However, after the NFL mined so many SEC powerhouses for NFL talent this offseason, the conference looks far less predictable \u2013 or dominant \u2013 on paper this season.<\/p>\n
Alabama (+170) <\/strong>couldn\u2019t repeat as national champs last season but certainly threatened and gains top favorite status for 2011. Quarterback Greg McIlroy graduated, leaving AJ McCarron and Phillip Sims to battle for the starting job. An undetermined quarterback situation would normally be a huge red flag for a national title contender but the Crimson Tide are just so strong everywhere else.<\/p>\n The offense will remain run-first, with Trent Richardson getting the job to himself and ready to flourish with Mark Ingram off to the NFL.<\/p>\n Alabama loses outstanding defenders to the pros every year \u2013 most recently Marcell Dareus \u2013 but always manages to field a powerhouse \u201cD\u201d anyway.<\/p>\n Florida (+175) <\/strong>is right on Alabama\u2019s heels among the SEC betting futures. With Charlie Weis taking over as offensive co-ordinator, the Gators\u2019 offense could explode. Weis is a much better fit for quarterback John Brantley, who has every starter at the other skill positions returning to support him. That said, the offensive line could be shaky, which is bad news considering Brantley isn\u2019t fleet of foot.<\/p>\n Worse yet, the Gators\u2019 secondary won\u2019t be what it was last year now that three of its key members used up their eligibility.<\/p>\n Is LSU (+450) <\/strong>a perfect team? No. The criticism for the Tigers starts and ends with Jordan Jefferson. The man threw four touchdown passes last season. Four! <\/em>If you believe LSU can fix him, however, you probably like the Tigers to win the conference.<\/p>\n Spencer Ware looks like he could be a monster at tailback and the Tigers\u2019 defense is an athletic group of playmakers led by Stefoin Francois, Ryan Baker and Morris Claiborne, who will be tested early and often this season now that Patrick Petersen is gone.<\/p>\n Georgia (+500) <\/strong>hopes to sneak up on the competition. Quarterback Aaron Murray showed promise as a freshman, throwing 24 touchdown pass versus eight picks. Then again, his numbers were possibly inflated by A.J. Green, the first receiver selected in this year\u2019s NFL draft.<\/p>\n Who\u2019s left for Murray to throw to? The best returning receiver caught 27 passes last season. \u00a0Eek. At least Georgia\u2019s pass defense should be solid with all four starters returning in the secondary. [soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n South Carolina (+650) <\/strong>is the boom\/bust pick. The Gamecocks showed plenty of promise last year, winning at Florida and beating Alabama at home. They have perhaps the conference\u2019s top runner in Marcus Lattimore, who ran for 17 scores at a freshman. Alshon Jeffry is a stud at wide receiver, too.<\/p>\n While the defense wasn\u2019t perfect, especially against the pass, it should improve. The country\u2019s top recruit, Jadeveon Clowney, could drastically improve the pass rush.<\/p>\n But the big wild card is Stephen Garcia. He\u2019s a crazy man who can\u2019t stop getting suspended. Will the team let him play? If not, South Carolina is in big trouble, as no other quarterback is ready to step in and helm Steve Spurrier\u2019s complex offense.<\/p>\n The general consensus is that the SEC will come down to the five teams above. There\u2019s a big gap from South Carolina to Arkansas (+1200). <\/strong>The Razorbacks have to move on without Ryan Mallett at quarterback and several pieces of their O-line.<\/p>\n In case you\u2019re wondering, the defending national champion Auburn Tigers <\/strong>are buried at +3000. <\/strong><\/p>\n That\u2019s no surprise considering they\u2019ve lost a whopping 16 starters, including Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton.<\/p>\n Very tough choice to make here but I lean toward LSU. Florida and Alabama lost too many key contributors and Garcia makes South Carolina too much of a risk. Many bettors like Georgia as a sleeper but I want to see Murray do it without Green.<\/p>\n I think LSU needs only a marginal improvement from Jefferson to be an elite team this season.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not a pipe dream to expect that.<\/p>\n Pick: LSU +450<\/strong><\/p>\n CappersPicks.com brings you the only college football handicapping<\/a> guide you\u2019ll need. Use the College football previews<\/a> for the 2011 NCAA football season to help you with your college football handicapping at our top sportsbooks online this season.<\/p>\n Looking for SEC Conference football betting odds? Use the College football previews for the 2011 NCAA football season to help you with your college football handicapping, right here at Cappers Picks handicapping online\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":195,"featured_media":40468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[28750,50450,1565,3007,50095,15290,16220,2567,31313,20190,1121,50451],"class_list":["post-40454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncaa-football","tag-28750","tag-2011-sec-conference-picks","tag-college-football-handicapping","tag-college-football-previews","tag-conference-futures","tag-ncaa-football-futures","tag-sec-conference","tag-sec-football","tag-sec-football-picks","tag-sec-gambling","tag-sec-odds","tag-southeastern-conference-picks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/195"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40454"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40512,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40454\/revisions\/40512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Alabama](\"http:\/\/www.capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/SEC-Conference-Football-Predictions-e1310589167577.jpg\" "\\"SEC")
THE FREE 2011 SEC CONFERENCE FOOTBALL PICK<\/h3>\n
CHECK OUT OUR BEST 2010 COLLEGE FOOTBALL CAPPERS – CLICK HERE!<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"