SEC championship hanging in the balance

The SEC East is more balanced than ever. The West is tilted to the deep South. The end result: LSU winning a rematch with Florida for the SEC championship.

That hardly qualifies as news. LSU is a consensus pick to win the conference and Florida — despite all the losses on defense from its national championship team — is favored in most quarters to prevail in a division that has no obvious weak link.

As neat and tidy as the ending might seem, it rarely works that way in this conference. In fact, since the league went to divisional play, picking a champion has been about as easy as picking a Kentucky Derby winner.

If LSU coach Les Miles had spent more than two years in the conference, he would have known to cringe when his team was installed as a decided favorite at SEC football media days in Birmingham. It’s the regional sports equivalent of making the cover of Sports Illustrated.

A few, final preseason quick hits on a conference that has everything a college football fan could want:

- For all the balance in the East, UT vs. Florida still will be the game of the year in that division. The winner will win the East.

- Not since the late 1960s and early 1970s has the SEC had so many good quarterbacks. In any given year, UT’s Erik Ainge, Kentucky’s Andre Woodson and Georgia’s Matthew Stafford might be a lock for the All-SEC first team. And all three eventually should be high-round draft choices.

But I would take first-year Florida starter Tim Tebow as the first-team quarterback. Not only is he extremely athletic, he has great talent around him and he’s a per-fect fit for coach Urban Meyer’s spread-option offense.

- Defensive speed distinguishes the SEC from most conferences. So don’t expect the defenses to slow down. However, offenses will have more advantages than usual because of experience, particularly at quarterback.

SEC teams will average more than seven returning starters on offense and slightly more than six on defense. Returning offensive players include: eight of the top-10 rushers, eight of the top-10 passers, six of the top-10 receivers and eight of the top-10 players in all-purpose yardage.

- Upset possibilities abound. Best long shots: Vanderbilt over Alabama, Ole Miss over Arkansas, South Carolina over Florida, and Kentucky over Tennessee.

- The SEC will save the best for last. The two top Saturdays are both in November.

Nov. 10: Arkansas at Tennessee, Auburn at Georgia, Florida at South Carolina, Kentucky at Vanderbilt, and Alabama at Mississippi State.

Nov. 24: Alabama at Auburn, Arkansas at LSU, Florida State at Florida, Georgia at Georgia Tech, Tennessee at Kentucky, Ole Miss at Mississippi State, Clemson at South Carolina, and Wake Forest at Vanderbilt.

- Most one-sided game, a.k.a. as the Arkansas-Southern Cal memorial game: (tie) Florida over Western Kentucky, Kentucky over Eastern Kentucky, Arkansas over Chatta-nooga, South Carolina over South Carolina State, and Tennessee over Louisiana-Lafayette.

- Best freshman on offense: Georgia tackle Trinton Sturdivant.

- Best freshman on defense: UT cornerback Eric Berry.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.