2001 SEC East Preview

I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let's start with typewriters.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

If you will indulge me in a cliché', the more things change, the more things stay the same. The Mighty Gators, who some have ranked pre-season #1, are once again loaded. With plenty of talent on both sides of the ball and a favorable schedule, the Gators are poised to make a run at another National Championship.
The biggest hurdles they will face are home games against Tennessee and the Criminoles, a road trip to Tiger Stadium (remember '97?) and the potential QB shuffle between Rex Grossman and Brock Berlin. Steve Spurrier is looking for a leader to emerge as Danny Wuerffel did in 1996 when he led the Gators to their only National Championship.

Tennessee is also extremely talented this year. But how can they beat the Gators in the Swamp when they can't win at home? UT hasn't won at Florida since the 70's. With this year's Gators, I don't give the Vols much chance of pulling the upset. But don't be surprised to see them go 10-1 and potentially make a BCS Bowl. They are loaded on both sides of the ball and Fulmer is a top notch coach.

Love him or hate him, one must acknowledge the fact that Lou Holtz can coach. After a brutal 0-11 campaign in 1999, the 2000 Gamecocks were the talk of college football. With another year in the system, QB Phil Petty should be able to effectively lead the offense. The big question is whether RB Derek Watson can stay out of trouble. If he does, the Gamecocks have a chance to challenge the big Bullies of the East.

Georgia made the very surprising decision to fire Jim Donnan after bringing the Dawgs to four straight bowls and coming away with four consecutive bowl victories. Mark Richt, the former offensive coordinator for the Criminoles gets his first stint as a head coach. Good luck. Playing in the East will be a real challenge, but Georgia starts the season with four straight home games which may allow the coaching staff to work out a few kinks and get a better feel for the squad.

For the second year in a row, Vandy will not finish last in the East. The Commodores can have a winning season, but they must take care of the three non-league games (MTSU, Duke and Richmond), then beat UK, Ole Miss on the road and steal one (Auburn at home?)

Kentucky is a mess. They will struggle mightily this year. A winless conference schedule is a definite possibility this season.