SEC Football 2017 preview

Can Alabama win its fourth straight SEC title? Can Florida, Georgia, LSU or Auburn end the streak? That, and much more, in our 2017 SEC football preview.

The Big Ten has improved a great deal over the last few seasons, and the ACC is home to the reigning national champion Clemson (and Alabama fans won’t soon forget the sight of the Tigers celebrating in Tampa).

But the best conference in college football is still the Southeastern Conference. The SEC has recruited at the highest level, produces the most NFL prospects, attracts many of the best coaches, and offers the facilities, stadium atmospheres and fan bases necessary to build top-notch college football programs. As such, the SEC champion is likely to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff, and will be one of the top contenders to win it all.

The early favorite to win both the conference and the national championship is Alabama, who was ranked No. 1 in the preseason Coaches Poll and will surely enter the season in the top spot of the Associated Press Top 25 as well. The Crimson Tide have won three straight league titles, and have represented the SEC in the playoff in each of the last three seasons, winning it all in 2015 and coming up one second short last season.

However, Alabama will be tested. The SEC West is deep, and both LSU and Auburn have the talent to compete for a division title. In the East, back-to-back division champion Florida has a great defense and improving offense, while Georgia has elite talent on defense and an offense capable of lighting up the scoreboard on the ground or through the air.

With the 2017 college football season set to kick off later this month, we take an in-depth look at the best conference in the country: the SEC.

SEC Offensive Player of the Year

QB Jalen Hurts, Alabama

There are several worthy candidates to win SEC Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2017. LSU running back Derrius Guice led the SEC in rushing last season while splitting carries with Leonard Fournette. Georgia running back Nick Chubb gained 1,130 rushing yards after returning from a devastating injury the previous year, and should be back to full speed as a senior. Texas A&M receiver Christian Kirk is a touchdown waiting to happen. Plus, there is no shortage of talented quarterbacks across the league.

However, despite huge competition across the SEC, Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts has the inside track – especially since he was Offensive Player of the Year last season. Hurts took control of the starting quarterback job for the Crimson Tide as a true freshman – an unheard of development for a signal caller under Nick Saban – winning the job during the Week 1 blowout victory over USC and never relinquishing it.

Hurts led Alabama to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, and though he struggled with command at times (including tossing interceptions in each of his last six conference games), the 6-foot-2, 218-pound Texan completed 240-of-382 pass attempts (62.8 percent) for 2,780 yards and 23 touchdowns with nine interceptions. Hurts is also a dangerous runner, quick enough to elude tacklers (and oncoming pass rushers) and powerful enough to shed them. He led the Tide with 13 rushing TDs while ranking second with 954 yards on the ground.

Saban has often praised Hurts’ maturity, and he’s shown leadership on the field despite being an underclassman. Heading into his sophomore season, Hurts is the unquestioned starter under center in Tuscaloosa, and has had a full offseason to develop as a leader off the field as well. Also, most quarterbacks improve most between their freshman and sophomore seasons, and the expectation is that Hurts will improve as a passer as a sophomore.

He’ll play under the direction of a new play-caller, but if the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Year puts up even better numbers as a sophomore and leads Alabama back to the playoff, expect him to not only repeat as Player of the Year in the conference, but expect him to also be in the mix for the Heisman Trophy.