PLOT: The SEC dominated the BCS era of college football, winning nine of the 16 crystal ball trophies and seven of the last eight. As college football introduces a four-team playoff to decide its national champion, can the league be as dominant? College coaches recently voted five SEC teams among the top 13 in the preseason USA Today poll, so it would appear the answer is yes.
FAVORITES: South Carolina has been picked to win the East over Georgia, with a big reason for that being their meeting at Williams-Brice Stadium. Alabama is the choice in the West over Auburn, which faces Georgia and South Carolina in the East and has an early nonconference game at Kansas State. Don't sleep on defending champ Missouri in the East or on LSU in the West.
FORESHADOWING: There is no bigger early-season game in the conference than Georgia's trip to South Carolina on Sept. 13. These teams have won three of the past four East titles, and South Carolina's three-year winning streak over the Bulldogs ended last September. Each program has a secondary under major repair, so there could be points aplenty.
HYPERBOLE: The SEC's top falsehood is that Missouri won't challenge for the East title. The Tigers were 12-2 last season and 11-0-1 in regular-season games after regulation, yet they're not in the USA Today preseason Top 25. Maty Mauk is a capable successor to James Franklin, and the defensive ends will be a factor again as well. Missouri avoids LSU, Alabama and Auburn in the West.
IMAGERY: There will be no better atmosphere this season than LSU's Tiger Stadium on Nov. 8, when Alabama arrives in an evening matchup of the league's two most consistently powerful teams over the past several years. Tiger Stadium has been expanded to 102,000. "If you thought we were loud before," 10th-year Tigers coach Les Miles said last month, "we just got louder."