Rece Davis and Pete Thamel discussed the teams in the mix to open the season at No. 1, and they agreed that Georgia and Ohio State is the debate.

Both said Georgia, while Davis also raised Texas, but said there were too many departures on the defensive front.

“I would say Georgia for now, I’m going to give Georgia the edge for now,” Thamel said, and Davis added, “me too.” “Lot of roster movement left here, but I would say, and I haven’t looked at it super holistically, but Bulldogs-Buckeyes feels right.”

Thamel added that Steve Sarkisian has earned a benefit of the doubt because of his player development history.

College basketball conference play is heating up ahead of March Madness. Here’s all you need to know about the best sports betting apps on the market and how you can get signed up before the NCAA Tournament.

As for the next SEC team in the mix, Davis said it’d be Ole Miss, possibly Missouri, and that reports of Alabama’s impending demise are “greatly exaggerated.”

“But there are going to be bumps there, and even if they had retained everybody, there were going to be bumps,” Davis said. “I think Kalen DeBoer is a terrific coach and I’m not even talking about fit now. I’m talking about a language that has been handed down for 17 years.”

Davis then recalled how Tommy Rees and Greg McElroy noted how Nick Saban required coordinators to keep the terminology, and go to him if a change is requested.

“Tommy pointed out, ‘He’ll let you do it, you just need to have a reason for it,'” Davis said.

The key is while the coaches from Washington would know the language, they must translate it to the players, Davis said.

“That said, they’re still going to be really good, and they’ll probably going to be way better in November than they are in September,” Davis said. “I don’t think they’re so ravaged by the portal defections.”

That’s why Davis put Alabama behind Georgia, Texas and Ole Miss to start the season in the SEC.