One of my favorite ways to kill time in the final weeks before football season is to dive into the multitude of preseason publications out there and see if I can learn something new or find that extra piece of information to help carry an argument. While we've all got our own passionate opinions across the SEC landscape, sometimes it's good to hear from an objective source like these magazines to get a better feel for where your team really stands coming into the season.
So while thumbing first through Lindy's, and then Athlon, I came across their respective SEC Unit Rankings, which rank each of the 12 teams from top to bottom at each position (quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers & tight ends, offensive line, defensive line, linebackers, secondary, and Lindy's ranks special teams) There are rankings for all the conferences in Athlon and the BCS conferences in Lindy's.
Here's a comparison of the two unit rankings:
| Athlon | Lindy's | ||
| QB | 1 | Florida | Florida |
| 2 | Georgia | Georgia | |
| 3 | Tennessee | Alabama | |
| 4 | Alabama | Ole Miss | |
| 5 | Auburn | Auburn | |
| 6 | Ole Miss | Tennessee | |
| 7 | South Carolina | South Carolina | |
| 8 | Arkansas | LSU | |
| 9 | Mississippi State | Kentucky | |
| 10 | Kentucky | Vanderbilt | |
| 11 | Vanderbilt | Arkansas | |
| 12 | LSU | Mississippi State | |
| Athlon | Lindy's | ||
| RB | 1 | Georgia | Georgia |
| 2 | Tennessee | Tennessee | |
| 3 | Auburn | Auburn | |
| 4 | Mississippi State | Alabama | |
| 5 | Florida | LSU | |
| 6 | LSU | Mississippi State | |
| 7 | Kentucky | Florida | |
| 8 | Alabama | Kentucky | |
| 9 | Arkansas | South Carolina | |
| 10 | South Carolina | Ole Miss | |
| 11 | Ole Miss | Arkansas | |
| 12 | Vanderbilt | Vanderbilt | |
| Athlon | Lindy's | ||
| WR | 1 | Florida | Florida |
| 2 | LSU | Tennessee | |
| 3 | Tennessee | LSU | |
| 4 | South Carolina | South Carolina | |
| 5 | Georgia | Georgia | |
| 6 | Ole Miss | Alabama | |
| 7 | Alabama | Ole Miss | |
| 8 | Auburn | Kentucky | |
| 9 | Vanderbilt | Auburn | |
| 10 | Kentucky | Arkansas | |
| 11 | Mississippi State | Mississippi State | |
| 12 | Arkansas | Vanderbilt | |
| Athlon | Lindy's | ||
| OL | 1 | LSU | LSU |
| 2 | Tennessee | Auburn | |
| 3 | Alabama | Alabama | |
| 4 | Florida | Tennessee | |
| 5 | Auburn | Florida | |
| 6 | Arkansas | Arkansas | |
| 7 | Georgia | Mississippi State | |
| 8 | Ole Miss | Ole Miss | |
| 9 | Kentucky | Georgia | |
| 10 | South Carolina | South Carolina | |
| 11 | Mississippi State | Kentucky | |
| 12 | Vanderbilt | Vanderbilt | |
| Athlon | Lindy's | ||
| DL | 1 | LSU | LSU |
| 2 | Georgia | Georgia | |
| 3 | Tennessee | Auburn | |
| 4 | Arkansas | Ole Miss | |
| 5 | Florida | Tennessee | |
| 6 | Auburn | Florida | |
| 7 | Alabama | Alabama | |
| 8 | Kentucky | Kentucky | |
| 9 | Ole Miss | South Carolina | |
| 10 | Mississippi State | Mississippi State | |
| 11 | South Carolina | Arkansas | |
| 12 | Vanderbilt | Vanderbilt | |
| Athlon | Lindy's | ||
| LB | 1 | Florida | South Carolina |
| 2 | South Carolina | Florida | |
| 3 | Georgia | Georgia | |
| 4 | LSU | Auburn | |
| 5 | Tennessee | Mississippi State | |
| 6 | Auburn | Tennessee | |
| 7 | Alabama | LSU | |
| 8 | Mississippi State | Alabama | |
| 9 | Ole Miss | Ole Miss | |
| 10 | Arkansas | Kentucky | |
| 11 | Vanderbilt | Arkansas | |
| 12 | Kentucky | Vanderbilt | |
| Athlon | Lindy's | ||
| DB | 1 | Mississippi State | South Carolina |
| 2 | Tennessee | Mississippi State | |
| 3 | South Carolina | Tennessee | |
| 4 | Florida | Auburn | |
| 5 | Vanderbilt | Alabama | |
| 6 | Auburn | Vanderbilt | |
| 7 | Kentucky | Georgia | |
| 8 | LSU | Florida | |
| 9 | Georgia | LSU | |
| 10 | Alabama | Kentucky | |
| 11 | Ole Miss | Ole Miss | |
| 12 | Arkansas | Arkansas | |
| Athlon | Lindy's | ||
| ST | 1 | Alabama | |
| 2 | Florida | ||
| 3 | Tennessee | ||
| 4 | LSU | ||
| 5 | South Carolina | ||
| 6 | Auburn | ||
| 7 | Mississippi State | ||
| 8 | Georgia | ||
| 9 | Ole Miss | ||
| 10 | Kentucky | ||
| 11 | Arkansas | ||
| 12 | Vanderbilt |
So, just for fun, I thought I'd add up all the rankings for each team in the respective magazines, just to try and get a sense of how each team would stack up, top to bottom, on the whole.
The results were quite unexpected:
| Athlon | Lindy's | ||
| 1 | Tennessee (20) | Tennessee (31) | |
| 2 | Florida (21) | Florida (32) | |
| 3 | Georgia (29) | Auburn (36) | |
| 4 | LSU (34) | Alabama (37) | |
| 5 | Auburn (39) | Georgia (37) | |
| 6 | Alabama (46) | LSU (38) | |
| 7 | South Carolina (47) | South Carolina (46) | |
| 8 | Mississippi State (54) | Mississippi State (60) | |
| 9 | Ole Miss (60) | Ole Miss (62) | |