Your team is overrated. No, your team is underrated. The one thing we know for sure is that nobody is ever correctly rated at this time of year.

You say your school is going 12-0 and winning the title. Somebody else tells you they’re going 4-8. You can’t both be right. But we can explain both viewpoints.

Here (this time, we’re looking at the SEC West) is why your school is overrated — or why it’s underrated. Only time will tell which view was correct.

Alabama

The Tide is overrated because: They lost an NFL expansion team worth of talent, and they’re 1-for-3 now in CFP appearances. If they couldn’t hold off Clemson with one of the most dominant defenses in modern football, how can they win this year?

The Tide is underrated because: The loss to Clemson was a perfect storm. There aren’t bunches of Deshaun Watsons out there to play against, and Alabama won’t be in the position of running off their offensive coordinator and handing off the play-calling to an unfamiliar guy again. Also, Alabama continues to accrue the most talent in the country, and you’d be crazy to pick against them.

Arkansas

The Razorbacks are overrated because: They’re a sieve on defense and they can’t stop the run. In Bret Bielema’s first three years at Arkansas, the Hogs gave up 4.7, 3.5, and 3.8 yards per carry. In 2016? They allowed 5.9 yards per carry and 39 touchdowns on the ground, both last in the SEC by a healthy margin. If you can’t stop the run, you can’t win.

The Razorbacks are underrated because: Their defense can’t be as bad as it was in 2016, and meanwhile, they have enough offensive weapons to create some track meets. With Rawleigh Williams and Devwah Whaley running the ball, and Austin Allen passing it, Arkansas may well score over 30 points per game for their third year in a row, and that will keep them competitive.

Auburn

The Tigers are overrated because: Auburn lost some crucial talent on defense and is promising to revamp its passing game by relying on an untested QB. Stop me if we’ve heard THAT before. The Gus bus rolls through weak opponents, but the wheels fall off against good defenses. Auburn will put up gaudy numbers but has yet to prove that it can score on the Alabamas and Georgias of the world.

The Tigers are underrated because: Watching Auburn play in 2016 was like watching a three-wheeled car. Sure, Jarrett Stidham will have his problems, but he almost can’t help but play better than an injured Sean White. Losing guys like Montravius Adams and Carl Lawson up front would hamstring most teams, but Auburn has talented linemen galore. When you fix what was wrong with Auburn, how could they not be really good?

LSU

The Tigers are overrated because: They lost an absolute ton of talent on defense and the most talented player in college football on offense. The Tigers have been one-dimensional on offense for years, and there’s no reason to think Danny Etling is going to turn into Tom Brady. Almost the entire defense is gone, and this year, Tiger fans learn that maybe Les Miles wasn’t such a bad coach.

The Tigers are underrated because: LSU has incredible talent — granted, much of it inexperienced. Outside of Tuscaloosa, nobody has more skilled athletes. The loss of Leonard Fournette seems bad until you realize that Derrius Guice was probably better last season anyway, and he’ll be back. A fresh start will help everybody, and non-Tigers fans learn that maybe Ed Orgeron isn’t such a bad coach.

Mississippi

The Rebels are overrated because: This program is the walking dead. Calling each regular season home game a bowl game? This isn’t the way SEC contenders behave, this is the way an SEC doormat behaves, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Ole Miss plays no defense, and with no bowl eligibility to play for, that’s probably not going to improve. Shea Patterson is entertaining, but he’ll find it tough sledding to lead a one-dimensional offense against the best defenses in college football.

The Rebels are underrated because: The hope here is that Ole Miss would react like a spunky team of underdogs from some random ’90s football movie, and rally together around their woebegone program and coach on the hot seat. The weakest link in SEC defenses is covering passes, and Shea Patterson will throw plenty of them, and will throw them well. Ole Miss’s strategy is basically Arkansas’s strategy — and if it works for one, it might work for both.

Mississippi State

The Bulldogs are overrated because: Their defense was an absolute cesspool in 2016. In Dan Mullen’s eight years in Starkville, State gave up 26.8 points per game in his first year, and no more than 23.3 points per game thereafter until last season. State allowed no more than 424 yards per game in any of those seasons. In 2016, they gave up 459 yards and 31.8 points per game. Particularly rough was pass defense, where State allowed the most yards and touchdowns in the league. Given that the defense graduated a fair number of starters and contributors, add State to the West’s list of track meet teams.

Nov 5, 2016; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback Nick Fitzgerald (7) carries the ball as defended by Texas A&M Aggies linebacker Shaan Washington (33) during the first quarter of the game at Davis Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

The Bulldogs are underrated because: They actually could get into some track meets. Nick Fitzgerald (above) was the second-leading rusher in the SEC, and will only improve in his second full season under center. State lost three games on the last play in 2016, and the odds are that sort of thing won’t happen again.

Texas A&M

The Aggies are overrated because: The calendar still has the month of November in it. Seriously, even for a team that has made a history of blowing great starts to seasons, 2016 was unbelievably weird. A&M went from a top 10 team with a shot at the title to a team that dropped three of its last four games, with two coming against the two worst teams in the West. So take that team, remove the best player (Myles Garrett) and most of their passing game (quarterback and multiple top receivers), and what direction would you suspect they move?

The Aggies are underrated because: Kevin Sumlin has played young QBs and had success before, and Trayveon Williams is a shining star even in a league of explosive young running backs. John Chavis’s defense struggled late, but if the depth holds up, they’re one of the better units in the West, even without Garrett. There is a clear divide between the haves in the West (Bama, LSU, Auburn) and the have nots (Arkansas, Ole Miss, Miss. State), and A&M might well sneak in between the groups.