SEC West
Who will win the SEC West. This is a tough division in a very tough conference. It is so tough that teams have to rely on their three games against East Division opponents to help decide who wins the West. While the East is full of strong teams, the west division is hardly full of cupcakes. LSU has won a couple of national championships in recent years. Mississippi shocked Florida last year in the Swamp. That was Florida’s only loss on the season, meaning the Gators were national champs but not the champs of Mississippi. Every game for 2009 in the SEC West Division looks to be a dog fight.
Alabama is the defending champ, but they got beat by Florida and Utah to finish last season. That showed that they were mere pretenders instead of true national championship contenders. LSU lost a few close games and struggled against Troy State, but Death Valley is still the toughest stadium in the country to play a night game in. Because of their upset of Florida last season, Mississippi is one of the dark horse candidate to win the league even if they have run out of Mannings to play quarterback. You can also never count out Auburn or Arkansas.
Alabama is home to one of the most overrated coaches in the country in Nick Saban. No one has more national titles than the Crimson Tide, but the days of Bear Bryant are long past. Alabama’s perfect season came to a screeching halt in the SEC championship game at the hands of Florida last year. They then got abused by a non-BCS conference team in Utah in the Sugar Bowl. The Sugar Bowl presents an enormous home field advantage for SEC teams, so Utah’s convincing win over Alabama is big. Because of that, the Alabama Crimson Tide belt has not pockets for sugar.
Arkansas was an embarrassment to the SEC last season. Quarterback Mitch Mustain transferred before the season started because his mommy wouldn’t let him play anymore. The Razorbacks then very nearly dropped a home game to 1-AA Western Illinois. Completing the roller coaster ride, Arkansas beat LSU in the season finale for a surprising win. You simply cannot figure this team out. One week they look like they can beat anyone in the country, the next week they would struggle to defeat a halfway decent high school team. It is hard to see what the Razorbacks need in order to make the Arkansas Razorback belt a championship belt again.
Auburn was another team that had a disappointing year last season. It ended without a bowl game and they were unable to ruin archrival Alabama’s season in the infamous Iron Bowl. Auburn usually lives to ruin Alabama’s season, but that wasn’t the case last year. They were shut out 36-0 against their rivals in the Iron Bowl. That is a far fall from the 2004 season when Auburn won the SEC and had a legitimate claim to the national championship. If Auburn wants to win the Iron Bowl and send and Auburn Tiger belt as a joke to Tuscaloosa they will have to improve greatly in 2009.
When it comes to LSU, the Tigers have one of the most feared home field advantages in all of college football. A night game in Death Valley was once so loud it registered on a seismograph across campus. LSU fans are very proud of the home field advantage they have created, and that will once again have a say in the 2009 SEC West division race. Death Valley Stadium in Baton Rouge is where championship dreams go to die. An LSU Tiger belt, therefore, is the symbol of a championship football program that is not afraid of anyone.
If there is one team in the country that has a valid beef against Florida being last season’s national champion, it is Mississippi. The Rebels were the only team in the country last season that beat Florida. Because of that upset, they go into 2009 as one of the favorite to win not just the SEC, but the national championship. Those are high expectations for a program hat has a history of solid success. Both Archie and Eli Manning once wore a Mississippi Rebel belt, and they went on to have solid NFL careers.
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