College Football: Can the SEC Make it Three Straight National Championships?

And if you’re a glass-half-empty LSU fan, you’re thinking to yourself, “Damn that Ryan Perrilloux!  If he could have kept his head on straight for one measly year we might have had a chance to repeat.  Now we’re stuck with a green-as-grass redshirt freshman and a Harvard transfer to take the snaps.  There goes our season.  Oh well, at least we get to beat up on Ole Miss at home this year.”

It’s true.  The Tigers are leaderless at the quarterback position.  But with a talented defense and a multifaceted running game to rely on, LSU is as strong a team as any other.  If they can find a way to successfully make it to Atlanta and defend their SEC title against Florida or Georgia, they’ll be right in the Miami mix.

Georgia

The Bulldogs will be preseason top five, probably even top two, but can they navigate their oppressive schedule well enough to be in the top two when all is said and done? 

They’ve got four challenging games away from home—at South Carolina, at LSU, at Auburn, and vs. Florida in Jacksonville.  I don’t buy Arizona State being a tough road game. 

Is it possible, then, for the Bulldogs to escape that gauntlet with only one loss?  I can see it happening.  It’s certainly possible.  I don’t know which game they’ll lose, but it’ll be one of those four. 

A one-loss Georgia team would represent the East in the SEC Championship game.  That would be the last and highest hurdle the Bulldogs would have to clear for a shot at the National Championship game.  If they win the SEC with one loss, they’ll have a guaranteed spot in Miami.

Florida

Here’s why the Gators have the best shot to win the SEC its third consecutive National Championship: quarterback, coach, and schedule.

It’s really pretty simple when you break it down.  Tim Tebow is the best football player in the conference, and Urban Meyer is the best football coach in the conference.  Combine those two forces of nature, leave boatloads of talent at their disposal, give them a relatively easy schedule, and see what happens. 

I don’t see how they don’t win it all. 

Now I realize the Gators have, in addition to a full SEC slate, both Miami and Florida State on their schedule.  But it’s not 2000 anymore.  The 'Canes and ‘Nols just aren’t scary like they used to be.

The only daunting SEC game they have is the cocktail party against Georgia.  If they survive that one, it’s easy sailing to Atlanta and then on to Miami.

When it’s all said and done, the cards line up best for the Gators to represent the SEC in the Orange Bowl.  Georgia could conceivably make it, and LSU and Alabama are long shots but still should be considered.

In the end, though, the Gators have the best chance to extend the reign of SEC dominance for yet another season.

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