Our look at the SEC's most productive returning players in 2012 continues with a look at players that grabbed the most interceptions.
Past producers:
The SEC returns four players that ranked in the top 10 in the SEC in interception. The top pick man returns this season, though he'll have to sit to start the season.
Here's a look at No. 1:
Bacarri Rambo, S, Georgia: He had eight interceptions and defended eight passes last season. With his size and strength, Rambo could play in the box and defend the run, but he never had any issue dropping back into coverage with his speed. Physically, Rambo was a beast, but his field vision was very underrated. He showed to have tremendous ball-hawking ability and could attack from all over the field. Rambo could have easily gone to the NFL after his junior year, but stayed, and even though he'll serve a suspension to start the year, he'll still be in the hunt to keep his crown.
The SEC returns three more players that ranked high in interceptions:
Johnthan Banks, CB, Mississippi State: He had five interceptions and defended 14 passes.
Shawn Williams, S, Georgia: He had four interceptions and defended six passes.
Charles Sawyer, S, Ole Miss: He had four interceptions and defended nine passes.
All three of those players will have the opportunity to dethrone Rambo. Banks is one of the most underrated players in the league and he'll start to get a lot more national attention with his cover skills. Keep an eye on Sawyer. He said earlier this spring that he should have had at least two more picks last year and intends to have more in 2012.
Vanderbilt cornerback Trey Wilson recorded three interceptions last season, but defended 11 passes. He's a solid cover corner and he'll get more opportunities to frustrate quarterbacks this fall with Casey Hayward gone. Missouri corner E.J. Gaines is another player to watch. He only had two interceptions, but defended 16 passes. He isn't the biggest defensive back, but he'll annoy a lot of receivers and quarterbacks this fall.
South Carolina has two players to monitor in safety D.J. Swearinger and Spur DeVonte Holloman. Swearinger is someone who can roam all over the field and should improve on his 2011 numbers. Holloman is back at his old position and anytime you have the chance to move around more, you're likely to find the ball more.
LSU's Tyrann Mathieu is a corner you can't ignore, either. Mathieu has a magnetic attraction to the football, even though he only registered two interceptions. He defended 11 passes last season, and with Morris Claiborne gone, he'll have a little more room to work with. Teammate Eric Reid (safety) could also have a shot with his range.
Tennessee's Prentiss Waggner only recorded two interceptions in 2011, but that was with him playing both free safety and cornerback. He's staying put at corner and we saw how successful he is there when he picked off five passes in 2010. He'll battle to be one of the top corners in the SEC this fall.
Past producers:
The SEC returns four players that ranked in the top 10 in the SEC in interception. The top pick man returns this season, though he'll have to sit to start the season.
Here's a look at No. 1:
Bacarri Rambo, S, Georgia: He had eight interceptions and defended eight passes last season. With his size and strength, Rambo could play in the box and defend the run, but he never had any issue dropping back into coverage with his speed. Physically, Rambo was a beast, but his field vision was very underrated. He showed to have tremendous ball-hawking ability and could attack from all over the field. Rambo could have easily gone to the NFL after his junior year, but stayed, and even though he'll serve a suspension to start the year, he'll still be in the hunt to keep his crown.
The SEC returns three more players that ranked high in interceptions:
Johnthan Banks, CB, Mississippi State: He had five interceptions and defended 14 passes.
Shawn Williams, S, Georgia: He had four interceptions and defended six passes.
Charles Sawyer, S, Ole Miss: He had four interceptions and defended nine passes.
All three of those players will have the opportunity to dethrone Rambo. Banks is one of the most underrated players in the league and he'll start to get a lot more national attention with his cover skills. Keep an eye on Sawyer. He said earlier this spring that he should have had at least two more picks last year and intends to have more in 2012.
Vanderbilt cornerback Trey Wilson recorded three interceptions last season, but defended 11 passes. He's a solid cover corner and he'll get more opportunities to frustrate quarterbacks this fall with Casey Hayward gone. Missouri corner E.J. Gaines is another player to watch. He only had two interceptions, but defended 16 passes. He isn't the biggest defensive back, but he'll annoy a lot of receivers and quarterbacks this fall.
South Carolina has two players to monitor in safety D.J. Swearinger and Spur DeVonte Holloman. Swearinger is someone who can roam all over the field and should improve on his 2011 numbers. Holloman is back at his old position and anytime you have the chance to move around more, you're likely to find the ball more.
LSU's Tyrann Mathieu is a corner you can't ignore, either. Mathieu has a magnetic attraction to the football, even though he only registered two interceptions. He defended 11 passes last season, and with Morris Claiborne gone, he'll have a little more room to work with. Teammate Eric Reid (safety) could also have a shot with his range.
Tennessee's Prentiss Waggner only recorded two interceptions in 2011, but that was with him playing both free safety and cornerback. He's staying put at corner and we saw how successful he is there when he picked off five passes in 2010. He'll battle to be one of the top corners in the SEC this fall.
ESPN's K.C. Joyner has ranked his top quarterback-receiver tandems in the SEC 
going into the 2012 season, and his choice for No. 1 is going to surprise a lot of people.
He has Vanderbilt's Jordan Rodgers and Jordan Matthews at the top of his list.
In choosing his top tandems, Joyner used a list of metrics from the 2011 season that detailed such things as how the combo fared in short pass yards per attempt, vertical yards per attempt and overall yards per attempt.
The No. 2 combo on Joyner's list was Georgia's Aaron Murray and Tavarres King, while Tennessee's Tyler Bray and Da'Rick Rogers were No. 3.
There's no doubt that Matthews really blossomed once Rodgers took over the Vanderbilt starting job last season, and the other guy in that Vanderbilt receiving corps to watch is Chris Boyd, who had eight touchdown catches last season. He and Matthews combined for 13 touchdown catches, and Matthews averaged 19 yards per catch.
Consistency will be the key for Vanderbilt in the fall, and that's something that coach James Franklin said was a priority this past spring -- doing all of the things right that it takes to have a potent passing game.
If I were ranking the SEC's top quarterback-receiver tandems, I'd have Arkansas' Tyler Wilson and Cobi Hamilton at the top, and they're one of the tandems Joyner lists among his honorable mention candidates along with South Carolina's Connor Shaw and Ace Sanders.
I'd also have Tennessee No. 2, but I'd have Justin Hunter (as long as he's all the way back from his injury) in there as the Vols' top receiver.
Hunter and Hamilton would be my picks as the SEC's top two receivers going into the 2012 season. Rogers would certainly be in the top 5, and if junior college newcomer Cordarrelle Patterson lives up to his hype, the Vols could have three of the top receivers in the league in 2012.
going into the 2012 season, and his choice for No. 1 is going to surprise a lot of people.
He has Vanderbilt's Jordan Rodgers and Jordan Matthews at the top of his list.
In choosing his top tandems, Joyner used a list of metrics from the 2011 season that detailed such things as how the combo fared in short pass yards per attempt, vertical yards per attempt and overall yards per attempt.
The No. 2 combo on Joyner's list was Georgia's Aaron Murray and Tavarres King, while Tennessee's Tyler Bray and Da'Rick Rogers were No. 3.
There's no doubt that Matthews really blossomed once Rodgers took over the Vanderbilt starting job last season, and the other guy in that Vanderbilt receiving corps to watch is Chris Boyd, who had eight touchdown catches last season. He and Matthews combined for 13 touchdown catches, and Matthews averaged 19 yards per catch.
Consistency will be the key for Vanderbilt in the fall, and that's something that coach James Franklin said was a priority this past spring -- doing all of the things right that it takes to have a potent passing game.
If I were ranking the SEC's top quarterback-receiver tandems, I'd have Arkansas' Tyler Wilson and Cobi Hamilton at the top, and they're one of the tandems Joyner lists among his honorable mention candidates along with South Carolina's Connor Shaw and Ace Sanders.
I'd also have Tennessee No. 2, but I'd have Justin Hunter (as long as he's all the way back from his injury) in there as the Vols' top receiver.
Hunter and Hamilton would be my picks as the SEC's top two receivers going into the 2012 season. Rogers would certainly be in the top 5, and if junior college newcomer Cordarrelle Patterson lives up to his hype, the Vols could have three of the top receivers in the league in 2012.
The rich just keep getting richer in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Nick Saban's recruiting roll continued Wednesday, as ESPN 150 quarterback Cooper Bateman (Salt Lake City/Cottonwood) committed to the Crimson Tide. Bateman, the sixth-ranked quarterback in the 2013 class, chose Alabama over Auburn, Florida, LSU and Washington and claimed over 50 offers.
"The campus was awesome," Bateman told ESPN.com's TideNation. "It was probably my favorite campus. It's gorgeous out there. I learned everything about it. The education is top-notch, but that's anywhere in the conference."
Here's a statement from Bateman released to media members about Bateman's commitment:
Bateman, who is Alabama's 12th commitment for 2013, passed for 2,484 yards and 26 touchdowns to seven interceptions as a junior.
Nick Saban's recruiting roll continued Wednesday, as ESPN 150 quarterback Cooper Bateman (Salt Lake City/Cottonwood) committed to the Crimson Tide. Bateman, the sixth-ranked quarterback in the 2013 class, chose Alabama over Auburn, Florida, LSU and Washington and claimed over 50 offers.
"The campus was awesome," Bateman told ESPN.com's TideNation. "It was probably my favorite campus. It's gorgeous out there. I learned everything about it. The education is top-notch, but that's anywhere in the conference."
Here's a statement from Bateman released to media members about Bateman's commitment:
"This has been a great time in my life, I have had the rare opportunity to be able to choose from many great schools that would allow me to get a college degree and continue to play the game that I love. This has been a very difficult decision only because I was able to meet and get to know so many wonderful coaches at so many great universities. I have chosen to attend the University of Alabama. I am honored that I will get to learn from Coach Saban and Coach Nussmeier and will get to represent Alabama, the state and the University. I want to thank my coaches at Cottonwood for all they have done for me and mostly to my parents who have made this all possible."
Bateman, who is Alabama's 12th commitment for 2013, passed for 2,484 yards and 26 touchdowns to seven interceptions as a junior.
Time for some links.
- Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News writes that the late Derrick Thomas was a major snub for the College Football Hall of Fame.
- Missouri dismisses safety Tavon Bolden ... again.
- Tennessee coach Derek Dooley and new athletic director Dave Hart laud new Hall of Famer Phillip Fulmer.
- Alabama coach Nick Saban says wide receiver DeAndrew White is "doing fine" after last month's late-night altercation outside of a Tuscaloosa, Ala., bar.
- Georgia coach Mark Richt talks space for the 2013 class.
- Mike Herndon of the Mobile Press-Register writes that Auburn has a chance to be much better in 2012.
- Florida coach Will Muschamp talks Texas A&M and his quarterback situation.
- Florida defensive tackle Leon Orr was cited for knowingly driving with a suspended license.
Freeze is taking Ole Miss on a 'Journey'
May, 16, 2012
May 16
11:59
AM ET
By
Edward Aschoff | ESPN.com
OXFORD, Miss. -- Ole Miss’ football program is stuck in the wilderness -- a scary place, filled with a plethora of overgrown obstacles.
When coach Hugh Freeze arrived last December, he says the jungle was as thick as ever and it didn’t look like his new team was ready to cut its way out.
That was until Freeze offered a solution: his “Journey.” He told players that he didn’t know how long it would take for them to make it out or find some sort of salvation, but if they followed him, they’d find the light.
“The reasonable expectation for us in Year 1 is for us to compete passionately for this university for 60 minutes,” Freeze said. “And whatever that scoreboard says at the end of that 60 minutes we’ll have to live with.”
The Rebels will have to plod through this quagmire, but Freeze insists patience is the key to turning around a program that is less than three years removed from a second straight Cotton Bowl victory.
“It’s well-documented that we don’t have the talent level that people in the SEC West have right now at a lot of spots, at least not the depth,” Freeze said. “That’s not fixed overnight.”
And it’s just one of the handful of problems Freeze is looking to fix, as he replaces Houston Nutt, who was once heralded as Ole Miss' greatest hire. Academic and discipline issues are also on the agenda. As Freeze puts it, he has “a few mountains to climb” before he can shape things up, but since the journey began in December, progress has been made.
Freeze said probably 65-70 percent of the players have bought in, which might be a conservative number. It’s better than what he expected, considering the trust issues and players being set in their old ways of doing “what they’ve wanted to do for themselves for so long.”
“They think they like it the way they had it, even though, if they’re intelligent enough, they look at the results,” he said. “You’re will is something that’s hard to change once you get set.”
Freeze put the Rebels’ abysmal 6-18 two-year record and 14 straight SEC losses front and center as motivation, he made academics more of a priority, looked to adjust Ole Miss’ lenient drug policy, and created accountability groups.
Everything has helped, but the accountability groups really took off.
They were created to show players how much their actions affected everyone. Miss class? Your group runs at 5 a.m. Miss tutoring? Group run; 5 a.m. Late for anything? Welcome the sun with some running.
Rising junior linebacker Mike Marry said his group never ran – he made sure of it – but he saw other groups running as much as five times during a two-week span. The running cut down as the spring went on and there was hardly any toward the end.
“That’s what I like about him,” Marry said of Freeze, “he doesn’t let little things slide.
“The last coaches, they let certain things slide. Certain things were small, but eventually they start building up and turn into big things and people started feeling like they could get away with more and more things. Since he’s not letting little things slide, you’re seeing the team come together closer and closer and there are fewer problems.”
Freeze said eliminating off-field trouble is top priority. That’s why he’s so nervous about leaving his players in their own hands during the true offseason. Progress was made, but he worries guys will fall back on old habits when less supervised.
To ease his mind, Freeze turns to recruiting. With Ole Miss so thin at defensive tackle, offensive line, running back and safety, and needing walk-ons to fill three full teams in practice (on both sides), Freeze is stacking recruiting on recruiting.
He had some early success in his first class, grabbing three Under Armour All-Americans – DT Issac Gross, DE Channing Ware and DB Trae Elston -- and two junior college All-Americans – QB Bo Wallace and OT Pierce Burton – and his roll has continued with nine commitments in hand for 2013.
Recruiting at Ole Miss has hardly ever been easy with schools like Alabama, LSU, Auburn and Georgia in such close proximity, but Freeze believes he’ll make it work. And he’ll do it by going after the top prospects, not by getting lax and offering whomever to fill space.
“We can make it easy in recruiting, now, and I think that’s what’s happened,” he said.
“I know you can recruit here. I’ve been here before when we did it and when we had 20 kids drafted in the NFL in those three classes that we brought in.
“Is it easy? No, but it is doable.”
Fixing Ole Miss is also doable, he said. It’s going to take a lot of work and a lot of time, but it requires patience. Freeze’s mantra is “Winning the day,” not winning the week.
“The one thing that we have that’s constant and equal [to opponents] is time,” Freeze said. “So, what are we doing to prepare for that end goal -- whatever that is -- today?
“We’re a fragile state of mind right now and when you start talking about things that are so far out there, I don’t think that will be beneficial to us. Let’s just talk about today.”
Freeze might be preaching about today, but you can sense the confidence growing inside players, especially wide receiver Donte Moncrief, who took things a step further.
“Everybody keeps putting us under the radar, but once we learn this offense and the defense keeps playing like it’s playing, we’re going to shock a lot of teams,” he said.
What a journey that’d be.
When coach Hugh Freeze arrived last December, he says the jungle was as thick as ever and it didn’t look like his new team was ready to cut its way out.
[+] Enlarge
Shelby Daniel/Icon SMINew coach Hugh Freeze has set out an agenda for all Ole Miss players: "winning the day."
Shelby Daniel/Icon SMINew coach Hugh Freeze has set out an agenda for all Ole Miss players: "winning the day."“The reasonable expectation for us in Year 1 is for us to compete passionately for this university for 60 minutes,” Freeze said. “And whatever that scoreboard says at the end of that 60 minutes we’ll have to live with.”
The Rebels will have to plod through this quagmire, but Freeze insists patience is the key to turning around a program that is less than three years removed from a second straight Cotton Bowl victory.
“It’s well-documented that we don’t have the talent level that people in the SEC West have right now at a lot of spots, at least not the depth,” Freeze said. “That’s not fixed overnight.”
And it’s just one of the handful of problems Freeze is looking to fix, as he replaces Houston Nutt, who was once heralded as Ole Miss' greatest hire. Academic and discipline issues are also on the agenda. As Freeze puts it, he has “a few mountains to climb” before he can shape things up, but since the journey began in December, progress has been made.
Freeze said probably 65-70 percent of the players have bought in, which might be a conservative number. It’s better than what he expected, considering the trust issues and players being set in their old ways of doing “what they’ve wanted to do for themselves for so long.”
“They think they like it the way they had it, even though, if they’re intelligent enough, they look at the results,” he said. “You’re will is something that’s hard to change once you get set.”
Freeze put the Rebels’ abysmal 6-18 two-year record and 14 straight SEC losses front and center as motivation, he made academics more of a priority, looked to adjust Ole Miss’ lenient drug policy, and created accountability groups.
Everything has helped, but the accountability groups really took off.
They were created to show players how much their actions affected everyone. Miss class? Your group runs at 5 a.m. Miss tutoring? Group run; 5 a.m. Late for anything? Welcome the sun with some running.
Rising junior linebacker Mike Marry said his group never ran – he made sure of it – but he saw other groups running as much as five times during a two-week span. The running cut down as the spring went on and there was hardly any toward the end.
“That’s what I like about him,” Marry said of Freeze, “he doesn’t let little things slide.
“The last coaches, they let certain things slide. Certain things were small, but eventually they start building up and turn into big things and people started feeling like they could get away with more and more things. Since he’s not letting little things slide, you’re seeing the team come together closer and closer and there are fewer problems.”
Freeze said eliminating off-field trouble is top priority. That’s why he’s so nervous about leaving his players in their own hands during the true offseason. Progress was made, but he worries guys will fall back on old habits when less supervised.
To ease his mind, Freeze turns to recruiting. With Ole Miss so thin at defensive tackle, offensive line, running back and safety, and needing walk-ons to fill three full teams in practice (on both sides), Freeze is stacking recruiting on recruiting.
He had some early success in his first class, grabbing three Under Armour All-Americans – DT Issac Gross, DE Channing Ware and DB Trae Elston -- and two junior college All-Americans – QB Bo Wallace and OT Pierce Burton – and his roll has continued with nine commitments in hand for 2013.
Recruiting at Ole Miss has hardly ever been easy with schools like Alabama, LSU, Auburn and Georgia in such close proximity, but Freeze believes he’ll make it work. And he’ll do it by going after the top prospects, not by getting lax and offering whomever to fill space.
“We can make it easy in recruiting, now, and I think that’s what’s happened,” he said.
“I know you can recruit here. I’ve been here before when we did it and when we had 20 kids drafted in the NFL in those three classes that we brought in.
“Is it easy? No, but it is doable.”
Fixing Ole Miss is also doable, he said. It’s going to take a lot of work and a lot of time, but it requires patience. Freeze’s mantra is “Winning the day,” not winning the week.
“The one thing that we have that’s constant and equal [to opponents] is time,” Freeze said. “So, what are we doing to prepare for that end goal -- whatever that is -- today?
“We’re a fragile state of mind right now and when you start talking about things that are so far out there, I don’t think that will be beneficial to us. Let’s just talk about today.”
Freeze might be preaching about today, but you can sense the confidence growing inside players, especially wide receiver Donte Moncrief, who took things a step further.
“Everybody keeps putting us under the radar, but once we learn this offense and the defense keeps playing like it’s playing, we’re going to shock a lot of teams,” he said.
What a journey that’d be.
DawgNation links: Who usurps hot seat?
May, 16, 2012
May 16
11:44
AM ET
By ESPN.com staff | ESPN.com
DawgNation Roundtable 
: After Mark Richt vacated the hot seat this past season, some of his fellow SEC coaches are starting to sweat. DawgNation wonders: “Which SEC coach has the most pressure on him going into the 2012 season?”
Kipp Adams writes: With names like Brice Ramsey and Derrick Henry, Georgia either has landed commitments from or is in hot pursuit of some of the top prospects of 2013 in the backfield.
Adams: Georgia CB target Brendan Langley holds steady with his top three: Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama.
: After Mark Richt vacated the hot seat this past season, some of his fellow SEC coaches are starting to sweat. DawgNation wonders: “Which SEC coach has the most pressure on him going into the 2012 season?”
Kipp Adams writes
: With names like Brice Ramsey and Derrick Henry, Georgia either has landed commitments from or is in hot pursuit of some of the top prospects of 2013 in the backfield.
Adams
: Georgia CB target Brendan Langley holds steady with his top three: Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama.
With spring practice behind us for all 14 SEC teams, it’s time to start breaking down the schedules for next fall and assess who has the toughest paths and who has the easiest paths to a successful 2012 season.
We’ll start with defending national champion Alabama:
Nonconference opponents (with 2011 records)
Sept. 1: vs. Michigan (11-2), in Arlington, Texas
Sept. 8: Western Kentucky (7-5)
Sept. 22: Florida Atlantic (1-11)
Nov. 17: Western Carolina (1-10)
SEC home games
Sept. 29: Ole Miss
Oct. 27: Mississippi State
Nov. 10: Texas A&M
Nov. 24: Auburn
SEC road games
Sept. 15: at Arkansas
Oct. 13: at Missouri
Oct. 20: at Tennessee
Nov. 3: at LSU
Gut-check time: There are two obvious choices -- at Arkansas the third week of the season and at LSU the first Saturday in November. Taking down the Hogs in Fayetteville will be a chore. The Crimson Tide just barely escaped there two years ago and will once again be breaking in some new faces in the secondary against a quarterback, Tyler Wilson, who's one of the best passers in the country. As tough as that game will be, the trip to LSU will be even more daunting. The Tigers are still hurting from that beating they took in the Superdome in January and may have an even better defense in 2012. Plus, it's going to be a night game. Tiger Stadium at night is never a good combination for the visiting team.
Trap game: If Tennessee has everybody healthy, the Vols have the passing game to give the Crimson Tide trouble on Oct. 20 in Neyland Stadium. It also will be Alabama's second straight road game after traveling to Columbia, Mo., the week before to face Missouri.
Snoozer: Take your pick. The Sept. 22 tilt against Florida Atlantic qualifies as does the Nov. 17 date with FCS foe Western Carolina. Between them, Florida Atlantic and Western Carolina won two games last season.
Telltale stretch: Alabama faces three road tests in a four-week stretch beginning with Missouri on Oct. 13 in Columbia, Mo. A trip to Tennessee follows the next week and then it's back home to face Mississippi State on Oct. 27. You can bet that the Crimson Tide will get all three teams' best shots, which will make that trip to Baton Rouge to face LSU on Nov. 3 all the more difficult.
Final analysis: The opener against Michigan will be a test, and chasing down Denard Robinson is never a lot of fun for any defense. Other than the Wolverines, though, the Crimson Tide's nonconference schedule is about as cushy as it gets. Only once all season does Alabama have to go on the road in back-to-back weeks (Missouri on Oct. 13 and Tennessee on Oct. 20), and four of the Tide's last five games are at home. It also helps that Alabama avoids both Georgia and South Carolina in the Eastern Division. The bye week comes at a good time, just prior to the Missouri and Tennessee road trips, so the Tide should be rested. Granted, there are big shoes to fill on defense, and inexperience could be a problem early. But if Alabama gets past that Michigan opener and then the trip to Arkansas two weeks later unscathed, the Tide will be right there in the middle of yet another national championship chase and will likely roll into Baton Rouge on Nov. 3 unbeaten.
We’ll start with defending national champion Alabama:
Nonconference opponents (with 2011 records)
Sept. 1: vs. Michigan (11-2), in Arlington, Texas
Sept. 8: Western Kentucky (7-5)
Sept. 22: Florida Atlantic (1-11)
Nov. 17: Western Carolina (1-10)
SEC home games
Sept. 29: Ole Miss
Oct. 27: Mississippi State
Nov. 10: Texas A&M
Nov. 24: Auburn
SEC road games
Sept. 15: at Arkansas
Oct. 13: at Missouri
Oct. 20: at Tennessee
Nov. 3: at LSU
Gut-check time: There are two obvious choices -- at Arkansas the third week of the season and at LSU the first Saturday in November. Taking down the Hogs in Fayetteville will be a chore. The Crimson Tide just barely escaped there two years ago and will once again be breaking in some new faces in the secondary against a quarterback, Tyler Wilson, who's one of the best passers in the country. As tough as that game will be, the trip to LSU will be even more daunting. The Tigers are still hurting from that beating they took in the Superdome in January and may have an even better defense in 2012. Plus, it's going to be a night game. Tiger Stadium at night is never a good combination for the visiting team.
Trap game: If Tennessee has everybody healthy, the Vols have the passing game to give the Crimson Tide trouble on Oct. 20 in Neyland Stadium. It also will be Alabama's second straight road game after traveling to Columbia, Mo., the week before to face Missouri.
Snoozer: Take your pick. The Sept. 22 tilt against Florida Atlantic qualifies as does the Nov. 17 date with FCS foe Western Carolina. Between them, Florida Atlantic and Western Carolina won two games last season.
Telltale stretch: Alabama faces three road tests in a four-week stretch beginning with Missouri on Oct. 13 in Columbia, Mo. A trip to Tennessee follows the next week and then it's back home to face Mississippi State on Oct. 27. You can bet that the Crimson Tide will get all three teams' best shots, which will make that trip to Baton Rouge to face LSU on Nov. 3 all the more difficult.
Final analysis: The opener against Michigan will be a test, and chasing down Denard Robinson is never a lot of fun for any defense. Other than the Wolverines, though, the Crimson Tide's nonconference schedule is about as cushy as it gets. Only once all season does Alabama have to go on the road in back-to-back weeks (Missouri on Oct. 13 and Tennessee on Oct. 20), and four of the Tide's last five games are at home. It also helps that Alabama avoids both Georgia and South Carolina in the Eastern Division. The bye week comes at a good time, just prior to the Missouri and Tennessee road trips, so the Tide should be rested. Granted, there are big shoes to fill on defense, and inexperience could be a problem early. But if Alabama gets past that Michigan opener and then the trip to Arkansas two weeks later unscathed, the Tide will be right there in the middle of yet another national championship chase and will likely roll into Baton Rouge on Nov. 3 unbeaten.
USA Today's annual study is out on who in college athletics makes the most money and who spends the most money.
Not surprisingly, of the 10 biggest spenders, four are from the SEC: No. 4 Florida ($107.1 million), No. 5 Alabama ($105.1 million), No. 7 Auburn ($100.5 million) and No. 8 Tennessee ($97.6 million).
According to the 2011 figures gathered by USA Today, 13 of the 14 SEC schools operated in the black, meaning they generated enough money to cover all of their athletic expenses. The only one that didn't, according to the USA Today figures, was Missouri, which was in the Big 12 last year, but will be joining the SEC in 2012 along with Texas A&M. The Tigers were extremely close to breaking even. They spent $64,160,358 and generated $64,146,530.
Only 22 Division I public schools generated more money than they spent in 2011.
None of the SEC athletic departments were heavily subsidized, meaning they received very few funds from the school side. Mississippi State had the largest subsidy among SEC schools with 8.2 percent of its revenue ($4,819,653) coming from the school and not generated by the athletic department, according to USA Today.
Below is a breakdown of the total revenue and total expenses for SEC schools in 2011. Vanderbilt is a private institution and not included:
Total revenue
1. Alabama: $124,498,616
2. Florida: $123,514,257
3. LSU: $107,259,352
4. Tennessee: $104,368,992
5. Auburn: $103,982,441
6. Georgia: $92,341,
7. Arkansas: $91,768,112
8. Texas A&M: $87,296,532
9. Kentucky: $84,878,311
10. South Carolina: $83,813,226
11. Missouri: $64,146,530
12. Mississippi State: $58,981,769
13. Ole Miss: $49,180,892
Total expenses
1. Florida: $107,157,831
2. Alabama: $105,068,152
3. Auburn: $100,497,784
4. Tennessee: $97,580,406
5. LSU: $91,796,925
6. Kentucky: $82,840,006
7. Georgia: $80,759,498
8. South Carolina: $80,525,711
9. Arkansas: $79,392,988
10. Texas A&M: $78,310,805
11. Missouri: $64,160,358
12. Mississippi State: $51,588,743
13. Ole Miss: $47,109,301
Not surprisingly, of the 10 biggest spenders, four are from the SEC: No. 4 Florida ($107.1 million), No. 5 Alabama ($105.1 million), No. 7 Auburn ($100.5 million) and No. 8 Tennessee ($97.6 million).
According to the 2011 figures gathered by USA Today, 13 of the 14 SEC schools operated in the black, meaning they generated enough money to cover all of their athletic expenses. The only one that didn't, according to the USA Today figures, was Missouri, which was in the Big 12 last year, but will be joining the SEC in 2012 along with Texas A&M. The Tigers were extremely close to breaking even. They spent $64,160,358 and generated $64,146,530.
Only 22 Division I public schools generated more money than they spent in 2011.
None of the SEC athletic departments were heavily subsidized, meaning they received very few funds from the school side. Mississippi State had the largest subsidy among SEC schools with 8.2 percent of its revenue ($4,819,653) coming from the school and not generated by the athletic department, according to USA Today.
Below is a breakdown of the total revenue and total expenses for SEC schools in 2011. Vanderbilt is a private institution and not included:
Total revenue
1. Alabama: $124,498,616
2. Florida: $123,514,257
3. LSU: $107,259,352
4. Tennessee: $104,368,992
5. Auburn: $103,982,441
6. Georgia: $92,341,
7. Arkansas: $91,768,112
8. Texas A&M: $87,296,532
9. Kentucky: $84,878,311
10. South Carolina: $83,813,226
11. Missouri: $64,146,530
12. Mississippi State: $58,981,769
13. Ole Miss: $49,180,892
Total expenses
1. Florida: $107,157,831
2. Alabama: $105,068,152
3. Auburn: $100,497,784
4. Tennessee: $97,580,406
5. LSU: $91,796,925
6. Kentucky: $82,840,006
7. Georgia: $80,759,498
8. South Carolina: $80,525,711
9. Arkansas: $79,392,988
10. Texas A&M: $78,310,805
11. Missouri: $64,160,358
12. Mississippi State: $51,588,743
13. Ole Miss: $47,109,301
Tennessee will open the season against NC State on Friday, Aug. 31 in a 7:30 p.m. game that will be televised on ESPNU, while Auburn will face Clemson the next day, Sept. 1, in a 7 p.m. game that will be televised on ESPN.
The two ACC versus SEC matchups are part of the 2012 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game weekend at the Georgia Dome.
"Over these incredible 48 hours, all eyes will be on Atlanta as we open the season like never before with our first-ever double hosting of Chick-fil-A Kickoff games," said Gary Stokan, Chick-fil-A Bowl president and CEO. "This will be an epic showcase of these four great teams and their fans to a national audience on ESPN and ESPNU."
This marks the first time in college football history where two games of this magnitude have been hosted in the same facility by the same organizer on consecutive days.
Between the two games, more than 145,000 fans are expected to be in Atlanta to celebrate the opening of the 2012 season and be a part of history. All four teams and their fans will be in Atlanta at the same time, creating a college football celebration of epic proportions. The pair of Chick-fil-A Kickoff games is expected to generate more than $60 million in economic impact.
The two ACC versus SEC matchups are part of the 2012 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game weekend at the Georgia Dome.
"Over these incredible 48 hours, all eyes will be on Atlanta as we open the season like never before with our first-ever double hosting of Chick-fil-A Kickoff games," said Gary Stokan, Chick-fil-A Bowl president and CEO. "This will be an epic showcase of these four great teams and their fans to a national audience on ESPN and ESPNU."
This marks the first time in college football history where two games of this magnitude have been hosted in the same facility by the same organizer on consecutive days.
Between the two games, more than 145,000 fans are expected to be in Atlanta to celebrate the opening of the 2012 season and be a part of history. All four teams and their fans will be in Atlanta at the same time, creating a college football celebration of epic proportions. The pair of Chick-fil-A Kickoff games is expected to generate more than $60 million in economic impact.
College Football Live's panel of experts preview Arkansas' upcoming season.
Edward Aschoff discusses three games to watch in the SEC this fall.
With two new teams added to the mix, let’s take a look at what we learned in the SEC this spring:
1. Quarterback Central: The SEC gets a bad rap for not piling up Xbox-like passing yards, and granted, it wasn’t a great year for quarterbacks in the league last season. But did you know that an SEC quarterback has been taken in the first round of the NFL draft eight of the last 10 years? And that includes four quarterbacks taken No. 1 overall. The 2012 season has a chance to be one of the best in recent memory for SEC quarterbacks, especially if Missouri’s James Franklin returns to form after undergoing surgery in the spring to repair a torn labrum. Arkansas’ Tyler Wilson and Georgia’s Aaron Murray are the two most established quarterbacks. Wilson likely would have gone in the first round had he come out this year. Murray has thrown 59 touchdown passes in his first two seasons, and he also has one of the more talented backups in the league in sophomore Hutson Mason, who shared Offensive MVP honors with Murray in the spring. Some early mock drafts have Tennessee’s Tyler Bray going in the first round, and Bray has one of the strongest arms in the league. Alabama’s AJ McCarron demonstrated in the BCS National Championship Game what he’s capable of and is poised to have a big junior season. South Carolina’s Connor Shaw is one of the more improved quarterbacks in the league, and the new guy on the block to watch is LSU’s Zach Mettenberger.
2. Lining up at LSU: How many defenses out there could lose a pair of first-rounders and come back the next season and potentially be even better? LSU’s defense certainly had that look to it this spring despite the loss of cornerback Morris Claiborne and defensive tackle Michael Brockers, both of whom declared early for the NFL draft and were taken in the first round. It starts up front for the Tigers, who have the best pair of bookend defensive ends in the country in Sam Montgomery and Barkevious Mingo. Both are potential top 10 picks in the 2013 NFL draft. In the middle of that LSU defensive line is tackle Bennie Logan, who also has a chance to be a first-rounder. And from a pure talent standpoint, sophomore tackle Anthony “Freak” Johnson is exactly what his nickname suggests. Kevin Minter was one of the Tigers’ most improved players this spring at middle linebacker, and in the secondary, Tyrann Mathieu, Eric Reid and Tharold Simon are all future pros. It’s obviously a defense that’s oozing with talent, but it’s also a defense that still has a chip on its shoulder with the way last season ended.
3. Fighting back: A long list of marquee players in this league missed the spring with injuries and still have to prove they’re all the way back in the fall. Franklin’s surgically repaired shoulder will be a huge key for Missouri in its first season in the SEC, and a lot of eyes will be on the two best running backs in the league. South Carolina’s Marcus Lattimore missed the second half of last season after tearing knee ligaments, while Arkansas’ Knile Davis missed the entire season after fracturing his ankle in the preseason. At Ole Miss, they’re keeping their fingers crossed that linebacker D.T. Shackelford can return after he underwent a second knee surgery in March. He missed all of last season after tearing his ACL in the spring. Texas A&M running back Christine Michael is also coming back from an ACL tear. Tennessee receiver Justin Hunter went down in the third game last season with a torn ACL, and Florida defensive tackle Dominique Easley is trying to work his way back from a torn ACL suffered in the regular-season finale against Florida State last season.
4. Hogs hanging tough: Sure, the whole Bobby Petrino scandal was embarrassing to the entire state of Arkansas. But the players and coaches on the team didn’t lose focus this spring, and the leadership really came to the forefront. Quarterback Tyler Wilson, running back Knile Davis and linebacker Tenarius Wright picked the team up and made sure that nobody was feeling sorry for themselves, and in the process, reminded everyone that all of their goals were still intact. Credit also goes to the Arkansas coaching staff for handing a very difficult matter about as well as it could be handled. There are more tests to come, but now that John L. Smith is in place as the interim head coach, the program has a clear leader for these next eight months. Nothing is more valuable than strong player leadership, though, and the Hogs proved during that turbulent month of April that they’re made of the right stuff.
5. Getting physical: It was obvious that Florida coach Will Muschamp never felt good about his team’s ability to line up and be physical last season in his first year on the job. There were times that the Gators were downright soft on their way to going 0-6 against FBS teams that finished the season with a winning record. So this spring, just about everything they did was directed at being a more physical football team, a football team committed to running the ball and a football team determined to finish games. Muschamp has repeated several times since the end of spring practice that the Gators are a better team right now than at any point last season, and a lot of that goes back to this team adopting the kind of blue-collar, hit-you-in-the-mouth approach that has defined Muschamp’s coaching career. Clearly, he’s excited about where the program is headed, and he’s equally excited that he’ll be better equipped to play the way he wants to during the 2012 season.
1. Quarterback Central: The SEC gets a bad rap for not piling up Xbox-like passing yards, and granted, it wasn’t a great year for quarterbacks in the league last season. But did you know that an SEC quarterback has been taken in the first round of the NFL draft eight of the last 10 years? And that includes four quarterbacks taken No. 1 overall. The 2012 season has a chance to be one of the best in recent memory for SEC quarterbacks, especially if Missouri’s James Franklin returns to form after undergoing surgery in the spring to repair a torn labrum. Arkansas’ Tyler Wilson and Georgia’s Aaron Murray are the two most established quarterbacks. Wilson likely would have gone in the first round had he come out this year. Murray has thrown 59 touchdown passes in his first two seasons, and he also has one of the more talented backups in the league in sophomore Hutson Mason, who shared Offensive MVP honors with Murray in the spring. Some early mock drafts have Tennessee’s Tyler Bray going in the first round, and Bray has one of the strongest arms in the league. Alabama’s AJ McCarron demonstrated in the BCS National Championship Game what he’s capable of and is poised to have a big junior season. South Carolina’s Connor Shaw is one of the more improved quarterbacks in the league, and the new guy on the block to watch is LSU’s Zach Mettenberger.
2. Lining up at LSU: How many defenses out there could lose a pair of first-rounders and come back the next season and potentially be even better? LSU’s defense certainly had that look to it this spring despite the loss of cornerback Morris Claiborne and defensive tackle Michael Brockers, both of whom declared early for the NFL draft and were taken in the first round. It starts up front for the Tigers, who have the best pair of bookend defensive ends in the country in Sam Montgomery and Barkevious Mingo. Both are potential top 10 picks in the 2013 NFL draft. In the middle of that LSU defensive line is tackle Bennie Logan, who also has a chance to be a first-rounder. And from a pure talent standpoint, sophomore tackle Anthony “Freak” Johnson is exactly what his nickname suggests. Kevin Minter was one of the Tigers’ most improved players this spring at middle linebacker, and in the secondary, Tyrann Mathieu, Eric Reid and Tharold Simon are all future pros. It’s obviously a defense that’s oozing with talent, but it’s also a defense that still has a chip on its shoulder with the way last season ended.
3. Fighting back: A long list of marquee players in this league missed the spring with injuries and still have to prove they’re all the way back in the fall. Franklin’s surgically repaired shoulder will be a huge key for Missouri in its first season in the SEC, and a lot of eyes will be on the two best running backs in the league. South Carolina’s Marcus Lattimore missed the second half of last season after tearing knee ligaments, while Arkansas’ Knile Davis missed the entire season after fracturing his ankle in the preseason. At Ole Miss, they’re keeping their fingers crossed that linebacker D.T. Shackelford can return after he underwent a second knee surgery in March. He missed all of last season after tearing his ACL in the spring. Texas A&M running back Christine Michael is also coming back from an ACL tear. Tennessee receiver Justin Hunter went down in the third game last season with a torn ACL, and Florida defensive tackle Dominique Easley is trying to work his way back from a torn ACL suffered in the regular-season finale against Florida State last season.
4. Hogs hanging tough: Sure, the whole Bobby Petrino scandal was embarrassing to the entire state of Arkansas. But the players and coaches on the team didn’t lose focus this spring, and the leadership really came to the forefront. Quarterback Tyler Wilson, running back Knile Davis and linebacker Tenarius Wright picked the team up and made sure that nobody was feeling sorry for themselves, and in the process, reminded everyone that all of their goals were still intact. Credit also goes to the Arkansas coaching staff for handing a very difficult matter about as well as it could be handled. There are more tests to come, but now that John L. Smith is in place as the interim head coach, the program has a clear leader for these next eight months. Nothing is more valuable than strong player leadership, though, and the Hogs proved during that turbulent month of April that they’re made of the right stuff.
5. Getting physical: It was obvious that Florida coach Will Muschamp never felt good about his team’s ability to line up and be physical last season in his first year on the job. There were times that the Gators were downright soft on their way to going 0-6 against FBS teams that finished the season with a winning record. So this spring, just about everything they did was directed at being a more physical football team, a football team committed to running the ball and a football team determined to finish games. Muschamp has repeated several times since the end of spring practice that the Gators are a better team right now than at any point last season, and a lot of that goes back to this team adopting the kind of blue-collar, hit-you-in-the-mouth approach that has defined Muschamp’s coaching career. Clearly, he’s excited about where the program is headed, and he’s equally excited that he’ll be better equipped to play the way he wants to during the 2012 season.
Does anybody really remember spring awards? They don’t hand out any hardware for what goes on in March and April.
Nonetheless, we’re still going to honor the highs and the lows of the spring in the SEC:
Best performance: How sharp was Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson this spring? The Hogs’ offensive coordinator, Paul Petrino, said if anybody had a better spring than Wilson, then he was Superman. In four major scrimmages, including Arkansas’ spring game, Wilson threw 16 touchdown passes and completed 75.5 percent of his passes. He threw for 467 yards and three touchdowns in the spring game on 31-of-41 passing, and 404 of those yards came in the first half.
Best performance by a true freshman: They’re churning out great running backs these days at Alabama. T.J. Yeldon looks like he’s going to be the next one. He was sensational in the Crimson Tide’s A-Day spring game with 179 rushing/receiving yards, including a 50-yard touchdown after catching a short pass, breaking a tackle and then outrunning everybody to the end zone. He certainly caught Nick Saban’s attention this spring. At 6-foot-2 and 216 pounds, Yeldon can run inside and outside. He catches the ball well, and as Saban noted, is one of those guys who can do everything.
Best explanation: Seven assistant coaches left Tennessee’s staff following last season, and coach Derek Dooley was still hiring replacements just a couple of weeks prior to the start of spring practice. While conceding that it was rare to lose that many assistant coaches in one year, Dooley wasn’t bemoaning the mass exodus. Rather, he said it was a “correction” and equated it to a company starting up and fixing all of the things you don’t get right in the beginning. Then again, maybe all those coaches bolting were doing a little fixing of their own. Dooley clearly needs to show progress in Year 3 if he’s going to be around for Year 4, and the coaches who left made lateral moves.
Best Evel Knievel impersonation: Even though Bobby Petrino’s motorcycle didn’t land at the bottom of Snake River Canyon, it did end up in a roadside ditch -- busting the lid wide open on Petrino’s affair with football staffer Jessica Dorrell. This was a relationship that Petrino wasn’t forthcoming about to Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long. Petrino lost a job that paid him $3.56 million a year. Arkansas lost its head coach, and we’ll find out this fall what all the Hogs might have lost as they attempt to break through in the Western Division race.
Best no-show: Duron Carter wins in a landslide. There have been more questions about this guy, and he’s yet to take a snap for Alabama. No wonder Nick Saban gets riled up every time he’s quizzed about Carter, who was suspended all spring and is obviously not Mr. Accountability in terms of doing everything he needs to do to be a part of Alabama’s team.
Best quote: Steve Spurrier is starting to sound more and more like Spurrier, circa 1996. When asked what he thought about the Georgia game moving from Week 2 to Week 6 this season, he cracked, “I don’t know. I sort of always liked playing them that second game because you could always count on them having two or three key players suspended.”
Best comeback: Back surgery curtailed what looked to be a promising season for Auburn defensive end Dee Ford last year. This spring, he was back as good as new and heads into the fall as one of Auburn’s starters at end along with Corey Lemonier. The Ford-Lemonier combo coming off the edge won’t be a lot of fun for opposing offensive tackles. Speaking of the offensive line, Missouri left tackle Elvis Fisher was granted a sixth year of eligibility and progressed faster than anybody thought he would this spring after tearing the patellar tendon in his left knee prior to last season.
Best spring awakening: LSU went into the spring looking for a middle linebacker, and junior Kevin Minter responded by playing some of the best football he’s played since arriving on campus, according to LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis. South Carolina defensive tackle Byron Jerideau also had a stellar spring and is big enough and athletic enough to wreak some serious havoc. The former junior college transfer didn’t have the impact the Gamecocks had hoped for his first two seasons, but could be poised for a big senior season. Spurrier quipped, “I told him, ‘I hope you’re going to be known for something besides hitting me with the Gatorade bucket after a big win.’ He’s the one who grabs the bucket first, to get his picture in the paper.”
Best position move: Malcolm Mitchell was Georgia’s best deep threat at receiver last season and one of the more impressive true freshmen in the league. But he spent his time at cornerback this spring and looked like a natural. That’s where he’ll play in the fall, although he’ll still get a few snaps on offense. The Bulldogs needed help at cornerback, and defensive coordinator Todd Grantham felt all along that Mitchell could be a difference-maker back there. The truth is that he’s a difference-maker anywhere you put him.
Best quarterback battle: Spring came and went without a few starting jobs being settled around the league, but it’s a dead heat at Florida between sophomores Jacoby Brissett and Jeff Driskel. Coach Will Muschamp feels like he can win with both players, which is a pretty good indication that both Brissett and Driskel will end up playing in the fall for the Gators. For the time being, Muschamp is content to let it play out this summer and on into preseason practice. Whoever emerges as the best leader over these next three months is going to end up winning the job.
Nonetheless, we’re still going to honor the highs and the lows of the spring in the SEC:
Best performance: How sharp was Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson this spring? The Hogs’ offensive coordinator, Paul Petrino, said if anybody had a better spring than Wilson, then he was Superman. In four major scrimmages, including Arkansas’ spring game, Wilson threw 16 touchdown passes and completed 75.5 percent of his passes. He threw for 467 yards and three touchdowns in the spring game on 31-of-41 passing, and 404 of those yards came in the first half.
Best performance by a true freshman: They’re churning out great running backs these days at Alabama. T.J. Yeldon looks like he’s going to be the next one. He was sensational in the Crimson Tide’s A-Day spring game with 179 rushing/receiving yards, including a 50-yard touchdown after catching a short pass, breaking a tackle and then outrunning everybody to the end zone. He certainly caught Nick Saban’s attention this spring. At 6-foot-2 and 216 pounds, Yeldon can run inside and outside. He catches the ball well, and as Saban noted, is one of those guys who can do everything.
Best explanation: Seven assistant coaches left Tennessee’s staff following last season, and coach Derek Dooley was still hiring replacements just a couple of weeks prior to the start of spring practice. While conceding that it was rare to lose that many assistant coaches in one year, Dooley wasn’t bemoaning the mass exodus. Rather, he said it was a “correction” and equated it to a company starting up and fixing all of the things you don’t get right in the beginning. Then again, maybe all those coaches bolting were doing a little fixing of their own. Dooley clearly needs to show progress in Year 3 if he’s going to be around for Year 4, and the coaches who left made lateral moves.
Best Evel Knievel impersonation: Even though Bobby Petrino’s motorcycle didn’t land at the bottom of Snake River Canyon, it did end up in a roadside ditch -- busting the lid wide open on Petrino’s affair with football staffer Jessica Dorrell. This was a relationship that Petrino wasn’t forthcoming about to Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long. Petrino lost a job that paid him $3.56 million a year. Arkansas lost its head coach, and we’ll find out this fall what all the Hogs might have lost as they attempt to break through in the Western Division race.
Best no-show: Duron Carter wins in a landslide. There have been more questions about this guy, and he’s yet to take a snap for Alabama. No wonder Nick Saban gets riled up every time he’s quizzed about Carter, who was suspended all spring and is obviously not Mr. Accountability in terms of doing everything he needs to do to be a part of Alabama’s team.
Best quote: Steve Spurrier is starting to sound more and more like Spurrier, circa 1996. When asked what he thought about the Georgia game moving from Week 2 to Week 6 this season, he cracked, “I don’t know. I sort of always liked playing them that second game because you could always count on them having two or three key players suspended.”
Best comeback: Back surgery curtailed what looked to be a promising season for Auburn defensive end Dee Ford last year. This spring, he was back as good as new and heads into the fall as one of Auburn’s starters at end along with Corey Lemonier. The Ford-Lemonier combo coming off the edge won’t be a lot of fun for opposing offensive tackles. Speaking of the offensive line, Missouri left tackle Elvis Fisher was granted a sixth year of eligibility and progressed faster than anybody thought he would this spring after tearing the patellar tendon in his left knee prior to last season.
Best spring awakening: LSU went into the spring looking for a middle linebacker, and junior Kevin Minter responded by playing some of the best football he’s played since arriving on campus, according to LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis. South Carolina defensive tackle Byron Jerideau also had a stellar spring and is big enough and athletic enough to wreak some serious havoc. The former junior college transfer didn’t have the impact the Gamecocks had hoped for his first two seasons, but could be poised for a big senior season. Spurrier quipped, “I told him, ‘I hope you’re going to be known for something besides hitting me with the Gatorade bucket after a big win.’ He’s the one who grabs the bucket first, to get his picture in the paper.”
Best position move: Malcolm Mitchell was Georgia’s best deep threat at receiver last season and one of the more impressive true freshmen in the league. But he spent his time at cornerback this spring and looked like a natural. That’s where he’ll play in the fall, although he’ll still get a few snaps on offense. The Bulldogs needed help at cornerback, and defensive coordinator Todd Grantham felt all along that Mitchell could be a difference-maker back there. The truth is that he’s a difference-maker anywhere you put him.
Best quarterback battle: Spring came and went without a few starting jobs being settled around the league, but it’s a dead heat at Florida between sophomores Jacoby Brissett and Jeff Driskel. Coach Will Muschamp feels like he can win with both players, which is a pretty good indication that both Brissett and Driskel will end up playing in the fall for the Gators. For the time being, Muschamp is content to let it play out this summer and on into preseason practice. Whoever emerges as the best leader over these next three months is going to end up winning the job.
Howie McCormick/Icon SMILSU's top-10 defense from last season returns relatively intact.The black Missouri billboards sprinkled around the South, reading “PROUD TO BE SEC: MIZZOU” coupled with those not-so-discrete Texas A&M/SEC TV adds ushered in the arrival of the SEC’s new families. But their exodus from the Big 12 wasn’t the only big change for the league.
The league said goodbye to a load of defensive talent and lost a couple of head coaches -- and even more assistants. Still, for as much change that has been made, it seems the overall results will be the same.
“You have to give the SEC a lot of credit,” Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. “I tell a lot of people that we played in the Big 12, which is a great conference, but they just have more good team in [the SEC]. It’s remarkably competitive.”
LSU, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida, four top-10 defenses from a season ago, return relatively intact this fall. Of those four, all but Florida will be involved in national championship discussions to start the season, especially LSU.
On paper, the Tigers might be the most talented team in the country. The defensive line possesses three potential first-rounders and the Honey Badger (Tyrann Mathieu) is still lurking in a secondary stocked with talent and athleticism.
The offense has to be better with Zach Mettenberger taking over at quarterback. He possesses the skill to throw the ball pretty much whenever he’s asked to, so that will be a major upgrade. He’ll also have plenty of weapons with five able running backs to choose from -- including Michael Ford and Spencer Ware who were both ranked in the top 10 in SEC rushing -- and a talented, young receiving group.
The scary thought is that a lot of people around the program think Les Miles might have a better team in 2012.
Georgia has 15 total starters returning, including a potential Heisman candidate in quarterback Aaron Murray, and yet again has a favorable schedule. South Carolina looks like it’s a healthy Marcus Lattimore and a more polished Connor Shaw away from making it back to Atlanta.
While defending national champion Alabama is down a handful of defensive starters from last season, the Crimson Tide can’t be counted out. The defense has more than capable players ready to fill holes. Nico Johnson and C.J. Mosley are ready to take over at linebacker, while Jesse Williams and Damion Square will lead up front. The secondary still has veterans Dee Milliner and Robert Lester and welcomes junior college studs Deion Belue and Travell Dixon.
“We’re going to be younger on defense. We don’t have as much experience, but we’ve got some good players,” coach Nick Saban said.
“I was pleased with the progress that we made -- not satisfied with where we need to be.”
Then, there’s Arkansas.
After Bobby Petrino's infamous motorcycle ride, the Razorbacks look to bounce back with an offense capable of pushing Arkansas to an SEC title and beyond. We still don’t know how effective interim coach John L. Smith will be, but he’ll have quarterback Tyler Wilson, running back Knile Davis and receiver Cobi Hamilton at his disposal, and that will make things easier.
With an improved offensive line and some talented, young receivers, Arkansas will score points. Now if only the defense can keep up …
There will no doubt be awkward situations ahead in the SEC. Making flights to Kansas City and Houston will seem wrong. Watching an entertaining coach’s news conference at Arkansas will feel unnatural. And not knowing what to expect from a Saban defense will confuse you.
But with everything that has changed, one thing that should remain is another championship run.
There’s still just too much clicking for the SEC.
Chris Low discusses the SEC players to watch during the 2012 season.
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Chris Low
Low joined ESPN.com in 2007 after 10 years with The (Nashville) Tennessean covering the University of Tennessee and SEC. The Rock Hill, S.C., native lives with his wife in Knoxville and has three sons.
Edward Aschoff
Aschoff joined ESPN.com in 2011 after spending four years covering the University of Florida for The Gainesville Sun. He grew up in Oxford, Miss., before attending UF, graduating with a B.S. in journalism.
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