SEC Football Q&A: Can Florida Make a College Football Playoff Run in 2016?
Well, that was fun, wasn't it?
The college football season came to an end late Monday night in Glendale, Arizona, with the Alabama Crimson Tide's 45-40 win over the Clemson Tigers in one of the most dramatic championship games in the sport's history.
Now on to the offseason, where virtually every SEC team is littered with questions that need to be addressed over the next nine months.
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To help hold you over, we address some of those questions in the weekly Bleacher Report SEC Q&A:
Winning the College Football Playoff might be a little too aggressive in year two for head coach Jim McElwain because, while his Gators did win the SEC East in 2015, it was more than just a quarterback issue that led to the three-game losing streak to close the season.
Treon Harris wasn't great, don't get me wrong. He threw more interceptions (six) than touchdowns (four) over the final six games of the year, completed just 47.8 percent of his passes, and regressed from his first start after Will Grier's suspension he threw for 271 yards and two touchdowns in a pinch at LSU.
He will be joined in the offseason battle for the top spot on the depth chart by former Oregon State/Alabama quarterback Luke Del Rio, Purdue transfer Austin Appleby and true freshman early enrollee Feleipe Franks, so consider that battle as wide open as it possibly can be.
The offensive line sputtered as well. After progressing over the first two months of the season, it gave up 24 sacks over the final six games of the year, allowed far too much penetration on running plays and put Harris in bad situations time and time again.
Most of those players—like Martez Ivey—are youngsters who will get better with time. In time to make a title game run in 2016, though? That's too much, too soon.
In a down SEC East, the Gators still will have to contend with a loaded Tennessee team and a talented Georgia team. They draw LSU and Arkansas out of the West, have the regular-season finale vs. Florida State on the road and a very small margin for error in order to make a national title run.
Just worry about the SEC East and offensive consistency first, and then talk about the playoff.
Not to be "Buzz Killington," but no, I don't think LSU will get back to Atlanta under head coach Les Miles.
I wrote in "Bold Predictions for SEC Football in 2016" last week that Miles will be fired mid-season for repeating the same mistakes that nearly cost him his job in November 2015, which, obviously, would make it impossible for him to lead the team to Atlanta next year.
Even if I'm wrong about that (and LSU fans certainly let me know how wrong they think I will be), LSU still has a major Alabama problem. The Crimson Tide simply don't lose games to teams that play their style, which is all LSU knows. That's a big reason why they've topped the Tigers five straight times and shut down superstar running back Leonard Fournette last year in Tuscaloosa.
If LSU can't beat Alabama and can't find enough offensive consistency to take care of business in its other big games—as has been the case the last couple of years—it won't be playing in the SEC Championship Game anytime soon.
A big part of the problem is quarterback, where aside from Zach Mettenberger's senior year in 2013, LSU really hasn't had a difference-maker at the position. Miles doesn't need to find a superstar out there, just somebody who can look like one enough to keep defenses honest and away from Fournette and the rest of the running backs.
Considering Ole Miss and Arkansas have improved, Alabama's cooking, Auburn's high ceiling and Mississippi State's sustained success, Miles simply can't win unless he becomes a little more dynamic on the offensive side of the ball.
Until that happens, expect more frustration.
I'm a little more optimistic with Ole Miss having success in 2016, despite losing talented junior defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche, wide receiver Laquon Treadwell and offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil.
We already know they can clear the Alabama hurdle after toppling the Tide in each of the last two seasons, including in Tuscaloosa at night in 2015 without Tunsil in the lineup. Quarterback Chad Kelly will return, plus they get Alabama at home in Week 3 of 2016 when the Tide still might be figuring out their identity.
Quincy Adeboyejo, Damore'ea Stringfellow and others should be able to pick up the slack for Treadwell as youngsters like Van Jefferson and DaMarkus Lodge take on more of a responsibility at wide receiver. The defensive line is still loaded with underrated players like Breeland Speaks and Marquis Haynes, and producing top-tier defenses is something that has become a staple of head coach Hugh Freeze's teams.
Their cross-division road game is at Vanderbilt, Georgia will still be building when the two teams meet in Oxford in late September and the bye week comes in Week 6, right before a critical stretch that pits the Rebels against Arkansas, LSU and Auburn.
If I had to make a pick right now, I'd say Ole Miss doesn't make it to Atlanta next year because Alabama will find a way to solve the Rebel puzzle in Week 3. That game will decide the division, though.
Alex Collins is the loss that will draw the most headlines after he topped the 1,000-yard mark on the ground for the third straight season. But Kody Walker is solid, Rawleigh Williams III could be back after last season's neck injury, commit Devwah Whaley is solid and the one thing we know about Bret Bielema-coached teams is that they pound the rock no matter who's back there.
The loss of Denver Kirkland and Sebastian Tretola up front hurts, but Bielema has mixed and matched up front before and should be able to do it again. Hunter Henry's early departure is devastating on paper after he caught 51 passes for 739 yards and became one of the nation's most feared tight ends in 2015. But tight ends grow on trees in Fayetteville, Arkansas, so Jeremy Sprinkle should be just fine.
The loss of quarterback Brandon Allen, though, is the biggest issue facing Bielema. Allen capped off his up-and-down career on fire, tossing 30 touchdowns on the year including 15 in his final five games. The good news is that USC transfer Ricky Town will be in the mix, along with Austin Allen, Rafe Peavey and Ty Storey—all of whom have considerable high school accolades in tow.
Arkansas needs to find a quarterback who can just be slightly more than a game manager early on to allow the running game to grow. If that happens, it won't miss a beat.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics are courtesy of cfbstats.com, and recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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