Will the 2015 SEC West Champ Come from the State of Alabama?
We're only a few weeks away from SEC media days in Hoover, Alabama, and the predictions are already flying.
The most recent of those comes from the conference's Sports Information Directors, who sided with a rematch in the SEC Championship Game.
According to Charles Hollis of AL.com, the Auburn Tigers barely edged out the Alabama Crimson Tide in the annual poll 33-32. Auburn received three first-place and three-second place votes, while Alabama received three first-place, two second-place and one third-place vote. SIDs were not allowed to vote for their own school.
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If everything goes according to the SID's plan, the Tigers will have a rematch with Georgia in the SEC Championship Game at the Georgia Dome this December.
Clearly, the Iron Bowl is shaping up to be the game of the year in the SEC—just as it has been over the last six years when its winner has played for the national title or made the College Football Playoff.
Will the SEC West champ come from Alabama, or will another state rise up for the first time since LSU won the SEC West in 2011 (and lost the BCS National Championship to the Crimson Tide)?
Give me the state of Alabama over the field.
There's a reason the two teams from the Yellowhammer State are in the top four of Bovada's preseason odds to win the national title (via OddsShark.com). Both have taken tremendous steps to fix lingering problems in the offseason after proving they can both win at elite levels with those problems.
For Alabama, it's about the secondary.
Mel Tucker was brought in as Alabama's defensive backs coach after defensive coordinator Kirby Smart and head coach Nick Saban had been more hands-on with the group in the past. It seems like he's already figuring things out.
With starter and star Cyrus Jones out with an injury, Tony Brown seemingly emerged as a more reliable option at corner, and former starter at corner Eddie Jackson moved to safety. That's an indication that Tucker might be farther along in the development of the new-look secondary than anticipated.
Offensively, sure, there's that big, glaring, unavoidable number jumping off the page of every preseason magazine. Nine new starters. One of those is running back Derrick Henry, who led the Crimson Tide in rushing last year. Another is running back/wide receiver Kenyan Drake, who has played plenty of football over the years. Another is O.J. Howard, who has the potential to be one of the most dangerous downfield weapons out of the tight end position in college football.
Sure, the quarterback situation is unsettled. But Jake Coker and David Cornwell both looked much better this spring than Blake Sims did last spring. All offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin did with Sims was win the SEC title and post a program-best (484.5 YPG).
The Crimson Tide will be just fine.
Their cross-state rivals will be too.
Auburn is set up for a monumental year offensively. Quarterback Jeremy Johnson already has the starting job nailed down. He has an experienced offensive line in front of him, a veteran wide receiving corps led by D'haquille "Duke" Williams and a deep and talented running back group for head coach Gus Malzahn to utilize. Sure, there's no true No. 1 running back as of now, but Malzahn has produced 12 1,000-yard rushers in nine seasons as a college head or assistant coach.
He'll make it work.
Will Muschamp will make it work defensively as well.
The first-year defensive coordinator now in his second stint in the role at Auburn was brought in to kick-start a defense that has become more of a punchline than a power. Auburn, a team that used to be known for defense, hasn't finished in the top half of the conference in total defense since 2007—which was Muschamp's last season of his first stint on the Plains.
There's a solid foundation with an All-SEC-caliber corner in Jonathan Jones, veteran linebackers Kris Frost and Cassanova McKinzy, defensive tackle Montravius Adams and end Carl Lawson—who missed all of last season recovering from a torn ACL.
As JC Shurburtt of 247Sports noted on the Cole Cubelic Show on 730 WUMP in Huntsville on Monday, it seems that, despite questions, it's Auburn, Alabama and everybody else in the SEC West going into the season.
The two teams from the state of Alabama have holes but have proven that they can overcome those holes even if they aren't solved.
Alabama made the College Football Playoff with secondary struggles and won titles with first-year starting quarterbacks Greg McElroy (2009) and AJ McCarron (2011) in the past.
In Auburn's national championship year of 2010, it finished with the fourth-worst defense in the SEC (368.4 YPG) and was 12th in 2013 (420.7 YPG) when it came within 13 seconds of another crystal football.
Those two teams deserve the benefit of the doubt at this point, with the rest of the SEC West chasing them.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of cfbstats.com unless otherwise noted, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports' composite rankings.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on Sirius 93, XM 208.
Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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