FPB editor Mike Szvetitz breakdowns which teams could win the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC.
It only makes sense to start our college football Power Five conference previews with the top league in the nation: The Southeastern Conference.
As commissioner Greg Sankey said in his opening remarks at the conference’s media days earlier this week, the SEC is a “super league.”
Soon it will have Oklahoma and Texas join its ranks as conference expansion has dominated the college football offseason. But the SEC didn’t really need the Sooners and Longhorns to bolster its resume – it’s been doing just fine on its own.
The SEC has won 13 national championships in the last 20 years, including four out of the last five and nine out of the last 13.
To spice things up this offseason (as if there needed to be more rivalries and soap-opera drama in the conference) Alabama’s Nick Saban and Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher got in a spat about name, image and likeness ethics, among other things, forcing Sankey to publicly reprimand both head coaches. As if the matchup between the two teams on Oct. 8 in Tuscaloosa wasn’t going to be big enough (remember the Aggies beat the Tide last year), it will be now.
Speaking of head coaches, LSU hired Brian Kelly away from Notre Dame, which only adds to the caliber of coaching in the nation’s top conference. But it’ll take time for Kelly to bring LSU back into contention in the SEC, as the Tigers have talent, but need a quarterback and some consistency, especially in a tough-as-nails SEC West division.
In the meantime, the Southeastern Conference is Alabama and Georgia’s world.
Alabama has won six national titles since 2011 under Saban, the best coach in the game. Georgia beat the Tide last year to win the College Football Playoff championship – the Bulldogs’ first national championship since 1980 – and will push for another shot at the trophy this season.
But there’s enough talent, coaching and craziness that can happen in this conference over the course of the season that brings a few other programs into play.
FrontPageBets breaks down the SEC’s favorites, challengers and sleepers.
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings)
The favorite: Alabama (-145)
Alabama is the favorite to win the SEC – and the national championship – by a majority of sportsbooks. Same as it ever was in Tuscaloosa for Saban. Returning at quarterback is Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young, who is looking to become just the second player to ever win that award twice. Young was second in the country last season as a sophomore in passing yards, throwing for 4,872. His 47 touchdown passes were second-best in the nation. Out of the 598 points Alabama scored last season, Young was responsible for 308 of them. Young and second-year offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien will have plenty of new weapons surrounding them this year, including Georgia Tech transfer running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who averaged 5.2 yards per carry with the Yellow Jackets. Also, wide receiver Jermaine Burton transferred from Georgia in the offseason to fill in some holes in the Tide’s wideout corps. Burton had 497 receiving yards for UGA, which was second on the team. He also caught five TDs. Defensively, Alabama will be anchored by linebacker Will Anderson Jr., who had 17.5 sacks and an eye-popping 34.5 tackles for loss last year. A staple of any Saban-coached team, Alabama has depth at linebacker and across the entire defense.
The challenger: Georgia (+155)
Remember the Bulldogs? They beat Alabama in the national championship game last season. Even though Georgia lost a lot of its nation’s-best defense in the NFL Draft, Kirby Smart is reloading in Athens and UGA is in the hunt to win the conference championship. The veteran Stetson Bennett III returns under center, silencing the critics with his playoff performance last year in leading Georgia to the title. While they’ll have to find more playmakers at receiver, freshman of the year Brock Bowers will return at tight end. Bowers, who set all sorts of records at UGA as a freshman, was the Bulldogs’ leading receiver, snaring 56 passes for 882 yards and 13 touchdowns. He averaged 15.8 yards per catch. Defensively, Georgia will have to replace five NFL first-round draft picks. The Bulldogs do return defensive lineman Jalen Carter, who played in all 15 games last year, finishing with three sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss.
The sleepers: Texas A&M (+1800) and Tennessee (+5000)
First, the Aggies. Texas A&M beat Alabama last year, which highlighted an otherwise disappointing season in College Station. But Fisher was able to land the No. 1 recruiting class this offseason to give Texas A&M some swagger going into the 2022 season. Add in LSU transfer quarterback Max Johnson and an improved defense, A&M could make some noise in the SEC West. And that date with the Tide on Oct. 8 at Bryant-Denny Stadium will be a big one. For more on Texas A&M, read the Bryan College Station Eagle.
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel got the Vols back on track last year with his high-tempo offense, ranking seventh nationally in points per game with 39.3. Former Virginia Tech quarterback Hendon Hooker is poised for an even bigger season in his second year on Rocky Top, along with wide receiver Cedric Tillman, who went over 1,000 yards receiving to go with 12 touchdowns in 2021.
The pick: Alabama
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Mike Szvetitz is the General Manager and Content Director for FrontPageBets.com. Szvetitz is a 22-year veteran reporter and editor, including serving 17 years as a sports editor in Florida, Alabama and Virginia, covering everything from preps to pros. His "View From The Lazy Boy" column won multiple state and national awards. He can be reached at mszvetitz@timesdispatch.com.
