2013 SEC Football Top 5* Teams Preview
So the saying goes that you save the best for last, so here we are on our last preview of the 2013 college football preseason and we find ourselves in the SouthEastern Conference where the BCS Trophy has now reigned for the past seven seasons. It’s a streak that has been over-talked about but not and can’t be overstated. In the modern era of college athletics it’s difficult to believe that one conference could completely dominate the landscape and it seems that 2013 will continue the streak and even more impressive, Alabama is on the verge of four titles in six years…yeah, let that soak in…Alabama with Nick Saban is setting the standard for modern day college football champions. Sometimes it’s hard to recognize when we are living during the greatest era of something and right now, if Alabama wins it’s forth title in six season and if Saban gets to 100 wins before he gets to 20 losses, that is domination and that is something that others will have a hard time to replicate. Now to clarify that last point, Saban is currently 68-13, over the last five years he is 66-6! On that current pace he could hit 100 before 20 but that is still a couple of years away. So here is our 2013 SEC Top5(maybe6 or7) Rundown:
1. Alabama Crimson Tide 11-1 (West Champions) (Conference Champions)
So after that whole rant about how dominant the SEC has has been and how impressive Alabama’s streak has been, here’s the problem: last year Alabama schedule was less then impressive. If you take out the three toughest games of the regular season, Michigan, LSU and Texas A&M, the combine record of the Crimson Tide’s opponents was 43-67, that’s nine teams…let that sink in for a moment. This year the schedule doesn’t change much, they have an opening day game against Virginia Tech, then like last year they have A&M and LSU, if Bama survives those three games they will play in the SEC title game again with an appearance in the final BCS game on the line. We like LSU to upset Alabama or a trap game on the road to Mississippi State as the only chances for a loss on the schedule. If LSU had Alabama’s schedule we would be picking them to play for the National Championship but they don’t and so we are taking the Tide to appear once again an in the SEC TItle game but we aren’t ready yet to say they’ll play for a National Title, that prediction is still to come…
2. Georgia Bulldogs 11-1 (East Champions)
Georgia will return with what we believe will be the best offense in the SEC, the question of if they can run the table or overcome Alabama in the title game will be if a young but talented defense can overcome an early and very tough schedule to help Georgia go into the Worlds Largest Cocktail party with only one loss. If that happens, which we think it will, Georgia will return to the SEC Title game and this time they will be ready to dethrone Alabama. Disclaimer: We will say this, we picked Alabama to win the conference again, but if this part of the prediction comes true and it’s Georgia vs Alabama we will take Georgia this time. Which should mean that we should have Georgia as the number one team…but we can’t unseat Alabama, Georgia will have to do it.
3. South Carolina Gamecocks 10-2
This is going to be a repeat of last year for the Gamecocks, meaning if South Carolina can get past two teams that could also find themselves in this position in Georgia and Florida they could be undefeated going into a season finally against Clemson. Last year, they fell pretty hard against Florida after coming off of a loss to LSU this year we like them against Florida but think Georgia will take a win away from the Gamecocks, also if Clemson can be in a position to play for a National Championship when they meet, we like Clemson. The schedule is easy enough and with a little luck South Carolina could be playing in the SEC Title game but this year we think it’s Georgia’s game to play in.
4. LSU Tigers 9-3
This is why the SEC is still the best conference is the nation, no other number four team in our conference Rundowns compare to the talent of LSU. LSU was seconds and a couple of scores away from playing in the SEC title game and maybe a National Championship. This year LSU has the toughest schedule of our top 4 teams in the SEC, they have a tough opening day road game against TCU, they also face Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Texas A&M. This is the only reason we don’t have LSU higher, we like everything about the team and think that they have what it takes to win a SEC title but the offense and defense will have to improve with losing some key pieces thus leading us to think that LSU will be in the National Championship talk next year after these players have another year of experience under their belt.
5. Texas A&M Aggies 9-3
Before all of the distractions that came in the offseason and before the half-game suspension imposed on Manziel we would’ve taken Texas A&M at 10-2 but now with all of that behind us we are looking at A&M not only to lose to Alabama and LSU but we think they might have a mental “loss” in there too and drop them to this position. On the field with Manziel leading the offense, the Aggies will have a chance to win any game, other the Alabama (they want blood). On the other side of the ball, the Aggies have some big holes to fill and that is not a good thing in the SEC. Look for the Aggies to take a step back in their second year of SEC play but it will be a small step and if Manziel returns next year look for A&M to be in the hunt for a National Championship
6. Florida Gators 9-3
We can’t say enough about the depth of the top 6 teams in the SEC, having Florida ranked as the sixth team in a conference is unreal. This team at one point last year was thought as the number one team in the country. For the 2013 campaign, like Texas A&M, (without the off field distractions) Florida will take a small step back as they gain some experience on both sides of the ball. The defense in Florida was one of the best, top 10 in both points allowed and rushing yards allowed, that’s impressive when playing in the SEC. This season the defense will need to catch up and while that’s occurring they will need to rely on the offense that ranked last year as on of the more average in the country. All the top teams in the SEC can beat each other on any given Saturday, Florida in 2013 will be in it but we don’t see them playing for a conference title.
RIVALS RUNDOWN 