Last week, Athlon Sports released a preview of its annual magazine, a look at the top 25 teams in college football and a prediction of the final college football rankings at the end of the 2020 season.
The 3-time defending SEC East champion Georgia Bulldogs didn’t get much love. Florida was projected to finish the season at No. 6, ahead of Georgia at No. 7.
“Georgia has an edge in overall roster talent,” Athlon Sports wrote. “But the Gators have a small advantage in crossover play (at home versus LSU compared to at Alabama for the Bulldogs) and coach Dan Mullen’s team has more continuity in staff and scheme.”
While I agree that at home versus LSU is not as challenging as Alabama on the road, “continuity in staff and scheme” is a reach. In 2019, Georgia rolled into Jacksonville with a new offensive coordinator and still scored 24 points and secured their third win in a row versus the Gators.
A new aspect of Athlon Sports’ magazine this year is its SEC season preview, and sticking with its previous predictions, Athlon has Florida as the 2020 SEC East champions over Georgia.
Athlon predicted the final SEC standings and projected each team’s overall record as well.
See here:
SEC East
#1 Florida, 11-2 overall, 7-1 SEC
#2 Georgia, 10-2 overall, 6-2 SEC
#3 Tennessee, 8-4 overall, 5-3 SEC
#4 Kentucky, 7-5 overall, 4-4 SEC
#5 South Carolina, 6-6 overall, 3-5 SEC
#6 Missouri, 5-7 overall, 2-6 SEC
#7 Vanderbilt, 3-9 overall, 0-8 SEC
SEC West
#1 Alabama, 12-1 overall, 7-1 SEC
#2 LSU, 10-2 overall, 6-2 SEC
#3 Texas A&M, 9-3 overall, 5-3 SEC
#4 Auburn 9-3, overall, 5-3 SEC
#5 Ole Miss, 7-5 overall, 4-4 SEC
#6 Mississippi State, 6-6 overall, 2-6 SEC
#7 Arkansas, 3-9 overall, 0-8 SEC
SEC Championship Game
Alabama over Florida
This year, Georgia has more offensive power behind transfer quarterback Jamie Newman and new offensive coordinator Todd Monken, with a record-setting returning defense.
Georgia fans, don’t worry seeing Florida in the headlines. Jacksonville is our home-away-from-home and it always works things out.
