MY PICKS:  GEORGIA, OLE MISS AND MISSOURI WITH TEXAS AND ALABAMA IN THE HUNT TOO!

I like the 2024 Georgia Bulldogs.  And I like the 2024 Missouri Tigers.  Alabama, the Tide, Oklahoma, the Sooners, Tennessee, the Vols, and LSU, again the Tigers, are all liked.  And do not forget the Confederates of Mississippi, as I do like the Rebels too.  Picking a pecking order is just speculation, and this is mine.  Please comment about my take.

My 2024 Preseason Rankings

SEC

1. Georgia

2. Missouri

3. Mississippi

4. Texas

5. Alabama

6. Oklahoma

7. Tennessee

8. LSU

9. Texas A&M

10. Florida

11. Auburn

12. South Carolina

13. Kentucky

14. Arkansas

15. Mississippi State

16. Vanderbilt

1. Georgia:  Loaded again for a strong conference and national run for top honors.  With four losable games, I do not expect this team not to take a loss for two.   The Bulldogs are not a given for the SEC title game but even with two loses they will be in the 12 team playoffs with such a monstrous schedule.  Prediction:  10-2 and 6-2 in conference games.  I have them ranked number one in August as they have the player experience and the best program in the conference with the best coach in Kirby Smart.

2. Missouri:  Schedule, as in favorable, gives me to think that the Tigers will be a team that will not lose a SEC title game, and also a great chance to make the 12 team playoff if they pan out.  It is possible for the men from Columbia to run the table in the SEC, winning all twelve games.  Only a road trip to Alabama and a home game with Oklahoma could trip them up. I will predict that they will lose the Alabama game and finish 11-1 and take a 7-1 SEC record into the SEC title game.

3. Mississippi:  If Ole Miss can come up with a road win in Baton Rouge or beat Georgia in Oxford, the Rebels might also be a 11-1 team and 7-1 in the SEC.  They, like Missouri, have a favorable schedule and with the talent could also try to run the schedule.  I think they will slip up probably losing at home with Georgia.  Another 12 team playoff team and a 11-2 record will get them in.  I like the coaching and the whole of the Ole Miss team.  This is an elite team, with or without such a workable slate to play.

4. Texas:  One notch down from my top three, the Horns are going to struggle in the SEC.  A big game with Michigan in week 2 in Ann Arbor will be a bitch and the Red River tussle with OU will also be a toss-up.  Hosting Georgia and the end of the schedule game with the Texas Aggies are also meat grinders that the Horns could come out on the losing side.  With all the negatives, the injuries at running back and a defense that could have issues stopping the best offensives they play say it is not their year.  Texas is looking at a 9-3 season record and 6-2 in the SEC play.  They are a strong choice when all is said and done to make the 12 team playoffs, especially if 4 or 5 teams in the SEC make the the list of 12 That is not out of possibilities but a win at Michigan will play big. Losing to a Big Ten team will hurt their chance with more than one SEC loss.  I do not expect them to make the SEC title game but they have a chance.  Do not underestimate Sarkisian and his program in Austin.  They are establishing themselves as a power team in the league.

5. Alabama:  Folks in Tuscaloosa will find out that former head coach Nick Saban was the main reason that the Tide were such world beaters in his years coaching this juggernault.  With a new coach, a good one, with great players, the edge this program had under Saban will not carry over to the extent wanted by the Crimson Tide Nation.  There will be loses and I do not expect them to make the 12 team playoff in 2024.  Now I could be wrong, but schedule is loaded with trip up cracks in the concrete.  I have Alabama having difficulty in winning at home with Georgia, at Tennessee, at home with Missouri, at LSU, at Oklahoma, and at home with Auburn.  Sure, they would win them all, but I would put my money on that.  As all five tough game coming in conference, I have the Tide going 9-3, with a trio of loses starting with the Georgia game and loses in Norman and Baton Rouge.  5-3  but it could be better but it also could be their top in the SEC.  Yes, they have the schedule to make their mark in 2024 and I would never count them out. And yes again, the Tide will miss Coach.

6. Oklahoma:  This is not the year for the other new member in the SEC. The Sooners have too many tough games and without a superior offensive line and an inexperienced quarterback tells me that OU is going to have a year that will set up a strong run in 2025.  OU will continue to improve on defense and this year will display that, giving OU a chance to win games that they might come up short at the end of the day.  Do not underestimate that side of the ball.  Can the Sooner do better than 7-5, which I have them at right now? Yes, but even losing five games does not mean they will be as bad a team that played in the Big 12 last year.  OU has no gimmies in all of their 8 conference games (South Carolina included), and I predict that the other  seven games will not be easy to win.  Take OU at 3-5 or 5-3 and I could make a case for either. The Sooner can beat Texas or not. The same with the Vols in Norman and the War Eagle in Auburn.  Loses at Ole Miss, LSU and Missouri and another nip and tuck with the Tide in Norman will tell the tale.  OU is a year away in my opinion.

7. Tennessee:  Like OU and LSU, the schedule is going to do them in to make headway in this conference in 2024.  Yes, the Vols can beat OU in Norman and Alabama at home, but they are not beating Georgia in Athens.  All three are trip up games and I do not have them winning more than five games in the SEC.  They could go as high as 9-3 as their schedule is more favorable than OU’s, but I do not think they are better than OU, hence a rank below OU. They will lose in Norman too. I have them losing four conference games, maybe one less, maybe one more.  They are in the same boat as OU and LSU.

8. LSU:  10-2 or 7-5 are equally strong possibilities with two conference loses or four?  A Las Vegas game with USC is not a given either. As with OU, a new quarterback and plus a struggling defense could spell doom in Baton Rouge.  How about 8-4?  Ok, that is my prediction.

9. Texas A&M:  Could go 9-3 but 8-4 with loses at home against four teams does not look good. I have them at 7-5 and no better than 4-4 in the SEC at best.

10. Florida:  5-7 and 4-4 in SEC is best for the Gators.  Tough schedule which I think will do them in.  3-5 is more like it in conference and 2-6 is possible.

11. Auburn:  I give them credit as a home team in 2024.  They could go 7-5 and 4-4 in the SEC with some upsets (Oklahoma and Alabama).

12. Kentucky:  Another 7-5 team but 2-6 in SEC play does not equate.  Let us say 6-6 at best.

13. South Carolina:  4-8 at best and 2-6 in the SEC with an upset.  1-7 in SEC is a strong possibility

14. Arkansas:  4-8 and 1-7 in SEC.  New coach before the end of the season? Maybe.

15. Mississippi State  4-8 with a win at Arizona State which is possible.  0-8 in the SEC is possible.

16. Vanderbilt:  2-10 and 0-8 in SEC.  Hopeless.

SEC title game:  Georgia vs Ole Miss?  Ole Mis vs Missouri?  Georgia vs Missouri?  One of those three.

Playoff bound:  Georgia, Ole Miss, Missouri and Texas or Alabama (or both)

Feaature photo:  ‘In Bud Wilkinson’s final bowl game, Oklahoma was shut out by Joe Namath and the Alabama Crimson Tide 17-0 on New Year’s Day 1963. With President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jackie Kennedy in attendance, Alabama’s Lee Roy Jordan recorded 31 tackles in the drubbing. Both teams compiled 260 yards of total offense, despite the lopsided score.

photo from fanbase.com