SEC Conference Preview and Predictions 2021

It would be nice to report that this is a new look SEC in 2021, with unfamiliar teams expecting to contend and traditional powers struggling for the first time in years. The truth is, however, that this is a familiar-looking conference with Alabama leading the way as the national title favorite, while this year’s expected bottom-dwellers, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, and South Carolina, will all be breaking in new coaches. Georgia appears to be the class of the SEC East, which is on the rise, with Florida also hoping to have a big year. One interesting note: eight of our projected bottom nine teams in the conference all have first or second year coaches in charge, only Kentucky’s Bob Stoops was around as recently as 2019.

1. Alabama (last year: 13-0) National championship odds: +225

Alabama last went back-to-back in 2011 and 2012 and to do so this year, Nick Saban will need to rebuild on the fly after losing a host of talented players to the NFL games including Mac Jones, Najee Harris, DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle, just on offense.

Bryce Young takes over at QB; the sophomore threw 22 passes last season. Young’s top weapons include Brian Robinson Jr. who ran for six scores last season and wideout John Metchie III, who also scored six times and had 916 receiving yards. While the offense only returns three starters, the defense sees eight players come back, including linebacker Will Anderson Jr.

The Crimson Tide opens up with a neutral site game against Miami and their SEC schedule includes road games at Florida and Texas A&M. Overall, this is a down year for the SEC West, so if some of Alabama’s young players come through, a second consecutive title is a distinct possibility.

2. Georgia (last year: 8-2) National championship odds: +600

The Bulldogs are 52-14 in Kirby Smart’s five years at the helm and this could be the year they prove themselves on the national stage. The offense returns eight players, led by QB JT Daniels and the best guard duo in the nation, with Justin Shaffer and Jamaree Salyer.

The run defense was the best in the nation last season, allowing just 72.3 yards per game, and they present a loaded front seven, including their leading tackler from 2020, Nakobe Dean.

Georgia will be tested right away, as they open up the season with a neutral site game against Clemson in Charlotte. If the Bulldogs win that game, it could prevent them from needing to beat Alabama in the SEC championship just to make the college football playoff odds.

3. Texas A&M (last year: 9-1) National championship odds: +2500

Jimbo Fisher’s team finished the 2020 season with an Orange Bowl win, completing a 9-1 campaign whose only blemish was a loss to Alabama, as the Aggies finished fourth in the final polls. This season, Jimbo will have a stacked defense that returns virtually of their defense.

The Aggies biggest offseason issue was replacing Kellon Mond, now with the Minnesota Vikings, and Haynes King, who threw just 4 passes last season, has won the job. King will be able to hand off to Isaiah Spiller who ran for 1,036 yards and 9 TD last season, and the Aggies also return their top five receivers from 2020.

A&M has an incredibly soft non-conference schedule and will only play two games all year against preseason top 25 teams; Alabama and LSU. The ‘Bama game this year is at home, as the Aggies will look to avoid a ninth straight loss to their rivals.

4. LSU (last year: 5-5) National championship odds: +2500

Coach O is hoping to bounce back from a disappointing 5-5 campaign, and he has brought back a whopping 16 starters from last season to help him try.

New offensive coordinator Jake Peetz is tasked with running the offense that will be led by QB Myles Brennan, who suffered a season-ending injury just three games into the season last year. Brennan’s top target will be Kayshon Boutte, who had 735 yards and 5 TD catches in 2020. The defense is led by arguably the top cornerback duo in the country, in Derek Stingley JR. and Eli Ricks.

LSU will open the season at UCLA and also gets Florida from the SEC East and a game at Alabama, before ending the season against Texas A&M.

5. Florida (last year: 8-4) National championship odds: +4000

Dan Mullen’s Gators started last season 8-1, but their season fell apart late with close losses to LSU and Alabama, before being demolished by Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl. The gators return only nine starters this year, but there is plenty of talent in place to improve from last season.

Emory Jones will replace Kyle Trask at QB. Jones is a dual-threat QB who threw 32 passes and ran 32 times in 2020. Florida is missing its top three receivers from 2020, including Kyle Pitta and Kadarius Toney, but returns its four leading rushers.

The Gators led the nation in passing offense with 378 yards per game and will test their new look offense against Florida Atlantic and USF before diving into SEC play with Alabama on September 18.

6. Mississippi  (last year: 5-5) National championship odds: +15000

Ole Miss scored 39.2 points per game last season. The bad news is they allowed an SEC-worst 38.3 points per game last season. Lane Kiffin’s challenge is to keep the offense humming while turning the defense into a more productive unit.

Matt Corral returns after throwing 29 TD passes last year. He will be missing star wideout Elijah Moore, but the teams’ top five rushers from 2020 return, including Jerrion Ealy (745 yards, 9 TD).

Ole Miss won games last  season where they allowed 41 and 42 points. They lost games in which they scored 48, twice. To improve from their .500 record from 2020, Lane Kiffin will want to start out on the right foot by beating Louisville in Atlanta in the season opener.

7. Auburn (last year: 6-5) National championship odds: +500

Let the Bryan Harsin era begin at Auburn. Harsin, who went 76-24 at Arkansas State and Boise State, replaced Gus Malzahn, after the Tigers scuffled to a 6-5 record in 2020.

Bo Nix returns as QB after throwing for 2,415 yards a year ago. Auburn returns 9 starters on offense, including Tank Bigsby, who averaged 6.0 yards per carry while gaining 834 yards and running for 5 scores last year. The defensem under new coordinator Derek Mason is led by senior safety Smoke Monday.

The Tigers might have the toughest road slate in the nation, with games at Penn State, LSU, and Texas A&M, though they will host this year’s Iron Bowl on November 27.

8. Missouri (last year: 5-5) National championship odds: +15000

In his first season at the helm in Columbia, Eliah Drinkwitz’s team dropped their first two games and their final two games, but showed many promising signs in the middle, winning five of six games, including wins over LSU and Arkansas.

Connor Bazelak looked like the answer at QB last season, when he completed 67% of his passes. The Tigers return four of their top five runners and four of their top five receivers, plus four offensive linemen as well. The defense is led by Trajan Jeffcoat, who had six sacks last season.

Drinkwitz will need to improve a defense that allowed 32.3 points per game last season, if he plans on improving on last season’s 5-5 record. The Tigers do have a chance to get off to a great start, they will likely be favored in five of their first six games, and the other game, at Boston College, is also winnable.

9. Kentucky (last year: 5-6) National championship odds: +15000

Mark Stoops is 49-50 in his eight years at the helm in Kentucky and it will take some great coaching to get him over the career .500 mark this season.

New offensive coordinator Liam Coen will be tasked with teaching his new system to QB Will Levis, a Penn State transfer who won a crowded QB competition this summer. Levis can hand the ball off to Chris Rodriguez Jr., who gained 785 yards and scored 11 TD last year. Left tackle Darian Kinnard is one of the best linemen in the country.

The Wildcats will struggle to survive a brutal stretch in October, when they play Florida, LSU, and Georgia in consecutive weeks.

10. Arkansas (last year: 3-7) National championship odds: +50000

Arkansas went an incredibly disappointing 3-7 last year under new head coach Sam Pittman, but he will have the benefit of 17 starters returning this year.

KJ Jefferson will have to replace star QB Feleipe Franks; Jefferson did throw 3 TD in limited time last season. Arkansas will  look for star turns from RB Trelon Smith (710 yards, 5 TD) and WR Treylon Burks (820 yards, 7 TD).

While Arkansas can improve on last year by winning just four games, they will struggle to win many more than that with a slate that includes Alabama, LSU, Texas A&M, Georgia, and Texas.

11. Mississippi State (last year: 4-7) National championship odds: +25000

Mike Leach went 4-7 in his first season in his first season in Starkville and most surprisingly, averaged just 21.4 points per game, well outside of the top 100 offenses in the nation.

QB Will Rogers played well at times as a freshman last season, throwing 11 TD and 7 INT. The Bulldogs offense sees eight starters returning, including Jo’quavious Marks, who led the team in both rushing and receiving last season.

What was unusual about the Bulldogs in 2020, is that their offense struggled to score, despite having a top-20 passing attack. That could point to some rebounding in the red zone, where the team was abysmal last year.

12. Tennessee (last year: 3-7) National championship odds: +15000

The Josh Heupel era will begin in Knoxville, as the former UCF coach replaces Jeremy Pruitt. The Vols actually opened last season with wins over South Carolina and Missouri, before losing seven of its last eight games.

Heupel will need to rebuild the team on the fly as the Vols return just two starters on offense. Joe Milton III transferred from Michigan this spring and won the QB job; Milton started five games for the Wolverines last season.

Heupel won a national title as a player at Oklahoma and went 28-8 at Central Florida, but this is the biggest project of his career. The Vols open with home games against Bowling Green, Pittsburgh, and Tennessee Tech.

13. South Carolina (last year: 2-8) National championship odds: +25000

Shane Beamer will take over for Will Muschamp in South Carolina, but year one promises to be a tricky one. To wit, the team named graduate assistant Zeb Noland their opening week starter as presumptive number one Luke Doty recovers from injury.

The Gamecocks do have stud RB Kevin Harris, who ran for a monster 1,138 yards and 15 scores last season. Tight end Nick Muse has a chance to be one of the better players at his position in the conference after catching 30 passes last year. The team’s defensive star is Kingsley Enagbare, who had six sacks last year.

South Carolina enters this year on a six-game losing streak, their first task will be to snap that against Eastern Illinois. Any SEC conference victory will be considered a major win this year.

14. Vanderbilt (last year: 0-9) National championship odds: +50000

Clark Lea is now the boss at Vanderbilt. Lea attended Vandy and was hired away from Notre Dame, where he had success as defensive coordinator.

Vandy averaged a brutal 14.8 points per game last season (they allowed 37.3) but quarterback Ken Seals did look competent as a freshman, throwing 12 TD passes. Wideout Cam Johnson caught 56 passes for 545 yards, and leads a group that returns four of its top five receivers.

Vanderbilt won just two games last season, and have a chance to top that mark this season, as they host East Tennessee State and UConn, but the question will be: can the Commodores win an SEC game?