While the SEC East has had some down seasons in the past decade, the 2015 campaign may have been rock bottom for the division. Sure, you had two teams win 10 games with a third coming close, but after that things were exceptionally ugly.
While Florida, Georgia and Tennessee may have managed to win 29 games between them, the other four teams in the division -- Missouri, South Carolina, Kentucky and Vanderbilt -- managed to win 17. Nobody outside of the top three qualified for a bowl game -- well, technically Mizzou could have gone at 5-7, but opted not to -- and the division saw a lot of turnover on its coaching staff.
Steve Spurrier, Gary Pinkel and Mark Richt -- who won 10 games! -- are all gone. In their respective places are Will Muschamp, Barry Odom and Kirby Smart. Still, even with all the changes, I'm not entirely sure we won't see a similar situation to 2015 play out again this year.
Here are the questions the SEC East needs to answer in 2016.
1. Is Tennessee ready for the spotlight? I recently called Tennessee the most overrated team in the preseason Coaches Poll. As you would assume in such a situation, Tennessee fans did not take kindly to this. As is often the case, I believe there was a breakdown in communication.
I don't think Tennessee is overrated because I think it's bad. I believe it's overrated because, even if it does end up having a great season in 2016 and lives up to the hype, it hasn't actually done anything to earn a top 10 ranking yet. Sure, the Vols went 9-4 last season, but it was their best year since going 10-4 in 2007. Everything in between was nothing more than mediocre.
But now we head into 2016 with many pundits pegging Tennessee as the favorite in the SEC East, and I get it. This team obviously took a major step forward in 2015, and it certainly has its fair share of talent. What remains to be seen, though, is if Tennessee can win on the big stage.
Tennessee was only 5-3 in conference play last season and is only 10-14 under Butch Jones. The Vols are also 3-13 against ranked teams under Jones, and while they've come close against some really good teams -- last year's losses to Oklahoma and Florida come to mind -- it remains to be seen whether or not this team can get over the hump and start winning those games.
With all that talent, and a very favorable schedule (the Vols will only leave the state of Tennessee for three games this season), if it doesn't happen this year, you have to wonder if it ever will.
2. Can Florida find a quarterback? Things were going well for Florida last season. The Gators got off to a 6-0 start under Will Grier before losing him to a suspension. Treon Harris took over, and while the Gators went 4-1 in his first five starts, it had a lot more to do with the prowess of the defense, as the offense cratered.
Both Grier and Harris are gone now, and though Florida on Thursday announced Luke Del Rio as its starter, it's not like he has any pedigree outside of his last name. What will the Oregon State transfer do with the job?
The quarterback spot is going to be the most important position for Florida this season. As it goes, so will the Gators. Florida had one of the best defenses in the country last season, and even with some key departures, odds are the Gators will be strong on defense yet again. If they can find a way to put points on the board, this is a Florida team with College Football Playoff potential.
3. How quickly can Kirby Smart Sabanize the Bulldogs? Georgia clearly made a decision last winter that Mark Richt had done all he was going to be able to do, and while Richt accomplished a lot (it's only two SEC titles since 1983, 10 10-win seasons in 15 years), it clearly wasn't enough. So Georgia went after its former defensive back -- and Nick Saban disciple -- Kirby Smart.
The hope is that Smart can bring the success he's had working under Saban at Alabama east to Athens, Georgia. It will be very interesting to see how quickly "The Process" is put in place with the Bulldogs.
There's usually an adjustment process for any new coach with his new team, but I look at the situation Smart is walking into at Georgia and I don't know if it's going to take very long for him to get things rolling.
The formula for success at Alabama has been stifling defense and an offense that does what it can to grind you to dust over 60 minutes. Well, Georgia has a lot of the personnel you'd need to accomplish that already in place. Oddly enough, given Smart's history on the defensive side of the ball, I believe the easiest transition will be on offense
The Bulldogs have two very talented running backs in Nick Chubb and Sony Michel, both of whom can help keep the other fresh while wearing down opposing defenses, and they'll be running behind a veteran offensive line.
On defense, the Bulldogs should be very strong in the secondary, but it's the front seven that has the most question marks as two members of last season's starting front seven return. Georgia has plenty of talent to replace what's left, however, and I wouldn't be all that surprised if the Bulldogs don't miss a beat on that side of the ball, either. Which means that Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs could be poised to play for an SEC title in his very first season.
4. Can the SEC East compete with the West? The SEC title hasn't been won by a team from the East since Florida did it in 2008. It's only happened five times since the 20th century was put in the rear-view mirror. The common opinion is that this year won't be much different, but honestly, I'm not so sure.
Alabama is still a monster, sure, but once you get past the Tide, there are plenty of questions to go around the rest of the SEC West. If Florida, Georgia or Tennessee play to their potential this season, they're fully capable of beating Alabama or any other team from the West in Atlanta.
As for the bottom half of the division, well, no, the SEC East can't compete with the SEC West.
5. Who is the division's sleeper team? Of the four teams who missed out on a bowl game last season, I believe Missouri has the best chance to get back to a one in 2016. My reasoning is that, even if 2015 was a major step backward (the Tigers won 24 games between 2013 and 2014), the Tigers were still very strong on the defensive side of the ball. No SEC defense allowed fewer yards per play than Missouri.
Even with Odom in his first season, he was the team's defensive coordinator last season, so even with some departures, the Tigers will still be good on that side of the ball. The question is whether or not they can improve on offense, and considering only Kent State scored less points per game than Mizzou's 13.6, it's hard to imagine it getting any worse!
So if Missouri can just become a below average offense rather than a putrid one, it'll pick up at least one more win in 2016, and possibly even more.
6. Which coach owns the hottest seat? I think a very reasonable argument could be made for Tennessee's Butch Jones here, because if Tennessee falls flat, he could be on the way out. That said, I still think Kentucky's Mark Stoops is in the most trouble. Stoops is entering his fourth season at Kentucky, and he's yet to get the Wildcats to a bowl game. He is only 12-24 overall with a 4-20 mark in the SEC.
Those results don't quite match up to the $3.4 million salary he's getting, and if Kentucky doesn't go bowling in 2016, I think it's safe to say the Wildcats will be on the market for a new coach this winter.
7. Which school has has the best odds of reaching the College Football Playoff? As you can easily guess if you've read this whole thing, there are actually three teams I believe have CFP potential in 2016: Florida, Georgia and Tennessee. If they play to their potential, all three are capable of winning the SEC, and if you win the SEC, you're in the playoff.
Now, if I had to say which team has the best chance of those three, I'm going with Georgia because the Dawgs get Tennessee in Athens and Florida in Jacksonville.
