Written by Jon Lee

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Alabama Still Better Than LSU in SEC

The SEC once again has the inside track towards yet another BCS championship. The conference has won six consecutive titles, and looks poised to play for one again. The usual suspects from the West lead the way in Alabama and LSU.

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Alabama is the defending national champions, but were hit hard on defense by departures. Those spots however will be filled by former blue chip recruits who still have some playing experience. Of course, the defense is still coached by Nick Saban and Kirby Smart so there are few worries there. The offense is loaded with quarterback A.J. McCarron behind the best offensive line in the country. The line is so good that Outland Trophy winner Barrett Jones was moved from tackle to center. Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon should more than make up for the loss of Trent Richardson at running back.

LSU took a hit when Tyrann Mathieu was tossed from the program, but the Tigers are still deep and talented. The loss of Mathieu just made the margin for error smaller considering his game breaking ability, and the team is now second in our projections behind the Tide. The stable of running backs is deep, the defense should be nasty as ever, and Zach Mettenberger has to be an upgrade passing the ball over last season’s quarterbacks.

Those two teams are by far among the best in the country, and in the SEC West. Outside of the top two, Arkansas has a small six percent chance at the league’s best record while Auburn has 2.4 percent chance.

In the East South Carolina and Georgia are the clear favorites. Georgia has a slightly smaller chance at the league’s best record because the match-up with the Gamecocks is in South Carolina. However, the Bulldogs do not have to play Alabama, LSU, or Arkansas and get Florida at home. South Carolina has both LSU and Arkansas on its schedule, and plays Florida on the road.

Every other team appears to be on the outside looking in although there is a large middle class in the conference that will contend for various bowl games. Newcomers Missouri and Texas A&M are in that group, but neither are real contenders of any level in their first year in the SEC.