Who’s ready for one heckuva ride this SEC football season?

The first installment of our weekly bowl projections series is back on the eve of SEC Media Days at the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Ala., the unofficial opening kickoff to the 2015 campaign.

RELATED: Athlon projects 2 SEC teams in Playoff | ESPN’s 2015 bowl projections

Our ‘Crystal Ball’ game-by-game predictions and order of finish projections will be revealed in August, but based on our preseason bowl picks, here’s what we can give away: Alabama will avenge its regular-season loss at Georgia and reach the Playoff by beating the Bulldogs in an SEC Championship rematch.

Kentucky and Vanderbilt, two teams who missed out on the postseason last fall, face an uphill climb once again.

2015 SEC PRESEASON BOWL PROJECTIONS (12 invites)

  • College Football Playoff Semifinal (Cotton Bowl): TCU vs. Alabama
  • New Year’s Six Peach: Georgia vs. Clemson
  • New Year’s Six Sugar: Auburn vs. Baylor
  • Citrus: LSU vs. Wisconsin
  • Outback: Tennessee vs. Nebraska
  • Music City: Mizzou vs. Georgia Tech
  • Belk: Florida vs. Miami
  • Liberty: Ole Miss vs. Oklahoma State
  • TaxSlayer: Arkansas vs. Penn State
  • Texas: Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma
  • Independence: South Carolina vs. N.C. State
  • Birmingham: Mississippi State vs. Memphis

 On the outside looking in: Kentucky, Vanderbilt