I disagree. Florida is #30 in the US News Rankings and Michigan is #24. Northwestern is #9 and Vanderbilt is #14. Those are very small gaps. There are about 5,300 "colleges" in the US, being in the top 30 means you are firmly within the top 0.1% of colleges in a country with the greatest higher education in human history. The "academic differences" between Florida, Michigan, Northwestern, and Vanderbilt are nigh ineligible. Eitherway most of the rankings are based off of research output, so there by itself, the academic ranking system is flawed. As a history major at UF, my history professors all have PhDs from the likes of Penn, Stanford, Notre Dame, Columbia, Toronto, Rice, Harvard etc. In these top 0.1% schools, the majority of the professors have been taught in the same schools that are supposedly slightly academically superior to Florida, but they are literally teaching the same things they have been taught. It's all coming from one well and it is contained within a certain range of universities usually flagship state schools and top tier private schools that fall within the top 100 in the US News etc. So no #Phillypop, you need to get your facts straight as #NashvilleGator is not wrong when he says that Florida, Vandy, and TAMU "match" and in some cases "exceed Northwestern, Michigan, and whoever the other top two academic schools are in the B1G."

His new DC is Pete Golding. Pruitt, for all of his flaws as a HC, was a great defensive mind. Golding is not... Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised at all if To'oto'o regresses this year. In fact, I'm rooting for him to do so. That's what one should get for making the most basic choice ever by choosing to transfer to Alabama. He could have been a super star and one man army at Tennessee. Now he's just a small fish in a big pond full of more talented fish...

Idk about that? What does Ole Miss, Arkansas, Mizzou, or Miss State offer the SEC that FSU, Clemson, UNC or Miami don't? Sure Miss State just won a baseball natty, and Arkansas had a great basketball/baseball year but is that something we can consistently expect? Let's say Vandy and Kentucky are safe as they have established themselves as brands in baseball (Vandy) and basketball (Kentucky) without peer in the SEC, but the other 4 not so much. Unfortunately, I can very much see a future where the Big Ten swallows up the great powers of the West (USC, Oregon, Washington, etc) and Clemson, FSU, Miami, UNC, and Virginia Tech ask to join the SEC super conference. Mark my words, the SEC powers will be more than willing to sacrifice the little guys in their conference to bring the other big boys. What is happening in the college football is a race between the great college sports powers of the South and East versus those of the North and West. Those programs that are deemed "invaluable" will be left to the gutter and replaced with more enticing brand names.

Yes but being close to talent hotbeds is never a guarantee that you will still be successful at recruiting. If you are a recruit raised in Louisiana, Central and Northeastern Florida, and Georgia, you are raised to root for LSU, UGA, and UF and hate Alabama. If anything being close to talent hotbeds many times is a disadvantage. It is only a advantage when you have a top tier coaching staff like Alabama currently does, and like Oklahoma has had for 20+ years, and like Nebraska had until Tom Osborne left. Alabama as a state does not have near the amount of talent that its neighbors to, and unlike Nebraska, Alabama has a blue blood instate rival. And when Alabama goes down, and they will go down, and let's say UGA, Florida, and LSU are the new big powers in the SEC, they will raid Alabama of what little recruits the state have even more as there won't be a Nick Saban in there anymore to make the idea of pulling 5 star Alabama state recruits from Alabama a fantasy but very much a reality.

JT Daniels will throw 3 picks against Clemson and will be sacked multiple times. It's going to be glorious!

I agree with it's almost inevitable that Alabama will become the new "Nebraska" but that doesn't mean SEC won't have other powerhouses like Georgia, Florida, LSU, and now Oklahoma, not to forget that Texas A&M is a rising power as well, and Texas is a sleeping giant sitting on the most talent rich state in the country, the second of which is Florida. The SEC will never and has never not been irrelevant. Before Alabama there was Florida sprinkled in with LSU and Tennessee whom combined won over 1/3 of all national championships between 1992 and 2008, and this was during a period of time when the Pac-12, the Big-12, and FSU were at peak power. The before Florida Georgia dominated the sported for the first half of the decade in the 1980s. And even now that Alabama has dominated the sport, SEC teams like Auburn and LSU have won natties. The SEC will never collapse like the Big-12 did because the SEC sits in a region filled to the brim with blue chip recruits, a region of the country in which the population is also exploding. Now that the SEC will fully integrate the state of Texas into the SEC, along with the fact that the SEC powers pretty much own the Florida, Louisiana, and Georgia talent pipelines, the SEC will be nigh unstoppable. You shouldn't worry about the SEC, Greg Sankey knows what he's doing. Instead, you should worry about the rest of the Power-5, especially the schools with no brand name, which are on the verge of being rendered G5 schools as the remaining non-SEC powerhouses prepare to flock to form other super conferences to thwart any future SEC expansion.

I absolutely agree with both of you. I think Carter is the most slept on defensive player in the SEC. He was the best d-linemen last year for Florida and far more consistent than Cox. I think that Carter may have a breakout season in 2021 and will end up in the First Team Sec.

Elam >>>> Stingley. Elam has only improved since his freshman year, whereas Stingley has only regressed.

Was there a reason you had to chime in and find a way to brag that your team won a natty and the rest of ours didn't? I understand that discussing the differential between a blow out and a close loss is beneath arrogant Bama fans who are surely the sole reason why Bama has been dominating the cfb for almost a decade and a half. I'm sure you have been instrumental to the success that is the Alabama Crimson Tide Football program and I'm sure that you have better things to do than to meddle in the affairs of us mere mortals that have not been deemed good enough for divinity to grace our programs with recent glory like yours has been...

Florida and UGA are in a different tier than LSU. LSU is the definition of "even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while." LSU has never had a sustained success in that they have never won multiple natties within a 2-3 years or consistently contended for a natty. You won one in 2003. Then out of nowhere somehow won one in 2007. Then you played for one in 2011 and got beatdown by Bama. And then you didn't contend for anything until 2019, and then in 2020 you went 5-5 and if it wasn't for a shoe or Matt Corral turning into a interception machine, you would be below 0.500. Bama has owned the SEC since 2009. Florida owned the SEC from the early 1990s all the way to 2009. Georgia has never lost more than 3 games these last 4 years and has had more consistent success than LSU. Florida has also been more consistent than LSU these last 3 years. This is despite your magical season in 2019 where the greatest team of all time almost lost on 4 separate occasions, talk about luck... Oh and Florida baseball won the natty only a few years ago, and Florida basketball was a dominant basketball power until Donovan left a couple years back. Everything is with phases. Right now it's Bama and then everybody else when it comes to football. Florida and Vandy dominate baseball. Basketball is a wild right now in the SEC honestly. Historically, only two teams have ever dominated SEC football in a sustained way for years and decades and that's been Florida and Bama. There is a reason why those two have more modern SEC football championships then anybody else. Florida owned the first half of the SEC modern era (1992-2008), and Bama has owned the 2nd half (2009 and beyond). Have others like LSU, UGA, Auburn and UT back in the day won a couple of titles, sure, but not in the sustained way that Florida did in the 1990s and 2000s and Bama has been doing since 2009.

You do realize that Florida, Alabama, and Georgia have more clout than Texas right? Heck because of recent football success I'd argue even LSU may have more clout as a program. Texas is no longer the big bully in town that no one can really mess with. They're in the big boys league now, and Florida, Bama, and UGA will shut down their BS before it even happens.

We need a Florida-Texas rivalry. It is meant to happen.

I see what you're saying PTheRicker but sometimes a blow out isn't necessarily the score but how the game feels. For example, the LSU-Florida game was a one score game till 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter. 3 minutes prior to that, Florida had marched down LSU's field and threw a pick in the endzone when they had a chance to tie the game. That game was a back and forth shootout till the offense could not keep up with LSU's phenomenal offense and the Florida defense was gassed out. Now you have the Florida-UGA game where technically UGA only lost by 2 more points than Florida lost to LSU in 2019 but the difference is the game was over by halftime and it felt like a blow out in that it was clear UGA was outmatched and in no way shape or form capable of keeping up with Florida's offense. To be fair to UGA, even though Bama technically beat UGA by 1 more point than UF, the Bama-UGA game felt close and not like a blow out because UGA was not behind by 17 points at half time but in fact leading by 4 points and the game was a one score game for almost 3 full quarters and the game didn't feel out of reach for UGA until the 4th quarter. So yeah, at a certain point a score matters less than the feel of the game. That's why in 2019 when UGA lost by 27 points to LSU and OU only lost by 8 more points, everybody remembers the OU game because LSU dropped 49 on them by half time whereas against UGA LSU's offense initially struggled and didn't run away with the game till the second half. Perception lads, perception is everything when it comes to games.

Yes I think a lot Florida fans are happy to do away with LSU, especially because we will get to play Auburn and Bama. LSU always find the weirdest ways to beat Florida. We've had a couple of good wins, but every game is usually a heart attack waiting to happen. It's frankly unhealthy. Away with LSU. Give me Texas.

No I think a lot of people are overrating it. Idk how anyone can have confidence in Pete Golding. He got badly exposed both times he faced a great offense (Florida and Ole Miss). He was terrible all year in 2019 and allowed an Auburn team that could not even hit the 20s against Florida and Georgia and barley did so against LSU, drop 48 on his defense. In a game where in one side you have Dan Mullen or Lane Kiffin and the other side you have Pete Golding, I will take Mullen and Kiffin to outcoach Golding 10 times out of 10. Last year, Golding had an elite offense to cover his mediocrity. This time, at least in the first few weeks, he wont have an offense anywhere near that caliber, and the world will see Pete Golding for what he is, a mediocre DC that is in over his head. Frankly, I'd take Grantham 10 times out 10 over Golding. Golding has twice as much talent at his deposal than Grantham and Bama's defense did not fare any better than Florida against elite offenses in 2020, and in 2019, Goldin's Bama defense was significantly inferior to Grantham's 2019 Florida defense.

No Florida has been consistently a top 10 team all 3 years. Yes in 2019 LSU had maybe the greatest team of all time and they beat us by 2 touchdowns what a resounding blowout. And in 2020 that was a fluke upset it happens doesn't make LSU a better program. In terms of the facts, Florida has been a better team than LSU 2 times out of 3 these last 3 years. That will make it 3 times out of 4 after the 2021 season. Get ready to be blown out in Death Valley. The boys at Florida are gnawing for some Tiger whopping.

Again idk why are you throwing shade at us both of us have circled Miss State as a potential surprise. At the same time, it is hard to forget just how miserable Miss State looked at the first half of the season, whereas Ole Miss despite their faults, was lighting up the score board.

You make some very good points Nashville. The only thing I disagree with is Ole Miss. I think their ceiling is the SEC West crown. Bama is as vulnerable as they have ever been and you make a good point that this is their first time in g0d knows how long that they do not have any elite receivers or running backs and even their o-line has some questions. Ole Miss may have a below average defense once again, I think they will improve on defense enough for it to not lose games for them as it did in 2020. I think Ole Miss will have a phenomenal offense one on par with Florida's and Alabama's last year. Matt Corral has insane talent and upside, and they have a great running back and many solid receivers. If Bama loses to Florida and gets upset by Ole Miss, I think Ole Miss will basically be a shoe in for the SECCG. LSU is going to be a joke next year, 2020 was reality, 2019 was the fluke. Arkansas should be fun but they're not threat realistically, Miss State could potentially be very dangerous, as they were playing quality football in the second half of 2020. TAMU is indeed a wild card if their QB turns out to be great, TAMU has the rooster to not only win the SEC West, but perhaps win the SEC outright. Same thing with Florida obviously.

There it is folks. There is a non-SEC cfb fan that has no idea how the SEC works. If the rest are side dishes why did UGA get blown out by Florida last year. Why has UGA been blown out consecutively by LSU both in 2019 and 2018 (and the 2018 team wasn't even that good). Why has UGA consistently lost to South Carolina??? Why did they barely survive a G5 team???

If I am not mistaken bout combined would owe like $80 million. I think they're going to start in the SEC in the 2022 season. I'm sure the SEC will want to have the best matchups that will generate the most money as soon as possible so I can definitely envision Oklahoma and Texas playing Bama, Florida, UGA, LSU, and TAMU sometime in the first 2 years. That way those games will generate insane viewership and a lot of money and before you know it, OU and Texas will make back that $80 million. If they plan on leaving before 2025, then there is no point for them to wait, as even if they leave in the 2024 season, they'll still owe the same exact amount I believe, so they may as well leave as soon as possible (start in the SEC in 2022) and try to make that money back playing epic SEC matchups against SEC powerhouses. It's clear they want out of the Big 12 and I highly doubt they're gonna wait half a decade to do so. OU and Texas want to have their programs fully integrated into the SEC ( meaning having at least 2-3 recruiting classes in the SEC) before the 12 team playoff begins somewhere between 2024-2025.

Lol

Yes but I don't think Bama will get to the SECCG undefeated, he.11 I don't even think Bama will get to the SECCG without 2 losses. Bama's two toughest games are in Week 3 and Week 5 against Florida and Ole Miss, respectively. Their 3rd toughest game happens to be in Week 6 against TAMU. That's not exactly a favorable schedule. It's hard to see Bama come out of those 3 matchups without at least 1 loss, and it is reasonable to say that Bama will lose 2 of those games. If I had to guess, it would be Florida and Ole Miss. They play Florida as their first away game, and the Swamp is a nightmare for away teams and I believe that factor will be even more severe against a new starting young QB and young offense in their first away game of the year, especially since many of these guys have never even played in a packed college stadium. The Swamp is no joke. However, here is the first hot take. The SECCG will be Georgia vs Ole Miss. The Ole Miss offense will be electric, probably better than even Bama's and Florida's was last year. Their defense cannot get any worse, and against a physical solid team like Indiana, the defense showed that it could play above average defense. Bama will lose in the Swamp. Florida 24 Bama 20. Bama will also lose against Ole Miss by a touchdown. If I had to guess the score, it's going to be Ole Miss 44 Bama 38. I think Bama may very well be the best team in the SEC if not the country by the end of the season, but unfortunately for them they are a young team and their first 3 SEC opponents are their toughest opponents. I have TAMU as losing to Bama because Jimbo could not keep his mouth shut, and frankly Saban has had TAMU's and Jimbo's number for a while now. There hasn't even been a one score game between the two programs since like 2013 when Manziel was QB and they play every year... My last hot take, LSU will finish last or second to last in the SEC West and 2019 will present itself for the fluke that it was. Ed O will be fired, and the LSU carousel will commence. It's going to be glorious. SEC East 1. Georgia 2. Florida 3. Missouri 4. Kentucky 5. Tennessee 6. South Carolina 7. Vanderbilt SEC West 1. Ole Miss 2. Alabama 3. Texas A&M 4. Mississippi State 5. Auburn 6. LSU 7. Arkansas SEC Champions (Georgia although even Bama beats out Ole Miss and wins the SEC West, then Georgia will lose, Bama is their kryptonite).

I do not expect anyone in this site to applaud or give the Gators any sort of credit. This site is full of rival fans still salty from the Meyer and Spurrier days, or arrogant Bama fans who think their team is invincible every year. Nonetheless, while I can buy the argument that this Florida team may not be great, I will never buy the argument that a Mullen run Florida "isn't giving anyone chills" because as far as I'm concerned Mullen only has 2 non-Georgia SEC East losses and they happened in his firs year one of which was to perhaps the greatest Kentucky team in the modern era, none of which have been to your Tennessee. If you think Nick Saban wants his young first year starter quarterback and his relatively young team especially on offense to have their first away game SEC start in the Swamp, you're kidding yourself. If UGA hasn't circled Florida as its second greatest threat after Clemson to their national title aspirations, you're kidding yourself. If any SEC East team has not circled Florida in their calendar as one of if not their most important game of the year, YOU ARE KIDDING yourself. If LSU hasn't circled Florida as it's most important game of the year, knowing that they're likely going to get walloped by Bama in Bryant Denny, then you are kidding yourself. Uber talented teams like UGA, Bama, and LSU might not dread playing Florida this year, but they sure as he.11 know it is one of the games were more than one major slip up on their part could cause them to lose the game. And as for the other SEC East teams, you're kidding yourself if they are not even a tiny bit afraid of Florida who has had their number for 3 seasons straight, and is undefeated against SEC East teams since the 2019 season (excluding the Georgia loss in 2019). Sorry but the SEC East is and continues to be a two man race between Florida and Georgia and unless Tennessee gets its $h.1t together, teams like Mizzou, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Vandy may have a fluke magic year once a decade where they manage to clinch the SEC East, but on a consistent basis, as things stand, the SEC East crown is Georgia's and Florida's to lose, and from what we've seen the past 2 decades, I doubt Tennessee will became a threat anytime soon for this two man race to change. Good day to you.

Tennessee is not a talent rich state at all. If Texas is to join the SEC, it would be in this order, 1. Texas, 2. Florida, 3. Georgia, 4. Louisiana, and the rest. Right now these states and southern California are feeding the SEC.

Actually JT Daniels only put up 22 points and only ONE touchdown. The last 2 points happened in the last play when Desmond Ridder (Cincy's QB) got sacked by UGA as he attempted a last second Hail Mary. He also threw like 2 picks if I'm not mistaken. Let's all be honest here, 1 TD against a G5 opponent, even the very best one, is a pathetic statistic especially since UGA had a healthy offense and pretty much their entire regular season offense was playing. It's astonishing how UGA's defense who lost a couple of guys to opt outs was the sole reason they beat Cincy when it should have been the offense lighting the board up and the defense struggling.

It could be a classic knee-jerk reaction but I don't think so, although we can agree to disagree. Bama may have been a consistent power, although it is important to note that 12 of 17 of their natties were won by Bryant and Saban, and 4 of the remaining 5 were won before 1942. Nonetheless, you just made my point. Until 20 years ago, Notre Dame was the most consistent power ever. They had practically won a national title every decade since 1920. Look at them now. From 1900-1950, Michigan was the most consistent power in the cfb. Look at them now. Between 1970 and 1997, Nebraska was one of if not the biggest power in the cfb and was consistently winning or competing for natties of which it won 5 during that period. Look at them now. Miami won 5 natties in a period of 17 ish years between 1985 and 2001. Look at them now. The history of the CFB has shown time and time again that even the most invincible and historically successful CFB powerhouses eventually fell from grace and they fell hard and some are likely to never recover, and some while they have been decent (Michigan nd Notre Dame), they haven't won anything of note for decades). Alabama is not invincible. All these football programs consistently dominated for decades, some for a near century, and yet now they are but a shell of their former selves. Alabama followed by Oklahoma have been the last survivors of these true blue bloods, and they may still have a couple of decades going for them, but one day, and mark my words, that day will come within 10-20 years, these schools will no longer dominate the sport, and when they fall, they may not win another natty for decades. Nick Saban's don't grow on trees, and the probability for Alabama to land a Nick Saban/Bear Bryant type of G0D Tier Coach is very very unlikely to reoccur. All powers fall, and all powers enter long period of a slump. This is the one thing that is and will continue to always be inevitable in the cfb.

Why don't I have a business talking about LSU, Bama, or UGA??? Florida walloped Georgia last year. Was a shoe away from beating LSU in a fluke loss, and a timeout away from likely beating Bama, Nick's defense could not stop Florida in the 2nd half for their life. Not to forget that Florida also beat a top 10 LSU team in 2018 and a top 10 Auburn team in 2019. Florida has been competing and beating the very best in the SEC for 3 years now during the Mullen era, whereas UT has gone 16-19 with 2 losing seasons and zero ranked wins. UT fans should be the last fan base to trash talk. That's like a dude that couldn't even graduate high school making fun of a 3rd year college student for getting a D in a major assignment...

You do realize not that many people lived in Florida and Texas prior to the 1960s right.

Texas is a sleeping giant. Schools like Texas and Florida will always be a greater long term threat than schools like OU and Bama that hinge it all on their brand name, because Texas and Florida are the flagship schools in the 2 most talent rich states. You think Bama is powerful now? Imagine if Nick Saban had instead gone to Texas or Florida.

I agree with your logic but he's specifically talking about JT Daniels. Georgia overall performed well. There defense was stout and physical, but it is important to note that UGA didn't lose as many guys to opt outs as Florida, and at the end of the day, UGA was still facing a G5 team that almost lost to Tulsa and UCF. And a lot of those defensive playmakers in that ball game that frankly won you the game have left. I think anyone with 2 eyes can tell that JT Daniels did not play well in that game. Whether THAT is JT Daniels or he has improved, we won't know until Clemson.