Who Has the Power in the SEC in 2010? My SEC Preview and a couple of thoughts nationally

I love college football! I love the SEC—especially LSU! I love this time of year!
The preseason rankings are out, and Alabama and Florida seem to be in everybody’s top 5. That’s fine. They’ve earned it. But, are they really the best teams in their respective divisions much less among the best in the country? Maybe.

Florida won every game last year except the one with Alabama, but its offense, in the first year without Dan Mullen, wasn’t nearly as effective against decent and bad SEC defenses. They began to struggle with LSU. An uncalled offensive interference led to their only touchdown, and the lowest point total in Meyer’s tenure. Then they needed a winning field goal to beat Arkansas and its horrible defense. Bad calls by the refs and Dan Mullen set up their win over Mississippi State. A fourth quarter touchdown stretched the lead to 10 over South Carolina.

The only one of these teams that should have been able to compete with Florida was LSU. Good thing for Florida that Les Miles didn’t call anything risky like a forward pass. (3 completions longer than 10 yards—only 6 incompletions)
I think Florida may struggle more this season. Besides losing their saint, they also lost a ton of other talent, their long-time defensive coordinator, and they’ll have to revamp to a more conventional offense that will be easier to game-plan against by their opponents.

I do think they’ll win the EAST because I don’t think South Carolina or Georgia can step up and beat them. They may win it all, but that will have to start with their game against Alabama on Oct 2, unless South Florida shocks the world.

South Carolina could challenge them if their defense can play up to its potential. It will need some consistency from the offense which hasn’t been there since Steve Taneyhill was the QB.

Georgia has another new QB, and this one is a freshman. They also have a new defensive coordinator, finally, and a new 3-4 scheme. I think they’ll lose some early games.

Though I wish Randall Cobb played for LSU, he can only play one position at a time for Kentucky. That’s not enough fot them to be competitive. I like Coach Caldwell, and I wish he had better players to work with at Vanderbilt.

Alabama may be AWESOME this year. I thought they’d struggle a little last season with McElroy, and they did. Only, it wasn’t at the beginning of the season against VA TECH. It was in the middle, and all of that was sorted out before the LSU game. Replacing an entire defense in the SEC is one hell of a task. I know Alabama has a ton of new talent to put on the field, but this is asking a whole lot. As great as they were last year, Alabama was behind in the 4th against LSU and Auburn and surprisingly struggled with Tennessee. Seven opponents, or more, could give them problems this season.

LSU. An enigma wrapped in a mystery. The team underachieved last season, even though they were only upset once—by Ole Miss, and that was a give-away. Better offensive play-calling may have changed the outcome of the Florida game, and they may have beaten Alabama if the interception by Peterson had stood. There were also the close calls against Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, LA TECH, and Arkansas. I’m hoping for better blocking from an offensive line that replaces some starters. I’m hoping for better defensive line play from a group that looks pretty by SEC standards. I’m a Jefferson believer, but he can’t take all those sacks again. The coaches need to earn those lofty salaries, especially Crowton—and Miles. If they finish the Tennessee game 5-0, they may be able to beat a Florida team coming off a physical game against Alabama. Win this one and all they’ll have to do is beat Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss, Arkansas and probably Florida again to cruise to the national championship game. I’m hoping Miles doesn’t get in the way of the team’s success. If he does, I wonder if LSU will look at Mullen. I’d really like to see what Mike Leach could do with this team, I couldn’t care less if he interviews in his bare feet.

Arkansas and Auburn. Ryan Mallett is one fine QB that made a few dumb throws at the worst times last season. If he can exorcize those demons, he could be GREAT! Auburn had a great offense, but can you name any of their starters? That’s good coaching. Neither team played defense last season. If this changes, either team could be really good.

Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Even with Masoli, I don’t know if Ole Miss has enough players on either side of the ball to play with the big boys this season. Mississippi State was surprisingly competitive in a lot of games last season with only a handful of players that could have started for the top half of the SEC. If a couple of those close losses turn into wins, they’ll go to a bowl this season. I wonder how long they’ll be able to keep Mullen.

Regarding the conference hopping:
Power-wise, I think the Big 12 will really be hurt by Nebraska’s defection. Besides losing one of their best teams, the loss of their championship game (for now) could be enough to keep them from sending any team to the championship game after this season. An undefeated champion may not make it.

The Pac 10 gains from the shuffling by being able to stage a championship game. One more win against a highly-ranked team will make their champion BCS-worthy. Power-wise, adding Utah and Colorado is a wash.

The Big 10 wins going away in the shuffling. Adding a strong Nebraska without taking a weaker team and a championship game is HUGE. Unless the teams beat up each other resulting in a two-loss champion, I expect to see the Big 10 battle the SEC for the next couple of BCS championships.

I hope you enjoyed this, whether you agree with any of it or not. Let me know what you think, either way.

Thanks and keep the power,
Bill Ellis
Bill.theallpowerful.ellis@gmail.com