.)

Vanderbilt (No one ever seems to be able to build off the jumping point year at Vandy. I fear that they will have a bit of a regression. The good news is their 2 SEC wins from last year are still on the sked. :rivalry:)

Kentucky (How did they ever win 5? Joker needs to show a little something this year. That Ole Miss tilt has been replaced with the Razorbacks. Not good for a show me year.)

Ole Miss (They were the worst team I saw last year, and though they can't help but be better, it is hard to figure out what player on the roster could be the x factor to get them out of the cellar. That leads me to conclude that they belong there.)

This post was edited on 7/10/12 at 8:33 am