It's almost football season.
SEC Media Days are in the books. Another recruiting dead period has arrived.
Now the rapid march to the start of the season: Quarterback battles, injury reports, new coaches and coordinators making their mark. This is when all of that happens.
We're enlisting the power of the Rivals.com network to bring you a smorgasbord of SEC football news to help get you ready for the season, so here's what you need to know from around the conference this week.
TENNESSEE
VolQuest.com has an informative camp preview from Ben McKee this morning with "11 storylines to watch heading into Tennessee fall camp."
Josh Heupel was Tennessee's choice because of what the administration in Knoxville believes he can do with the offense.
There's an NCAA black cloud over Knoxville as this new tenure begins on Rocky Top. If the Vols are going to amount to much in 2021 — and it's rare to see Tennessee picked to finish so low in the East — it might have to be through pace, play-calling, and Heupel's ability as an offensive coach.
"Josh Heupel has made it clear that reps will be determined based on practice performance, but how will reps be handed out at the beginning of fall camp? Joe Milton has generated the most buzz this offseason because of his sheer size and skillset, but the Vols will need to correct what ailed him while at Michigan," McKee writes.
"Sophomore Harrison Bailey has had a strong summer, finding his voice and building confidence along the way. Bailey won't go down without a fight.
"Don't forget about Hendon Hooker. The Virginia Tech transfer is the most experienced out of the bunch and possibly the most consistent. It wouldn't be as big of an upset as some would think if he were to win the job."
Other questions facing UT beginning this week: How will Tennessee cope with attrition on the defensive front and what base defense will the Volunteers roll with?
MISSOURI
Eliah Drinkwitz has created a lot of optimism in Missouri with what he's done over the past year. Most pundits put first-year coaches at a severe disadvantage going into last season because of the way spring practices were wiped out during an important install period.
Finishing 5-5 against an SEC schedule under those conditions was widely considered a successful result for the Tigers and now many are pointing to this year's Week 2 matchup between UK and Mizzou as a potential tone-setter for both squads.
Over at PowerMizzou.com today Mitchell Forde has written about the top storylines to watch heading into the Tigers' fall camp.
Quarterback Connor Bazelak is a big reason Mizzou fans are excited about the upcoming season but how he and the offense can create more explosive plays has been a big question this offseason. They were efficient more than explosive last year.
So expect to read a lot about what Mizzou is doing on the offensive line and at receiver to create those explosives with Bazelak behind center.
Also, more on how Missouri is helping a trio of defensive grad transfers get acclimated in the defense. The Tigers have a new coordinator and must get better on that side of the ball in order to challenge in the division.
GEORGIA
Kirby Smart's squad has been picked to win the SEC East and is regarded as a serious national championship contender because the Bulldogs are always stout on defense and JT Daniels did a lot of good things last year at quarterback.
Is this the year high octane offense meets elite defense to win the Bulldogs their first championship in four decades?
UGASports.com's Anthony Dasher lays out the big storylines beginning this week and it's a good preseason primer on the Dawgs.
Georgia has lots of talent at receiver but who will step up the most? How will the offensive line shake out?
Over on defense there's a ton of competition at every spot in the secondary and that's what's worth tracking.
FLORIDA
Dan Mullen's Gators are picked to finish second in the East this year, sandwiched between national contender UGA and darkhorses Kentucky and Mizzou in the division.
With Kyle Trask and Kyle Pitts (as well as 31 receiving touchdowns from the offense overall) gone this is a year of transition for the Gators.
The preseason at UF is fairly easy to sum up: Will the defense improve as much as the offense regresses?
Dan Mullen is working on quarterback Emory Jones. Who replaces all of those receivers? How do transfer defensive linemen hold up?
ALABAMA
College football's preseason No. 1 team is very likely going to be Alabama, and why not? Nick Saban has six national championships since taking this program over more than a dozen years ago and right now the Tide just competes against its own standard.
Over at BamaInsider.com on the Rivals.com network Alabama team writer Tony Tsoukalas has been analyzing the asking questions about this Tide team for the past week or more.
It's tough to believe how good Alabama's wide receiving unit was a year ago. It brought home a national championship from a player who was thought to be Bama's second-best receiver going into the season. Both Devonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle are gone, but Tsoukalas explains that Alabama's receivers and tight ends are still going to be very good.
Alabama loses three starters on the offensive line from a group that won the Joe Moore Award, given to the nation's best line, a year ago. That's a big topic this offseason as well.
While the Tide loses its sack leader from a year ago the inside rush should not be an issue either.
At linebacker there are plenty of talented players, including Tennessee transfer Henry To'o To'o.
Alabama's machine marches on and its embarrassment of riches is illustrated well in the previews over at BamaInsider.com.
LSU
The big story in Baton Rouge this week is the injury to quarterback Myles Brennan.
Ed Orgeron didn't mince words, calling it a "severe injury" which will require surgery on his elbow.
LSU's quarterback situation is less than ideal following Brennan's injury and Julie Boudwin from TigerDetails.com has been reporting on that.
Brennan's injury leaves LSU with only two scholarship options at quarterback: A true freshman and Max Johnson, who was competing with Brennan for the starting position.
"He's got to have a great camp. The depth chart is extra thin and he knows he's got to perform. I believe in Max, just like I believe in Myles. I think we have a great championship quarterback. Garrett will have to step up. He's a very talented young man. I'm glad we got him. He's got to learn the offense, step up and take care of the football. He had some mistakes in the spring (game), but I know he'll get better with experience. ... But we have to keep Max healthy, that's going to be key."
LSU is one of three difficult midseason opponents Kentucky will face in consecutive weeks and a crisis to the Tigers' QB depth is certainly worth following.
ARKANSAS
The Razorbacks have an extremely difficult task in the modern college football landscape. They compete in the SEC West, far and away the most difficult division in the sport, and they're rebuilding.
After a promising 2020 debut, what can coach Sam Pittman do for an encore? That's the main theme running through the previews currently showing at HawgBeat.com.
KJ Jefferson will lead the Arkansas offense at quarterback and how he fares will largely determine the level of success the Hogs enjoy this season.
Position battles at receiver, defensive back, and elsewhere are among the other key themes.
Also, Pittman has harped on improving the offensive and defensive line play as a key to winning in the SEC. Kentucky fans are familiar with that process, which has taken place in Lexington in recent years. A heat check on that effort is included in the link above, courtesy of Arkansas writer Andrew Hutchinson.
AUBURN
The Bryan Harsin era begins with Auburn's opener about one month from now and Brian Stultz of AuburnSports.com wrote his own spring preview column this week on the Rivals.com network.
"Outside of Tank Bigsby at the running back position and a loaded linebacker corps and secondary, there are no certainties heading into camp as Harsin and his staff try to figure out what they have on their hands and keep building toward what they accomplished during the spring," Stultz writes.
Stultz also writes about Bo Nix feeling the heat in the quarterback room the first time since he's been at Auburn (even as he has signed a new deal with Bojangles), the difficulty in replacing Seth Williams and Anthony Schwartz at receiver, and the search for a disruptive pass rusher up front.
Kentucky doesn't draw Auburn this year but the Tigers could be an X-Factor in the West.
MISSISSIPPI STATE
Kentucky fans should be following the progress of Mike Leach at Mississippi State because at least for now the Bulldogs remain the Cats' locked-in annual opponent from the West.
Leach sometimes takes a while to get his system going at a new place and last year had plenty of ups and downs. Most are expecting a step forward from the offense, even while plenty of questions remain, and Leach had a lot to say at SEC Media Days two weeks ago.
In Q&A/transcript format here's everything Leach said from the main podium.
OLE MISS
Ever since Lane Kiffin took the head coaching position in Oxford he has commanded plenty of attention from league and national media.
Ole Miss was an interesting team last year with an explosive offense that even Alabama couldn't slow down but a defense that was as bad as the offense was good.
A couple of days ago RebelGrove.com's Neal McCready wrote a "10 weekend thoughts" piece that touches on a lot of the themes that we'll be hearing about coming out of camp for Ole Miss.
"Ole Miss opens fall camp this week, preparing for one of the most anticipated seasons I can remember here. That’s just a 13-year sample, but the excitement is palpable," McCready wrote of the Rebels, who open their season against UK's Governor's Cup archrival Louisville.
McCready's column will cover all the bases and answer most of the questions you might have about Ole Miss football. It's one of the most interesting programs in the country at the moment.
TEXAS A&M
Jimbo Fisher started to earn that $70 million guaranteed last season with a 9-1 season that included an Orange Bowl victory over North Carolina. The Aggies were not exactly a dominant team, but week by week they found ways to keep on winning. The only blemish was a 28-point beatdown at the hands of Alabama.
The biggest question facing Texas A&M this year is the offensive line, which loses four starters from last year's unit.
