The Beast's SEC Football Preview

East Division

1. Florida Win the East. They must. While winning the SEC title isn't a sin, not winning a division title is. Urban Meyar will be under even more scrutiny, along with his spread offense, if they don't win. Just ask Tennessee what happens when the favorite doesn't come through. The transition from the Ron Zook era to Meyer is now over, and if the offensive line comes together in a hurry. Besides, Chris Leak should explode in this offense. Remember Alex Smith in 2004, we might see a better version in Chris Leak. There's no reason not to finish the regular season 10-2 at worst.

2. Georgia Just win it again. Yeah, Georgia loses a lot of starters, but this is one of the nation's deepest programs and there are several more NFL prospects waiting in the wings. The backfield might be the best in America with too many good running backs for one ball. The receiving corps should be fine, and the linebacking corps should be a strength after having injury problems last year. As long as somebody can throw the ball to these playmakers the Dawgs should be fine.

2. South Carolina If the Cocks have to patch the holes on defense, and find more offensive pop, this could be a huge year. The schedule is as favorable as it gets in the SEC East with Georgia and Tennessee coming to Columbia and the only two nasty road games coming later in the year, at Florida and Clemson with both coming late in the year. For a strong team, this is a 9-3 schedule, but is South Carolina really that good? We 'll know right away at Mississippi State. With the right breaks, an appearance in the SEC title game isn't out of the question.

4. Tennessee Last year was last year. Tennessee hasn't been that solid at home recently, but it gets most of the big games in Knoxville with three tough road dates at Georgia, South Carolina and Arkansas. Any team wanting to win the SEC title has to be good enough to handle away games against Memphis and Vanderbilt. The return of David Cutcliffe as offensive coordinator should jump-start the attack, which was God-awful last year. While there are still more than enough good players to come up with another good defensive year.

5. Kentucky Be Vanderbilt, but better. Kentucky doesn't have a Jay Cutler, but if the Commodores could come within a blocked field goal of going to a bowl, then the expectation has to be for the Wildcats to be at least as competitive. With its schedule, UK should be able come up with five wins if it doesn't screw up (Texas State, Ole Miss, Central Michigan, Vanderbilt and UL Monroe), so seven wins and a bowl game aren't a lot to ask for.

6. Vanderbilt Win six. If the Commodores can beat Tennessee State, Kent State, Duke and Kentucky, which isn't too much to ask for, it'll take only two wins to possibly go bowling (depending on the NCAA's ruling about six win seasons counting D-IAA games for bowl eligibility). Of course, every team on the schedule will be looking at Vandy as a sure win. After last year, going back to the two win seasons just won't do.

West Division

1. LSU If LSU can overcome the adversity of Hurricane Katrina, then it should be able to handle a tough four-game road slate. The program overcame a Katrina to get to the SEC title game, and the loss of starting quarterback JaMarcus Russell to blow up Miami in the Peach Bowl. This might be the fastest, most athletic team in America with a boatload of talented skill players.

2. Auburn This year might not be 2004, but the team is good enough to be playing for the SEC title. Auburn is stacked with playmakers on both sides of the ball including Heisman darkhorse, Kenny Irons. The enthusiasm was higher than the norm. The early word is the team looks a lot faster. It wasn't exactly a slow group last year.

3. Alabama Is it possible 10-2 wasn't good enough? It would be fantastic this year. Sure, Alabama had a fantastic season under Mike Shula and regained its status as a national power, but problems with the offense and a loss to Auburn left a feeling that 2005 was done with a bit too many smoke and mirrors. The defense isn't likely to be as good again without seven starters and the offense isn't going to be that good either. However, this is still a good team thinking SEC West title. That might be tough, but just being in the mix before the Auburn game would make for a successful year.

3. Arkansas Don't play for next year. It'll be hard for the Hogs not to think 2007 will be the year. Superman The highlt outed in state hero, Mitch Mustain is suppose to be the savior of the program. He'll have a chance to prove himself aginst the defending Pac 10 Champions, USC Trojans. This year's team should be good enough to get back to a bowl game. The Hogs played a rough schedule last year and managed to lose every close game with four losses by four points or fewer. A veteran team wins those games, and the 2006 Hogs will be full of experience.

5. Ole Miss Win or get your butt chewed out. Orgeron is a take-no-prisoners coach who knows what top-level teams look like from his days at USC, and he's going to do whatever it takes to get Ole Miss to that level. It's going to take more time before there's any realistic thoughts about the SEC West title, but the team should be far more competitive this year. It's certainly going to be better on the lines. The bottom line is Coach O has brought in a great recruting class, but none of them are ready to take it to the next level.

6. Mississippi State Be ready to come out roaring. Conventional college football wisdom dictates that if you're going to beat a superior team, you have a better shot of doing it if the game comes early on. With no preseason to tune up, it takes a little while for some teams to get going. MSU has to start fast with three straight home games highlighted by SEC battles with South Carolina and Auburn. Getting blown out early on won't do much for a team that desperately needs a shot of confidence.