My Summer SEC East Predictions

It was not easy deciding the SEC East. The West is much stronger than the East once again this year, and the best team in the East would probably amount to only third or fourth best in the West. However, I do think the East will have a better season overall than they did in 2010.

Look for this years' key game in the East to come on September 10th, when South Carolina travels to Athens to take on the Georgia Bulldogs. The outcome of this game may very well determine who represents the East in the SEC Championship game.

Garcia needs to stay out
of trouble for USC to return
to the SEC title game

1. South Carolina - South Carolina returns top talent in first team All-SEC running back Marcus Lattimore, and first team All-SEC wide receiver Alshon Jeffrey. If Stephen Garcia can keep his off the field problems under control, look for USC to make it back to the SEC Championship again this year. That's a big if, however. Alshon Jeffrey is by far the best receiver in the SEC this year. Garcia will lean on him heavily after losing their second leading receiver Tori Gurley to the draft. The key to this team is Garcia. If he can keep his head on straight then USC will be the front runner to return to the championship. Chris Low of ESPN writes he will only get one more chance after five separate suspensions, but the Spurrier thinks he has made a "life-change commitment." If that's the case they will be the team to beat in the East.

Crowell is the key to the
Bulldogs' season in 2011.

2. Georgia - Mark Richt is likely on the hot seat entering his 11th season as the head coach of the Bulldogs. The UGA faithful has their patience is running thin after a few mediocre seasons by Georgia standards. Richt could just be in luck as he returns a talented core group of players on this years squad. Headlining the returnees is RSo. QB Aaron Murray, who could very easily be considered the best signal caller in all of the SEC. Two questions that will make or break Georgia's season: Who will step up and fill the huge void that WR AJ Green left? and Can Isaiah Crowell handle the load as a freshman tailback in the SEC? The dogs will likely have to use a myriad of pass-catchers to help make up for the loss of AJ Green to the NFL, including TE Orson Charles. Orson Charles was picked by many to be the top tight end in the league this year, and he will likely have to be just that for Murray to be successful. Georgia's top two tailbacks from last year may both not be returning this year. Washaun Ealey decided to transfer and Caleb King is rumored to be academically ineligible. Thus, the burden falls squarely on the shoulders of five-star freshman Isaiah Crowell. Some say he is just as talented as Lattimore, who dominated for South Carolina last year as a freshman. And Crowell will have to at least come close for Georgia to be successful. Georgia has as much potential as anyone in the East this year, but also have just as many question marks. If some of those get turned into answers look for them to challenge USC for the SEC East title.

3. Tennessee - Tennessee looks to build on a 2010 where they finished the season 6-7. The Vols will have true sophomore Tyler Bray returning at QB who showed flashes of brilliance as a true freshman last season. However, UT will lose their top three receivers from the 2010 team in Gerald Jones, Denarius Moore, and Luke Stocker. Sophomores Da'Rick Rogers and Justin Hunter will have to step up in a big way for the Vols to show improvement this season. They do return one of the SEC's best running backs in senior Tauren Poole. Poole figure to be the bell-cow this year after bursting on the scene with 1,034 yards and 11 touchdowns during the 2010 season. Poole was somewhat of an unknown prior to 2010, as he had never rushed for more than 86 yards in either of his first two season, but proved to be a very capable ball carrier including six separate games where he rushed for over 100 yards. Tennessee will need to lean on the running game in order to have an improved 2011 season. Look for Tyler Bray to improve and develop along with his young wide-outs, although the Volunteer nation may want to wait until 2012 before they anticipate a break-out season for their football team.

New Florida Head Coach
Will Muschamp

4. Florida - Urban Meyer stepped down as the Gators coach after a successful tenure as head coach there. He brought to them two national titles, a heisman, and three appearances in the SEC Championship Game. Former LSU, Auburn, and Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp was hired to take his place, and Muschamp brought along with him former Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis to coach the offense. Weis has been successful as an offensive coordinator on the NFL level with the Kansas City Cheifs and New England Patriots, but you have to figure there will be some growing pains as he will change the offense from a spread style that Urban Meyer implemented so well for so many years to the pro-style offense. That brings an entire change in philosophy and a difference in the type of personnel needed to run that style, and that is why they will not be able to finish higher than fourth in the East this year. Give Muschamp some time though, and he should have those Gators at the top once again.

5. Kentucky - Kentucky showed some promise last year under new coach Joker Phillips taking eventual National Champion Auburn down to the wire and beating South Carolina in Lexington. However, this year the Cats will have to figure out how to make their offense work after losing talented Mr. Do-It-All Randall Cobb and star running back Derrick Locke. They also lose starting QB Mike Hartline, but replace him with the very capable junior Morgan Newton. With the loss of so many key play-makers the Wildcats won't be able to finish any higher than fifth in the East, but may be able to eek out a 6-6 season for a bowl game appearance if they are lucky.

Likely a Vanderbilt fan.

6. Vanderbilt - Vanderbilt is well, Vanderbilt. They have only been to a bowl game twice in the last twenty years. After an off-season coaching search where they almost landed Auburn's talented offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, the Commodores settled on Maryland offensive coordinator James Franklin. They hope he will fix their offense, but his own Maryland offense ranked 80th in the nation last year. A new coach doesn't bring any change to their fortunes this year. Vanderbilt will miss the post season once again and finish with the worst record in the SEC.



That concludes my preview for the SEC East. Just for fun, here are my rankings for the entire SEC:
1. LSU
2. Arkansas
3. Alabama
4. South Carolina
5. Georgia
6. Auburn
7. Mississippi State
8. Tennessee
9. Florida
10. Ole Miss
11. Kentucky
12. Vanderbilt

Hope you enjoyed the latest installment to Lucas On Sports. Thanks for reading!

Oh, and in case you missed it, check out my West predictions here.