Harry, what are your thoughts on Missouri/Arkansas/Tennessee? I don't believe in any of them.
Tennessee is the most baffling of all -- they have been mediocre for years. Just because they finally reached 6-6 last year after being out of bowls for 3 years doesn't exactly scream "This team should be ranked now!" Yes, Josh Dobbs looks to be a good QB (although with small sample size), and Butch Jones was successful at Central Michigan and Cincinnati, but I think 8-4 is an optimistic projection for them.
Arkansas -- Arkansas was very impressive down the stretch, playing Mississippi State down to the final play on the road, then shutting out LSU and absolutely thrashing Ole Miss. Losing their starting RB for the year will hurt, but I think they've finally established their identity as the baddest, most brutal physical team in America on both sides of the ball. I believe they lost a lot of their defense though, so they're a question mark. I wouldn't be shocked if they came in last in the West (even though I think they're a good team), just because the SEC West is so tough from top to bottom.
Missouri -- who knows. I never dreamed they'd win the SEC East in 2013 or 2014, so why pick against them this year? The East is mediocre enough that it could easily be won by a not-very-good team. In fact, you could make a case (of course, we'll see if it actually happens) that the SEC 1-7 teams are in the West and 8-14 are in the West. At the very least, Georgia + the West should be 1-8.
While we're on the subject, allow me to whine about the lack of respect Mississippi State is getting. Our greatest player in school history (Dak Prescott) is back. We have the best WRs we've ever had. We lost 3 seniors on the offensive line ... but they were undrafted 2-star guys, and we're replacing them with more highly-recruited players who will be drafted. Yes, losing that experience is going to be tough (two of them were 4-year starters), but it's a lot easier to replace undrafted starters than it is to replace high draft picks. I think it's totally reasonable to say that 2015 will be the best offense in Mississippi State history (beating out 2014, which beat 2013, which beat 2012).
Defensively we also lost a lot of starters, but last year we let seniors "start" and the better underclassmen "not start" but play most snaps. DT Chris Jones and CB Will Redmond have been projected as first round picks in 2016, but they technically didn't start last year, so they don't count as returning starters. I think people look at the numbers and assume "Oh, well Mississippi State lost 7 starters on defense and obviously Mississippi State couldn't have better players starting in their stead this year," when actually we will be doing exactly that at several positions.
Oh well. I may look like an overly-optimistic fool next week, but have faith in Dak Prescott to lead us to the promised land. We play LSU on September 12, and both fanbases are 100% sure of a win. One of us is going to get a rough dose of reality that day, and I sure hope it's not us.
