Ranking the Best SEC Matchups of Week 1
It's been two years since an SEC football team hoisted the national championship trophy, a drought that seemed unthinkable during the conference's seven-year run of dominance.
Now that Week 1 of the 2015 college football season is upon us, several programs will start their quest to end that lull and knock Ohio State off its lofty perch.
Others will either try to make a leap to another level or battle into a bowl game.
While it isn't a week full of top-10 showdowns, a few teams have some strong early-season tests at neutral-site venues. A couple of them will match up teams that are ranked in B/R's preseason top 25 poll.
No. 4 Alabama must play 21st-ranked Wisconsin in Dallas in one of the marquee games of the first week. Everybody will get a taste of whether No. 25 Texas A&M is a contender or pretender in a showdown with the 16th-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils.
Before all that, on Thursday, there's the battle of the Carolinas between the Gamecocks and Tar Heels in Charlotte.
Other teams play tough lower-tier programs, and then there's the usual slate of early-season cupcakes to iron the kinks out of teams (against Skyhawks, Warhawks and Redhawks, etc. No, seriously).
With 14 games on the slate involving SEC teams, let's rank all the Week 1 action in the conference.
14. Southeast Missouri State at Missouri
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The lack of respect continues for Missouri, a program that has represented the SEC East in the past two league championship games.
After being placed behind Georgia and Tennessee in the preseason predictions, the Tigers were left off B/R's ballot, finishing as the second-highest "other teams receiving votes" behind Mississippi State.
That's probably not a big deal for Mizzou, who is used to playing the underdog role in the conference but certainly not in Week 1.
Coach Gary Pinkel must use the prognostications as bulletin-board material to motivate a bunch that is always ready to play and to win.
The Tigers still have quarterback Maty Mauk, running back Russell Hansbrough and a veteran offensive line, and those guys should have a field day against SEMO.
While the defensive line isn't as stacked as it's been in years past, the back seven should be the strength of new coordinator Barry Odom's defense.
They'll start their season at home against a Redhawks team that sputtered to a 5-7 record a season ago in the Football Championship Subdivision, so don't expect them to offer much resistance.
This will be one of those games for Mizzou to break in its young receivers and new D-linemen without much worry about the final outcome.
13. Tennessee-Martin at Ole Miss
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The No. 14 Ole Miss Rebels have their own offensive questions entering the season such as Chad Kelly living up to his hype as the starting quarterback and how healthy are star receiver Laquon Treadwell and offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil after nasty injuries suffered in 2014?
They've reportedly been very sharp so far, so it doesn't appear there will be any ill effects.
If that's the case, Freeze may not see much of a drop-off in his team following the departure of record-setting quarterback Bo Wallace.
But that quarterback issue is a concern, and Freeze isn't sidestepping it in the least.
"I really believe the SEC West has seven top 25 teams," Freeze told The Clarion-Ledger's Riley Blevins. "I don't know that I can overstate the importance of our quarterback situation, us finding the guy that can hopefully make us efficient."
If that question gets answered, it could be a big year for the Rebels, who return much of their stellar "Landsharks" defense from a season ago as they try to navigate the treacherous SEC West.
All that will come later. For now, Ole Miss gets a tuneup game against FCS opponent Tennessee-Martin that lost 45-16 to Mississippi State a year ago while going 6-6.
The Skyhawks won't score that much against the Rebels' vaunted defense, and this one will be a rout.
12. McNeese State at LSU
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McNeese State's former powerhouse program experienced a lull last year when the Cowboys went 6-5, despite opening the season with a narrow 31-24 loss to Nebraska.
This year, they make the brief trip to Death Valley to open the year against in-state stalwart LSU, who is one of the biggest enigmas in the league this year. It's ranked 17th in the preseason B/R poll, but a lot of that success depends on quarterback play.
If LSU can be serviceable at the position, it may be a big year. Running back Leonard Fournette is elite, and the Tigers have plenty of playmakers on defense, especially on the back end.
They're capable of being very good.
However, LSU probably won't get much of a test from McNeese. The Cowboys should be improved from a season ago with former Mississippi State running back Derrick Milton leading the charge of one of the top rushing offenses in FCS, but that isn't going to be good enough to hang in Baton Rouge.
Quarterback Daniel Sams is shifty and could cause some issues, but LSU is going to win handily and should work out some quarterback issues and gain somebody some confidence.
Still, LSU is too big, too strong and too loaded with SEC athletes for the Cowboys to hang with in the trenches. That's where the Tigers will dominate the most.
Fournette will have a field day and watch from the sideline as the second half ticks away.
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11. New Mexico State at Florida
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Florida's offense under first-year coach Jim McElwain is under a constant barrage of questions—and that goes for nearly every single position on that side of the ball.
Defensively, there are few worries, but the season opener is going to be all about the Gators. Nobody is worried about a setback at the hands of New Mexico State.
Coming off a 2-10 year, the Aggies look like a token sacrificial lamb.
Though they return 10 defensive starters and 1,000-yard rusher in Larry Rose III, they couldn't solve the Sun Belt a season ago, so they shouldn't be in the same sentence as the SEC.
The Gators have plenty of questions to answer, and this game is going to be one of worry-free experimentation.
Will it be Treon Harris or Will Grier at quarterback? Both will play, but who'll seize control. Who will be the offensive playmakers? Are the offensive line questions as worrisome as they've been made out to be much of the offseason?
Notice, none of those concerns reside on defense where all-world cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III and company could be elite.
The Gators got another big defensive boost when McElwain announced that star linebacker Antonio Morrison will play in the opener, per Alligator Army's Andy Hutchins, returning from a knee injury. That's huge news for a team that adds yet another veteran playmaker.
This season opener will be lopsided, but UF may learn a lot about itself. It needs to make strides to see how it'll fare once the conference season rolls around.
10. UTEP at Arkansas
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The Arkansas Hype Train begins the season against a UTEP team that overachieved a season ago to go 7-6 under coach Sean Kugler.
On paper, it looks like Arkansas will roll right through them.
The Miners didn't do anything spectacularly but still managed to make it to the postseason where they lost 21-6 to Utah State in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl.
Arkansas isn't Utah State.
With a dominant ground attack (even without senior Jonathan Williams, who was lost for the year this preseason), the Hogs should steamroll in this game. Their offensive line and stable of running backs, led by junior Alex Collins, are just too tough.
Defensively, though UTEP has some runners returning in its plodding, methodical offensive scheme, its passing game must start from scratch.
Couple that with the fact that the Miners were 79th nationally in rush defense a season ago, according to CFBStats.com, and 118th nationally in allowing plays of more than 20 yards, and that doesn't bode well.
The Razorbacks will encounter much tougher opponents in the SEC West. This one is going to be about oiling that running machine.
9. Louisiana Monroe at Georgia
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Expectations are extremely high between the hedges where Georgia is expected by most to run its way through the SEC East on the way to Atlanta.
Sophomore phenom Nick Chubb will carry the load at running back, and the duo of Sony Michel and Keith Marshall ensures the Bulldogs will have plenty of able-bodied runners to chew up yards.
They may need to.
The Dawgs have quarterback question marks, and now that Virginia transfer Greyson Lambert has beaten out Brice Ramsey, per CBSSports.com's Chip Patterson, it's going to be interesting to see if he can be better in coach Mark Richt's and coordinator Brian Schottenheimer's scheme than he was with the Cavaliers.
Georgia's first test of the season won't be much of one as the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks come to Athens with what may wind up being a one-dimensional offense and a strong defense that still isn't capable of keeping up with SEC athletes.
The Warhawks finished 126th out of 128 teams in rush offense a season ago, averaging 69.5 yards per game. Those numbers won't cut it against coordinator Jeremy Pruitt's attacking 3-4 defense.
If nobody gets hurt for UGA, the rest should take care of itself. Georgia will win this game handily.
8. Mississippi State at Southern Mississippi
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Mississippi State will get to start its season in the Magnolia State, but it won't be at home.
The Bulldogs and Heisman Trophy hopeful Dak Prescott are traveling to Hattiesburg to take on Southern Mississippi.
Offensive line questions and which running back will emerge to replace Josh Robinson are the key topics of discussion in Starkville, and they'll try to iron those things out against the Golden Eagles.
Meanwhile, Southern Miss will just try to pose some sort of resistance a year after getting throttled 49-0 by the Bulldogs.
The strength of the Golden Eagles is their defensive end duo of Xavier Thigpen and Dylan Bradley, so they must get to Prescott to have a chance.
Between running back Ashton Shumpert, receivers De'Runnya Wilson, Fred Brown and Fred Ross, there are plenty of weapons at Prescott's disposal if he can keep his jersey clean.
How the line and the MSU defense perform will go a long way in determining just how good coach Dan Mullen's squad can be. They definitely want to erase last year's 452-yard performance by Georgia Tech in an Orange Bowl loss.
Playing the 3-9 Golden Eagles will be a good way to put it in the rearview mirror.
7. Western Kentucky at Vanderbilt
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As far as competitiveness and watchability, the Vanderbilt-Western Kentucky game may wind up being one of the best games on the SEC slate in Week 1.
It would have been ranked higher if the Commodores hadn't been so dreadful a season ago. There's just little chance they'll wind up having any bearing on the SEC race.
Regardless, VU needs to be much improved in coach Derek Mason's second year, or there may be changes after the season.
The Hilltoppers are expected to be an offensive juggernaut in Conference USA with offensive-minded head coach Jeff Brohm and quarterback Brandon Doughty leading the way.
This also isn't their first rodeo as they've gone 13-4 in nonconference games the past four seasons.
"These are the types of games we need to try to compete and try to win in that will raise the level of play for us—raise the level of everyone noticing what WKU's about," Brohm told The Courier-Journal's Jonathan Lintner.
Both teams have questions. WKU has defensive issues, and running back Anthony Wales is out indefinitely due an undisclosed injury, according to the Bowling Green Daily News' Zach Greenwell.
The Commodores still have unresolved quarterback issues, and they may not announce the starter between sophomores Johnny McCrary and Wade Freebeck, according to the Tennessean's Adam Sparks.
They also need to find out who is going to make plays on offense.
If VU loses, it's going to be a very long season.
6. Louisiana Lafayette at Kentucky
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As the Kentucky Wildcats attempt to break through to a bowl game under third-year coach Mark Stoops, their quest will begin with perennial Sun Belt contender Louisiana-Lafayette.
The Wildcats should be improved this season with more depth on defense (despite having to replace stars Alvin "Bud" Dupree and Za'Darius Smith), second-year starting quarterback Patrick Towles and explosive running back Stanley "Boom" Williams.
Improving a defense that faded down the stretch in 2014 is essential:
"We need to be better across the board, really; you know that," Stoops said, according to the Courier-Journal's Kyle Tucker. "You could go into statistics and all those things, but it comes down to playing good as a team. We have to be good in all phases. I think offensively we'll control the ball a little bit better, move the ball. I think defensively we need to be better."
Meanwhile, the Ragin' Cajuns must replace star quarterback Terrance Broadway, who was the catalyst for coach Mark Hudspeth's team the past few years. It will either be Brooks Haack or Jalen Nixon in a battle that is still unresolved.
Running back Elijah McGuire (who had 1,732 yards from scrimmage a season ago) is the catalyst for ULL.
It's hard to believe Hudspeth—one of the young up-and-coming coaches in the country—is still in Lafayette. The Ragin' Cajuns have had four consecutive nine-win seasons, and they won't be an easy draw for the Wildcats.
Kentucky should win, but it won't be easy.
5. Tennessee vs. Bowling Green (in Nashville)
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The other most-hyped team in the league besides Arkansas resides on Rocky Top, and it's time to see if the Tennessee Vols are for real.
UT came in ranked 22nd in B/R's preseason poll and has talent all over the field, even if a lot of it is young and unproven.
After an injury-riddled fall camp robbed coach Butch Jones of some of the limited depth he had, it's going to be interesting to see how they hold up against a tough schedule.
They'll start the season off in Nashville against a Bowling Green team that could make some noise in the MAC with fifth-year senior starting quarterback Matt Johnson returning from a hip injury that cost him virtually all of 2014.
The Vols should win handily, but the Falcons will provide a nice early-season test for a team that has to jump right into a firestorm in Week 2 when Oklahoma comes to Neyland Stadium.
Despite the injuries, Jones told Volquest's Brent Hubbs and Grant Ramey on Monday:
"I like the mentality of this football team. I like their attitude, I like their work ethic. We have a lot of individuals that have proven themselves in big games. That have stepped up and played in those games before. So that's a little bit of a comfort…there's a comfort level there."
That comfort stems from having offensive leaders such as quarterback Joshua Dobbs, running backs Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara, as well as a talented receiving corps. A veteran defense with a strong pass rush doesn't hurt, either.
It could be an interesting year in Knoxville, and getting some style points early could build confidence.
4. South Carolina vs. North Carolina (in Charlotte)
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The Connor Mitch era in Columbia is about to begin, and coach Steve Spurrier's South Carolina Gamecocks need him to be a stellar quarterback if they're going to return to competing for division titles.
Between a new signal-caller and an overhauled defense that will now be led by co-defensive coordinator Jon Hoke, there are plenty of concerns in the Palmetto State.
They'll get some answers quickly when they head to Charlotte this Thursday night to take on their neighbor to the north, coach Larry Fedora's North Carolina Tar Heels.
It's only the beginning of what could be a grueling schedule for the Gamecocks, who must also play Central Florida and Clemson out of conference, LSU and Texas A&M from the West along with the normal slate of SEC East opponents.
Mitch has one of the nation's top weapons in receiver Pharoh Cooper, but somebody else needs to alleviate some pressure off the junior pass-catcher. Between David Williams and Brandon Wilds, South Carolina should be able to produce some yardage on the ground.
As far as that defense goes, it must find a way to stop Tar Heels junior wide receiver/return specialist Ryan Switzer, who appears ready to break out and make a name for himself.
It's going to be a huge test for South Carolina to stop a Heels unit that returns 10 of 11 offensive starters from a season ago.
UNC has defensive issues of its own, which is a big reason why Fedora went out and hired former Auburn head coach Gene Chizik to lead the defense. If they make a major turnaround, they could be a major sleeper in the ACC Coastal division.
This is going to be a really pivotal game for both Carolinas opening the season.
3. Louisville vs. Auburn (in Atlanta)
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Auburn is a trendy pick to go to the College Football Playoff this year, and that's even after dropping four of its final five games last year in the wake of a total defensive collapse.
Tigers coach Gus Malzahn went out and tried to rectify that issue by hiring ousted Florida coach and former AU coordinator Will Muschamp to coach the defense. They get defensive end Carl Lawson back from injury, and transfers Blake Countess and Tray Matthews should help boost that side, too.
Remember, the Tigers are just a season removed from finishing as the national runner-up to Florida State.
Offensively, most of the buzz centers around junior quarterback Jeremy Johnson, who should help balance an offense that has been run-heavy over the Malzahn era.
The Malzahn-Muschamp marriage will get off to an interesting start in Atlanta against a talented Louisville team that perhaps isn't getting the national attention it deserves.
As ESPN.com's David M. Hale notes: "A year ago, Louisville installed new schemes on both sides of the ball, lost its best player for half the season, started three different QBs and still won nine games. So while there’s some key turnover this year, the expectations haven’t dipped much, and Bobby Petrino still has plenty of talent to work with."
There is some major defensive turnover, but the Cardinals recruited so well under former coach Charlie Strong and continued to do so under Petrino that there are playmakers.
Former Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Devonte Fields, who transferred from TCU, will transition from defensive end to outside linebacker and could go a long way in shoring up that side of the ball.
This could be a better game than a lot of folks think. If AU rolls in this one, the season may wind up being special.
2. Texas A&M vs. Arizona State (in Houston)
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Texas A&M may wind up being one of the surprises of the SEC West this year, and the addition of defensive coordinator John Chavis should help revitalize a young group filled with potential star players.
But the Aggies have a major test right off the bat when they must play an upstart Arizona State team in Houston.
The Sun Devils are led by senior quarterback Mike Bercovici and coach Todd Graham, and the offense could start throwing up crazy points in a hurry.
While many prognostications have the Sun Devils in the top 20, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit went out on a major limb and picked them to go to the College Football Playoff. ESPN.com writer Travis Haney has Bercovici as one of his breakout players.
There's plenty of excitement in Tempe.
But there are several players on the Aggies who have star potential as well. Nobody has a better skill set at defensive end than sophomore Myles Garrett, who could wreak enough havoc to be an All-American.
Sophomore quarterback Kyle Allen had to battle to win the starting job, but Associated Press writer Ralph D. Russo thinks Allen has what it takes in coach Kevin Sumlin's offense to put him on the Heisman Trophy hopefuls list.
"Allen was OK starting five games as a freshman (16 touchdowns and seven interceptions) and then had to beat out super-recruit Kyler Murray for the job in the preseason. Don't forget Allen was highly touted, too. And Kevin Sumlin's offense regularly turns quarterbacks (Case Keenum and [Johnny] Manziel) into stars. Allen also has the benefit of playing with maybe the best group of receivers in the country.
"
In other words, this season-opening battle of the Aggies and Sun Devils in Houston could have plenty of offensive fireworks. It may wind up being one of the most intriguing games of Week 1.
1. Alabama vs. Wisconsin (in Dallas)
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The big one that everybody needs to watch during Week 1 will match up the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Wisconsin Badgers.
Both of these teams have high aspirations, and though coach Nick Saban's team is big and talented, there are more questions that must be answered than in previous seasons.
Most notably: Who is going to play quarterback, and will anybody play it well?
The Tide have gotten by in recent years with just adequate play from its signal-callers and UA again has a wealth of offensive talent, but the winner of the Jake Coker/Cooper Bateman/Alec Morris battle is going to have massive pressure on his shoulders.
Running back depth is an issue, and there's still the question of how 'Bama will account for the loss of stud receiver Amari Cooper.
There's so much talent in the secondary, but who is going to step up and make sure no debacles transpire such as last year's Auburn and Ohio State games.
Wisconsin, meanwhile, lost star running back Melvin Gordon but returns fifth-year senior quarterback Joel Stave to learn under the tutelage of new head coach and noted quarterback developer Paul Chryst. But there are concerns on the offensive line as the Badgers must replace three starters.
That doesn't bode well going against what is expected to be one of the nation's top defensive lines.
With all the changes, the Badgers are still a safe bet to win the Big Ten West division, but beating Alabama in Dallas is another story.
All statistics gathered from CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted. Brad Shepard covers SEC football for Bleacher Report. Follow Brad on Twitter @Brad_Shepard.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
