Opening weekend is still 12 weeks out, but it’s never too early to talk college football.
The Southeastern Conference, led by the usual suspects, again will be the dominant league.
And again, Ole Miss and Mississippi State will be picked last and next-to-last, respectively, in the SEC West — which has produced three straight national championships.
With Texas A&M now in the West, most preseason publications will have Ole Miss at the bottom ad State just ahead of the rival Rebels at No. 6.
The Rebels are coming off a miserable 2-10 season where they finished 116th in the nation in scoring, 114th in offense and last in the SEC in total and scoring defense.
New head coach Hugh Freeze has brought great energy back to the program, but a lack of true SEC talent will make his first year in Oxford a tough one.
Rival MSU will be sixth, battling A&M and Auburn for middle of the pack.
Yes, State has made strides under Dan Mullen, but I haven’t seen enough yet to make me believe the Bulldogs are ready to start moving up the pecking order in the SEC West.
Mullen is 9-15 in SEC games but just 3-12 against the SEC West (all wins against Ole Miss) in three seasons.
The Bulldogs should put a formidable defense on the field this season, but there are major questions on offense along the front wall and at running back.
This year’s attack will be centered around the passing game, and that means Tyler Russell has to live up to his prep hype.
LSU will probably edge out Alabama in the West in most preseason polls.
The Tigers are loaded and should have a sour taste in their mouths after getting whipped by Alabama in the BCS title game — LSU’s lone loss of 2011.
LSU should be better at quarterback with Zach Mettenberger taking over for Jordan Jefferson.
The defense will be almost as nasty as last season, with Anthony Johnson and Bennie Logan forming a tough duo at tackle.
After winning the national title, Alabama took some hits with four players selected in the first round of the NFL draft, but Nick Saban always seems to reload.
In the East, Georgia will be the popular preseason pick. The defending SEC East champs are loaded on offense with quarterback Aaron Murray and a rising star in tailback Isaiah Crowell.
Led by a brick wall of a line, the Dog defense should be stout after losing just one starter.
South Carolina is expected to push Georgia in the East.
The SEC could easily start the 2012 season with four teams four teams in the top 10 in both polls. ESPN has USC ranked first, followed by Alabama at No. 2, LSU at No. 3, Georgia fifth and South Carolina 10th.
This comes as no surprise, since the SEC has won the last six BCS championships and eight since its inception in 1998.
The SEC has long been one of the nation’s premier football leagues, but how did it get to this point of such utter domination?
It all starts with resources and talent.
Per capita, all nine SEC states last year were among the top 20 nationally in Division I-A football recruits. Four (Louisiana, Florida, Alabama and Georgia) were top five.
The kids in those states generally stay home, and most of those kids turn out to be great players. (Each of the last five years, the SEC has led all conferences in NFL draft picks. The league had nine players taken in the first round alone this past April.)
Then there are the coaches. The SEC has some of the best in the land because the schools pay top dollar.
In 2006, five of the 20 highest-paid coaches in the country were SEC coaches. In 2011, the SEC had 10 of the top 20 — and seven of the top 11. Eight college football assistants made $700,000 or more last season — seven coached in the SEC.
The money comes from extremely lucrative TV contracts as well as season-ticket and seat-licensing revenue. The averaged attendance for SEC schools has been the best in the country for 13 straight years.
Judging by the long line of fired SEC coaches, schools will do whatever it takes to build winning programs.
In a recent article, former Auburn coach Terry Bowden said when the business of college football got more lucrative, programs began an arms race to build the biggest facilities and hire the best coaches.
It’s a battle that will always rage on here in the South.
n Contact Bill Burrus at 581-7237 or bburrus@gwcommonwealth.com. (Follow Bill Burrus on Twitter: @Bill_Burrus)
