Bill Connelly’s and ESPN’s SP+ preseason rankings were released Thursday, and 7 SEC teams ranked in the top 25. You can see those full rankings here, including Alabama at No. 1. Along with where every SEC team ranked in the nation, Connelly also released every team’s projected offensive and defensive rankings.

With just 2 SEC offenses — Alabama and LSU — projected to be ranked in the top 10, SEC defense could dominate. In fact, 5 SEC defenses were ranked among the top 10 projected defenses for 2020, according to the SP+ rankings.

Georgia was the nation’s top scoring defense in 2019, allowing just 12.6 points per game, and the SP+ doesn’t have Georgia going anywhere. The rankings have Georgia’s defense actually improving, giving up an average of under 10 points per game in 2020. Connelly even compared Georgia’s 2020 defense to Alabama’s dominant 2011 defense.

Along with Georgia, Auburn (3), Florida (6), Tennessee (7) and Alabama (8) were ranked among the top 10 in the nation. In recent years, SEC offenses have been opening up and scoring more points, but will 2020 be the return of SEC defense?

These rankings seem to indicate so.