Rammer Jammer Gator Chomp Bulldog: SEC Preview

"SEC! SEC! SEC!"

It's a chant that gets old quickly—especially when your friends—who don't even support Alabama and have hated them for time immemorial get behind the crimson and white and root for 'em in the National Championship Game. After all, it's an SEC team, right? I'd get into a big long spiel about jumping on the bandwagon and vicarious success, but I've got 99 problems and that ain't going to be one.

Right, so here's the SEC Preview, where, if the Big XII preview—re-published by the excellent Bleacher Report—was any indication, we'll no doubt piss off a section of fans.

Hey! At least we're writing the damn thing!

To get the important stuff out of the way—

BEST FANS

Georgia (It's more about the co-eds and the beauty of black, white, and red, as well as tailgating on the North Lawn, and the fact that the atmosphere at Sanford's is pretty darned good if you sit in the right place)

WORST FANS

Florida (Jorts! Jorts! Jorts! Jorts!)

BEST STADIUM (Atmosphere-wise)

LSU (The atmosphere on a night in Death Valley is sometimes better than the actual game). Although try for Auburn as well (THAT Auburn-Florida game in 2006 still sends shivers up my spine). Looks-wise, Sanford's probably the prettiest (hedges, baby!). Neyland, home of Tennessee's also has had incredible night game experiences in the past, but not lately.

BEST TRADITION

This is the SEC. There are too many of them just to pick one! Having said that, we love Tennessee's "Running Through The T" and Auburn's tree-papering antics. The hedges are pretty, too. So is the SEC tradition of having smoking hot co-eds (did we mention that?).

BEST CHEERLEADERS

Florida wins. They almost win best co-eds, too, but for the jorts. Urghh...

WORST CHEERLEADERS

Alabama. After seeing them rather a lot last year, they paled in comparison to Florida and Texas. Shows that winners are, in fact, losers.

And as for the 2010 season? 

1) Can Alabama win back-to-back SEC title games?

Alabama lost almost everybody on defense this year. Regardless of what you say about their potential and Nick Saban knowing how to coach talent, that's a severe drop-off from 2010's National Championship team.

But then again, we can expect Alabama's 'D' to remain pretty fresh considering Mark Ingram is going to eat up a hell of a lot of time and yards on the ground. Greg McElroy's a pretty good quarterback and they have one of the nastier wide receivers in the conference in Julio Jones.

Despite their division getting increasingly competitive, Alabama will probably win the West. But as for going unbeaten or winning the national title game? If they get through Florida and the road trip to LSU, then yes.

2) Will the Bulldogs be the 'Beast of the East'?

Georgia has done better in that department and they are also bringing back the best wide receiver—and possibly the best player—in college football A.J. Greene.

Washaun Ealey and Caleb King (he'll be eager to prove he's not a bust) will be a good running back duo for the Bulldogs, who bring back 17 returning starters—including 10 on offense.

Unfortunately for Georgia, the biggest issue still stands at defense.  Replacing Willie Martinez with Todd Grantham at defensive coordinator will shake things up (apparently he's putting in a new 3-4 defense), but the fact that only five of them are coming back could worry Georgia. Georgia's got a pretty good schedule too—we figure that the Cocktail Party against Florida will be the biggest game they'll play (it's a play-in for the SEC Title game, people!).

3) Will the Gators keep chomping?

With Tim Tebow, Aaron Hernandez, Riley Cooper, and David Nelson leaving, Florida's lost a legendary quarterback and its receiving corps (Yes, we know that Hernandez was a TE, but he's still a great receiver people!). They've also lost one of their best offensive lineman in Maurkice Pouncey and speedster running back Brandon James.

John Brantley will take over the offense, which brings back almost all of its O-Line. The quarterback will be well-protected, but this team won't be as strong as last year's and their schedule—which includes difficult road trips to Alabama, Tennessee and Florida State (as well as the 'neutral' Cocktail party)—isn't easy.

Florida will probably win out, but it's going to be tight.

4) Will Les Miles survive 2010?

Les Miles is one of my buddy's tips to lose his jobs this year, and there are some college football writers who feel the same. Tigers fans are STILL feeling angry after some stupid decisions last year—the Ole Miss one being the biggest of them.

The schedule is potentially horrific for LSU, with games at Florida, Auburn, Arkansas, and a monster of a game against Alabama. They could well end up 8-4 and if this nightmare scenario happens, then this could be the last season for the "Cat in the Hat".

5) Will the Jeremiah Masoli experiment work at Ole Miss?

Despite the spitting and fuming of certain US sportswriters, the decision to bring Jeremiah Masoli was a pretty good one on Houston Nutt's behalf. While we're not expecting Masoli to fit in well with the SAE boys on campus, we ARE expecting Masoli to bring a new dimension to Nutt's offense because he's quick and probably better than Jevan Snead, who left for the NFL after an underwhelming season.

We think Masoli will get the QB job ahead of Nathan Stanley assuming he behaves himself.

That'll help Nutt, particularly as the Rebs have got road trips to Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, and LSU. Urgh...

6) The two 'As'—Arkansas and Auburn

Auburn took Alabama to the wire last year, while Arkansas fans were probably right to feel a bit cheated in their loss to Florida, considering some of the officials' decisions that were made.

Ryan Mallett's a heck of a quarterback for the Razorbacks, and they bring back 18 starters. We'll see how good the 'Backs are when they go on the road to Georgia the third weekend of the season.

This is going to be a Jan 1st bowl team. You heard it here first, or second(ish).

And how about Auburn?

We love the atmosphere at Auburn, and the papering of the tree. While in Auburn, Gene Chizik quieted the haters with an outstanding 8-5 season, people are feeling pretty confident about the future. Scout.com sees the Tigers winning their first six games of the year. That's okay because games 7-12 are going to be a war—including the game with Alabama (obviously).

7) Good luck, Derek Dooley

Many people don't expect the Vols to be doing much this year on the field, but expect an awful lot off of it.

After all, they've still got to clear up one massive bar fight and a long line of violations stemming from Lane Kiffin's tenure. For the record, we like Derek Dooley, who's determined to clear up a UT program. Matt Simms will be the new QB now that Nick Stephens is out the door, and we wish the best for him.

Don't be surprised if Tennessee's record is pretty lousy this year. Be surprised if they lose to Kentucky, though.

8) Can the refs sort it out?

The worst thing about the SEC last year was the amount of hideous calls made by SEC officials.

The most stupid? AJ Green's perceived 'celebration' call against LSU.

Let's hope that this year's not a controversial one.

Players To Watch

Masoli—Remember last year he brought Oregon to a Pac-10 title.
Brantley—It's Florida, and he'll have a good—if inexperienced—receiving corps.
Green—He's the best in the business.
Ingram—Best running back in the country. Period.