Who’s Playing Florida For SEC Crown?

While it's a lightly contested opinion that Florida will cruise to its third SEC East title in four years come December, who they'll be facing remains a mystery. Will Mississippi's Jevan Snead improve upon his 26 touchdowns as a first-year starter? Will Nick Saban and Alabama take advantage of what many perceive to be a weak schedule? Will first-year starter Jordan Jefferson and a talented defense be able to overtake the pass-happy Florida Gators? The following are some of the frontrunners to challenge Florida for the 2009 SEC title along with a couple of dark horse teams you may want to think twice about.

Mississippi State

With what many consider to be a solid defense, new head coach Dan Mullen, 36, will have a bright future ahead of him. After all, Mullen, who was hired in December, was Florida's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach the past four seasons, spending most of his time grooming the Heisman-winning All-American Tim Tebow. Tebow, one of only two players to win the Maxwell Award (given to the nation's top football player) and Heisman, shows just how good a coach Mullen is, and will be, at Mississippi State.

Sadly, this is his first season not just as head coach at Mississippi State, but as head coach anywhere. The team that finished with a paltry 2-6 conference record and 4-8 overall record (both SEC worsts) won't get much better. Sophomore quarterback Tyson Lee will improve upon his 7 touchdowns and backup running backs Christian Ducre and Robert Elliott will benefit from the improvement in quarterback play that Mullen will bring. Freshman recruit Montrell Conner (6'2”, 210 pounds) out of Monroe, Louisiana, will certainly add to their stable of running backs.

Odds of winning the SEC West: 200/1

Arkansas

The strength of this team has to begin and end with the genius of head coach Bobby Petrino. The man is a genius and convincing sophomore quarterback Ryan Mallet to transfer to the Razorbacks from Michigan shows what kind of recruiter Petrino is. Mallet only helps what is a burgeoning offense. The defense, while not great, isn't bad and the recruiting of two top cornerbacks in Darius Winston and David Gordon will help the Razorbacks' pass-defensive woes.

However, all these things will only help in the future. While Arkansas may only be one year away from contention, it's still one more year. The greatness of LSU, Alabama, and Mississippi will overtake a team that is so obviously improving on both sides of the ball.

Odds of winning the SEC West: 150/1

Auburn

A new head coach, a new offensive coordinator, a new starting quarterback, poor returning talent, and lack of recruiting will never translate into good news for the home team. Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, innovator of the Wildcat offense at Arkansas, will do good things for the Tigers by season's end, but can hiring a 5-19 head coach out of a program like Iowa State be considered a good move?

Not only that, but the departure of Auburn's defensive coordinator Paul Rhodes, and a thin defensive depth chart, gives Auburn hopefuls feeling hopeless. Look for improvement by season's end, but not much. A 6-6 overall record in December is most likely.

Odds of winning the SEC West: 125/1

LSU

First-year quarterback Jordan Jefferson will lead this talented offense and will be a bright spot on the team. After all, how could you not get better than Jarrett Lee, throwing 13 touchdowns to 16 interceptions last season? Senior running back Charles Scott certainly came into his own, running for 1,174 yards and 18 touchdowns and will certainly help ease the burden of Jefferson as he attempts to combat the stringent defenses of the SEC.

The Tigers should settle into the middle of the SEC West early into the season and it will be evident by the time conference play starts why. With a new defensive coordinator and a lack of development, LSU lacks the defensive strength to overtake Ole Miss or Alabama, two offenses that will run circles around the inexperienced Tigers. Also, LSU has a brutal schedule, playing at Georgia October 3rd, Florida on October 10th, at Alabama on November 7th, and at Mississippi November 21st. LSU will lose at least two of those games. It's not inconceivable that the Tigers lose all four of those.

Odds of winning the SEC West: 75/1

Ole Miss

Many people can't seem to wrap their head around the fact that Ole Miss is a potentially dangerous team, especially on offense. In years past, their air attack has left something to be desired, but with the improvement of third-year player Jevan Snead, their three starting wide receivers being seniors Dexter McCluster (44/625/1), Shay Hodge (44/725/8), and Mike Wallace (39/784/1) and running backs Cordera Eason and Brandon Bolden coming into their own last season, combining for nearly 1,200 yards and 8 touchdowns, Rebels fans have plenty to be hopeful about.

The only reason Ole Miss can't edge Alabama out for the top spot is because of strength of schedules. By the time the two teams meet on October 10th, the Crimson Tide will have played five games, with only one against a formidable opponent (opening day at home against Virginia Tech). Ole Miss will have battled through four games, three of which are on the road. They'll be coming off two straight road games against weak SEC East opponents Vanderbilt and South Carolina, but road games are road games and Ole Miss will drop the early game against Alabama and trail the Crimson Tide for the remainder of the season.

Odds of winning the SEC West: 25/1

Alabama

They say defenses win championships, but the same can be said for lightweight schedules. While it's true that Alabama was building up to this year (the Crimson Tide will see nine of their 11 defensive starters return) their schedule is easily manageable. Their first away game isn't until October 3rd when they travel to Kentucky. Their first away game that will be a challenge is the following week at Mississippi. That is their only away game that will present any kind of problem for the Crimson Tide as their third and fourth games are at Mississippi State and Auburn, respectively. Four away games and seven home games? Are you kidding me?

The offense will feature quarterback Greg McElroy, who will bolstered by having weapons like wide receiver Julio Jones and running back Mark Ingram. Finally, Alabama will have the best head coach in the SEC West in Nick Saban and a team of assistant coaches and coordinators that only flesh out one of the best coaching staffs in the country.

The only chink in the Alabama armor seems to be a weak offensive line. If they can't gel by the third week, look for Ole Miss to overtake them in the West.

Odds of winning the SEC West: 15/1