The 2020 SEC Preview with the top players, biggest games, most important transfers, and thoughts on each team.
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5. SEC 2020 Preview
Quick Note: Like everyone, we’re still waiting to see what’s going to happen in this unprecedented time of college football turmoil. We’re not completely delusional, but let’s have a little fun with what might happen if the season is safely played … somehow.
It took a nightmare to get here, but to set the dial to fun for a moment, football-wise, isn’t the SEC getting its dream world of an all-SEC world?
All SEC football games. All the time.
Don’t get too into this because it’s probably never happening again unless the conference has to keep everything in-house, but there’s no fluff, no waste, and every game will take on an even greater intensity than normal. And why?
There’s no Eastern Illinois, East Tennessee State, Alcorn State or UT Martin to fatten up the win totals.
Quick, off of the top of your head. How many SEC teams had a winning conference record in 2019?
Six.
Seven SEC programs had losing conference records and Texas A&M went 4-4. So no, the league isn’t getting rid of non-conference games for good – the mid-range teams need the fluff in this killer league to get to 6-6 overall – and soon the longtime rivalry dates with the ACC at several places will come back.
But for one year with no Big Ten or Pac-12 in the mix, this becomes even more interesting than just watching SEC teams beat up on each other. For many, it’s going to be a fight for survival to not go 4-6.
And then there’s the top of the SEC chain. If you want two or even three SEC teams in the College Football Playoff, this is the season.
The formula will probably still hold – win your Power Five conference title with one loss or fewer, and you’re in – but there are only three P5 leagues playing. There might be a bone thrown to an unbeaten Group of Five champion, but don’t count on it.
Alabama, LSU, Georgia and Florida are all top-five worthy teams – especially with no Ohio State, Penn State and Oregon in the rankings – coming into the season, and Auburn and Texas A&M are good enough to battle hard in the SEC West race.
The idea of bowl games is still murky, but Kentucky is strong enough to get to at least 5-5, and Tennessee and South Carolina had better get there.
We get two of the more – to understate it – interesting coaches in college football entering the fun in Mike Leach at Mississippi State and Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss, and Eliah Drinkwitz is a rising star that Missouri got early in his career.
Four new head coaches, at least five true national title contenders, and fans at close to half of the league’s schools hoping for an SEC title, with or without the realistic expectations.
In other words, it’s business as usual for the SEC.
CFN SEC Preview
Teams: Surprise, Disappointments | Top Games
Players To Watch | One Thought On Each Team
– CFN Preview 2020: All 130 Team Previews
NEXT: SEC Teams That Will Surprise, Disappoint
4. SEC Surprise, Disappointment
SEC Team That Will Surprise
LSU Tigers
Okay, so it’s hard to be a surprise when you’re a top five team coming off a national title in what might have been the greatest one season run in college football history. However, next to no one will have LSU repeating as the SEC champion, much less win the College Football Playoff.
It’s hard to lose a Heisman-winning quarterback (Joe Burrow) and 13 other players to the NFL Draft, and a slew of other parts of the puzzle including your defensive coordinator (Dave Aranda) and star offensive coaching mind (Joe Brady) – unless you recruit like the superstar program LSU is.
There’s talent back, and the schedule won’t be that bad – all things considered
The Tigers have to go to Florida, but they miss Georgia. They have to go to Auburn and Texas A&M, but they get Alabama at home. Out of the four teams from the East to play, three – South Carolina, Vanderbilt, and Missouri, who went 6-6 and had NCAA issues – didn’t go bowling last year.
2020 SEC Team Previews, 5 Things To Know
East Florida | Georgia | Kentucky | Missouri
South Carolina | Tennessee | Vanderbilt
West Alabama | Arkansas | Auburn | LSU
Miss State | Ole Miss | Texas A&M
CFN Preview 2020: All 130 Team Previews
SEC Team That Will Disappoint
Tennessee Volunteers
They’ll be fine, but even with a scheduled date at Oklahoma, this would’ve been the year to have the non-conference games on the slate.
Originally, the Vols had to go to Norman, but they also had Charlotte, Furman and Troy to go along with Arkansas, Vanderbilt, and home games against Missouri and Kentucky. They probably would’ve been 7-5 to 8-4 with the original slate, and now it might be a fight to get to 5-5.
Again, they’re going to be good, but this won’t be the breakthrough campaign Vol fans have been so patiently waiting for. At Georgia, Alabama, Florida, at Auburn, Texas A&M – win two of those and it’ll be amazing. Win three and the excitement will be off the charts for 2021.
Throw in Kentucky, Missouri, and a trip to South Carolina, and again, just getting to five wins might be more impressive than it might seem.
NEXT: SEC Game of the Year, Hot Seat Coaches
3. SEC Games, Hot Seat Coaches
SEC Game Of The Year
Florida vs. Georgia
Georgia has won three in a row after Florida won three in a row. This time around not only breaks the recent tie, it should be effectively an elimination game in the College Football Playoff race.
There are at least five massive games in the SEC West, and several interdivisional battles should be fantastic, but consider it a shocker if the winner of the not-a-Cocktail-Party ends up playing for the SEC title with a chance for the CFP.
5 Other Interesting SEC Games
This is all very, very fluid, but at the moment if the SEC slate stays relatively close to the original version …
1. Alabama at LSU
2. Georgia at Alabama
3. LSU at Florida
4. Auburn at Alabama
5. Texas A&M at Alabama
– 2020 CFN SEC 5-Year Program Rankings
5 SEC Coaches On The Hot Seat
It’s not necessarily about who’s about to get fired – especially this year.
Think of it this way – who has the most pressure to win, for whatever reason?
1. Will Muschamp, South Carolina
2. Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M
3. Derek Mason, Vanderbilt
4. Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee
5. Gus Malzahn, Auburn
NEXT: SEC Key Players To Know
2. SEC Key Players To Know
5 SEC Transfers Who Will Matter
Five players who made the jump and now should be a big deal.
1. QB JT Daniels, Georgia from USC or Jamie Newman, Georgia from Wake Forest
2. QB KJ Costello, Mississippi State from Stanford
3. OT Cade Mayes, Tennessee from Georgia (if eligible)
4. QB Feleipe Franks, Arkansas from Florida
5. WR Damon Hazelton, Missouri from Virginia Tech
5 Big-Time SEC Players Who Deserve A Bigger Spotlight
Five players who deserve to be known and loved on a national level, but should rise up and be among the season’s best players.
1. LB Nick Bolton, Jr.
Missouri
2. WR Seth Williams, Jr.
Auburn
3. CB Israel Mukuamu, Jr. South Carolina
4. C Drake Jackson, Sr. Kentucky
5. LB Dimitri Moore, Jr.
Vanderbilt
5 Best Pro Prospects From The SEC
1. CB Patrick Surtain, Alabama
2. WR Ja’Marr Chase, LSU
3. WR Jaylen Waddle, Alabama
4. LB Dylan Moses, Alabama
5. OT Alex Leatherwood, Alabama
– 2020 CFN Preseason All-SEC Team
5 Biggest SEC Shoes To Fill
1. QB Myles Brennan for Joe Burrow, LSU
2. OT Xavier Truss for Andrew Thomas, Georgia
3. QB Jamie Newman or JT Daniels for Jake Fromm, Georgia
4. CB Kaiir Elam for CJ Henderson, Florida
5. OT Deonte Brown for Jedrick Wills, Alabama
NEXT: One Honest Thought On Each SEC Team
1. One Honest Thought On Each SEC Team
Click on each team for the preview, 5 things to know
SEC East
Florida
Is Kyle Trask really going to be the best quarterback in the SEC East? The starting quarterback at Georgia will probably be more talented, but Trask is the type of veteran that every team wants at quarterback right now – especially with a loaded group around him. The Gators might be great O line play away from being CFP good.
Georgia
It doesn’t matter if it’s Jamie Newman or JT Daniels under center. Everything else is in place to win the East, win the SEC, and win the national title. The bar shouldn’t be set at anything lower, especially with this incredible defense.
Kentucky
Don’t just assume it’ll be Florida and Georgia for the East championship. Okay, so it’ll be Florida and Georgia for the East championship, but this is a rock-solid UK team with the lines and secondary to be a bit of a player.
Missouri
Mizzou doesn’t have the high-end star power of the top SEC teams, but Eliah Drinkwitz is a whale of a rising coaching star who inherits a nice base of players. Here’s the problem – it doesn’t have the cushy non-conference games it needs for a big record. Call this a transition year, but the Tigers will screw up some good team’s big season.
South Carolina
No one’s demanding the SEC East title, but there’s absolutely no excuse to be so inconsistent and so mediocre. The Gamecocks have amount the best defensive lines and secondaries in the East, and there’s enough good young talent on offense to be far stronger.
Tennessee
It took a while, but Jeremy Pruitt might finally have what he needs. The offensive front is fantastic – it might just be the strongest in the SEC East – and he has some killers on defense. The offensive playmakers are just okay, but the infrastructure is strong.
Vanderbilt
Grade Vanderbilt on a curve. As always, it’s going to take an upset or three to get a few wins in the SEC, but the defensive back seven is strong enough to keep the team in most games. ANY offensive punch changes the narrative.
NEXT: One Honest Thought On Each SEC West Team
SEC West
Alabama
Start with the minor miracle in all of this – the NFL talent appears to be sticking around. There’s still a question mark about a secondary that wasn’t quite good enough last year, and the quarterback situation will be the story of the next few weeks, but boo hoo. Win the national championship.
Arkansas
The Hogs are sort of in a fun place in the first year under Sam Pittman – there are NO expectations whatsoever, and they can let loose and do everything possible to build the program back up. They have a brutal SEC schedule, the weakest talent in the West, and none of it matters. Get just a few wins and it’ll be a wild success.
Auburn
No one’s going to put Auburn in the mix for the SEC title with Alabama, Georgia, and even Florida and LSU, but there’s enough in place to make a good run if it can pull off another win over the Tide. It’s on QB Bo Nix to be great, but there’s enough talent in place to win just enough to hang around the West race.
LSU
Don’t set the bar any lower than another SEC title. Great programs replace amazing players with more amazing players, and LSU might have just done that. Of course there won’t be a repeat of 2019’s dominance, but the receiving corps is amazing, the secondary might be the best in college football, and now it’s time to show just how great the program really is. Last year was incredible, but Clemson and Alabama are Clemson and Alabama because of their consistent high-level greatness. LSU can be there. too.
Mississippi State
Who doesn’t want to see this offense do its thing? Mike Leach’s Bulldogs might not challenge for anything huge, but if this O gets up and going, and if Stanford QB KJ Costello really is the NFL-caliber talent he’s supposed to be, the SEC West has a problem.
Ole Miss
Good luck figuring out what this team is right out of the gate. Alabama and LSU are Alabama and LSU – they’re amazing – and Auburn and Texas A&M have veteran coaches and teams good enough to at least provide a push. Arkansas is the rebuilding program, and Mississippi State has the identity of the Mike Leach offense about to kick in. Ole Miss has Lane Kiffin, and an interesting collection of parts with a great receiving corps and strong group of linebackers. To be trite, here’s your division’s X factor team.
Texas A&M
At SOME point this is going to flip to on. There’s no reason why this very rich program with every possible advantage can’t turn into a superpower under Jimbo Fisher, but it needs to start now in this strangest of seasons. The Aggies have the veteran quarterback in Kellen Mond, and they have a defensive back seven with the upside to be phenomenal. Stick this team in what would’ve been the Big Ten West or Pac-12 South – sky point – and it’s probably the preseason favorite.
