USA TODAY International Edition
QBs help Georgia, LSU close gap on Alabama
To get ready for the college football season, USA TODAY Sports is ranking each of the Power Five leagues from its best team through its worst. Up next: the Southeastern Conference.
Alabama is the undisputed favorite, to little surprise. The Crimson Tide aim to take back the national championship while breaking in new coordinators on offense and defense for the third year in a row. Not that Nick Saban’s program will miss a beat.
As always, the SEC is loaded with contenders for the College Football Playoff. There’s Georgia knocking on the door. LSU has the pieces of a great offense, which we’ve heard before. Florida, Texas A& M and Auburn are locks for the Top 25.
It’s the strongest league in the Bowl Subdivision. Whether that translates into another title depends on how the SEC’s best matches up with, well, Clemson.
( Each team is followed by projected regular- season record. The number in parenthesis represents the team’s place in USA TODAY Sports’ summer rankings of the Bowl Subdivision.)
1. Alabama, 12- 0 ( No. 2): It’s a pretty simple formula: Saban, Tua Tagovailoa, the nation’s best receiver corps and an outstanding defense paced by its linebackers equals a simply elite football team. Does last season’s CFP championship game defeat to Clemson serve as inspiration for the Tide to get better this season?
2. Georgia, 11- 1 ( No. 3): Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs are on a collision course for the national title and could easily do so in 2019 should they find playmakers at wide receiver and stay healthy on both sides of the line. Jake Fromm again should be a steady hand at quarterback.
3. LSU, 10- 2 ( No. 6): There are zero questions on Dave Aranda’s defense and the makings of a surprisingly explosive offense behind quarterback Joe Burrow, though that side of the ball must take the next step to handle road trips against Texas and Alabama.
4. Texas A& M, 9- 3 ( No. 12): Drawing Clemson, Alabama and Georgia – the top three teams in the USA TODAY Sports’ summer poll re- rank – makes a Playoff berth essentially a non- starter in 2019, but given the program’s recruiting and recent player development it seems like just a matter of time for Jimbo Fisher and the Aggies.
5. Florida, 9- 3 ( No. 13): Florida is extremely capable of making a New Year’s Six bowl for the second consecutive season under Dan Mullen should the staff patch up the offensive line and maintain quarterback Felipe Franks’ development into an all- conference contender.
6. Auburn, 8- 4 ( No. 15): With as much boom- or- bust potential as any team in the Power Five and a star- studded defensive line, Auburn could shock the SEC to reach double- digit wins or linger at the baseline for bowl eligibility – so let’s split the difference. Inexperience at quarterback is a major concern.
7. Missouri, 8- 4 ( No. 41): The schedule is extremely friendly – crossover games come against Arkansas and Mississippi – and Clemson transfer Kelly Bryant adds a new dimension on offense, placing Missouri in line for eight or nine wins during the regular season and a place among the top three in the East Division. A successful appeal of its bowl ban would be a bonus.
8. Mississippi State, 7- 5 ( No. 45): The Bulldogs could be in the Top 25 in October thanks to a smooth early slate but don’t have the playmakers on defense to stay on the radar as the schedule turns beastly in the second half. Is Penn State transfer Tommy Stevens the answer at quarterback?
9. Tennessee, 7- 5 ( No. 51): It’ll be a return to the postseason at last for Tennessee, which might top out at seven wins but has reason to dream behind junior quarterback Jarrett Guarantano, a more experienced offensive line and upper- tier recruits all along its two- deep.
10. Kentucky, 7- 5 ( No. 53): Pick against Mark Stoops’ program at your own peril, but losing all- time program stars including running back Benny Snell and linebacker Josh Allen makes it hard to picture a repeat of last year’s historic season that saw the Wildcats win 10 games for the first time since 1977.
11. South Carolina, 6- 6 ( No. 64): There’s just no wiggle room nor a chance to breathe against a schedule that includes North Carolina, Alabama, Texas A& M and Clemson in addition to the Gamecocks’ normal divisional foes. A lot will be on the shoulders of senior quarterback Jake Bentley.
12. Mississippi, 4- 8 ( No. 92) The Rebels have two new coordinators in Rich Rodriguez and Mike MacIntyre yet lack the proven skill talent on offense, depth in the back seven of its altered defense and the overall experience to navigate through the West Division. A bowl is now possible after their NCAA ban.
13. Arkansas, 5- 7 ( No. 98): Arkansas was better than its record indicated in Chad Morris’ debut and are beginning to reclaim the personnel needed to win league games in the fourth quarter, so don’t be surprised if the Razorbacks steal an upset and stand on the verge of six wins in late November.
14. Vanderbilt, 4- 8 ( No. 99): Vanderbilt is the safest bet to bring up the rear in the SEC despite likely all- conference running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn and coach Derek Mason’s pedigree on defense, though that side of the ball does lose five top contributors from a year ago.