Prediction:
7-5 (4-4 West)

After a tough opening game against Clemson, the Tide will have 3 breathers before traveling to Athens -- how they fare in that game will speak volumes about their season.

After their annual October showdown against Tennessee, the Tide catches another breather with OOC opponent Arkansas State before fishining the season with three tough contests. While we're picking 'Bama to end its slide against Auburn, we're expecting the Sly Croom curse to continue on to three games.

Key Game(s): vs Clemson, at Tennessee, at LSU, Auburn

Prediction:
4-8 (1-7 West)

This looks to be a rebuilding year for the Hogs, having to break in a new head coach (Bobby Petrino), and adjust to the loss of NFL draftees. The OOC slate is managable, only having to travel to Austin to face longtime rival Texas. While they won there in '03, we're not expecting the same.

The only conference win we're predicting is when Ole Miss comes to Fayetteville in late October. The rest of the West division is too strong for us to expect Arkansas to do any better than that.

Key Game(s): Florida, at Mississippi State, LSU

Prediction:
9-3 (6-2 West)

A trip to Morgantown, WV headlines an otherwise mundane OOC slate, in which we expect the Tigers to go 3-1. After facing Florida the last 2 seasons, they are replaced by Tennessee in what could be a conference title preview. We have the LSU game circled, as it will be one of this seasons' biggest games.

Could its Iron Bowl matchup with Alabama decide the SEC West crown...?

Key Game(s): at Mississippi State, LSU, at West Virginia, at Alabama

Prediction:
11-1 (7-1 East)

Every now and then, a team's schedule just seems to fall into place, and with this lineup, we would not be surprised if the Gators actually went undefeated. Florida catches a huge break not having to face Auburn, Alabama, or Mississippi State, and they are catching Arkansas in a rebuilding year.

It's always good to see Florida and Miami play against each other, and we get that treat in Week 2.

Key Game(s): at Tennessee, LSU

Prediction:
9-3 (5-3 East)

Sure, the 'Dawgs are preseason #1, but with this schedule, we're not even sure they'll finish second in the East division. If they go 3-0 against LSU, Florida, and Auburn, make reservations for the SEC title game.

Kudos for going out west and facing Arizona State. The rest of the OOC is cupcake-city.

Key Game(s): at Arizona State, vs Florida, at Auburn

Prediction:
7-5 (3-5 East)

Given this schedule, we would not be surprised to see the Wildcats make a top-25 run, only to see them fall apart at season's end.

Kentucky can easily be 6-1 heading into a key division matchup at Florida, followed by difficult matchups with Mississippi State and Georgia. Overall, we can see another bowl-eligible season for this squad, although we don't expect another shocking victory like last season's LSU upset.

Key Game(s): at Louisville, South Carolina, Georgia

Prediction:
9-3 (5-3 West)

Despite having the defending FCS champs on the schedule, LSU will have one of the easiest OOC schedules this season, and will have little trouble going 4-0.

If the Tigers can survive the middle of the schedule, it wouldn't be entirely out of the question to see them go 11-1, since they finish with 4 home games in their last 5 contests.

Key Game(s): at Auburn, at Florida, Georgia

Prediction:
6-6 (3-5 West)

Can Houston Nutt transform this squad into a competitive unit and compete for the SEC West crown? Maybe not, but with this schedule, a bowl appearance is certainly not out of the question.

And, as a result of last season's coaching turmoil, an "Ole Miss vs. Arkansas" game is actually one worth watching. Can Nutt's new players beat his old ones?

Key Game(s): at Alabama, at Arkansas, Auburn, Mississippi State

Prediction:
9-3 (5-3 West)

We're expecting the Bulldogs to be one of this nation's darkhorse teams, capable of challenging for the SEC West.

While its OOC slate isn't as soft as LSU's, anything short of 4-0 would be a disappointment. Conference-wise, the only two road blocks we see are the trips to Baton Rouge and Knoxville. If Sly Croom has his team mentally prepared, we won't be totally suprised to see them win one of those.

Look out -- these 'Dogs are on the way back!

Key Game(s): Auburn, at LSU, Ole Miss

Prediction:
6-6 (4-4 East)

The Ol' Ball Coach talked about retiring during the offseason. After going through this schedule, will that chatter continue...?

Even with UAB and Wofford on the schedule, the overall slate of games is lending itself to "barely getting to bowl-eligibility" results.

The Gamecocks open up with an old ACC-rival, NC State (the return date is in '09), and that is sure to be an exciting opening contest -- yeah, we have NC State predicted to win, but it's not like we haven't been wrong before.

On the SEC front, the good news is that Tennessee, Georgia, and LSU come to Columbia, but the bad news is we think those three games are tough matchups for South Carolina.

Key Game(s): NC State, Georgia, Tennessee, at Clemson

Prediction:
9-3 (5-3 East)

The defending East division champs certainly have the talent to repeat, but they'll have to win 3 big road games -- Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina -- to place itself in position to repeat.

The Vols will be looking to avenge last seasons's blowout loss to Florida, as they play host to the Gators in mid-September -- winner will likely have the inside-track to the division crown.

Tennessee's OOC slate is not shabby, with the season opener in LA, and facing some quality mid-major outfits in UAB, Northern Illinois and Wyoming. We think they'll go 4-0 against that slate.

Key Game(s): Florida, at Auburn, at Georgia, Alabama, at South Carolina

Prediction:
1-11 (0-8 East)

After making tremendous strides over the last two(2) seasons, it's not easy to think that Vandy would slide this much, but their schedule does them NO favors.

We even believe Duke will be better than expected when they travel to Nashville, and their new coach (D. Cutcliffe) knows the Commodores pretty well.

Key Game(s): at Miami(OH), South Carolina, Duke, Tennessee