After a seven-year run at the top of college football world, the SEC can no longer lay an undisputed claim to the title of best conference in the land. It’s now been two full seasons since the SEC claimed the national championship, and last season marked the first time since 2005 the conference didn’t have a representative in the title game.

The SEC could well return to the pinnacle of the sport in 2015; teams like Alabama, Georgia, Auburn and LSU never seem to be far from national title contention, while outsiders like Texas A&M and Missouri have snuck into the conversation in recent years.

What could hold the conference back from returning to national dominance? We look at a few major issues that may keep the SEC from hoisting the College Football Playoff trophy come January.

The quarterbacks

Just a few years ago, the SEC was teeming with talent at quarterback. Johnny Manziel, AJ McCarron, Zach Mettenberger, Connor Shaw and Aaron Murray all populated the conference in 2013, and all of them have since moved onto the NFL. The conference didn’t have a single quarterback drafted this year, which could help explain why there was no truly dominant team in the conference last year. Dak Prescott is back to lead to the pack this year, while Jeremy Johnson and Joshua Dobbs both have the potential to be superstars as well. After those two, there’s a distinct drop off, and in many cases teams lack a clear-cut SEC-caliber quarterback. The last two national titles have been won by big-time passers: Florida State’s Jameis Winston and Ohio State’s Cardale Jones. The SEC is going to need big-game leaders to get back to the top.

Defensive coaching shuffle

“SEC defense” has been more myth than reality the last few years, with offense ruling the day in the conference for the last couple of seasons. As teams have watched opponents put up big point totals against them, there’s been a shuffling of defensive coordinators around the league, with eight teams bringing in new DCs for 2015. While some of the names are considered among the best in the nation — John Chavis at Texas A&M, Will Muschamp at Auburn, Geoff Collins at Florida — it could take some time for them to turn their defense around (like at A&M or Auburn) or get their charges up to speed with new schemes (Kevin Steele at LSU or Barry Odom at Mizzou). Alabama couldn’t stop Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl last year, the main reason for its loss to the Buckeyes and a bit of evidence that getting the defenses back up to the SEC’s standard is crucial.

Parity

In the most recent conference championship odds, three of the four heaviest favorites to win the SEC — Alabama, Georgia and Ole Miss — don’t yet have their starting quarterback figured out. After those three and Auburn, there are four more teams bunched up at between +900 and +1600 odds to win the conference leaving spring ball. Last year, the SEC went from having three teams in the top four of the initial CFP rankings to there being a question of if any team would make the playoffs heading into the final week of the regular season thanks to the confernce simply beating up on itself. As it looks now, the SEC could well be so evenly matched that it prevents itself from having a playoff representative.