This season has all the makings of another Florida-Alabama SEC Championship Game. The Tide are the early favorites to repeat as National Champions, and there is still enough of a gap between Florida and the rest of the East that the Gators should find themselves in the thick of any title talk. Beyond the top two, things will get real dicey.
East
- 1. Florida (7-1): It’s not often a team has 9 players drafted and is still picked this highly, but Florida is still that good. QB John Brantley will step in to fill Tim Tebow’s shoes. Brantley has all the physical tools to be successful, but we will have to see how he handles it mentally. He will be aided by an experienced line that returns four starters, as well as a dynamic set of RB’s and some potentially explosive WR’s. The defense must also replace some high draft picks but the defensive line will be strong, especially up the middle, and the secondary will still be one of the best in the conference even without CB Joe Haden. The LB’s may take a step back from last year, but there is plenty of speed and talent looking to step in. The Gators only have three games that look at all losable: @ Alabama, and against LSU and Georgia. It is possible the Gators slip up in more than one of those games, but we think they have enough to beat both LSU and Georgia and make a return trip to the SEC Championship.
- 2. Georgia (5-3): The bad news for Bulldog fans is that they will be breaking in a new starting QB this fall and have virtually no QB with major game experience anywhere on the roster. The good news is the rest of the offense is so good they can take a lot of the load off of whoever wins the job. RB’s Caleb King and Washaun Ealey form the best running combo outside of Alabama, and WR AJ Green is one of the best in the nation. The line will be one of the best in the conference as well. New Defensive Coordinator Todd Grantham has vowed to be aggressive, and the Bulldogs have several defenders capable of getting to the QB. There are some new starters littered throughout the defense, but each position has the potential to be improved over last year. We don’t think the Bulldogs will escape the schedule with any less than at least 2 losses, but they will still have enough talent to make the Gators sweat at the top of the division.
