Academic Suspension: QB Ryan Perriloux. Actually, academics have little to do with the presumptive successor to Matt Flynn. Perriloux had special athletic ability but abysmal judgment off the field. It got so bad Les Miles finally had to kick him off the team, creating one more question on LSU's offense.
OLE MISS REBELS
Coach: Houston Nutt
2007: 3-9 overall, 0-8 in the SEC
Head of the Class: Veteran receivers and a non-Manning QB with a quick, strong arm have Rebel fans thinking they might be able to score the ball this year. QB Jevan Snead could be the best of a slew of new starting QBs in the SEC and he'll have a group of surehanded receivers who combined for a lot of catches last year.
Underachievers: The man with 100 names, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, has finally graduated and Ole Miss is going to have to find someone new to run the football. Enter freshman phenom Enrique Davis. Houston Nutt teams have always, always run the football well and Davis should get the first shot at being part of that.
Academic Suspension: The Rebels were 11th in the SEC in scoring defense last year. The improvement of the offense should give the defense a bit more time off, but that still doesn't answer whether returning nine starters is necessarily a good thing.
MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS
Coach: Sylvester Croom
2007: 8-5 overall, 4-4 in SEC
Head of the Class: The defending SEC Coach of the Year might be considered in some circles to be the weakest in a division that features Saban and Miles (both having won national titles), Tuberville (led a team that by all rights should have played for one), and offensive guru Petrino. Even Houston Nutt spent 10 years building Arkansas into a respectable team. Let's take a moment, though, and reflect on what a great job Sylvester Croom did last year, taking this team to the Liberty Bowl and winning it last year. Class? Croom is the dictionary definition of it, even if some think he'll be outdone by his competition.
Underachievers: State won a lot of games based on the power running game of Anthony Dixon and a big, physical defense. That type of play isn't sexy in a conference that loves to talk about how great it is, but it works. The problem with relying on toughness and effort against more talented teams is...that you're playing more talented teams. MSU was a feel good story last year, but these guys still don't have the top-to-bottom talent to play with the best teams in this league.
Article comments
1 - Pico
"Make no mistake, LSU was the best team in football last year but had to struggle to get to the title game in no small part because Les Miles is an appallingly bad game coach with a poor disposition."
For a minute there I thought that Josh wrote this piece ;-)