College football expert Phil Steele recently opined that 4 SEC teams are national championship contenders for 2020. Now, he’s sharing his SEC championship pick.
“I’m gonna go with Alabama,” Steele told ESPN 105.1 The Zone Chattanooga. “I know they’re replacing their quarterback, which is a little bit iffy. And I’m not enamored with Mac Jones. The option would probably be Bryce Young, the true freshman coming in who is talented, but he’s a true freshman.
“But I am enamored with the rest of the Alabama team. They are my number one ranked offensive line in the entire country. Remember last year they were rather young on that offensive line. This year, it’s a veteran unit.”
The “rest of the Alabama team” obviously includes the Crimson Tide defense. Steele expects the unit to take a step forward this season.
“They lost Dylan Moses right prior to the season, as well as Joshua McMillon,” Steele said. “They had to play two true freshmen at linebacker the bulk of the year in Shane Lee and Christian Harris. Those guys now have experience, they get Moses and McMillon back — they were playing true freshmen on the defensive line as well, and those guys are now sophomores and it’s a more veteran defense than normal.”
Alabama’s most recent SEC Championship Game win came in 2018. LSU won the conference title in 2019 en route to a national championship.
[H/T 247Sports]
Saturday Down South reports and comments on the news around the Southeastern Conference as well as larger college football topics.
