Thomas D's Southeastern Conference Picks

article by Thomas Danielson, senior writer, secfootballpodcast.com

Eastern Division

1. Florida Gators - Prediction (13-1) Tim Tebow is back again as a Senior in 2009, this time to win it all. The Heisman, SEC Championship, National Championship, and any other awards the NCAA cares to hand out. The Gators haven't lost a game since The Promise following their one-point loss to Ole Miss last year. Surely the Gators will lose once in '09 with games vs. Tenn, UGA, Florida St, and on the road against LSU and South Carolina. That's about it, everyone else on their schedule is Gator bait. The defense will most likely be the best in the land returning all 11 starters. Demps and Rainey will need to step it up to replace Percy Harvin.

2. Tennessee Volunteers - Prediction (9-4) We all know the big stories about Lane and Monty Kiffin. I don't even need to go there, but I will ask one question: What are these guys going to do that Phil Fulmer could not? Answer: The Vols had the 3rd best overall D in the nation and the best in the SEC last year.. so an acclaimed Pro defensive coordinator is taking over, surely they can only get better. Crompton is back to lead(word used lightly) the offense again as a senior. He needs to make major strides on improving his decision making and accuracy.

3. Georgia Bulldogs - Prediction (9-4) Non-conference games at Oklahoma St, vs Arizona St, and at Georgia Tech.. plus Ark, LSU, and Auburn along with the SEC East to contend with, not an easy schedule for any team. The Dogs return 7 on offense, minus Stafford and Moreno, and 6 on defense. Lots of holes to fill for coack Mark Richt. The good news is Rivals.com has UGA at No. 6 in the nation for a recruiting class, and were top ten last year as well.

4. South Carolina Gamecocks - Prediction (8-5) Spurrier enters his 5th season for the Gamecocks and is 28-22 overall. Stephen Garcia has been named the starter at QB, but many critics question whether or not he can win many football games. The defense was a solid 13th overall in the nation last year due to an awesome secondary. Now one sophomore steps in and two freshmen will be playing at corner and safety... so we'll see if Spurrier's O can score more points to help balance things out.

5. Kentucky Wildcats - Prediction (7-6) UK finished last in the SEC East last year with a 2-6 conf. record. Still managed to win 6 games and beat the Conf. USA Champs in the Liberty Bowl. Mike Hartline is healthy and starting at QB for the Cats. I'm hoping to see his numbers improve with Randall Cobb as his primary target. The D should also do a little better as they were the worst in the SEC last year.

6. Vanderbilt Commodores - Prediction (3-9) That's actually a favorable finish in my opinion, these guys just might go 1-7 this year in the SEC. As a matter of fact, I said the same thing of Bobby Johnson's team last season and they had an even 4-4 conf. record. I wouldn't bet on that happening again. The only good news is that 18 starters return from a bowl winning team.

Western Division

1. LSU Tigers - Prediction (10-4) Yeah, yeah. So I'm picking the Tigers to win the west again. I can't stop thinking about that Peach Bowl blow-out to end last season. Tigers QB Jordan Jefferson seems to be the key ingredient that was missing all last season. John Chavis had Tenn playing the best D in the SEC last year, despite having a worse offense than Miss St. I wonder the wonders he'll work with LSU's talent and recruits. Tigers will roll non-conference schedule, and maybe edge out a 5-4 conf. record with a SEC Champ loss to UF.

2. Ole Miss Rebels - Prediction (10-3) Rebels return 16 starters from a Cotton Bowl Champ team, first winning season since '03. Jevan Snead is the real deal at quarterback, with weapons like Dexter McCluster and Shay Hodge making big plays. A consistently good rushing attack will balance out the O and put Snead in the Heisman race. The Rebs had the 4th best rushing D in the nation last year. They lost two all-american linemen to the first round of the draft. Nutt pulled in another Top 25 recruiting class to fill those gaps. With their favorable schedule the Rebels will be the #1 contender in the SEC West.

3. Alabama Crimson Tide - Prediction (9-4) It's hard to say that Alabama doesn't have a big target on their backs this year. Everyone in the SEC will want revenge against Saban's squad. They return 15 starters from a 12-2 team, although only 4 for the offense that finished 63rd overall. Julio Jones is only one player. The Tide relied heavily on the defense last year, winning 3 conf. games by less than a TD. I see them pounding the ball on most teams, but not scoring points like Ole Miss or LSU.

4. Arkansas Razorbacks - Prediction (8-5) Very much like Tenn, I expect these guys to have a huge turn-around for '09. Bobby Petrino brings in a Top 25 recruiting class with 12 new linemen coming in, counting both sides of the ball. 17 starters return from a team that went 5-7 (2-6). They did have a few key wins last year over LSU, Auburn, and Tulsa. They also lost 4 games by a TD or less.

5. Auburn Tigers - Prediction (7-6) Another new coach, Gene Chizik, coming to Auburn from a 2 yr stint at Iowa State where he only won 5 games. The thing I don't understand is that Tubberville's spread offense was a bust so he got canned. Now Chizik is also bringing in a new spread offense. Weird. Although Gus Malzahn (new O coordinator) had success with Tulsa in Conf. USA, Tony Franklin also had success with the spread in the Sunbelt. THIS IS THE SEC! Get it together Auburn, I-form is the only thing that works!! (unless u have Tim Tebow)

6. Mississippi State Bulldogs - Prediction (5-7) Maybe these guys can pull off a 3-1 non-conf. record and 3-5 in the SEC, landing them at .500 and bowl eligible. Nothing would make boosters and fans alike happier in Starkville. Everything has changed for the Dogs in '09. Over 30,000 fans turned out for the spring game this year (that's 25,000 more than last year) to see Dan Mullen's spread attack. The D finished 35th overall last year, while the offense was a mangy 113th. Hopefully both sides of the ball can meet somewhere in the middle and we can see MS St win some games this year.