SEC West: Heavyweight Division

To read part 1 of my SEC preview on the East click here

If the SEC East is the lightweight division of the conference, then the West is surely the Heavyweight division.

The division boasts the reigning BCS National Champion Auburn Tigers (for now) plus three other teams that had 10 or more wins in 2010 (LSU, Arkansas, Alabama) and a fourth that won 9 games (Mississippi State).

In addition to Auburn last season, Alabama (2009) and LSU (2007) have contributed titles to the SEC's "5-peat".

Things don't appear to be changing in 2011.

Nationalchamps.net has released their 2011 pre-season rankings and 5 of the 6 SEC West teams made the top 25.  In fact, all 5 of those teams (Alabama, LSU, Auburn, Arkansas, and Mississippi State) are ranked in the top 16 and are all ranked ahead of the East's top contender, South Carolina (#17). 

Replacement Players

Several teams in the West will be looking to replace successful Quarterbacks in their quest to get to Atlanta and beyond.  Auburn (Cam Newton), Alabama (Greg McElroy), Arkansas (Ryan Mallett), and Ole Miss (Jeremiah Masoli) all will be playing with new signal callers in 2011.  Arkansas looks to be the only one with a pretty firm replacement, junior Tyler Wilson.  Auburn (Barrett Trotter and Clint Mosely), Alabama (AJ McCarron and Phillip Sims), and Ole Miss (Barry Brunetti and Randall Mackey) all will be waiting to see how their battles play out during the preseason.

Ground and Pound

2011 could become the year of the running back with all of the inexperience at quarterback.  Trent Richardson (Alabama), Brandon Bolden (Ole Miss), Michael Dyer (Auburn), Knile Davis (Arkansas), and Vick Ballard (MSU) all look to be primed to have stellar seasons after strong 2010 campaigns.  

Debbie Downer

There has been a large cloud of negativity hanging over the league this offseason.  In particular, Auburn, Alabama, and LSU have all dealt with NCAA violations or investigations recently.  Auburn continues to be investigated for their recruitment of Cam Newton, Alabama has recently dealt with allegations of improper relationships between the owner of a Tuscaloosa menswear store and Crimson Tide players.  LSU was recently ruled to have committed a major violation and was put on probation.  The Tigers have also had to answer questions about films they received from Willie Lyles, who is at the center of the Oregon investigation.  

All of this comes on the heels of the Harvey Updyke saga and the questions about whether the Alabama-Auburn rivalry has gone too far.  Needless to say there haven't been a lot of positives to discuss for the SEC West, and college football in general, and everyone should be glad that we can finally turn our full attention to actual football games soon.

Hot Seat

The division in general looks to be fairly stable in the coaching ranks.  Five of the six teams are coming off of successful seasons in 2010, and Ole Miss is only a couple of seasons removed from back to back Cotton Bowl appearances.  Despite that Houston Nutt probably faces some job pressure this year.  The Rebels got a taste of sustained success and then took a big fall last season.  They are still flying under the radar this season but they have a lot of offensive playmakers returning this season and they should see some improvement.  If that isn't the case Nutt may be held accountable.

The other coach who could possibly feel some heat this year is Gene Chizik.  The NCAA continues to investigate his program and he has steadfastly denied any wrong doing.  If something is eventually unearthed and the 2010 title gets stripped he may face some pressure from both outside and within the Auburn athletic department.

The Team to Beat

There was definitely something in the water down on the Bayou last season.  It began in the opener in Atlanta when the Tigers survived a furious fourth quarter North Carolina rally, continued with back to back escapes against Tennessee and Florida in October, and was capped off with the fourth down reverse call to set up the go ahead touchdown against Alabama in November.

Heading into 2011 I expect the magic to continue for Les Miles and the LSU Tigers.  

Looking at the schedule they may indeed need some of that magic to get through to Atlanta and beyond.  It starts off with a blockbuster matchup against Oregon in Dallas.  Week 3 gives them their first road test in Starkville on a Thursday night against Mississippi State, followed by a road trip to Morgantown to face West Virginia.  Their season will be defined by a four game in five week stretch beginning on October 8 at home against Florida and ends November 5 in Tuscaloosa against Alabama.  A road game against Tennessee (10/15) and a home date with Auburn (10/22) are sandwiched in between.  The Alabama game could have SEC and National Title implications.  The regular season closes with a home matchup with Arkansas the day after Thanksgiving.

The Tigers do have some question marks this season, but Les Miles has done such a good job recruiting the hope is that they have the depth to answer those questions.  Receiver Terrence Tolliver and running back Stevan Ridley must be replaced on offense.  LSU will look for Michael Ford and Spencer Ware to emerge and stabilize the running game.  Last season's second and third leading receivers, Rueben Randle and Russell Shepard, will need to step up to help a passing game that has struggled in recent years.

Speaking of the passing game Steve Kragthorpe has been brought in to help revitalize it.  Jordan Jefferson, the incumbent, will begin the year as the starter, but if he struggles Georgia-transfer Zach Mettenberger would probably step into that role.  Jarrett Lee, who also has some starting experience, could also be in the mix.  The Tigers won 11 games a year ago with an inconsistent passing game, so if Jefferson and the receivers can provide some consistency they could be very lethal offensively. 

The offensive line should be a source of strength as they will come into 2011 with great depth as 8 players have some starting experience.  This continuity will allow the running game to continue to excel and should take some pressure off of Jefferson.

John Chavis' defense looks primed to have another strong year as well.  Despite losing Patrick Peterson to the NFL, the secondary should be strong again, led by returning starters Morris Claiborne (CB) and Brandon Taylor (SS).  Claiborne could be primed for a huge season as he saw a lot of passes thrown his way opposite Peterson last year.

The biggest questions on this side of the ball are up the middle.  The Tigers have holes to fill both at defensive tackle and middle linebacker.  Kelvin Sheppard is a big loss for Chavis and he will continue to look for a replacement through the preseason.  Inside on the line, Michael Brockers is the only tackle to have ever started a game.  They do lack some experience at the position but have some impressive recruits coming in who could see playing time right away.

The SEC West looks to be a murderer's row this season, but LSU has quarterback continuity and a lot of depth that should aid them in the war of attrition that is the SEC schedule.  It won't be easy but something tells me Les Miles still has some tricks to pull out of his hat.

If he does then the Tigers may not only be celebrating in Atlanta but they could also be raising the crystal football come January.

(Thanks again to Todd Helmick and his website, nationalchamps.net, the site does a great job previewing the season and was a great source of help to me, give it a look and follow him on Twitter,  @NtlChampsDotNet)

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