Florida and Tennessee fans have been busy this week, tracking flights from Gainesville to Bristol and monitoring reports on various Jon Gruden sightings in and around Knoxville.

Speculation and anticipation for both openings is at a Playoff level. If only results could follow, right?

Soon, there could be other SEC openings, too, perhaps at Arkansas, or Texas A&M or Ole Miss. Maybe all five.

If you were Gruden or Chip Kelly or any other elite coach in the country and an SEC AD came calling, where would you go? Florida, Tennessee or somewhere else? Which is the better job?

That’s something we’ve been discussing for at least a month.

Connor O’Gara, senior national columnist: I’m picking Florida and I’m not sure it’s as close as everyone thinks it is. That Florida job is still in the top 10 in the country, despite what Jim McElwain and Will Muschamp did in their brief time in Gainesville.

Why? The recruiting is a big part of that.

Being based in the nation’s top state for prep talent is always fun. And unlike any of those other schools, the Gators have actually won national titles while current recruits were alive. As much as Tennessee wants to preach history, it hasn’t been relevant in the 21st century. Florida has. That makes it an easier sell.

I’d also rather take a job in the East because with the exception of Georgia, the division looks wide open. The West isn’t just Alabama. You still have to deal with Auburn, LSU and Mississippi State. We saw how quickly a team like Georgia could rise in the East. How quickly have teams risen in the West?

Any big SEC opening (Florida, Tennessee, potentially Texas A&M) comes with its fair share of challenges. Whoever gets hired will have to handle the spotlight better than McElwain or Butch Jones did. I don’t buy that one job is easier to handle in that aspect than another.

But what I do buy is the ability to win big at Florida, and to follow in Georgia’s footsteps.

Dan Harralson, UT beat writer: UT is in a better position than it has ever been for an opening.

The money is there to lure a top-tier head coach. Nick Saban-money. There’s also money for an elite coaching staff and support staff. Tennessee is the richest school in the SEC with a $107.1 million revenue and is also home to big-time money boosters such as Jimmy Haslam and Charles Ergen who can spend top dollars to get the program back to its winning ways again since the Phillip Fulmer days.

Haslam being the CEO of Pilot Flying J and owner of the Cleveland Browns has a net worth of $3.6 billion. Ergen, a co-founder and current Chairman of the Board and former President and CEO of Dish Network, has a net worth of $15.9 billion. Both are UT graduates with financial backing.

Knoxville is home to the best city-life atmosphere in the SEC, outside of booming Nashville, a selling point for recruits. Having an airport in UT’s back yard is also a major plus within the recruiting game and allows families to visit once they are in enrolled.

History and tradition is a selling point without having to put forth effort, six national championships and 13 SEC championships sells for itself.

Facilities and pageantry are also a plus at Tennessee, now that the Anderson Training Center is operational and has been in use for half a decade, alongside 102,455 inside Neyland Stadium on game days on the banks of the Vol Navy.

Neil Blackmon, Florida beat writer: Florida is the best job of these, and a top four job in the SEC (Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Florida).

The only job that comes close is Texas A&M, and Florida simply has a richer football history, even if that’s largely based on the last three decades.

Like A&M, you have a billion dollar endowment and a nationwide, loyal and rabid fan base.

Like A&M, you have one of the most naturally fertile recruiting bases in America.

The reason Florida is a better job than A&M?

Florida is its state’s flagship university. It also has won more SEC Championships than any school in the past 30 years and has three national championships in the last 20 years. And as long as Nick Saban is patrolling the sidelines in Alabama, Florida will be a better job because it is in the SEC East.

Chris Wright, executive editor: Florida is the best job and has the best chance to land the best coach.

But, man, wouldn’t it be great if Texas A&M could become a regular, relevant threat in the West?

As much as the East needs a revival — and I fully expect one if Kelly and/or Gruden join the fold — Texas A&M needs to be better than it ever has.

With all of its money and all of its access to Texas recruits — nobody produces more elite quarterbacks — you could argue that the Aggies have been one of the biggest underachievers. Going 8-5, 9-4, even 10-3 is good at a lot of places and good for a lot of coaches, but that shouldn’t be the ceiling at a program with as many resources as the Aggies have.

Texas is there for the taking. We’ve seen other state programs rise and fall. Tom Herman is a fine coach, but he’s an up-and-comer. The Aggies aren’t that far away. If there is an opening and they could land a home-run hire, it could shift the power in the West and, by extension, the SEC.

It’s the sleeping giant in the SEC.