It’s not December 25, but we’re making a list and checking it twice as spring practice opens up full force next week.

Here’s a checklist of needs for every SEC West team in 2015. Has your program completed its list, or is there more work to be done?

ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE

Checked Off

  • Keep the band together. At this point one has to wonder whether Kirby Smart ever will pursue a head coaching job. It seems like he’s pretty content as Nick Saban’s defensive coordinator. After some heavy speculation, Lane Kiffin is back for a second season as well. Sure, the team lost Kevin Steele and Lance Thompson, who aren’t bad coaches, but for the Tide they’re relatively expendable. Retaining both coordinators was huge.

Uncertain

  • Find motivation. The knock on the 2013 Alabama football team, and the ’14 team early in the year, was that it just didn’t have that innate, carnal hunger. Saban’s teams are so talented and so accustomed to success that it’s become harder and harder for the team to find that nasty edge that made it so tough in ’09, ’11 and ’12. He’s known as a great motivator, though, and seems to spend a lot of time pondering how to fire up his team.

Still Need

  • Solve the secondary. The first step was re-installing a true secondary coach. Now it’s time to sift through unproven talent and inconsistent or limited veterans and fill some starting spots. Other than Cyrus Jones, the team doesn’t have any guaranteed starters among the defensive backs, but a heap of four- and five-star talent.
  • Prep some receivers to fill the void. Alabama lost more than Amari Cooper. DeAndrew White was a seasoned No. 2 option and Christion Jones was dangerous with the ball in his hands, even if he struggled getting it there in 2014. The Tide has plenty of options, but none of them have much career production. It’s time to test the team’s player development.
  • Get faster in the front seven on defense. The Tide’s struggles against up-tempo, relentless offenses are well-documented. The team has started to recruit a few slightly more athletic, quicker players up front, but expect Bama to be reluctant to go to those guys unless they’re capable of becoming every-down standouts in the SEC. But Alabama has to find a way to move laterally and keep up with the fastest offenses.

ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS

Checked Off

  • Shrink the mammoth line. This one sounds counterintuitive. Bret Bielema has made being overweight sexy, promising touchdowns in exchange for girth along the offensive line. But there’s a point at which losing weight would make some of the linemen faster and quicker. Sebastian Tretola, the recipient of the touchdown pass, reportedly has lost nearly 50 pounds. Denver Kirkland, expected to move from guard to tackle, also has dropped significant weight, and Bijohn Jackson, a vital player on the defensive line as the Razorbacks try to replace a pair of certain NFL draft picks, is in better shape as well. Mission accomplished here.

Uncertain

  • Get more explosive on offense. The team doesn’t seem especially poised for a major shakeup under new offensive coordinator Dan Enos. The focal points remain RB Alex Collins, RB Jonathan Williams, TE Hunter Henry and a conservative play-action passing game led by QB Brandon Allen. But whether it’s an occasional heave downfield or a little razzle dazzle, the Hogs must find a way to procure some explosive plays on offense, particularly in the toughest SEC West matchups.
  • Pass at least one SEC West team. The Bielema era can be classified as a qualified success thus far. The turbulence left behind by Bobby Petrino and perpetuated by an in-over-his-head John L. Smith is gone. But, in large part due to the depth of talent in the SEC West, and in no small manner due to Bielema’s Big Ten philosophy, Arkansas is in danger of stalling. The program has to hope all the improvements don’t add up to a third consecutive last-place season in the division.

Still Need

  • Find some new leaders in the defensive front seven. We’ve written about this numerous times, and it’s the most obvious priority for the team. The Razorbacks offense “hogs” most of the attention, but one of, if not the, nation’s best defensive front seven was the reason for Arkansas’ at-long-last turnaround. Losing Trey Flowers, Darius Philon and Martrell Spaight all at once is a major blow. Can some of last season’s bit players elevate themselves into Broadway stars?
  • Toughen up Alex Collins. It’s one of the biggest peculiarities in the SEC the last two years: What happens to Collins after September? He’s managed seven 100-yard rushing games in two seasons, and exactly zero of those have come after Oct. 1. Whether it’s a lack of conditioning, mental toughness or body armor, the team needs to figure it out and correct it.

AUBURN TIGERS

Checked Off

  • Find some answers on defense. It came with a large price tag, but the team won the Will Muschamp sweepstakes, pitting one of the country’s most proven defensive coordinators with one of its most respected offensive minds. Kris Frost and Cassanova McKinzy decided to return for their senior seasons at linebacker. Carl Lawson should be healthy by this fall, and incoming freshman Byron Cowart gives the team another potential plus pass rusher. The Tigers still must execute on the field, but the team definitively found some defensive answers.
  • Get something out of the Muschamp hire in recruiting. If you’re going to pay head coach money for a coordinator, unless your school features an endowment of more than $8 billion (coughTexasA&Mcough), you need to get something significant from the guy as a recruiter in addition to a great coach. Despite losing out to his former employer Florida with CeCe Jefferson and Martez Ivey, Muschamp checked off this box early with Cowart and others.

Still Need

  • Adjust to new faces at just about every skill position. D’haquille “Duke” Williams returns at receiver — a huge get — but just about everyone else must be replaced. That doesn’t seem like an issue, as Javon Robinson, Jeremy Johnson and company give the Tigers some promise. Auburn just needs to spend as much time between now and the meat of its SEC schedule getting used to one another on the field.
  • Tweak the offense for Jeremy Johnson. Speaking of Johnson, Auburn may have its best pocket passer of the Gus Malzahn era — that’s including his stint as offensive coordinator with Cam Newton. Don’t expect the team to abandon the read-option power game that’s worked so well, but it would be a waste of talent if the Tigers didn’t adapt to feature Johnson’s skill set.
  • Replace Reese Dismukes. Auburn has lost three tremendous blockers in the last two years in Greg Robinson, Jay Prosch and Dismukes. Filling his spot with someone capable of approximating his outstanding play is more significant than having to replace any of the skill players.

LSU TIGERS

Checked Off

  • Account for losing John Chavis. Sure, Kevin Steele is qualified. But losing The Chief was a blow, both for morale and from a functionality standpoint. One of the biggest concerns with Steele is how he’ll change the scheme on defense. The team has recruited for a specific system for years. In his last stop as defensive coordinator, Steele got a reputation for trying to be too complicated. Luckily he’s a much better recruiter than Chavis and will have help from the country’s most famous defensive line coach in Ed Orgeron.

Still Need

  • Find a way to develop the quarterbacks. Cam Cameron really struggled without an NFL-ready signal-caller running his offense in 2014. It seemed as if he had no clue how to teach QB 101. He’ll need to find a way to distill some of the information and scale back on some of the nuances and steps so Brandon Harris and Anthony Jennings can get better. The two didn’t seem to make much progress throughout the 2014 season, which is concerning.
  • Restore confidence at receiver. Malachi Dupre came on strong as his true freshman season progressed and should enter the fall feeling good about himself. Beyond that, Travin Dural saw his production sink like a stone as the year went along, and Trey Quinn can’t be feeling great about himself after becoming a four-star afterthought. It would help if the team had a quarterback capable of getting them the ball consistently. But LSU needs to restore the confidence of players like Dural and Quinn this spring.
  • Figure out the offensive line. Reports out of Baton Rogue have Vadal Alexander moving to right tackle with Jerald Hawkins replacing La’el Collins at left tackle and Garrett Brumfield working at right guard. Ethan Pocic may be this year’s center. Whatever happens, there’s sure to be a lot of movement with two new starters and some shuffling among the returnees.

MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS

Checked Off

  • Convince Dak Prescott to stay. Done. Now if the team can just ward off random attackers between now and August, it will have a Heisman Trophy contender at quarterback.
  • Find a competent replacement at defensive coordinator. There couldn’t have been a better fit than Manny Diaz, who already is familiar with Starkville and Dan Mullen. He coached some tremendous linebackers the last time he worked on the Mississippi State staff, and will need to put that ability to work as the team moves on from Benardrick McKinney.

Uncertain

  • Embrace “next man up.” The Bulldogs lost seven offensive starters and eight defensive starters. That’s not something that a team recovers from immediately, especially one that isn’t among the Top 25 programs in college football historically. Lucky for Mississippi State, it retained the most important starter in Prescott. The program might as well laugh at attrition and embrace the mentality that’s so near and dear to the heart of every football coach.

Still Need

  • Turn De’Runnya Wilson into a real receiver. Thus far he’s gotten by on mostly athleticism, regardless of the narrative about how far he’s come since his days as a high school hoops star. It’s time he learns the nuances of the game and unlocks his All-SEC potential. He and Prescott could be an awesome first cornerstone to the 2015 team that may otherwise lack one.

OLE MISS REBELS

Checked Off

  • Get healthy. Some of the big names coming off major injuries include LT Laremy Tunsil, WR Laquon Treadwell and LB Denzel Nkemdiche. Not all of those players are 100 percent yet, but each of them are on track to return to the field this fall for the Rebels. Ole Miss can claim mission accomplished here.

Uncertain

  • Navigate the giant land mine that is Chad Kelly. The Rebels need Kelly to become the starting quarterback. It’s one of the reasons the team took the risk of signing him out of junior college and it’s one of the reasons coach Hugh Freeze has been willing to overlook his recent arrest. It’s why Freeze personally escorted Kelly to Haiti for spring break on a humanitarian trip. But Kelly is a volatile player, failing to get along with teammates at Clemson and struggling to avoid drama off the field. Can this guy keep his nose clean long enough to learn the offense, seize control of the team and allow his talent to unfold?

Still Need

  • Stay out of trouble. I’m slotting this one in the “still need” category because this is my 13th team of 14 in this series and I can’t create a “did not happen” label this late in the game. Let’s say this first: Plenty of SEC schools must deal with off-field arrests and a few individuals with poor character. For one SEC fan base to point at another in an accusatory manner is hypocritical. But of late Ole Miss has dealt with more than its share. Instead of putting an end to that development, it’s only gotten worse.
  • Discover a running game. The offensive line is a big part of this one. No, the team doesn’t have an All-SEC talent at running back, but the line outside of Tunsil got very little push in 2014 and gave up way too many tackles for loss. It a semblance of a running game would’ve helped last year even with a decent quarterback. Depending on what happens with Kelly, a repeat performance this year could be a disaster for the offense.
  • Fill the void left by Cody Prewitt and Senquez Golson. After some shuffling among the returning three defensive back starters, the team should turn to junior college transfers Tee Shepard and Tony Bridges at cornerback. Assuming the defensive line continues to perform at a high level, this year’s secondary has a chance to approximate last year’s, but only if Shepard and Bridges are as good as advertised.

TEXAS A&M AGGIES

Uncertain

  • Make drastic improvements on defense. The team completed a huge coup by lifting John Chavis from LSU. Landing five-star defensive tackle Daylon Mack gives the team some serious young talent at defensive line. There are potential stars at linebacker and defensive back as well. But this team still has a lot of defensive concerns, at least for 2015. Can Chavis convert enough of that talent into production for the ’15 Aggies to meet expectations?

Still Need

  • Find ways to hit on more downfield passes. A&M soared into the Top 10 after a 5-0 start. But, as I warned people then, it was fool’s gold, and not just because of a faulty defense. Arkansas blew a neutral-site game against the Aggies, eventually losing in overtime, but the Razorbacks publicized a blueprint for covering Kevin Sumlin’s offense in the process. With inexperience at quarterback and a receiving corps better on quick timing routes that allowed them to run after the catch, Arkansas jammed them at the line with physical, bullying bump-and-run coverage and got after the quarterback, daring A&M to beat them deep. The Aggies eventually did — late in the fourth quarter and in overtime. But that same strategy contributed to the losses later in the season. Sumlin, Kyle Allen and the receivers must find ways to hit on more passes downfield for this season to counter the disruptive crowd-and-bully strategy.
  • Turn Amari Watts into a football player. I wrote about this extensively earlier this week. Check it out here.
  • Figure out the offensive tackles. LT Cedric Ogbuehi is on his way to the NFL draft, and RT Germain Ifedi is coming off an injury after what was a below-expectations season in my opinion. During the Johnny Manziel era, Texas A&M featured the best offensive tackles in the country. Between Manziel’s escapability and the extra time his offensive line bought him, the Aggies were so difficult to defend in the passing game. But the line has regressed to merely good since then. The team needs to solve the position this spring.