Ole Miss: The good thing for Ole Miss fans is that coach Ed Orgeron says the team goal is to go to the Sugar Bowl and win it. The bad news: That is not an event that will take place in what I like to call "Real Life." The Rebels will need to vastly improve on both sides of the ball to even have a winning season. The offense returns 7 starters from last year. However, last year starting QB Brent Schaeffer has yet to show that he is capable of playing QB and has been relegated to split timing with Sr. juco transfer Seth Adams. The good news on the offensive side of the ball is the return of the 3rd best rusher in the league last year (statistically speaking) in Sr. RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis (apparently, his parents couldn't decide on one name). Couple that with the return of 4 starters on the o-line and Green-Ellis could be poised for a spectacular season. That is all of the good news I have. The defensive side of the ball will be the biggest question mark for the Rebels. (Funny, that mascot looks shockingly familiar to any member of the Confederacy. Man, some people just can't let it go.) ANYWAYS, the defense returns only two starters from last year and they lose the best defensive player in college football, in LB Patrick Willis (Freak of Nature-in a good way). You want to talk about some large shoes to fill? Hopefully, All-American Tony Fein will not be too much of a drop-off. Unfortunately, for Ole Miss, their schedule includes games against Florida, @Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama, @Auburn and LSU. Sweet Jesus...If they get one win out of that, I will be impressed. Prediction: Another 4-8 season. 
Arkansas: The only reason why the Razorbacks are overlooked as having one of the most inept front offices as well as coaches, is the blessing from the football gods that is their backfield. Jr. RB's Darren McFadden and Felix Jones could start for any football team in this country. Even for the "flagship program of college football," as I am told by ESPN? Yes, even USC. The problem is that you can't win an National Championship or an SEC Championship, for that matter, without a passing game. This just in: Arkansas' passing game sucks, in fact it is non-existent. Of all the off season issues this team had and trust me, there were many, the loss of highly touted recruits QB Mitch Mustain and WR Damian Williams, was the biggest. For those of you not paying attention; there went the passing game. Add to that, having to replace 3 of the 5 o-line starters and things could get a little dicey in Fayetteville. The good news for the passing game is the return of Sr. WR Marcus Monk. This guy is somewhere around 8 ft tall. Okay, so not that tall but his pretty damn tall and he can move. Not a bad target for Casey Dick to chuck the rock to. To get back on the subject of losing players, the defense lost its fair share as well. Gone are top 10 pick DE Jamaal Anderson, 2nd round pick CB Chris Houston and 7th round pick DT Keith Jackson. In other words, a lot to replace. Even with the departure of that kind of talent, the Hogs still return 6 starters from last seasons defense. With the loss of shut down corner Chris Houston, D-coordinator Reggie Herring will be forced to play more zone in the secondary, which could lead to a lot of passing yards. All in all, the team is talented and should have a shot at another trip to Atlanta. The biggest key is the passing game. Develop one, and this team could be pretty damn dangerous. Prediction: 8-4
Alabama: Oh, the Crimson Tide. If I didn't know any better I would swear that Bear Bryant is back on the sidelines. The buzz or should I say roar coming out of Tuscaloosa can be heard throughout the south. The mighty Saban has arrived. If you can't tell that Alabama fans are foaming at the mouth over the upcoming season, then I will point you towards the 92,000 fans that showed up for the spring game. Unbelievable. Saban, to be honest, inherited a team that has a decent amount of talent. Most of the talent is on the offensive side of the ball, returning 8 starters, including Jr. QB John Parker Wilson (something tells me he definitely rocks the Bama Bangs.) and SR. WR DJ Hall. The Tide keeps 4 out of 5 lineman, which should allow them to run the ball fairly well. Running the ball, by the way, is a requirement in the SEC. The biggest hurdle for the offense will be overcoming last years uncanny inability to handle the red-zone. Talk about phoning it in last year. On the other side of the ball, the Tide return only 4 starters from last year. However, two of those starters are stud linebacker Prince Hall and gifted DB Simeon Castille. The good thing for the Tide is that Saban is a defensive coach and because of that you should see a solid D in Tuscaloosa. Saban alone will give this team a couple more wins that it wouldn't get under Shula and frankly, the schedule sets up nicely for the Tide this year. Ultimately, though, the Tide are still about a year away from being a legitimate SEC West contender. With that said, I still wouldn't be surprised if they made a little noise this year. Prediction: 8-4
Auburn: The team with about 4 different mascots. Pick one, dammit. I will say this, though. It is pretty damn cool to see the eagle fly into the stadium before home games. Auburn had a pretty quiet off season. Nothing major happening, no NCAA violations, that we know of...yet. I am having a hard time gauging this years Tigers. They return only four starters from last years offense. However, one of those starters is 5th year Sr. QB Brandon Cox. Experience at the most important position on the field should help the Tigers counter the lack of experience they have on the o-line, where they must replace 4 of 5 starters. Under Tuberville's reign, the Tigers have always had great running backs, so I would expect that to continue. Word on the plains is that Mario Fannin is the next best thing in running backs. On the defensive side of the ball, the Tigers return 7 starters. Sr. DE Quintin Groves balked at going to the NFL, which will pay huge dividends for the Tigers' defense. If they can keep So. LB Trey Blackmon out of trouble he will wreak havoc on the football field. What a lot of people do not realize is that Tuberville has the most wins of any SEC coach this decade. (that is wins within the conference.) So, you have to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume this year will be another solid year. The bad news for Auburn fans is that their schedule is not going to make it easy for them. Away games Florida, Arkansas, LSU and Georgia will be the deciding factor in their chase for an SEC Championship. Oh, and don't forget the Iron Bowl against Saban and The Tide. I just don't see Auburn having the year they did last year with the schedule that they have. Prediction: 9-3
Louisiana State: This SEC fans, is the top of the heap. There isn't another program in the SEC that is as loaded with talent as LSU. Too bad their coach can't seem to keep his mouth shut. Let's see, how shall I get this season started? Yes, let me insinuate that USC doesn't have to play anybody to get to the National Championship game. Not a smooth move. I understand trying to fire up the fan base and the boosters but surely there is a better way to get that done. Miles goes out and gives USC a chip to put on their shoulder. As if they need it. Well, hopefully whatever he was trying to do worked. LSU returns only 4 starters on offense, however, 3 of those 4 starters are on the offensive line. That is good news. The bad news is that they no longer have JaMarcus Russell. However, 5th year Sr. QB Matt Flynn should be more than effective. Tack on players like Sr. WR Early Doucet and Sr. FB jacob Hester and this offense should be plenty potent. The crowning jewel, however, for the Tigers is their defense. This one is going to be nasty. They will vie with USC for the best defense in college football. Sr. DT Glenn Dorsey shunned the NFL to return for his senior season and when you pair him up, on the right side, with Jr. DE Tyson Jackson, you have a damn near unstoppable right side. Even though they lost stud safety Leron Landry, they have plenty of talent to fill in the holes. You can expect LSU's defense to give up few points but that doesn't mean they cannot be scored on. The O-coordinators in the SEC are going to have to earn that paycheck this year. As if things weren't already good enough, the Tigers get almost all of their tough games at home this year. BUT, I would circle that November 3rd meeting in Tuscaloosa. That one could be the only blemish on the record. Prediction: 10-2
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