Hands down, this is THE toughest conference in College Football. There is little fluff and not many easy stops when you are in SEC Country.

Let's take a look at who are the teams to beat!

SEC WEST

1. ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE - Tide have thier eyes on another BCS run. The best defense in the country resides here with 10 starters back. Even breaking in a new QB, HC Nick Saban can call on Heisman hopefull RB Trent Richardson to shoulder the load. Toughest game on the schedule will be home to LSU. Should be an undefeated season for the Tide.

2. LSU TIGERS - LSU has already quieted the critics as they mauled Oregon last Saturday. And that was without their starting QB. The offense will only get better and with 15 returning starters both sides of the ball are talented. The bad news for this team is that it faces Bama on the road. The loser of that game is shutout of the SEC Title Game and so goes their BCS Championship hopes.

3. MISSISSIPPI STATE - HC Dan Mullen starts his 3rd year here. They guy has put together some pretty good college QBs at Utah and Florida both under Urban Meyer. Bulldogs have a senior QB and a trio of talented RBs. With 9 returning starters on offense, this unit should click. The defense brings back 7. They get all of the tougher games at home... LSU and Alabama. If they can get some home cookin' magic, who knows what will be in store. LSU on Thursday night Sept 15 will be a good test.

4. ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS - Would have had this team higher except for the loss of RB Knile Davis. HC Bobby Petrino still brings back a dozen starters. They have a little work to do now with a new QB and no Davis to take some of the pressure off of him. Their first true test of the season comes when they visit Alabama Sept 24.

5. MISSISSIPPI REBELS - Houston Nutt's bunch returns just 4 on defense. The offense will be looking to find a QB. Brandon Bolden is a nice RB, but its tough to run against a stacked box.

6. AUBURN TIGERS - Oh how the mighty have fallen. They barely survived Utah State. This team is in trouble. Just 6 returning starters, 3 on each side of the ball. HC Gene Chizik has his work cut out for him. They have a tough schedule and some young starters. A recipe for disaster in the SEC.

SEC EAST

1. SOUTH CAROLINA - I was buying into the SC hype before they dropped that 56. Have to like the RB/WR combo of Lattimore and Jeffery. If they get some steady QB play, watch out. An undefeated season lies ahead if they can get past Georgia, Between the Hedges this Saturday

2. GEORGIA BULLDOGS - Already in panic mode as they dropped a game to Boise last week. No shame in that. Boise is the real deal. They must get focused in a hurry as South Carolina comes to town off an offensive show. Sophmore QB Aaron Murray must improve on what were good numbers last year. The SEC East title could be decided this weekend

3. FLORIDA GATORS - New HC Will Muschamp takes over in the swamp. He has just 10 returning starters, His new OC is Charlie Weiss. These two guys know their offense and defense. Gators have a tough schedule no doubt. But Florida still recruits well. The few remaining starters will probably help as both sides of the ball get familiar with new playcalling and schemes.

4. TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS - The Vols look to me as they have 1 of the tougher SEC schedules. Trips to The Swap and Alabama, home games vs Georgia, LSU and South Carolina. That could easily be 0-5. HC Derek Dooley has a solid arm in sophomore QB Tyler Bray, but with 13 returning starters, and this schedule, it will be tough to get that .500 mark

5. KENTUCKY WILDCATS - Wildcats lose their QB, top 2 rushers and top 2 WRs. That could sting a bit. But HC Joker Phillips does return 10 starters from defense. The defense will keep them in games, its just a matter of if they can win them

6. VANDERBILT COMMODORES - HC James Franklin takes over a team that won 2 games last year. The good news is that with 11 starters back on offense and 8 on defense, plus a couple managable games on the schedule, they might get 3 wins this year. They already knocked off Elon for win 1. Bottomline here is, 3 coaches in 3 years is tough on any school. It will be a long season in Nashville.

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