There’s no denying that the SEC West has left their SEC East counterparts in the proverbial dust the past few years. For evidence, look no further than the fact that only three of the seven teams in the SEC East qualified for a bowl game in 2015, while the SEC West sent all seven of its squads to a postseason game and housed the national champion.

But the gap between the two rival divisions can be shrunk, especially in today’s college football landscape filled with quick turnabouts.

Here are several ways the SEC East can narrow the void between the two divisions:

BUILDING AROUND DEFENSES

The SEC East will take on a defensive posture in 2016 with an image overhaul. Gone are offensive-minded head coaches Mark Richt at Georgia, Gary Pinkel at Missouri and Steve Spurrier at South Carolina.

In their place are three coaches whose football acumen resides almost exclusively on the defensive side of the ball in Kirby Smart, Barry Odom and Will Muschamp, respectively. That should be a scary thought for the West, considering that Mizzou (No. 6), Georgia (No. 7) and Florida (No. 8) were all in the top 10 in the nation in total defense last season. (Noted: We won’t dismiss all the horrible offenses in the SEC East as a partial reason for those stats.)

The East is also propped up by Derek Mason’s defense at Vanderbilt (No. 28 in the nation) and the hiring of guru Bob Shoop as Butch Jones’ new defensive coordinator in Tennessee. And you know Muschamp will make South Carolina’s defense better overnight. As the East continues to rebuild in a new era, it should become increasingly tougher to score on their side of the division.

MUCH BETTER RUNNING GAMES

The SEC East can cut into the West’s dominance out of the backfield in 2016, especially with the likes of Alabama’s Derrick Henry and Alex Collins of Arkansas off to the NFL. Yes, the West returns 2015’s national rushing leader in LSU’s Leonard Fournette (162.8 YPG), but the East could potentially be deeper than the West.

Of the top-5 backs returning to the SEC, four of them hail from the East. That includes Georgia’s Nick Chubb (747 yards, 5 games) and Tennessee’s Jalen Hurd (1,288 yard, 7 TDs), as well as Vanderbilt’s Ralph Webb (1,152 yards) and Kentucky’s Boom Williams (855 yards). Georgia and Tennessee are so deep at the position that backups Sony Michel and Alvin Kamara, respectively, also rank among the top 10 in the SEC.

Alabama should restock at running back — most likely with Bo Scarbrough — even with the departure of both Henry and national title-game hero Kenyan Drake. Auburn appears set with Jovon Robinson and Peyton Barber figuring out who will get the bulk of the carries for the Tigers. Otherwise, backfields throughout the SEC West either have question marks or lack experience in places such as Arkansas, Mississippi State and Texas A&M.

QUARTERBACK TURNOVER OUT WEST

The SEC West will have a completely different look under center in 2016, as Ole Miss’ Chad Kelly could, theoretically, be the lone incumbent starter returning to the division. New signal- callers will take the field for Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi State and Texas A&M for Week 1’s kick-off. Auburn’s two-man competition between Sean White and Jeremy Johnson doesn’t appear settled, and LSU’s quarterback situation is very much open to whomever wants to come in and take it, especially considering all of Brandon Harris’ struggles.

The opportunity for the SEC to swipe some momentum from the West, especially under center, could come during this lull. Among the East leaders is Josh Dobbs, who makes Tennessee a legitimate early-preseason favorite to win the division. (Yes, we know we’ve heard that and said that before).

Every SEC East team could return a quarterback next season who saw significant time under center this year. The division saw freshmen take first-team snaps at Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina and Vanderbilt this year. It also has two of the most-highly coveted quarterback recruits in the nation arriving in Athens (Georgia’s Jacob Eason) and Gainesville (Florida’s Feleipe Franks) this summer. Florida is so stacked at the position that something is eventually have to give for the Gators.

The West is set to reload at quarterback, as well. But the opportunity is there for the SEC to take back some of the SEC glory for themselves.