SDS is taking a look at each SEC Championship contender and their chances of winning in Atlanta. We’ll list three reasons why each team will win and three reasons why each team will not.

LSU Tigers

This December will mark four years since LSU squashed Georgia in the Tigers’ last appearance in the SEC Championship Game. That may not feel like a title drought at most schools, but if LSU doesn’t win the conference crown this year, it will be the program’s longest dry spell of the 2000s.

Since Nick Saban took over the program in 2000 and guided the Tigers to their first SEC title since 1988 the following year, LSU has never gone more than three seasons between SEC championships. That streak appears to be in jeopardy this year, but if a few things go their way, the Tigers will have every opportunity to represent the West in Atlanta at season’s end.

Here’s a quick look at why they will and why they won’t.

Three reasons why

1. Pass defense: Sure, bottling up the run is as important as it’s ever been. The thing is, fewer offenses are going to commit fully to the ground game in today’s era of high-scoring, hurry-up schemes. Last season, SEC teams passed on average more than in any season since 2007. SEC teams averaged 30.5 pass attempts per game in 2014, a nearly 20 percent increase over their counterparts from 10 years ago.

That bodes well for LSU. The Tigers ranked third in the country in passing yards allowed per game and per attempt last year, and the secondary is stocked again with elite talent. It’s also worth noting that last year’s air supremacy was gained without the benefit of a significant pass rush. LSU ranked second to last in the conference in sacks in 2014 — imagine what this secondary might do if opposing quarterbacks are made the least bit uncomfortable.

2. Fournette (and friends): LSU should be solid across the offensive line this season. It would be an absolute shame otherwise, as the Tigers have a game-changer at tailback. Leonard Fournette lived up to the hype in his freshman season, topping 1,000 rushing yards thanks to gaining nearly 300 in the final two games of the year.

Fournette’s size/speed combo calls to mind great SEC backs of the past, and he enters 2015 as the clear-cut leader in the LSU backfield, unlike last year when he was eased into the role.

Also working to Fournette’s advantage: he’ll have some help. Sophomore Darrel Williams is a 230-pounder with a forceful running style perfect for softening defenses when Fournette needs a break. As a true freshman last year, Williams ran for just north of 300 yards and 4.9 yards per carry. Also in the mix is Derrius Guice, one of the top-rated high school running backs in the country a year ago.

3. Quarterback: Yeah, I know. Quarterback play was the primary reason LSU struggled so badly down the stretch last season.

The Tigers lost three of their last four game, and averaged just 14.8 points per contest during their last five games of the year. During that span, Anthony Jennings completed less than 48 percent of his passes and averaged 112.7 passing yards per game.

I realize at this point that it sounds like I’m making the opposite argument (more on that later), but this is precisely why quarterback is included on this portion of the list: it can’t get any worse. It just can’t. OK, I guess, conceivably, theoretically, maybe. But in real-life terms, at a school with LSU’s profile, recruiting base and surrounding talent, how badly will the entire machinery have broken down if the Tigers can’t do better than that at quarterback two years in a row? It’s a difficult reality to envision. It’s also difficult to envision LSU winning an SEC title without help from its quarterbacks.

To win the conference — especially in a year like this one with no established, run-away favorite in the West — he Tigers don’t need the second coming of Zach Mettenberger. They just need competency. Surely a more experienced Jennings or a better-polished Brandon Harris can provide that, right? Right?!

Three reasons why not

1. Quarterback: See above. Quarterback wasn’t the Tigers’ only problem last year, but it was the biggest and most glaring, and it remains the biggest roadblock to a conference title until somebody steps up at the position and proves otherwise. Coach Les Miles is guarding closely the status of the depth chart, but recent reports say Harris is steadily assuming leadership at the position.

2. Defensive line: LSU’s inability to generate consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks was one of the most surprising storylines of last season. Last year’s 19 sacks was the fewest by an LSU team since 2000, and the run defense saw early-season issues resurface in the Music City Bowl loss to Notre Dame. This year, the Tigers will be replacing a pair of defensive ends, and depth has been weakened across the line by the offseason departures of Maquedius Bain, Travonte Valentine and Trey Lealaimatafao.

New position coach Ed Orgeron will be looking to returning tackles Davon Godchaux and Christian LaCouture for stability in the middle, and could turn true freshmen Arden Key and Isaiah Washington loose on the edges, if veterans Lewis Neal and Tashawn Bower don’t get the job done.

3. SEC West: It’s nothing out of the ordinary, but it’s noteworthy nonetheless: the SEC West looks pretty brutal entering the 2015 season. Six of the division’s seven teams landed in Sports Illustrated’s preseason top 25, and the only team that didn’t make the cut — Texas A&M — was predicted to win the conference by Fox Sports’ Stuart Mandel.

Clearly, it’s a wide-open division this season with an almost unlimited range of possible outcomes. Given recent history, here’s what appears most likely: most of the teams will be good, a couple will be close to great, and finishing at the top will require a whole lot of talent and more than a little luck. This year, the Tigers get Auburn, Arkansas and Texas A&M at home, while traveling to Mississippi State, Alabama and Ole Miss.