Once again, we're honored to be part of the prestigious SEC Power Poll, the grandaddy of all blogger-based football conference polls (or something like that). The official preseason poll deals with best/worst uniforms, and although we voted in that we don't feel strongly enough about the teams' fashion (except to rate Tennessee last) to repeat our thoughts in detail here. Instead, we're going old school and will rank the teams from best to worst like usual.
All this is subject to change once the games start, of course, but here's how things look to us now:
1. Alabama - Last year's conference/national champs are the easy #1 pick until someone proves otherwise. (Say it with us: September 25th!)
2. Florida - It's so stressful being Urban Meyer. He has to decide which new blue-chip players will replace the former blue-chip players who left after last season.
3. Georgia - As long as you're not their former athletic director, things are looking up for the Bulldogs. That game in Athens is going to be tough.
4. Arkansas - We all know the strengths and weaknesses here. The Hogs are poised to make a quick jump up (or down) depending on how the first month goes.
5. Auburn - Malzahn has gone into his lab and cooked up a powerful offense to go along with the Tigers' porous defense. Sound like any other team you know?
6. LSU - Plenty of talent, but a few tough losses and this will be the Hat's last year on the bayou.
7. South Carolina - Look for these guys to be lower in November, of course. And they still haven't been hit with the full fallout from the summer agent-related scandals.
8. Mississippi State - Dan Mullen & Co. are going to shock somebody this year...we just hope it's not the Hogs.
9. Ole Miss - They were a lot higher on our list until Masoli was ruled ineligible. On the bright side for him, we hear Mississippi has an excellent Parks & Recreation graduate program, and he can probably get student tickets to the games.
10. Kentucky - Only a few more weeks until basketball season!
11. Tennessee - We really really really wish the Hogs played the Vols this year.
12. Vanderbilt - You guys might as well get comfortable down here in the basement.