THE CONSENSUS:
SEC East:
1. Florida (#6 overall - AT: #6, LN: #11, SN: #5, SS: #6, ST: #10)
2. Georgia (#11 overall - AT: #16, LN: #17, SN: #14, SS: #16, ST: #9)
3. Tennessee (#16 overall - AT: #20, LN: #7, SN: #18, SS: #21, ST: #26)
4. South Carolina (#32t overall - AT: #39, LN: #40, SN: #36, SS: --, ST: #11)
5. Kentucky (#48 overall - AT: #43, LN: #48, SN: #53, SS: --, ST: #47)
6. Vanderbilt (#61 overall - AT: #45, LN: #78, SN: #78, SS: --, ST: #52)
SEC West:
1. LSU (#2 overall - AT: #3, LN: #2, SN: #2, SS: #4, ST: #2)
2. Auburn (#23 overall - AT: #21, LN: #23, SN: #16, SS: #14, ST: #40)
3. Alabama (#27 overall - AT: #29, LN: #34, SN: #31, SS: --, ST: #19)
4. Arkansas (#28 overall - AT #34, LN: #14, SN: #33, SS: #12, ST: #33)
5. Mississippi (#63t overall - AT: #75, LN: #77, SN: #54, SS: --, ST: #65)
6. Mississippi State (#73 overall - AT: #71, LN: #70, SN: #86, SS: --, ST: #63)
OVERRATED: Florida. History seems to have rewritten them as some sort of dominant force who, in retrospect, was easily the top team in the country in 2006. Really, they were a very good team that happened to get lucky, and then played the game of their lives in the national championship. And now they've lost about 2/3 of their starters.
UNDERRATED: South Carolina. They were one blocked kick away from beating Florida, and played Arkansas and Auburn close. A few breaks, and this could've easily been a 10-win team last year. And they return all but one starter on defense, and Steve Spurrier is their coach. Watch out.
THE TFFE OFFICIAL RANKINGS, POWER POLL STYLE:
SEC East:
1. South Carolina
Yes, really. And believe it or not, last year's team, coached by Steve Spurrier, performed better than they did on defense than on offense. And they return an insane amount of experience on the defensive side of the ball. On the defensive line, the Gamecocks get back injured starters DE Jordin Lindsey and DT Marque Hall, along with starting nose tackle Nathan Pepper. The fourth DE spot should be filled by sophomore Eric Norwood, who started no games last year, but still tied for the team lead with 7 sacks. One of last year's starting DEs, Casper Brinkley, gets moved to OLB, where he'll play alongside All-SEC MLB Jasper Brinkley, who, yes, is his twin brother. Returning starter Rodney Paulk takes up the third LB spot, and once again, South Carolina gets some ex-starters back from injury, in this case Dustin Lindsey and Cody Wells. And they return all the starters in the secondary too! And then, of course, there's the offense. QB Blake Mitchell has had a spotty career, but had wholly decent numbers in 6 starts last year: 1789 yards on 66.8 passing and a 10/6 TD/INT ratio. He should improve on those and become an above average player. At the rest of the skill positions, the one major loss is their top WR Sidney Rice, but top JuCo recruit Larry Freeman should at least somewhat fill that void. The major concern for the offense, and for the team as a whole, is in the offensive line, where officially, two starters return, but the other three projected starters do have starting experience. While the offensive line probably won't be elite, it should at least continue to improve, as even if the experienced players disappoint, Spurrier has brought in a number of talent youth which may right the boat. South Carolina should be much improved for a number of reasons; firstly, Georgia was their only loss last year that wasn't close - a few breaks, and they could've been in Florida's spot last year; hell, a few breaks against Florida, and FLORIDA wouldn't have been in Florida's spot. Secondly, the offense was above-average in terms of offensive yardage, but didn't see this translate into scoring - some regression to the mean, combined with returning talent and the fact that, well, Steve freakin' Spurrier is their coach, suggests a dramatic offensive improvement. And while the defense, conversely, allowed less points than their yardage would dictate, they should be able to repeat that by returning 10 of 11 starters. On the surface, the Gamecocks' SEC schedule seems brutal, with road games at Georgia, LSU, Tennessee, and Arkansas. In fact, three of those are quite winnable; Carolina faces Georgia early, at a time when their defense may not have come together, Arkansas is overrated, and well, Tennessee, come on, this is a Spurrier-coached team. The LSU game, as well as home against Florida, should be the two keys - the Gators should be dangerous since SC gets them late in the year, but Carolina luckily gets them in Columbia. 11 of these games are winnable on paper, and when you look at Spurrier's Carolina tenure, he sometimes wins games he shouldn't (Tennessee and Florida two years ago ring a bell). When Spurrier became coach at Carolina, some people said that in three years, he'd have them as a national title contender. While perception may not be so at the moment, those people might be right.
THE REALM OF POSSIBILITIES: 9-12 overall wins, 5-8 conference wins
2. Florida
Florida finished top-10 in yardage defense and at #21 in offense, so yes, they were a pretty good team last year. Still, they were quite lucky, as their wins over Tennessee, Alabama, LSU, Vanderbilt, and of course, South Carolina, could've easily been losses. With only 6 returning starters on offense and 2 on defense, it almost doesn't matter, but I don't think a team so scarce on starting experience would be regarded as highly after an 8-4 season. Still, I don't think the team will be awful, just not a national title contender. Tim Tebow, at the very least, proved to be a great I-AA quarterback against Western Carolina, and he will be helped by two great receivers, senior Andre Caldwell and do-everything sophomore Percy Harvin. Also helping Tebow progress will be the offensive line, where four of Florida's 8 returning starters are located, including two 2nd team all-SEC players in C (RG in '06) Drew Miller and RT Phil Trautwein. The defense is much more of a question mark, returning only 2nd team all-SEC DE Derrick Harvey, SS Tony Joiner, 2005 starting FS Kyle Jackson, and a whole bunch of players who, in some cases, may have started one game. Florida's recruiting level is at the point where they can continually restock with young talent and, quite frankly, upperclassman talent, but replacing, you know, 4/5 of the defense should result in some growing pains. Still, at LSU is the one game on the Florida schedule that looks like an extremely likely loss. Home games at Tennessee and Auburn early could go either way, mostly due to the Gators' in experience, but Florida should be operating at full capacity by their games against Georgia, at South Carolina, and against Florida State. All in all, it should still be a good year for Florida -- although they're overrated as a top-5, and probably even a top-10 team, they should be at a similar level to 2005, 9 or so wins, and somewhere between the #3 and 5 team in the SEC as a whole.
THE REALM OF POSSIBILITIES: 8-11 overall wins, 4-7 conference wins
3. Georgia
Georgia's offense wasn't THAT terrible last year - they finished around the middle of the NCAA in scoring, and while their yardage numbers were admittedly below-average, they still actually managed to gain more yards per game than Georgia Tech, who had, you know, the best player in college football last year in Calvin Johnson. And things should improve - while TE and leading receiver Martrez Milner departs, all starters return at the skill positions, and get back ex-starting WR Sean Bailey from injury. Sophomore QB Matthew Stafford should also improve greatly from a rough rookie campaign, where he threw for 1749 yards on only 53% passing and a 7/13 TD/INT ratio in 8 starts. The offensive line looks like a concern, returning only two starters, but apparently has impressed greatly between seasons. The defense, always a strength for UGA, was #9 in yardage last year, but the Bulldogs return only 3 starters after star CB Paul Oliver was declared ineligible and left for the NFL. Still, Georgia's defense is at a level where it remains consistently good year in and year out, and everyone returning on the depth charts is either experienced or was highly rated coming out of high school. While the defense should be down a notch from years past, especially facing Oklahoma State and South Carolina to kick off the year, the UGA defense should still be above-average. While this doesn't look like a national title-contender level team, Georgia should again be very good this year, especially later on. I could see them dropping games early both vs. South Carolina and at Alabama, or even vs. Oklahoma State, as both Stafford and players on the defense mature. However, once late September rolls around, it wouldn't shock me to see Georgia go on a tear and win their last eight games, with Florida at Jacksonville being the only obvious swing game. Georgia should be slightly improved over last year, and if Stafford develops as planned, seem very well-prepared for 2008.
THE REALM OF POSSIBILITIES: 8-11 overall wins, 4-7 conference wins
4. Tennessee
Tennessee was an above-average team on both sides of the ball, but with four games that could've gone either way (vs. Air Force, Kentucky, and Florida, as well as at South Carolina), the Vols were lucky to win three of those and go 9-3 in the regular season. The offense should once again be solidly above-average, but may not be as great as you'd think with senior QB Erik Ainge, who's probably no worse than the SEC's #2 passer. The offensive line also returns three starters, and has enough experienced depth to at least remain steady, if not improve, despite the loss of All-American left tackle Arron Sears. The, perhaps temporary, loss of RB LaMarcus Coker, will be a concern, as while Tennessee returns some experienced backs in Montario Hardesty and Arian Foster, neither cracked 4 yards per carry last year. The receiving corps are the biggest concern of all, as the only returning WR of note is junior Lucas Taylor, who was #7 on the team with 14 catches for 101 yards last season. On defense, things generally look better, led by the linebacking corps of returning starters Jerod Mayo and Ryan Karl, and top backup Rico McCoy. The defensive line should also be constant, if not improved, as despite losing two NFL-caliber DTs, they should be replaced by two more with NFL-level talent in JT Mapu and Demonte Bolden. If either disappoints, however, there's enough talented youth at the position to at least play well. The secondary is the x-factor of the defense, as past 2nd team all-SEC free safety Jonathan Hefney, the next surest thing is probably uber-recruit true frosh CB Eric Berry. Still, much like the DTs, there's enough high-level talent that someone will stick. Really, this team...should be pretty good. And that is really all there is to say. This is a team this is completely unspectacularly above-average. Example, QB Erik Ainge. He's very good. He's not GREAT, but he's very good. And that's the story of this team on pretty much every level. And looking at the schedule, that'll be about how their season goes. Not a national title level, probably not an SEC title level, but probably not .500. Just...pretty good.
THE REALM OF POSSIBILITIES: 7-10 overall wins, 4-6 conference wins
5. Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt actually wasn't all that bad last year after losing star QB Jay Cutler; the Commodores projected out to about a 6-6 team last season. And even better, 18 of 22 starters return for this year. Now-junior QB Chris Nickson played well after being thrown to the wolves in his first two games (at Michigan, at Alabama), throwing for 2085 yards and a 15/13 TD/INT ratio, as well as leading the team in rushing with 694 yards and 9 TD. He should improve, at least as a passer, and it'll help that he has two-time all-SEC WR Earl Bennett to throw to. The running game should also improve, as both Cassen Jackson-Garrison and 2005 starter Jeff Jennings return; luckily, they'll be running behind five returning starters on the offensive line. The defense should be improved, especially against the pass, as all four starters return in the secondary. The front seven, led by LB Jonathan Goff, should improve, but may not necessarily be especially great - the Commodores lose three starters, and Vanderbilt isn't the level of program that can bring in young recruits that can immediately play. As a whole though, Vandy should be improved, and the gap between them and other SEC teams isn't as wide as people think. They have a winnable out of conference schedule, with the only tough game being vs. Wake Forest, and winnable home games against Mississippi and Kentucky. Plus, again, Vandy is at the level where they can pull off an upset against one of the better teams, so the Commodores have an excellent shot at bowl eligibility.
THE REALM OF POSSIBILITIES: 4-7 overall wins, 1-3 conference wins
6. Kentucky
We'll start with the offense, since, frankly, that's the side of the ball that matters here. The Wildcats offense wasn't top 10 or top 15 as you'd expect, but was still quite above-average, and it should improve, mostly due to the talent at the skill positions: all-SEC WR Keenan Burton, 2005 all-SEC RB Rafael Little, and 2nd team all-SEC QB Andre' Woodson, who put up an insane line of 3515 yards on 63% passing with a 31/7 TD/INT. The offensive line's somewhat of a concern - they only return 2 starters, but with injuries to the line last year, there's some returning starting experience, so the unit should at least be decent. As for the defense, well, OLB Wesley Woodyard was an all-SEC player last year, and there's some returning talent, but that almost doesn't matter since the Wildcats D hemorrhaged yardage last year, faring better than only Louisiana Tech. On the plus side, DC Mike Archer was hired away by NC State for some unknown reason, but the replacement is DB coach Steve Brown. I suppose having the third-worst pass defense is an improvement over being responsible for the second-worst overall defense, so while the Wildcats D should improve to "respectably bad", I don't foresee a drastic turnaround. That said, there's enough offensive talent to win some fun shootouts, but Kentucky was lucky last year (~4-5 projected wins), and the schedule does them no favors. Eastern Kentucky, Kent State, and Florida Atlantic are an easy 3/4 of their OOC schedule, but the rivalry game against Louisville is, well, quite the opposite. The only SEC game in which Kentucky looks like a favorite is against Mississippi State, as they draw Vanderbilt on the road and miss Ole Miss. There's enough firepower there to maybe upset Tennessee at home, or win at Arkansas, but all in all, this looks like a drastic regression to the mean. Essentially, this team is like Texas Tech, but without the defense, and frankly, not as good an offense.
THE REALM OF POSSIBILITIES: 4-6 overall wins, 1-3 conference wins
SEC West:
1. LSU
A slam dunk. A top 15 offense last year, replacing the #1 draft pick with possibly a better QB (yeah, I said it.), and 8 starters returning from a top-5 defense. The only point of concern may be the loss of now-Florida State OC Jimbo Fisher, who will be replaced by Oregon's Gary Crowton; however, Oregon's offense did just as well as LSU's last year, so if there's any drop-off, it should be minor. The big focus will be on senior QB Matt Flynn, who's played very well (689 yards, 10/2 TD/INT) when called upon, but is replacing #1 draft pick JaMarcus Russell, who threw for 3129 on 68% passing with a 28/8 TD/INT last year. While Flynn may not match those numbers, I think LSU will still be improved at QB, as Flynn shouldn't make many dumb mistakes, such as, say, scrambling with less than a minute left and no timeouts when trying to come back against Auburn. I mean, who would ever do that? (Hint: JaMarcus Russell.) The Tigers also lose their top two WRs, but return Early Doucet, their just as talented #3. They also have an insane influx of new talent at WR, including 5'5" converted RB Trindon Holliday, probably the fastest man in college football; therefore, there shouldn't be much of a dropoff. LSU also returns four starters along the line, and has a USC-like amount of riches at running back, even with senior Alley Broussard quitting the team recently. On the other side of the ball, the #14 run defense in the country should be even better, as All-American DT Glenn Dorsey returns, as well as five other starters, including senior OLB Ali Highsmith and 2nd-Team SEC DE Tyson Jackson. LSU was #4 against the pass this year, and may actually now be the weakness of this defense, if only due to the loss of All-American free safety LaRon Landry. Starting CBs Chevis Jackson and Jonathan Zenon are the two returning starters, but strong safety should be fine in the hands of Craig Steltz, who became the first LSU player with an interception in 4 straight games. Even if the offense experiences some problems transitioning to Crowton's offense, the defense is more than good enough to carry the Tigers. LSU also got lucky with the schedule, as possible threats Florida, South Carolina, and out of conference, Virginia Tech, all have to come to Death Valley, leaving the only real trap game as November 3rd at Alabama. Anything less than the BCS title game would be disappointment, and anything less than an SEC title would be disaster.
THE REALM OF POSSIBILITIES: 10-12 overall wins, 6-8 conference wins
2. Alabama
Mike Shula got a pretty raw deal, letting Tyrone Prothro shatter his leg in a blowout aside, as after a 10-2 year in 2005, the Tide could've had double-digit wins last year rather than ending 6-7 like they did. Alabama outgained 10 of their 12 opponents, and 5 of those were close, along with a close loss to Tennessee. If they had won half of those close games, rather than 1 of 6, Alabama would've finished 8-4 in the regular season, and with some luck, actually could've hit 10 or 11 wins. The Tide offense was completely decent last year, and should take some steps forward with 9 returning starters. QB John Parker Wilson was perfectly fine last year, throwing for 2707 on 57% passing and a 17/10 TD/INT ratio, and should continue to improve; plus he has his top two WRs returning in Keith Brown and 2nd team all-SEC DJ Hall. The running game seems to be the weak point of the offense for the time being, as star RB Kenneth Darby and NFL-caliber FB Le'Ron McClain both graduate. Still, there's talent there, and the new stable of backs will be running behind an elite-level offensive line, led by super-soph LT Andre Smith and 2nd team all-SEC center Antoine Caldwell. Defense, as usual, was the strength for Alabama this year, and while that should be over the case early, things may be slightly rough early. as they only return 5 starters on defense and are switching to a 3-4. Still, things should be above-average, as both starting DEs return, and 2 of the 4 LB spots will be taken by top-tier sophomore Prince Hall and 2005 starting DE Keith Saunders. The rest of the front seven is one of those cases where everyone returning either has high talent or experience, and someone should stick and play at a high level. In the secondary, Alabama's top-20 pass defense should at least remain constant, as they return FS Marcus Carter, as well as all-SEC Simeon Castille and part-time starter Eric Gray at cornerback. Plain old regression (or in this case, progression) to the mean would account for an 8 or 9 win season, but the Crimson Tide are also lucky with their schedule, drawing possible threats Arkansas, Georgia, and Tennessee at home, as well as possible upset LSU. Road games at Florida State and, of course, Auburn may be tricky, but all-in-all this looks like a team poised to have a huge rebound season. And, quite frankly, Nick Saban is an upgrade over Mike Shula, even if the latter did kind of get the shaft. This should be a year similar to 2005, where Alabama surprises and becomes an SEC title contender, if not a title contender.
THE REALM OF POSSIBILITIES: 8-12 overall wins, 5-8 conference wins
3. Arkansas
Oh, this was a close choice. Arkansas was probably closer to a top-20 team rather than top-10, but were still a solidly above average team, around, say, an 8-4 level. The star of the show, and seemingly the unanimous choice for best player in college football, is RB Darren McFadden, who ran for 1714 and 14 TD last season. I've always thought McFadden was very good, but I never saw him as the runaway best player that he seems to be pegged as -- I don't think he's at, say, an Adrian Peterson level, but is better than, say, Marshawn Lynch. At any rate, McFadden and Felix Jones (1225, 6 TD) should once again be the top running back duo in the nation, even if the offensive line has some questions. Oh, and they have a top-tier fullback in Peyton Hillis. The passing game is much more of a worry, as star WR Marcus Monk will miss a few games, and the rest of the receiving corps is fairly unproven. QB Casey Dick is somewhat more proven, meaning that he's proven that he's really not that good. His TD/INT ratio at least remained positive at 9/6, but that 49.2% completion rate, not so much. The offense should still be somewhat above-average though, if only for the talent of their running backs. The defense has improved the last few years under DC Reggie Herring, and things should at least stay steady this year. The defensive line may be hurt a bit by an injury to DT Marcus Harrison, but the unit still returns two other starters, and players at the other two positions with starting experience. The secondary also returns three of their four starters. The weakness of the defense may be the linebacking corps, which returns one starter from 06 and one from 05, but does lose all-SEC Sam Olajubutu. Arkansas should be pretty good no matter what -- it's hard to gauge how much the loss of OC Guz Malzahn will hurt, mostly since McFadden and Jones should guarantee the offense will be above-average, and the defense should at least remain above-average. Like most SEC teams, at LSU looks like the one very likely loss, and Arkansas splits its luck otherwise, getting Auburn and South Carolina at home, but Alabama and Tennessee on the road. #12 or #14 seems like a bit much unless Arkansas gets some breaks, but the Razorbacks should be a solid top-25ish team.
THE REALM OF POSSIBILITIES: 7-10 overall wins, 3-6 conference wins
4. Auburn
Auburn was damn lucky last year, projecting out as about a 6-7 win team, but managing 10 in the regular season. The big concern on offense is the line, where senior King Dunlap returns at left tackle, but that's it, that's the list. While there is some upperclassman depth, there's very little in terms of starting experience, which should make the Auburn running game's performance interesting to watch. They lose NFL-caliber RB Kenny Irons, but I always found Irons fairly underrated, as the offense was just as good if not better when Irons was hurt and Brad Lester took over; still, Auburn backs have had some very good lines to run behind, and if that was the key to Lester's success, well, uh oh. QB Brandon Cox has been a three-year starter, but his stats last year were not overly impressive: 2198 yards for a 14/9 TD/INT ratio on 60.1% passing. Good numbers, but not blow away, though Cox does at least get 4 of his top 5 receivers back, losing only #1 WR Courtney Taylor. The defense was above-average last year, but given their yardage numbers, were quite lucky to finish at #7 in scoring defense. The Tigers return three of their front four, including all-SEC DE Quentin Groves, and the LB corps should also be a strength, as starting MLB Merrill Johnson returns along with super-soph and last year's part-time starter, OLB Tray Blackmon. The pass defense was #21 nationally last season, and should continue to be the defense's strength, as the secondary loses only star CB David Irons, and has enough talent to replace him. On the whole, Auburn's defense should remain above-average, but those offensive problems could result in any number of scenarios for the offense's performance. The schedule doesn't really pay them any favors, as the Tigers kick off the season with Kansas State and South Florida, either of which could be losses. Plus, Auburn gets Florida, Arkansas, LSU, and Georgia all on the road, greatly diminishing their chances of upsets there. Still, this looks like a solid team that should easily be bowl-eligible, but if you want to pick a SEC team that could pull an '05 Tennessee and collapse compared to last season (besides Kentucky, obviously), this may be the best shot.
THE REALM OF POSSIBILITIES: 5-8 overall wins, 3-5 conference wins
5. Mississippi State
The Bulldogs actually weren't too bad last year, as they performed at about a 5-6 win level, but had some bad luck, mostly in a defense that allowed much more scoring than the yardage would dictate. Hell, they only lost to Georgia and Kentucky by a field goal each, so with some luck, this team would be viewed in a much more positive light. The offense was pretty bad last year, but somewhat luckily?, the team gets back 9 starters on that side of the ball. The Bulldogs QBs suffered a bunch of injuries last year, but return their leading passer in junior Michael Henig, whose overall line of 1201 yards on 43.8 passing and a 7/9 TD/INT ratio, which is less than inspiring. He torched the Kentucky defense pretty well last year, though, so that proves...something, I'm sure. That he plays the quarterback position, we'll go with that. Plus they now have an insurance policy in top JuCo QB Josh Riddell. Things should also be better with a very experienced offensive line, as each projected starter started at least half of last season. The Bulldogs also return starting RB Anthony Dixon, who gained 707 and 9 TD last year as a true frosh, though he struggled with injuries. And much like at QB, MSU brings in an insurance policy, in this case top RB recruit Robert Elliott. The Bulldogs also return underrated TE Eric Butler, and WR Tony Burks, who led the SEC in yards per catch last year. They also add top-flight JuCo WR Co-Eric Riley, who may gain the #2 spot, and also has a great name. The defense is more of a question mark, to an extent. The front seven is a mixed bag - MSU returns 2nd team all-SEC DE Titus Brown and 2 of 3 starting linebackers, but past that it's top JuCo DT Jesse Bowman and quite a bit of question marks. The secondary also has good news and bad news - 2nd team all-SEC CB Derek Pegues returns and moves to free safety, alongside returning starter Keith Fitzhugh, but the CBs left are somewhat of a crapshoot. Still, the level of performance should remain the same, and some of last year's bad luck with scoring should be alleviated, and the defensive stats should be improved via, at least, regression to the mean. While Mississippi State plays West Virginia out of conference, the rest of their non-SEC slate contains Tulane, UAB, and Gardner-Webb, three easily winnable games. MSU also gets Ole Miss at home, and, remember, this was around a .500-level team this season: they could easily win at Kentucky, and if Sylvester Croom can pull off one his upsets that gets a coach fired (Florida in '04, Alabama last year), that would bring Mississippi State to bowl eligibility. And why yes, they do get Tennessee at home. Anyway, this is a team on the way up, and this seems like a situation similar to Vanderbilt in Jay Cutler's senior year - a shot at bowl eligibility, likely to take a step back next year, but well-positioned to be much improved in the future. Hopefully Sly Croom'll be around to see it.
THE REALM OF POSSIBILITIES: 3-6 overall wins, 0-3 conference wins
6. Mississippi
Don't hurt me, Ed Orgeron. The Rebels played at a 1-3 win level last year, and as bad as Mississippi State's offense was, Ole Miss's was even worse. And their defense was no good, too. There's some reason for optimism though, at least on offense, where 9 starters return, although that does include versatile QB/Soulcrushing Disappointment Brent Schaeffer. RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis should once again be the standout on offense, as he gained 1000 yards and 7 TD last year, and will return behind an offensive line that returns both four starters and left tackle Michael Oher, one of the best in the nation. The receiving corps also returns pretty much everyone, including do-everything Dexter McCluster, and adds AJ Jackson, Brent Schaeffer's top WR in junior college. The defensive line should be the best part of the defense, as they return all four starters, but the Ole Miss LBs are a horribly inexperienced unit, returning only 7 tackles. The secondary is a mixed bag, as SS Jamarca Sanford and CB Nate Banks return, but past that, things are a question mark, especially at free safety. While there's lots of shiny talent here thanks to Ed Orgeron's excellent recruiting skills, this team sort of reminds me of the Minnesota Vikings - great along the offensive and defensive lines, with two great skill position players (McCluster/Green-Ellis, Taylor/Peterson), but hey, you're gonna need much more than that to win anything. Though hey, at least the Rebels have a I-A quarterback. And, fairly easily, the worst team in the SEC. Though, hey, 2009 looks good!
THE REALM OF POSSIBILITIES: 2-4 overall wins, 0-2 conference wins
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