Predicting The SEC Championship Game (Way Too Far In Advance)

(Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images)

It's pretty clear, barring some unforeseen tragedy, that Florida will be the team to represent the Eastern division of the Southeastern Conference in the Championship game.

The only slip up they could have is on the road, at night, at LSU. Other than that, it seems the Gators will roll through the Eastern division on the way to their second straight conference championship game.

Florida's toughest games are all at home or on a neutral site. They will roll all the way to Atlanta going 11-1 with the lone loss coming in Baton Rouge in October.

The west is way more murky, Alabama, Ole Miss and LSU, all have a legitimate shot at being on top come December.

Ole Miss has a veteran QB and has the toughest opponents at home (both LSU and Alabama have to travel to Oxford this season). What is yet to be seen is how Ole Miss will handle the pressure and attention that come with being the "team to beat" this season.

It could cause a few problems for the Rebels, and overlooking any team in the West could spell disaster for the Rebels. They will end up going 10-2 with a conference record of 6-2 (losses coming at Auburn, and to LSU at home).

LSU is still very untested at QB this season, but all Jordan Jefferson has to do for the Tigers to be very successful is just manage the offense (easier said than done, a la Jarrett Lee last season).

A big hurdle for LSU is schedule: they have both Florida and Georgia from the east. They also travel to Alabama and Ole Miss this season. With this schedule, it will be nearly impossible for LSU to escape undefeated or even with one loss this season. LSU will end the year with two losses as well, coming at Alabama and at Georgia.

Alabama has a lot of personnel to replace this season. However, the one thing that Nick Saban does better than almost anyone in the country is recruit. Look for the Tide to be just as good if not better than the team during last year's regular season. They do have to travel to Oxford but get the other SEC west contender at home. Alabama will end up 11-1 with the lone loss coming at Ole Miss.

To recap, Florida is the easy and fairly obvious pick to win the east. The west is a little more difficult to decide, but I see it falling out as Alabama winning, with LSU and Ole Miss close behind.

So, for the second consecutive year Florida will matchup with the Crimson Tide, and again I see the Florida Gators winning the SEC and moving on to the Championship game in Pasadena

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