They say defense wins championships, and last season, that proved true in the SEC East.

While Tennessee had the division’s top offense, Florida’s stingy defense carried Jim McElwain’s squad to key conference wins over Georgia and LSU to take the Gators back to Atlanta despite a September loss to the Vols. Both UT’s offense and UF’s defense have lost marquee contributors, making it a wide open SEC East race in 2017.

Among the seven teams, here’s how the 14 units rank heading into the season:

1. Missouri offense

Critics of Missouri’s offense last season, the team’s first year under Josh Heupel, frequently pointed to the Tigers’ early-season nonconference schedule as the reason for the impressive stats. As it turns out, in SEC play, MU still ranked No. 5 in the conference in total offense (446.2 yards per game). As far as SEC East offenses, Mizzou trailed only Tennessee (465.4 yards per game) in conference play. Considering the departures from Tennessee’s offense and Florida’s defense, Mizzou’s offense emerges as the top unit based on the return of QB Drew Lock, 1,000-yard receiver J’Mon Moore and 1,000-yard rusher Damarea Crockett, as well as a veteran offensive line.

2. Georgia defense

In conference play last season, Georgia finished No. 2 in the SEC in total defense at 316.2 yards per game, ahead of Florida’s heralded defense (323 yards per game). Unlike UF, Georgia did not lose a significant number of its defenders to the NFL Draft this spring. UGA’s touchdowns allowed in conference play (23) were high last season, but if the Bulldogs keep the yardage manageable again, that number should work itself out. In Year 2, look for Kirby Smart to have the conference’s top defense, led by LB Lorenzo Carter and DB Dominick Sanders.

3. Florida defense

After losing eight defensive starters to graduation and the NFL, Florida’s defense is expected to be much less dominant than years past. While it’s not the same defense that carried the Gators to the SEC Championship Game, it should still be one of the better units in the conference. UF lost a lot, but thanks to the injury bug last season, many backups were thrown into the fire and had to learn on the job. If defensive ends Jabari Zuniga and Cece Jefferson do their job of getting to the quarterback, the losses of Teez Tabor and Quincy Wilson are less likely to be felt in pass defense.

4. Georgia offense

Last year did not go as planned for the Bulldogs, but UGA returns one of the SEC’s most impressive backfields. After experiencing the ups and downs of playing as a true freshman, this should be the year things start to click for former 5-star recruit Jacob Eason. With Nick Chubb and Sony Michel toting the rock, arguably the conference’s most impressive running back tandem, the passing game should open up. If the Dawgs had more established pass-catchers, this unit would have been ranked even higher.

5. Florida offense

The Gators enter the 2017 season with one of the conference’s top receiving corps, led by Antonio Callaway. Whether you’re looking for speedsters, big bodies or tall targets, Florida has a little bit of everything at wide receiver. One question mark, however, is the uncertainty of who will be throwing them the ball. UF’s quarterback competition looks to be between redshirt freshman Feleipe Franks and Malik Zaire, a graduate transfer from Notre Dame. Whichever quarterback wins the job will have a solid supporting cast, including an experienced line and a potential 1,000-yard rusher in RB Jordan Scarlett.

6. Tennessee offense

The Vols had the SEC East’s top offense last season, but that was with Joshua Dobbs, Alvin Kamara, Josh Malone and Jalen Hurd on the roster (at least most of the season). Tennessee has a lot to replace, but it was an encouraging spring on Rocky Top as QB Quinten Dormady shined in the Orange and White game, going 10-for-10. The quarterback competition isn’t over, but either Dormady or Jarrett Guarantano should do well surrounded by play-making WR Jauan Jennings, rising RB John Kelly and a veteran offensive line.

T7. South Carolina defense

Some might be surprised to see that the Gamecocks were No. 5 in total defense in conference play (373.6 yards allowed per game) last season. With Will Muschamp and Travaris Robinson on staff, South Carolina should be especially strong in the secondary. The big issue will be if USC can get a consistent pass rush.

T7. Vanderbilt defense

Like the head coach he’s tied with here, Derek Mason knows defense. In total defense, the Commodores were just behind the Gamecocks in conference play, allowing 377.2 yards per game, but were slightly better at keeping points off the board (20.2 points per game to 21 points per game). With the numbers so close, this felt like a tie, even with VU losing LB Zach Cunningham to the NFL Draft.

9. Kentucky defense

It’s tough to win many SEC games when giving up almost 30 points per game, and the Wildcats came close to that last season in conference play (29.6). To be fair, it was a young unit that got better as the season went on, which bodes well for 2017. It helps that UK has one of conference’s better secondaries with Chris Westry, Derrick Baity and Mike Edwards all back.

10. South Carolina offense

The Gamecocks finished last in the SEC in offense last season, but that was before the team handed the job over to QB Jake Bentley in the second half of the season. Once Bentley took over at quarterback, the Gamecocks averaged 26.5 points per game. Roughly half a season is a small sample size, but there’s reason for optimism this year with Bentley and a supporting cast that includes WR Deebo Samuel, WR Bryan Edwards and RB Rico Dowdle.

11. Kentucky offense

The Wildcats have one of the conference’s most exciting underclassmen in sophomore RB Benny Snell, but he’ll have to prove he can carry an offense this fall following the departures of RB Boom Williams and WR Jeff Badet. QB Drew Barker’s status for fall is unclear, but UK at least returns QB Stephen Johnson, who led the team to the upset win over Louisville to end the regular season.

12. Vanderbilt offense

The Commodores haven’t been a team to regularly light up the scoreboard under Mason, but they do have one of the conference’s best running backs in Ralph Webb. Passing offense has been another story, as returning QB Kyle Shurmur threw more interceptions (10) than touchdowns (9) last season. Shurmur looked better in November wins over Ole Miss and Tennessee, however, giving some hope for 2017.

13. Tennessee defense

Tennessee’s defense had an awful season in 2016. The Vols were last in total defense in conference play, allowing 536 yards per game. Against SEC offenses, they could not stop the run (282.8 yards per game) or the pass (253.2 yards per game). Injuries definitely played a part in those numbers, but the 2017 unit will be without Derek Barnett, Jalen Reeves-Maybin and Cam Sutton. Bob Shoop’s past resume suggests things will get better, and they pretty much have to in 2017. Staff changes, including the addition of Brady Hoke, should help, but last year’s stats plus the departures give this unit a low offseason ranking.

14. Missouri defense

Mizzou’s conference play defensive numbers were slightly ahead of Tennessee’s in some areas, such as total yards per game (512.4) and rushing yards per game (257.1), so there’s an argument the Tigers are the better of the two bottom defenses. Much like UT, MU lost some of its top defenders in Charles Harris, Aarion Penton and Michael Scherer. In recent years, Tennessee has regularly out-recruited Missouri, suggesting the Vols are better suited to replace those key departures.