Route ’15: Alabama is the defending conference champion but hardly cruised a year ago, losing at Ole Miss, escaping Arkansas by a point, needing overtime to topple LSU and trailing Auburn by 12 in the second half before closing strong. There is a sense Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide are more vulnerable than they were a couple of years ago, but that had to be somewhat inevitable given their three national championships in four years. The SEC West is expected to be stout again, with all seven division members ranking among the top 27 votegetters in the USA Today coaches’ poll, but the biggest question nationally is whether this league can get back to producing a national champ.
Fast lane: For the first time since the league split into divisions in 1992, there was total prognosticating chaos at last month’s SEC Media Days. Georgia was picked to win the East convincingly, and Alabama was the slight pick over Auburn in the West. Yet the media also was asked to pick an overall champion and selected Auburn. Alabama, Auburn and Georgia are the SEC’s three top-10 teams in the coaches’ poll, and they each play one another this season, with the Crimson Tide and Bulldogs hooking up in the regular season for the first time since 2008. Tennessee was picked second in the East, ahead of two-time division champ and often-overlooked Missouri.
Taking the wheel: Mississippi State has the most recognized quarterback returning with Dak Prescott, and Prescott does have junior receiver De’Runnya Wilson back. But most of last year’s offense must be replaced. That’s why a more likely league MVP candidate is Georgia tailback Nick Chubb, who this time last year was showing preseason promise out of Cedartown High School. Chubb has four starters back on the offensive line after rushing for 1,547 yards last season, including 1,323 in the final eight games. A healthy Sony Michel could keep Chubb around 22 or 25 carries a game instead of 30 or 35, but Chubb does tend to strengthen as a game progresses.
Speed bump: A team nobody is giving much thought to is Texas A&M, which went 11-2 in 2012 with Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel but slipped to 9-4 and 8-5 the past two seasons. The Aggies were atrocious last season on defense, and Kevin Sumlin addressed that in the offseason by swiping coordinator John Chavis from LSU. Eight starters return on each side of the ball, including quarterback Kyle Allen, running back Tra Carson and receivers Josh Reynolds, Ricky Seals-Jones and Speedy Noil, but the superstar in College Station is sophomore defensive end Myles Garrett. The Aggies get Alabama and Auburn at Kyle Field, so this is your dark horse league winner.
Buckle up: And we thought the Iron Bowl was fantastic in the 1980s with Van Tiffin field goals and Lawyer Tillman reverses. The nation’s best in-state rivalry and perhaps the best rivalry period has provided plenty of memorable moments in recent years, starting with Alabama’s 26-21 escape at Auburn in 2009 and Cam Newton delivering a 28-27 comeback win for the Tigers in 2010. The Crimson Tide rolled in 2011 and really rolled in ’12, but then came Auburn’s 34-28 “Kick Six” triumph in 2013 that kept the Tigers on course for a BCS championship appearance and ended Alabama’s quest at a three-peat. The Crimson Tide’s dizzying 55-44 victory last year wasn’t a bad follow-up.