🏈 Seven SEC teams in ESPN power rankings: Bama in at #2

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As college football's new playoff era gets started, ESPN has assembled its own 13-member committee to come up with a Top 25 Power Rankings. Florida State is the No. 1 overall team, while Alabama leads the SEC contingent at No. 2. Other SEC teams in the rankings are Auburn, South Carolina, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss and Texas A&M. Click here to find out where they landed. Meanwhile, Insider's Travis Haney makes the case four teams that should have made the power rankings , including two from the SEC.

ESPN's SEC Blog—Continue reading...

 

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Is the Tide finally receding?
Alex Scarborough | ESPN.com




There was an inescapable feeling watching Jacob Coker in a private workout this spring. He was a model QB: 6-foot-5, 230 pounds, athletic with arm strength and full of moxie. But there was still this nagging sense that he shouldn't even have been in Mobile.

Maybe it was the pouring rain. Or the way his crimson shirt clashed with his scarlet-and-gold cleats. Or the simple understanding that he'll always be linked to FSU -- the job he lost to Jameis Winston, the Noles apparel still in his closet, his shiny BCS title ring.

But Coker, who threw only 41 times in his three years at FSU, could just as easily be a lemon as the leader of Alabama's next juggernaut. Either way, Nick Saban is all-in on the former three-star prep. This isn't a move of choice but of desperation. If it fails, the blame goes to Saban and staff. After three straight No. 1 recruiting classes, you'd think there'd be a decent arm on the roster. But if Coker hadn't transferred, the Tide simply wouldn't be in the playoff mix.

Saban needs Coker to be as advertised. If not, Bama will be an outsider looking in at the new playoff.


PHIL STEELE'S SHARP EDGE
Bama has won three national titles under Saban, two of them with first-year starting QBs. Coker gets the benefit of my No. 1 set of RBs, my No. 2 WR unit and my No. 8 line. And each of Bama's defensive units is top-10. As for the schedule, it could be bumpy. The Tide have been favored in 54 straight games coming into '14, which is tied with FSU (1997-2001) for the longest streak in the past 20 years. I have Bama favored in every game, but three are by only single digits (at Ole Miss, at LSU and Auburn), with the trip to Baton Rouge being the shortest odds at minus-3.

TRAVIS HANEY'S TAKEAWAYS
PLUS The Saban Way. Bama won three of the past five BCS titles, without a Tebow or a Johnny or a Jameis. Coker doesn't even have to be a Greg McElroy -- that's how much rival coaches believe in Saban's ability to develop at every other position.

MINUS The hurry-up offense. Bama's D could not slow down A&M, Auburn or OU. So Saban turned to Baylor's Art Briles for tips on how to run it, likely in order to stop it. We'll see what he learned.



FPI'S LONGEST SHOTS
Alabama's chances vs. its toughest foes.

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BROCK HUARD'S QUICK SLANT
I know Baton Rouge is a brutal road environment, and this game has typically been close. But the bright lights could very well backfire on LSU's hyped freshmen against a dominant Bama D. I think this should be closer an 80-percent lock than a toss-up.

 

[alabama mike]

The best conference in the country should have more teams in the power rankings. I just hope at the end of the year we still have more teams listed than any other conference with Bama leading the way of course.