College football is cyclical by nature. Players are only given a certain number of years to play at the college level before being forced to move on, and teams are constantly aiming to build depth to compensate for these departing players at the end of each year.

This year in the SEC has been no exception. All 14 teams throughout the conference lost a wealth of talent from last season, a season in which 12 of the SEC’s 14 teams earned bowl eligibility.

Just how much talent did each school lose? We broke down the numbers for you below:

Team Seniors NFL early entrants Total players lost
Alabama 22 3 25
Arkansas 19 1 20
Auburn 20 2 22
Florida 26 4 30
Georgia 27 1 28
Kentucky 19 1 20
LSU 22 3 25
Mississippi State 19 2 21
Missouri 20 1 21
Ole Miss 20 0 20
South Carolina 18 1 19
Tennessee 16 0 16
Texas A&M 17 1 18
Vanderbilt 16 0 16

And although those figures do not account for players who transferred schools or were dismissed from their team this offseason (and will continue to do so between now and the fall), here some of the bigger names to follow those paths this offseason:

Player School Fate
Jonathan Taylor Alabama Arrested-dismissed
Tyren Jones Alabama Arrested-dismissed
Korliss Marshall Arkansas Transfer
Gerald Willis Florida Dismissed
Jeff Driskel Florida Transfer
Tray Matthews Georgia Dismissed
J.J. Green Georgia Transfer
Mickey Johnson LSU Transfer
I’Tavius Mathers Ole Miss Transfer
Mark Dodson Ole Miss Transfer
David Kamara Ole Miss Transfer
Marcquis Roberts South Carolina Transfer
Shaq Roland South Carolina Transfer
Brendan Nosovitch South Carolina Transfer
Vic Wharton Tennessee Transfer
LaQuvionte Gonzalez Texas A&M Transfer

With all this in mind, we’ve also ranked the five SEC teams with the most talent to replace as we look ahead to a new season this fall:

5. Auburn: For the second year in a row, Auburn must bid farewell to the SEC’s leading rusher from a year ago (this time it’s Cameron Artis-Payne). The Tigers will also lose his backup, Corey Grant, who may also have an NFL future, and that’s all in addition to saying goodbye to star dual-threat quarterback Nick Marshall, who was 20-7 in two years as a starter including a victory in the 2013 SEC championship game. On the defense, Auburn must move on from leading interceptor Jermaine Whitehead and star corner Jonathon Mincy, depleting an already suspect secondary. The Tigers should be in good hands on both sides of the ball, with Will Muschamp taking over the defense and Malzahn and new quarterback Jeremy Johnson buoying the offense. Nevertheless, Auburn must transition fast into 2015 or risk falling behind early in the grueling SEC West.

4. Missouri: After winning back-to-back SEC East titles in only their second and third years in the conference, the Missouri Tigers now have more talent to replace than they have since leaving the Big 12 in 2012. Playmaking scat back Marcus Murphy is gone, as is star offensive lineman Mitch Morse and the team’s top three receivers. On defense, SEC Defensive Player of the Year and last year’s SEC sacks leader Shane Ray is expected to be a first-round pick, and fellow defensive end Markus Golden will follow him into the NFL, depriving the defense of its two biggest stars from last season. The East may remain wide open, but Missouri has a lot of work to do to deliver another division title in 2015.

3. Mississippi State: Quality of talent lost was as significant as quantity of players lost when forming this list, and it’s important to keep that in mind as you read through the list and especially when considering Mississippi State’s spot in the top 5. The Bulldogs only lost 21 players from last year, and none of them were Dak Prescott, the team’s unquestioned superstar. However, nearly every player that left Starkville was an impact player on last year’s 10-win team. Experienced veterans were a huge part of what made last year’s surge to No. 1 in the nation possible, and now three of the team’s starting offensive linemen, its top tailback, its top inside linebacker, 75 percent of its starting secondary, 75 percent of its defensive line, a starting receiver and a starting tight end are all gone. That’s a lot to replace; in fact, MSU returns fewer than 10 starters from last season. Repeating last year’s run to 10 wins may not be so easy in 2015.

2. Alabama: There may not be another team in the country with more depth across the board than Alabama (maybe Ohio State?), but that doesn’t mean Nick Saban and company won’t have their work cut out for them as they aim to move on from last year’s Sugar Bowl and look ahead to another title run in 2015. Once again Alabama must find a new starting quarterback, and upon losing its top three receivers it’ll need to find a few targets for that quarterback to throw to. It also must shore up its offensive line upon losing Austin Shepard and Arie Kouandjio (something Alabama almost never has to do) and it is still searching for replacements at inside linebacker and in the secondary. The Tide should be fine, but few other teams with this much talent to replace could ever say that.

1. Florida: The Gators bid farewell to the second-largest senior class in the SEC (only Georgia’s was larger, but UGA returned much of its NFL talent for one more year in Athens), and it suffered a few early exits for the NFL after UF fired Muschamp as head coach. The Gators’ four early entrances in the draft lead the SEC, and like LSU it’s expected that multiple Gators will go in the first round of this year’s draft, proving the departed talent is more than just a large number. Florida lost starting quarterback Jeff Driskel (not that Driskel was good, per se, but he was the established starter for more than two years), most of its offensive and defensive lines (including Gerald Willis’ dismissal) and its starting tailback. New coach Jim McElwain had about a month to recruit and try and replace some of this departed talent, but he won’t really get a chance to do so until next offseason, meaning Florida could be in for a world of hurt this fall.