In three months college football games will kick off across the country. There's plenty of time and opportunity for roster changes and prediction updates between now and that national kickoff, but the start of the summer is a good time for a heat check on the SEC's football programs.
Here are my power rankings for the Southeastern Conference as of the start of June.
EAST
1. Georgia - Kirby Smart has pretty much owned the SEC East in recent years. That wasn't the case last year, but given his track record and the absence of Kyle Trask and Kyle Pitts at Florida this seems like the right pick. UGA does not appear to have any major weaknesses. The Bulldogs could clean things up on the back end in the secondary, which gave up a lot of yards last season, but the offense should be improved with JT Daniels for a full season, and they'll ride Zamir White with success as well. This looks like a familiar UGA team that could be good enough to challenge Alabama. However, we have seen that Georgia is still vulnerable to an upset or a down performance in a way the Tide is not.
2. Florida - What's next for Mullen with the two Kyle standouts gone? Given his track record and Emory Jones' talent it's probably safe to say the Gators will be a contender in the East. Florida may try to be a bit more balanced this year. But the big thing is the defense simply must improve. They were not good enough on that side of the ball, losing their final three games to LSU, Alabama, and Oklahoma, and giving up 37, 52, and 55 points in the process. UF's defense has quite a bit to replace as well.
3. Kentucky - One of the reasons Kentucky tends to be slept on a bit in preseason rankings, at least by some conference and national media, is they haven't been the sexy pick. It's been ground and pound on offense and fairly conservative on defense. But the results over the last five years are tough to argue with. UK has a good amount of talent and depth across the board on both offense and defense. The offense stands to improve a lot. If Liam Coen can unlock the passing game to achieve even some balance it should go a long way. It remains to be seen if Kentucky's offense will be good enough to really contend in the East, but there aren't many glaring holes for this team and they should be at least solid and competitive against most teams. Wan'Dale Robinson could be key to taking this team to the next level.
4. Missouri - The Tigers seem like a trendy pick in the East with many predicting they'll finish third and that's a bit curious. Mizzou quarterback Connor Bazelak is a promising player and Eliah Drinkwitz did a very nice job for a new coach during a very unconventional season. However, the defense was bad down the stretch and fixing that is the task charged to new coordinator Steve Wilks.
5. Tennessee - Josh Heupel can reasonably be expected to improve the offense but that shouldn't be too hard to do. The Volunteers finished ranked in the 100s in several offensive categories during Jeremy Pruitt's final season, never getting consistent quarterback play. UT's defense was much better than its offense last year but still got torched through the air too often. Losing linebacker Henry To'o To'o to Alabama was a huge blow for that unit. The goal here should be finding a pulse with the football and playing opportunistic defense.
6. South Carolina - The Gamecocks were an absolute mess at the end of the Will Muschamp era. When your coach is fired and you have opt-outs that can happen. Shane Beamer has a build ahead of him but the end of last season might have been a little deceiving in how bad things were. During the first month of the season USC was playing very competitive football. South Carolina returns a lot of players in the front seven but the defense was bad. The offense was also bad in spite of showing some promise early in the year. Running back Kevin Harris should rush for a bunch of yards behind an offensive line that returns most of its starters.
7. Vanderbilt - If you think Heupel and Beamer have build jobs, what about Clark Lea's assignment in Nashville? Vanderbilt ranked near the bottom of almost every national statistic on both sides of the ball and finished winless. At times Vandy showed a pulse but more often than not the Derek Mason era ended with a whimper. There is nowhere to go but up, yet the Commodores are probably a year away from winning an SEC game.
WEST
1. Alabama - It would be foolish to pick anyone else here even though the losses are substantial. No Mac Jones, no Devonta Smith, no Jaylen Waddle, no Najee Harris. Expect the Tide to continue trucking along. It's finally Bryce Young's show on offense. He'll be handing off to some dynamic young backs and throwing to John Metchie. Just because you haven't heard some of the names much doesn't mean they're going to struggle. Alabama should be outstanding on defense. This may well be the national championship frontrunner even with those losses.
2. Texas A&M - If you're buying stock in SEC West teams over the next five years the Aggies might be right behind Alabama. They appear to be on paper going into 2021, one season removed from a one-loss season that culminated in an Orange Bowl victory over North Carolina. It will be a little odd not to see Kellen Mond at quarterback and that competition will be interesting to track leading up to and into the season. Whoever wins the job will have a largely retooled offensive line but some good options to throw to. A&M had the nation's No. 2 rushing defense last year and was top-10 in total defense. They return nine starters and should be stout. They're not good enough to beat Alabama, but are a more complete team with a better coach than the rest of the West.
3. Ole Miss - Nobody wants to face that Ole Miss offense. Not even Alabama. Lane Kiffin's first year in Oxford was fun to watch in every respect and he returns quarterback Matt Corral, running back Jerrion Ealy, wide receiver Jonathan Mingo, and some other pieces on offense that should cause nightmares for opposing defensive coordinators once again. Ole Miss won four of its final five games, which wasn't a shock considering how the level of competition dipped at the end of the season, but that did signal the strength of the West and that the Rebels were a legitimate team and not a flash in the pan. It won't be a shock if they match last year's 555 yards per game. Defensively Ole Miss was a trainwreck and as good as the offense is, many questions remain there, especially after linebacker Jacquez Jones recently entered the portal.
4. LSU - This is one of the tougher teams in the SEC to project ahead based on the last year or two. We all knew there would be a huge drop-off after the previous year's national championship. The drop-off was much more severe than anyone expected, to the point that you weren't crazy if you wondered if Ed Orgeron was a one-hit wonder. But with LSU beating Ole Miss and Florida to finish the season 5-5 in the SEC West, maybe things were ticking back in the right direction. LSU will have a strong offensive line and some real talent on the defensive line and in the secondary. We don't know who the quarterback will be. This team has the talent to compete with almost anyone, but how they put it together will be interesting.
5. Auburn - This doesn't look like a contender but Bryan Harsin has a lot of nice pieces to work with in his first year on the Plains. Hopes are high that Bo Nix will have a good year after he looked strong in the spring but he doesn't have Seth Williams or Anthony Schwartz to sling it to. He will benefit from handing off to running back Tank Bigsby, who should be one of the nation's top running backs. Auburn gave up more yards last year than you're accustomed to seeing the program allow, but you can expect it to be a solid group under Derek Mason, their new defensive coordinator.
6. Mississippi State - It's wise to expect Mike Leach to turn the Bulldogs around. How quickly will he do it? That's the question. It took him about four years to really change things in Pullman at Washington State. Mississippi State finished last season the right way with consecutive wins against Missouri and Tulsa. They were very competitive against four SEC opponents the month before that after an October slide which included a blowout loss at Kentucky. Expect Will Rogers to put up big passing numbers. The defense is not bad but will likely struggle at times in the toughest division in college football.
7. Arkansas - Give Sam Pittman plenty of credit for what he did last year in Fayetteville. Not often does a coach deserve praise after winning three games in a season, but Pittman's circumstances were unique. He inherited a program on a massive slide and faced an all-SEC schedule in his first year as the Razorbacks' head man. Arkansas may be a trendy pick to make some noise in 2021 because of how many starters they return and how improved they were last year but this is still a team that's going to be at a talent deficit against most divisional foes and will need to rely on winning the turnover battle and playing very sound.