SEC Media Day 2012: Expert Predictions for College Football's Power Conference

With the SEC's media days in full swing, it should come as no surprise that experts across the country are offering their predictions for how things will play out in college football's most successful conference this coming season. The SEC was dominant as always last year and ended with Alabama defeating LSU in the National Championship Game.

There are several candidates to come out of the SEC and make big-time bowl games again this season, but the conference is so competitive that deserving teams could be left out in the cold if they suffer one or two tough losses. That is the beauty of the SEC, though, and that is why it is considered the consensus elite conference in college football.

Here are some of the most intriguing SEC expert predictions in the midst of the conference's high-profile media days.

Media Vote

As always, the media held a vote to determine the SEC's projected finishing order, and while there were some slight surprises, everything pretty much fell in line with the general consensus. According to SECDigitalNetwork.com, things will shake out like this:

SEC East

1. Georgia

2. South Carolina

3. Florida 

4. Missouri

5. Tennessee

6. Vanderbilt

7. Kentucky

SEC West

1. LSU

2. Alabama

3. Arkansas

4. Auburn

5. Texas A&M

6. Mississippi State

7. Ole Miss

In terms of which school will win the SEC Championship, the media selected LSU as the top dog, Alabama second and then Georgia, South Carolina, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida and Ole Miss. Perhaps the biggest point of discussion is who will come out on top between LSU and Alabama. The Crimson Tide got the best of the Tigers to win the national title last year, but Nick Saban's squad has lost a lot of key players. Nobody reloads like Bama, though, so LSU won't be able to run away with things.

Pete Fiutak (CollegeFootballNews.com)

With the media consensus out of the way, now it's time to move one to some individual predictions. Pete Fiutak of CollegeFootballNews.com made his projections and there are some noticeable differences. Fiutak stuck with LSU over Alabama in the West and chose the Tigers to win the conference, but he went with South Carolina as the Eastern Division champion. Most have selected Georgia, but Fiutak believes that the Bulldogs' away schedule is tough enough that they will have a couple slip ups and allow the Gamecocks to triumph.

Another change is that Fiutak is placing Auburn above Arkansas for third in the SEC West. Many believed that the top three teams in college football last season resided in the Western Division with Arkansas being the third. The Razorbacks have a lot of talent, but the head coaching situation with Bobby Petrino being ousted could affect the team. Tyler Wilson is considered the best quarterback in the SEC by far, but Fiutak isn't sold on the Hogs' receiving corps and defense, and he believes that will result in an 8-4 finish.

Travis Reier (BamaOnLine)

Perhaps he is biased based on his affiliation with BamaOnLine, but Travis Reier certainly went out on a limb by picking Alabama to win the SEC West and the SEC title to boot. The Crimson Tide didn't do either last year, but it still managed to win the National Championship. Alabama lost tons of important players off its defense, including Courtney Upshaw, Dont'a Hightower, Dre Kirkpatrick and Mark Barron, but Saban is a mastermind when it comes to defensive schemes. Perhaps even more importantly, though, star running back Trent Richardson is no longer in the fold.

Reier is still confident that Bama can overtake LSU, even though the Tigers are essentially the same on offense with the exception of a possible quarterback upgrade and really only lost Morris Claiborne and Michael Brockers defensively. Aside from the great Alabama/LSU debate, Reier departed significantly from the consensus by picking SEC newcomer Missouri to finish sixth in the East. Mizzou has a talented squad, but Reier is expecting a bit of an adjustment period.

My Take

The SEC is so tough that there are probably five teams that could realistically win the title, but I have a hard time going against LSU in the Western Division and overall. Alabama won't be a pushover, but there are going to be so many defensive changes that it will have to take a toll. The Tigers' defense should be able to absorb the couple losses it has, while I'm optimistic quarterback Zach Mettenberger will be an upgrade over the incompetent duo of Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee.

As for the Eastern Division, I would elan toward South Carolina over Georgia. The Bulldogs will have a more explosive offense thanks to quarterback Aaron Murray, but South Carolina's defense should be absolutely dominant and the Gamecocks will be able to play the ball-control game thanks to running back Marcus Lattimore. I wouldn't be shocked to see Steve Spurrier's squad upset LSU in the SEC title game, but I'll go with the Tigers for now.

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