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B/R SEC Preseason Poll 2020: Full Rankings Voted on by B/R App Users

Tyler Conway@jtylerconwayFeatured ColumnistAugust 10, 2020

Alabama head coach Nick Saban watches as the South squad runs drills during practice for the Senior Bowl Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020, in Mobile, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Butch Dill/Associated Press

If the 2020 SEC football season happens, B/R app users think we're headed toward a Florida-Alabama championship game. 

Voters on the B/R app chose the Gators to take home the SEC East and the Tide to win the SEC West after nearly 6,000 votes.

                

SEC East 

1. Florida (459) 
2. Georgia (442) 
3. Tennessee (151)
4. Kentucky
5. South Carolina
6. Missouri
7. Vanderbilt 

             

SEC West

1. Alabama (345)
2. LSU (252)
3. Auburn (180)
4. Texas A&M
5. Mississippi State 
6. Ole Miss 
7. Arkansas

                

The SEC will play a 10-game regular season after eliminating nonconference games and adding two conference matchups to the schedule, though that is subject to change. College football remains in a state of flux as several conferences consider canceling the season. 

Once again the most stacked conference in the country, the SEC had six of the nation's top 13 teams in the initial Coaches Poll. The coaches ranked Alabama tops in the conference and No. 3 overall.

The Tide had eight players drafted in the first two rounds of April's draft, led by Tua Tagovailoa, Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III. Mac Jones will replace Tagovailoa under center, while Alabama will rely on a combination of DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle and John Metchie III as his primary pass-catchers. The Tide will likely rein things in a little bit with Jones tabbed as the starter, and this may resemble a more typical defense-first, ball-control Bama outfit.

LSU will be replacing seven players taken in the first two rounds, most notably quarterback Joe Burrow. Four-star recruit Myles Brennan will take over under center and is completely unproven; he's thrown a total of 70 garbage-time passes in three seasons at LSU. Ja'Marr Chase and Terrace Marshall Jr. will be around to help the transition, but the inexperienced Chris Curry is expected to be the lead running back with Clyde Edwards-Helaire playing on Sundays. The Tigers also lost passing game guru Joe Brady to the NFL and replaced him with Scott Linehan. 

In terms of top-tier pro prospects, Georgia and Florida lost fewer players combined than either Alabama or LSU did by themselves. Georgia may wind up improving this season by replacing longtime quarterback Jake Fromm with JT Daniels or Jamie Newman. Florida should be primed for a leap with Kyle Trask entering his second season as a starter and the team returning more contributors than Alabama, Georgia or LSU.