Bold predictions for SEC football in 2015
- Wyeth Wilson
- Jul 4, 2015
- 3 min read
For the first time in a decade, the SEC’s streak of being viewed as the best conference in college football is in jeopardy.
After the SEC won seven consecutive national championships, the last two national champions have come from different conferences.
But fans, as well as media, shouldn’t be quick to dismiss the top to bottom strength in the SEC that makes it so hard to escape undefeated.
With a few exceptions, any team can beat any other team on any given Saturday.
Here are a few predictions of what unexpected things will occur in the conference this season:
Missouri will not win the SEC East a third time in a row
The Tigers have surprised the rest of the conference two years in a row by winning back-to-back SEC East titles.
In those two seasons, Missouri was underestimated each preseason, something that they could experience again from fans, but the Tigers will have their opponents full attention in 2015.
A major reason Missouri will not be in Atlanta for the SEC Championship for the third year in a row is the departures they experienced on both sides of the ball.
The Tigers will get quarterback Maty Mauk and running back Russell Hansbrough back, but they lose their top four receivers (86 percent of receiving yards), standout defensive end Markus Golden, SEC special teams player of the year Marcus Murphy, and SEC defensive player of the year Shane Ray.
Missouri will get a little more respect this offseason due to what they accomplished in 2012 and 2013, and they will likely finish in the tope three in the SEC East, but they will not go to the SEC Championship Game for the third time in three years.
October 10th will decide the SEC East
The SEC East will hang in the balance when Georgia and Tennessee meet in Neyland Stadium on Oct. 10.
The Bulldogs and the Vols are the two projected leaders in the SEC East, and this game could likely act as a tiebreaker at the end of the regular season.
Both teams will probably suffer some losses elsewhere in the SEC, so what they do against each other will be very important in the SEC East race.
Alabama will slow down a bit
You wouldn’t think Alabama was coming off of a College Football Playoff appearance and their fifth consecutive number one recruiting class by the way they have been discussed this offseason.
Alabama still has the talent to be an elite college football team, but the difference for the Tide in 2015 is that the rest of the SEC West is slowly catching up.
Combine the fact that Alabama plays in the best division in college football with the fact that their two SEC East opponents are Georgia and Tennessee, and there are six to eight games on the Tide’s schedule that will at least be a challenge to Alabama.
We will know a lot about Alabama after their first five games.
Those five games include a neutral site against Wisconsin to open the season, a game at home against Ole Miss, and a road trip to Georgia.
Those are three very good teams, and if Alabama gets through them without a problem, the 2015 season could be a special one.
But if they have problems with those games, it could be a long season. The Tide still have to play Arkansas, at Texas A&M, Tennessee, LSU, and at Auburn after that.
Alabama has been college football’s most consistent power since Nick Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa, but they could start on a decline this season, even if it doesn't necessarily show up in the win-loss columns.
Mark Richt’s seat starts to get even warmer in Athens when Georgia fails to meet preseason expectations
As they always seem to be, the preseason expectations for Georgia are high.
Coming off of a 10-3 (6-2 SEC) season, Georgia is the favorite in the SEC East, and is getting some hype as a possible College Football Playoff team.
This hype is nothing new to Georgia though; the Bulldogs always have preseason hype, but never seem to live up to it.
In 2015, Georgia will not meet the expectations placed on them, and the talks of firing Mark Richt that have been present for a long time in Athens will start to get a bit more serious.
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