SEC West Preview: An Early Look: It’s Tuesday August 11th and the NCAA Football Season kicks off on Thursday, September 3rd. In other words, it’s certainly the perfect time to continue our look at each of the conferences and the haves and have-nots as the season is less than a month away! With 120 teams to cover the key here is a quick look at each team which allows you to take away some general concepts for use and further research as we get ready to “dig into” the meat and potatoes of a new season. Who will be up? Who will be down? Who remains “status quo”? Most importantly, who will provide us with point spread value! Read on and we will continue with arguably the top conference in the country: the Southeastern Conference. We started with the East last week and we follow up with the West this week.

SEC West:
Alabama: The Crimson Tide have arguably one of the top defenses in the country. Also, let’s not forget how well they played against Florida in last season’s SEC Title game. Alabama, as you would expect, did lose some key contributors from last season’s team. However, they only lost a total of eleven lettermen from last year’s team. No team in the Southeastern Conference lost fewer letter winners. With a very strong defense and some solid incoming talent on the offensive side of the ball, the Tide is once again a rock solid team entering the new season. Keep in mind that they are also immediately motivated for the season because they ended last season on a disappointing note with their embarrassing loss in the Sugar Bowl. Undoubtedly, Nick Saban has his troops fully motivated for another undefeated regular season and we love this defense. Once the offense catches up, this team could deservedly be among the best in the nation.

Arkansas: Being in the second year of head coach Bobby Petrino’s systems will be a big plus for the Hogs. Keep in mind the Razorbacks also have twice as many returning starters (18) as they did coming into the prior season (9). We should get some line value throughout the season with Arkansas because Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama will get most of the attention. The Razorbacks are very strong at the skill positions and that makes them a very dangerous dog heading into this season. Note that the Hogs are 9-4 as a road dog the last four seasons!

Auburn: Here’s another team that could offer some solid line value throughout the season. They will hide in the shadows of some other teams and that masks the fact that they return 15 starters this season. Also, a negative turnover margin certainly impacted them last season and we expect coach Gene Chizik to have a positive impact quickly. Keep in mind, when a team goes 2-9 ATS as the Tigers did last season, there is a tremendous amount of upside for them the next season if the pieces are in place. Keep an eye on Auburn for line value in 2009.

LSU: This is a strong Tigers team but their schedule is brutal. They face both Georgia and Florida from the East and, within their own division, they have to play on the road against both Mississippi and Alabama. If the Tigers don’t break down with this schedule it would be an amazing accomplishment. After a 3-9 ATS result in 2008, look for some line value with this solid team this season. 7 starters back on each side of the ball and the Tigers are well-coached with Les Miles at the helm and the acquisition of John Chavis at defensive coordinator.

Mississippi: Big scheduling edge for the Rebels should help build confidence and lead to a huge season. Unlike Louisiana State, Ole Miss avoids Florida and Georgia from the East.  Also, their toughest conference match-ups are at home. Point spread value could be an issue with Mississippi because they did go 9-3 ATS last season and they certainly won’t sneak up on teams this year.  However, the players have certainly bought into head coach Houston Nutt’s program and they return 16 starters from last season’s solid squad!

Mississippi State: All the positive talk about the SEC comes to an abrupt halt when we reach the Bulldogs. Mississippi State was severely outstatted in 2008. Now they have a new coach, which means new schemes to learn on both sides of the ball, plus they only return ten starters. That is the lowest number of returning starters among all 12 SEC teams. This season could be very ugly for the Bulldogs. Also, in the last nine seasons, the Bulldogs have gone winless on the road four times, and won just one road game two times.  Last season, Mississippi State was 1-5 ATS on the road. With a new coach, as well as so much roster turnovers, the Bulldogs road struggles are unlikely to improve anytime soon.