For one, aside from Marcus Lattimore and Alshon Jeffery, the Gamecocks aren't likely to overwhelm anyone with their returning talent.
If Stephen Garcia plays—and that's more a when than an if to be honest—he has shown little in the way of maturity as far as his decision-making is concerned. Quite frankly, the guy should be pumping gas at an Exxon station based on the amount of trouble he's been in over the past five years.
Secondly, after Marcus Lattimore, who is responsible for keeping the running game afloat? This kid is the real deal, but if he has to miss a couple games again due to being banged up, Spurrier's in trouble.
As for Alabama being the team South Carolina meets in Atlanta, well, I guess that's fair—if only by default. There aren't any other teams in the SEC West that look like semi-pro conglomerates when you peruse their active roster. That said, Saban still has to address the fact that both Greg McElroy and Mark Ingram are gone.
Sure, Trent Richardson is there and he's going to be money, but he's spent the better part of his career playing in the media shadow of Mark Ingram. How will he handle receiving the brunt of the criticism should he hit a rough patch in the season? Even more, there's still the matter of replacing Julio Jones—ya know, the guy who caught better than 85 percent of their former quarterback's passes?
It just seems to me that the decision to make Alabama the favorite has more to do with a weak SEC West than a great Alabama team.
Georgia was picked to finish behind South Carolina and Florida, respectively, and the reason behind the choice had to do with the fact that "...Georgia had a lot of players taken in the NFL Draft in April and now the Bulldogs are in search of a bevy of starters. Even worse, leading rusher Washaun Ealey was given his unconditional release because of off-the-field issues during the offseason. The biggest name missing is receiver A.J. Green, who will next be seen in the NFL."
While I can certainly agree that Georgia will miss the defensive talents of both Justin Houston and Akeem Dent, as well as offensive starters A.J. Green and Kris Durham, I am not ready to hang the possibility of a questionable running game on the departure of Washaun Ealey.
To be honest, there are more than a few Georgia fans who would be willing to argue that the ball security issues, suffered by both Caleb King and Washaun Ealey, played a key role in several of Georgia's losses (South Carolina, Mississippi State, and Colorado to name a few) last season.
Ealey's loss will be felt on the depth chart, but his release became a necessary evil if Georgia was to move in a more productive and positive direction in 2011.
Even so, it's nice to see the Bulldogs in the underdog position as they just might be able to sneak up on a few folks this season if they perform at a more consistent level this year.
The Birmingham News also selected "the best in the SEC" for 2011 and Blair Walsh, Drew Butler, Aaron Murray, and Orson Charles were selected as tops at their respective positions.
Ben Jones and Brandon Boykin also made an appearance on the list.
What say you...will Georgia finish third in the East?
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