Tim Tebow. AJ McCarron. Cam Newton. Johnny Manziel.

Those are just a few of the quarterbacks who thrust the SEC into the dominant national position the conference maintained during its streak of seven consecutive BCS championships.

Entering last season, the league had to replace what could easily be remembered 30 years from now as the best single group of outgoing quarterbacks in conference history: Manziel (Heisman winner), McCarron (two national titles), Aaron Murray (SEC’s all-time leading passer), Connor Shaw (17-0 home record as a starter) and Zach Mettenberger (produced two 1,000-yard receivers in ’13) highlighted an even deeper group.

In fact, the SEC returned just 68 starts at quarterback between all 14 teams. Only the ACC returned less experience at the position, but that conference included reigning national champion and Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston at Florida State.

Meanwhile, the Pac-12 returned 198 starts, including Oregon’s Marcus Mariota, the ’14 Heisman winner, as well as experienced standouts in UCLA’s Brett Hundley, Arizona State’s Taylor Kelly, Washington State’s Connor Halliday (he of all sorts of single-season NCAA records) and Stanford’s Kevin Hogan.

The Big Ten wasn’t far behind, with an underrated Connor Cook returning to Michigan State after a Rose Bowl win and three quarterbacks at Ohio State capable of starting at probably any SEC school outside of Mississippi State in ’14.

The result was that the SEC reached the College Football Playoff with Alabama, but did not play in the national championship game for the first time in nine years. Mariota and Ohio State, the team with the many quarterbacks, played for the title, while Winston and FSU lost the other semifinal game. TCU and Baylor, two other teams with prolific quarterbacks, barely missed the College Football Playoff.

The SEC has some built-in advantages, if we agree to assume that recruiting rankings more or less are in the ballpark of accurate. The conference recruits the best defensive linemen in the country by far and holds big advantages at positions like receiver and running back as well. Many of the country’s best head coaches, and most well-compensated assistants, reside in the SEC, along with big recruiting budgets, top-notch facilities, a full compliment of support staff and often a heap of great tradition.

But if the league wants to enjoy a run anything like it’s seven-year domination, which may never happen again, it must elevate itself to the top of the country, or at least close to it, with quarterback play.

In the immediate term, Dak Prescott’s decision to return to Starkville, Miss., for his senior season bodes well for the conference. Auburn’s Jeremy Johnson, finally named the starter, and Tennessee’s Joshua Dobbs give the conference two blossoming potential stars for ’15. Texas A&M’s Kyle Allen has the potential to challenge some of the SEC’s all-time passing marks if he continues to start for the Aggies within Kevin Sumlin’s system for the next three years.

But schools like Alabama, LSU and Georgia, which otherwise might be considered national favorites with a Heisman contender at quarterback, have exited spring with no idea, or at least confusion about, who will start and varying degrees of concern. Ole Miss, too, doesn’t appear to have an above-average option. Missouri’s Maty Mauk and Arkansas’ Brandon Allen don’t scare many defenses. Heck, Vanderbilt’s top choice gave up football for dentistry.

Overall, many of the most talented quarterbacks in the conference, at least by arm strength, are inexperienced, underclassmen or both.

Remember, Alabama went undefeated with Greg McElroy in ’09. Fielding a Heisman-level quarterback isn’t a requirement to win SEC and national championships, although even the best teams increasingly need to be better than competent.

But the more upper-level quarterbacks the SEC fields, the better its chances of reclaiming the national championship — not to mention of showing well in major bowls and avoiding embarrassments like Ole Miss’ blowout loss to TCU or Alabama giving up all sorts of points in a loss to Ohio State.

Perhaps players like Johnson, Allen and Florida’s Will Grier, in the hands of capable offensive minds already, and Alabama’s Blake Barnett, likely to redshirt in 2015, can morph into the next wave of star SEC signal-callers. No matter what happens at other positions, that’s the most likely scenario that returns the SEC to its place as not only the best conference in college football, but the one with the streak of national championships.