The Southeastern Conference:
Auburn 14-0, LSU 11-2, Arkansas 10-3, Alabama 10-3, South Carolina 9-5, Mississippi State 9-4, Florida 8-5, Georgia 6-7, Tennessee 6-7, Kentucky 6-7, Mississippi 4-8, Vanderbilt 2-10
Reasons to be excited: It’s still the best conference. Even with expansion in the Big Ten and PAC-10, the SEC’s dominance still holds a solid lead over all others in college football. After five straight National Championship winners, it’s hard to argue with the fact that other conferences haven’t been able to match the SEC. Again in 2011, up to five teams could compete for the National Title. Change and a lot of new faces will take the field come September, though.
Breakout player(s): The future of the Tennessee football program will be in the hands of sophomore quarterback Tyler Bray, and the young gun won’t disappoint Rocky Top. As a true freshman in 2010, Bray got a head start on impressing Tennessee faithful, starting the last five games for the Vol’s, ending with a 4-1 record. He passed for over 1,800 yards and 18 scores, with four 300 yard passing games. Expect huge numbers from Bray in 2011. On defense, the Gators will be faced with the tough task of replacing two standout safeties. Luckily, they’ve got another to throw into the lineup, in sophomore Matt Elam. After making an appearance in all 13 games as a freshman, Elam will help fill the holes left by Ahmad Black and Will Hill in 2011.
Get to work on: The biggest task the SEC faces is keeping the lofty expectations of their fan base in place. It’s no secret everyone wants to take down an SEC school, and numerous schools have a bulls-eye week after week during out of conference play. Alabama couldn’t repeat as champs in 2010, and although they’ve lost quarterback Cam Newton, Auburn will face the same repeat expectations and heavy shoulders the Tide faced last season.
What to look for: Look for a lot of replacements. Graduation and early entrees into the NFL Draft will inflict a blow to quite a few teams at the top of the SEC. The conference loses arguably its best three quarterbacks in Auburn’s Newton, Alabama’s Greg McElroy and Arkansas’ Ryan Mallett. The drafts top wideouts – Georgia’s A.J. Green and ‘Bama’s Julio Jones – will be missed. Top defensive tackles Nick Fairley of Auburn, Marcell Dareus of Alabama and LSU’s Drake Nevis, will all need to be replaced.
Quarterback competitions: Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama and Auburn will all face quarterback changes in 2011. The two competitions to keep an eye on the most are ones with quarterbacks returning, though, in LSU and Florida. The Tigers welcome back seniors Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee, but neither has been helping or impressive throughout their career. Jefferson has been a playmaker at times, as shown against Texas A&M in the Bowl Game, but one will need to step up during spring practices to prove they're ready to lead the Tigers to a title. The Tigers also have junior college transfer and former Georgia quarterback Zach Mettenberger added to the mix. At Florida, it’s not a given senior John Brantley will return as the Gators starting quarterback. Brantley threw just nine scores to 10 interceptions in 2010 and now faces competition from sophomore Jordan Reed and highly touted true freshmen Jeff Driskel and Jacoby Brissett.
Bold Prediction: They’ll be nearly singing and dancing all night long on Rocky Top. Tennessee will build on their impressive finish, ending a game shy of the SEC title game in the SEC East. The pieces are in place around Knoxville to have a return to prominence season. The Vol’s have been plagued by ugly seasons the last three years, but lead by quarterback Tyler Bray and a solid group of young talent and an improving offensive line, the Vol’s will bring a lot of excitement back to Tennessee. A confernece title, however, may be a year or two off.
How they’ll finish: The turnover at the top of the league should create an exciting SEC season. The loss of starting talent at Alabama will hurt the Tide more than most expect, as McElroy was an effective game manager, and wideout Julio Jones and running back Mark Ingram, helped the offense in more ways than by just making plays. Auburn will clearly miss Newton, while the loss of Mallett at Arkansas will slow the Razorbacks push. For fans of Mississippi State, Tennessee and South Carolina, often forgot of teams in the SEC, get your popcorn ready. A heavy group of talent and key pieces still remain. Even with quarterback questions, LSU is the strongest team and should take the competitive SEC West title. In the East, South Carolina will get their second shot at a title, lead by the three headed tandem of quarterback Stephen Garcia, running back Marcus Lattimore and wideout Alshon Jeffery. In the end, the Tigers will be too much to overcome. CHAMP: LSU
No comments:
Post a Comment