SEC football: Early conference power rankings for 2020

SEC football has produced three of the last five National Champions but how does the SEC power rankings stack up early on in eyeing the 2020 season?

While some may tire of the “bias”, the fact remains that SEC football has proven itself to be top of the class in college football for many years now. After all, the LSU Tigers are the defending national champs coming into the 2020 season, giving the conference three titles in the last five seasons in the College Football Playoff.

Furthermore, the SEC is coming off a season where they had four teams finish in the top eight of the final AP Top 25 poll — and that was with the vaunted Alabama Crimson Tide at No. 8. And what makes the conference even more remarkable is the recruiting pipelines many schools have created to sustain a high level of success.

But as we come into the 2020 season, there are questions to be answered about SEC football. Will LSU be able to deal with a plethora of losses? Can Alabama bounce back to its former glory? Does Georgia finally get over the hump and the SEC West? We can’t know the answers just yet.

However, we can assess all 14 teams in the conference and how they stack up against one another in the early SEC football power rankings.

14. Arkansas Razorbacks

It’s a tall task for Sam Pittman as he takes over an Arkansas program that will hit 20-straight SEC losses with one more loss in conference play. While they have running back Rakeem Boyd to hang their hat on, a lack of answers at quarterback and throughout the defense will mean the Razorbacks should bring up the rear in the SEC West but may take baby steps in terms of progress as a program.

13. Vanderbilt Commodores

Vanderbilt and Arkansas are interchangeable in the SEC football cellar as each will finish at the bottom of their respective division. Not only do Derek Mason’s Commodore’s need to replace their three best offensive weapons from last season but must do so while trying to stabilize the quarterback position and trying to better one of the worst Power 5 defenses in the country from last year.

12. Kentucky Wildcats

The cloud that will hang over Mark Stoops’ Kentucky team is if they actually unlocked something with Lynn Bowden having to fill in at quarterback last season that Terry Wilson returning will take away from them. The Wildcats should play solid defense but I’m dubious they can score with many of the offenses in the conference in the 2020 season.

11. Mississippi State Bulldogs

Starkville has a new mayor, so to speak, as Mike Leach takes over as head coach at Mississippi State. But while the offensive guru has All-SEC runner Kylin Hill on offense and Erroll Thompson on defense, the pieces around those players are unproven. That especially applies to Stanford transfer K.J. Costello. Throw in the fact that Leach’s air-raid style leaves more questions in this conference and the Bulldogs have a lot to prove.

10. South Carolina Gamecocks

There are just too many questions after an injury-riddled 2019 season for Will Muschamp‘s Gamecocks to truly believe they have the goods to win the SEC East. They need to find a steady starter at quarterback and, while they have some defensive talent, there are big losses on both sides of the ball to contend with and it remains to be seen if South Carolina will be able to.