2009 SEC East Football Preview and Predictions

Alabama was on track for the National Championship last season until being up-ended by Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer in the SEC championship game. Tebow is back, and the Florida Gators are favored to win both the SEC and National Titles again this season. The Georgia Bulldogs will be the primary challengers to the Gators in the SEC East this coming season. Although they lost Matt Stafford and Moreno to the pros, they are returning a lot of depth from last season's team. The following are previews and predictions for the 2009 football season in the SEC EAST.

SEC EAST

#1 SEC East Football Team -Florida Gators

You'd have to have been living under a rock to not pick the Gators to be the favorites to win the SEC East this coming season. They have all 11 starters back on defense and eight back on offense. Andre Debose is one of the country's top wide receivers and they will be heading to play LSU in Baton Rouge this season. Another key matchup for the Gators will be Georgia and they should be favored to win the remainder of their regular season games by more than 10 points.

#2 SEC East Football Team - Georgia Bulldogs

Georgia has lost Matt Stafford and Knowshon Moreno from last season. If they can keep the offensive line healthy and Joe Cox and get rolling early, then the Bulldogs will be in the thick of the SEC East race. The Bulldogs will have to establish their running game to have a shot at knocking off Tebow and company, but most fans are picking the Bulldogs to come in second this season.

Georgia will be a solid team in 2009 but they will have to get healthy and stay healthy if they want to compete with the upper echelons of the SEC. They will have to find a way to replace star quarterback Matt Stafford and star tail back Knowshon Moreno. One of the main questions I have about this team is can the offensive line play better? This is a question that needs to be answered because you no longer have veterans in key places and have a lot of new faces playing important roles this year. If Joe Cox can play well and get to playing in a rhythm early in the season, and the running game can be as good as advertised, there is no reason Georgia can't be as good as they were last season.

#3 SEC East Football Team -South Carolina Gamecocks

Steve Spurrier has done ok since returning to the SEC behind the helm of the Gamecocks. Chris Smelley transferred to Alabama after last season in order to focus on baseball, so Stephen Garcia will have the nod at starting quarterback heading into the 2009 season. Redshirt freshmen Reid McCollum and Aramis Hilliary could see some playing time this season as well depending on how Garcia performs. Heading in to the season, the Gamecocks will likely end up around .500 for the season.

#4 SEC East Football Team -Vanderbilt Commodores

Which Vandy team is going to shop up this season? Vandy started out very strong last season then just fizzled the 2^nd half of the season. The offensive line will be a key ingredient of the Commodore's success this season. The quarterback position will be competed between returning Music City Bowl starter, Larry Smith and Mackenzi Adams. It will likely be a challenge to get bowl eligible again this season, but the Commodores can do it if they pull off a few conference victories this season.

#5 SEC East Football Team - Tennessee Vols

All eyes are on Lane Kiffin. He's been loud, public, and brought the Vols into the spotlight a number of times this off-season. Jonathan Crompton will start out the season as the starter although if he starts to play as poorly as last season he may see the bench very quickly. Last season's team finished a deceivingly good 5-7. Look for them to go 6-6 or 7-5 this season as Kiffin works on rebuilding.

#6 SEC East Football Team -Kentucky Wildcats

Kentucky has gone to three straight bowl games for the first time in school history. They have a great defense and Mike Hartline will be returning as the starting quarterback for the Kentucky Wildcats. The Wildcats start out the season with three of their four games being against very stiff competition in Louisville, Florida, and Alabama, If the Cats can survive to the second half of their schedule they may just rise up in the SEC East rankings. Still, look for the Cats to finish 6-6 or 5-7 as they try to qualify for their fourth bowl game in a row.

Refs:

http://www.weeklycollegefootball.com/2009/07/2009-south-carolina-gamecocks-football-schedule/

http://www.weeklycollegefootball.com/2009/07/2009-kentucky-wildcats-football-schedule/

http://www.weeklycollegefootball.com/2009/07/2009-tennessee-volunteers-football-schedule/

http://www.weeklycollegefootball.com/2009/07/2009-georgia-bulldogs-football-schedule/

http://www.weeklycollegefootball.com/2009/02/2009-florida-gators-football-recruiting-class/