Biggest storyline for each SEC team heading into the SEC Championship

The SEC Championship is merely days away, but there is much more happening in the SEC than just the conference championship. Nearly every team is dealing with coaching rumors, transfers or some other form of news as we inch closer and closer to Atlanta.

Here’s the biggest storyline for each SEC team heading into the SEC Championship.

Alabama — Fresh off its Iron Bowl victory, the Crimson Tide jumped into No. 1 in the polls. Nick Saban and his team prepare to face off against Missouri in the SEC Championship, hoping to wrap up the third conference championship during Saban’s tenure at Alabama. As impressive as Alabama has been this season, it’s likely in an “all-or-nothing” scenario on Saturday with a win securing a spot in the College Football Playoff and a loss knocking the Tide all the way out of the final four.

Arkansas — The Hogs couldn’t keep their SEC winning streak going into the bowl season, but they are one of the top up-and-coming teams in the conference. At 6-6, the Razorbacks are one of the final teams in terms of SEC bowl hierarchy, and according to our bowl projections, they can expect to fall to the Independence Bowl against NC State when the bowls are announced on Sunday.

Auburn — Despite a rough finish to the season, Auburn gave Alabama everything it had in its 55-44 Iron Bowl defeat. Of course, the big story for the Tigers is now their search for a defensive coordinator after firing Ellis Johnson. As of now, no decision has been made, but we know that Gus Malzahn likes to act quickly in these situations and former Florida head coach Will Muschamp seems to be the favorite at this point.

Florida — The Gators aren’t playing in the SEC Championship this week, but you might hear about the Gators more than any other SEC team in the coming days. From Hugh Freeze to Josh McDaniels to Jim McElwain, the Florida coaching rumors are swirling around college football, but the expectation is that athletic director Jeremy Foley could make a decision by the end of the week.

Georgia — It was a tumultuous final weekend of the regular season for the Georgia Bulldogs who suffered a crushing overtime loss to Georgia Tech. Because of some coaching blunders late in the game, head coach Mark Richt has had to withstand a growing amount of criticism from UGA fans and once again people called for a possible change at head coach. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, Saturday’s loss only furthered the notion that UGA continues to get in its own way when performing below expectations.

Kentucky — Finishing on a six-game losing streak isn’t a good look for Mark Stoops and company as the Wildcats ended with a disappointing 5-7 record after starting the season 5-1. The most pressing issue for Kentucky is its search for a new offensive coordinator as Neal Brown left UK to take the head coaching job at Troy.

LSU — LSU is one of the few SEC teams right now without much going on outside of football. The Tigers finished the season strong and Leonard Fournette left us with a highlight run that we’ll all remember throughout the offseason. Our bowl projections slot LSU in the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl against Boston College. LSU will officially find out on Sunday.

Mississippi State — A 10-2 regular season with three top-10 wins and two losses on the road against ranked opponents … not a bad year for the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Although it fell short of their goal of winning the Egg Bowl and going to the SEC Championship, MSU performed way above everyone’s expectations. The Bulldogs should get a lofty bowl come Sunday, but the most relevant story may be Dan Mullen. The MSU head coach should be a hot name in the coaching carousel and it seems almost inevitable his name will come up at some point this offseason.

Missouri — While everyone keeps looking the other way, the Missouri Tigers keep on winning and they are preparing for their second consecutive SEC Championship appearance. No one is giving Missouri much of a shot to beat No. 1 ranked Alabama, but if we’ve learned anything this season, it’s to never count out the Tigers. Saturday’s SEC Championship should be a physical matchup between two of the best teams in the conference.

Ole Miss — The Rebels salvaged their season with a convincing Egg Bowl win over Mississippi State, but it’s Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss’ head coach, that everyone was concerned about. Freeze and the Rebels agreed to an extension and raise, and that’s huge news for a school that wants to dominate the state of Mississippi for the foreseeable future.

South Carolina — The Gamecocks are going bowling, but the biggest question remains on the coaching staff. Head coach Steve Spurrier already informed everyone he’ll be returning for his 11th season with the Gamecocks, but what about the assistant coaches? After a dreadful defensive performance all season, defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward seems to be on the chopping block for most fans, but Spurrier has said he probably won’t make any changes. We’ll see if he keeps that stance throughout the offseason.

Tennessee — Tennessee squeaked out a win against Vanderbilt to become bowl eligible, a great step forward for head coach Butch Jones. It’s the programs first bowl appearance since 2010. The Vols are projected to be in the Liberty Bowl against the Texas Longhorns.

Texas A&M — Like Auburn, Texas A&M is currently searching for a defensive coordinator. Although Will Muschamp was a name many believed to be a favorite, considering his past at Texas, there hasn’t been much smoke between the two parties. Regardless, this will be a big hire for the Aggies who have a lot of young, budding stars, but a vastly underperforming defense limiting the team’s potential.

Vanderbilt — Mercifully, Derek Mason’s first year as head coach is over and it wasn’t pretty. The Commodores didn’t win a single SEC game all season and have seemed to forgotten all about the program’s prior success with James Franklin. As Mason continues to build this program back up, he’ll be doing so with some new coaches around him as he promised to shake things up a bit. The offensive coordinator has already been let go and he may not be the only one this offseason who will be looking for a new job.