SEC Football Q&A: Who Will Be the Most Improved Team in Each Division?

In 2013, Auburn came out of nowhere to win the SEC.

In 2014, Mississippi State came from a similar place to earn its first No. 1 ranking in program history.

Last year, it was Florida shocking the world to win the SEC East in Jim McElwain's first year as Gators head coach.

What will 2016 have in store? Will there be a surprise team that contends that nobody is talking about this offseason?

That question and more are answered in this week's edition of SEC Q&A:

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@BarrettSallee do you think SCAR has the talent to be the most improved team in the SEC East this season?

— Strictly Gamecocks (@GamecocksOnly) June 6, 2016"

No, South Carolina won't be the most improved team in the SEC East this season.

While I like the foundation first-year head coach Will Muschamp has built with quarterback Brandon McIlwain, receiver Bryan Edwards and a bulked-up defensive front, the Gamecocks are still way too inexperienced to make a major jump and contend for the division title like those teams listed above did.

In fact, I don't think any team in the SEC East is.

It essentially will be a three-team race involving Tennessee, Florida and Georgia in the division, with the other four teams all hovering around bowl eligibility.

With that said, though, don't be surprised to see Vanderbilt make at least a little bit of noise in 2016.

Head coach Derek Mason enters his third season with a proven stud at running back in Ralph Webb, an experienced defense with a star at linebacker in Zach Cunningham and a track record of defensive success that included the nation's fourth-best red-zone touchdown defense (38.78 percent) and sixth-best third-down defense (28.16 percent), according to CFBStats.com.

Vandy isn't going to contend for the division title, but it will make a bowl game and could spring an upset that has a big impact on which team does make it to Atlanta.

Mark Humphrey/Associated Press

Out West, I'll hop on the Texas A&M bandwagon and say the Aggies will have a legitimate shot at the SEC West title when the calendar turns to November.

The Aggies have been hammered with bad news over the last six months that included the departure of former 5-star quarterback prospects Kyler Murray and Kyle Allen. But the addition of offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone, the presence of graduate-transfer quarterback Trevor Knight and a more focused rushing attack should help the Aggies be more consistent.

They won eight regular-season games in 2015 despite a massive quarterback issue that lingered for two months, the conference's second-worst run defense and an offensive line that struggled mightily.

Knight might not win the Heisman Trophy, but he can at least provide the stability Texas A&M needs to be competitive. Another year under defensive coordinator John Chavis coupled with stars Daylon Mack, Myles Garrett and Daeshon Hall should help the defense, as will the health of linebacker Otaro Alaka alongside Shaan Washington. New offensive line coach Jim Turner will preach the kind of physicality the Aggies lacked in the trenches, and he's a perfect complement to Mazzone's run-first, tempo-based scheme.

Texas A&M might not win the West, but it'll hang around for a while.

The offenses have become more exotic in the SEC, but you have to run the ball effectively in order to win the SEC title.

It's a must.

Seven of the last eight SEC champions have finished in the top four in the SEC in yards per carry, according to CFBStats.com, and the one that didn't was last year's Alabama team that produced Heisman Trophy-winning running back Derrick Henry. Those offenses included the more traditional offenses of the Crimson Tide and LSU Tigers as well as more creative spread attacks of Auburn (2013, 2010) and Florida (2008).

If a team is going to contend for the SEC title, it has to run the ball effectively in some way, shape or form.

Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press

This has been what's prevented Ole Miss from breaking through that glass ceiling over the last couple of years. The Rebels have made New Year's Six bowls over that stretch but finished 10th in the conference in rushing in 2014 and seventh in 2015, and their leading rusher in both seasons was Jaylen Walton, who was more of an edge threat than a bruiser.

Can you imagine how explosive those offenses would have been with just a little between-the-tackles rushing threat?

At least one of the two participants in each of the last five SEC Championship Games have finished eighth or worse in the SEC in passing offense, including conference champions Auburn (2013), Alabama (2012) and LSU (2011).

A great passing offense isn't required, but a great rushing offense.

No matter what that rushing offense looks like.

I don't think it seems that way at all.

Sure, people are talking about Georgia—and first-year head coach Kirby Smart—quite a bit because the mystery of Smart as a coach and Georgia as a program sans Mark Richt is incredibly intriguing.

The last time Georgia played a game without Richt on the sideline, the panic of "Y2K" had recently subsided, Napster was still a thing and George W. Bush hadn't been sworn into office for his first term as President of the United States yet.

On top of that, Richt's replacement, Smart, is a first-time head coach who has been a hotshot assistant for nearly a decade. Despite that, he is still largely a mystery thanks to Alabama head coach Nick Saban's policy that limits access to assistants to one instance during fall camp and mandatory appearances during bowl games.

Throw in the mystery surrounding the quarterback position and the hype 5-star early enrollee Jacob Eason brought to Athens, and Georgia is—and should be—a hot topic this offseason.

John Bazemore/Associated Press

The talk surrounding Florida is centered more around the offense that sputtered down the stretch in 2015 than anything else, but McElwain did win the division in his first year as the head coach of the Gators.

People do respect that, even if McElwain did back into Atlanta.

Curiosity doesn't equal respect.

The curiosity surrounding Georgia exists for a very good reason. Respect is something McElwain earned last year, but he earned a little bit of skepticism in the process thanks to the November quarterback woes.

Smart doesn't have that respect yet.

Andrew Jelks is a good pick because Vandy needs offensive line help in a big way. I'm going to go in a different direction, though.

Alaka, Georgia running back Nick Chubb, Ole Miss safety Tony Conner and Auburn defensive end Carl Lawson all played last year and are being discussed heavily.

So if we're going to pick an injured player who isn't being talked about, let's go with Missouri defensive lineman Harold Brantley.

Brantley sat out last season with injuries suffered from a June 2015 car accident and could be back at full speed by fall camp.

He had 54 tackles, seven for loss and five sacks as a sophomore in 2014 for the SEC East champs. If he comes back at 100 percent, Brantley is the best player on a loaded Missouri defensive line that has been the one constant for the Tigers through the highs and lows between 2013 and 2015.

Back in March, defensive line coach Jackie Shipp talked about the progress Brantley had made since the accident, according to David Morrison of the Columbia Daily Tribune:

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The progress he's made, would I count him out come fall? No, I'm not counting him out. But for me to say what I think will happen, some people's bodies come back quicker and all those different things. You don't know what might happen. But he's got some special genes to him, I'll tell you that.

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Brantley isn't going to solve Missouri's problem because he's not an offensive skill player. But with him on the roster, the Missouri defense will keep games close and at least give the offense a chance.

John Raoux/Associated Press

Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics courtesy of CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted. Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.