State of the Union Speech for the SEC and 2010 Predictions

The state of the SEC Union is strong. It will be the leading power conference in football again in 2010, as it has been for the last few years. It will continue to lead viewership on television and put the most teams in bowls.

In breaking down how the SEC will fare for football season 2010, let’s start at the top and work our way to the bottom, not by position of anticipated finish per se, but in the tiers they belong in for 2010.

The Top—Alabama

There can only be one team at the top, and while last year many thought that it was Florida, this year it is Alabama for much the same reasons people picked Florida last year. With Alabama returning many of the players from a national championship team, can there be any argument that Alabama deserves top slot after they kicked Florida to the curb and reduced Tim Tebow to tears?

The killer offense returns, and the defense gets back Damien Square and Donta Hightower, who are very adequate replacements for Rolando McClain. The few secondary losses have more than a few top rated prospects to take their place.

Until someone else is able to step up to the plate and knock one out, Alabama looks ready to rule the SEC for a while. Could Alabama run the table in the SEC for a third straight year in the regular season? I see no reason why not.

Expected regular season outcome: 12-0.

Upper Tier—Florida and LSU

At Florida they are getting ready to start recording history dates not by A.D., but by A.T. (after Tebow). The real question is, will they also be going forward without Urban Meyer too, who is reported to be getting ready to undergo a heart valve procedure.

With staggering recruiting classes, Florida should be able to hang on to the East title, as Tennessee is in shambles, South Carolina continuing to be South Carolina, and Georgia being content to win 10 and go to a nice bowl.

The defense at Florida was exposed by Alabama but should recover and do reasonably well in 2010. As for the offense, I expect the numbers to actually be better than last year when Florida sunk to just being the Tim Tebow Show.

However, I expect them to play Alabama twice this year and lose both times.

Expected regular season outcome: 11-1.

Trying to predict LSU is always difficult because you never know how well Les Miles' therapy sessions are going or if he’s gone off the meds again. Hopefully he got the Muppet video I sent him for Christmas that teaches kids to tell time, as last year he lost two games with terrible clock management.

LSU had the talent to go 11-1 last year but ended the regular season at 9-3, and they have crazy talent again this year to go along with a crazy coach. You can always count on Les Miles costing his team at least one game with lack of coaching ability, but this year they also have a tough schedule.

The offense should finally get some kinks worked out, and Chavis running the defense should mean another good and stout unit for the tigers.

However, games against West Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Ole Miss, and Arkansas could all spell trouble. Winning three of those five would be a good run for this year’s Tiger Squad.

Expected regular season outcome: 9-3 to 10-2

Mid Tier—Georgia, Ole Miss, Arkansas , Auburn

Certainly the most crowded category, and this just proves the power of the SEC. Schools in this tier may be leaders in other conferences with this degree of talent.

With an arguably easy schedule, this will be a nice season for the Bulldogs in what has become a string of nice seasons. Mark Richt seems like he’s never getting the Bulldogs to the next tier and couldn’t do it with better talent than he has this year.

I can’t help but wonder how many more years the fans in Athens will simply be content with another nice season and finally make a change.

Georgia’s expected regular season outcome: 9-3

Ole Miss is coached by a guy who I predicted would not live up to preseason expectations, and he certainly didn’t let me down. Now with the pressure off, he could have another winning season.

With Jevan Sneed jumping to the NFL, which was a dumb idea, no one expects much from Ole Miss, and that’s when they’re the most dangerous. I can see them sneaking a win or two away from a team who doesn’t see it coming.

Ole Miss expected regular season outcome: 7-5

Arkansas has been gaining ground since hiring Bobby Petrino, and this could be a pivotal year from them to make a move toward the upper tier.

Ryan Mallet’s decision to stay for his senior year will do much to show the NFL what he is really capable of doing. With this long in Petrino’s system, the Razorbacks are bound to put some points on the board. That should help out with the holes that may show up on the defensive side.

Arkansas expected regular season outcome: 8-4

Auburn is bringing in a good class. They’re blending in the young and old there very well and should have another good season to build on. Combine this with a pretty easy schedule and you have a decent mid-tier team.

Gene Chizik has proven to be an able coach and was able to shrug off all the jokes following his hire. Now he has even skeptics thinking he could get this program to an upper middle tier again.

The offense clicked under the Gus Malzhan system, and the defense should come back around to Auburn standards this year.

Auburn expected regular season outcome: 9-3

Bowl Contenders—South Carolina , Tennessee, and Kentucky

It’s sad when these two schools no longer strive to be a leader, but simply hope to make a bowl game.

Let’s just place them all at 6-6 and let them fight it out for Shreveport this fall.

Bottom Feeders—Mississippi State and Vanderbilt

It’s a shame I have to place Mississippi State here. They actually made great strides last year and took great teams to the wire, but when you count those moral victories in the same category as the losses, they still belong here.

Dan Mullen will improve the team, and they will be bowl contenders next year, but just not now.

Mississippi State expected regular season outcome: 5-7

Vanderbilt has a great coach, but he’s at Vanderbilt. He still needs talent to go along with his ability, but Bobby Johnson is doing the best that can be done at Vandy.

Vanderbilt expected regular season outcome: 4-8