After nearly a month without football, the SEC is finally back on the gridiron. The conference’s bowl season kicked off with South Carolina in the Independence Bowl on Saturday and continues on with six more games before New Year’s. What are the hottest topics going to be before the College Football Playoff games get going?

Leonard Fournette launches his 2015 Heisman candidacy. LSU’s running back got a ton of hype coming into his first season on campus, setting him up to disappoint those who thought he might contend for the Heisman as a true freshman. Fournette got stronger as the year went on and finished his regular season against Texas A&M with a monster game. Notre Dame will be missing several key defenders in the Music City Bowl, giving Fournette a chance to go off.

Texas A&M keeps waiting for a defensive coordinator. The Aggies will be playing the Liberty Bowl without a defensive coordinator, and they’ll head into 2015 without one as well. With several potential candidates still in the midst of their seasons — Florida interim coach D.J. Durkin the biggest name among them — Kevin Sumlin will be content to wait a little longer.

The state of Mississippi goes 1-for-2. Both the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Ole Miss Rebels are playing in prominent New Year’s Six bowls, the Orange and Citrus, respectively. While Ole Miss helped wreck State’s playoff chances, the Rebels won’t have enough to get it done on offense against TCU. Mississippi State won’t have to worry about getting burned by the pass, giving them a leg up to beat Georgia Tech.

Arkansas makes its case as a top team for next year. The Razorbacks finally put together a couple of SEC wins at the end of 2014, and a big win over old Southwest Conference rival Texas will have voters not just including them in season-ending polls, but wondering how high they’ll be to open 2015.