Question: Which SEC West team will be our biggest threat going forward?

It is a hard question to answer.

And perhaps a better way to phrase the question is to ask if you see any other SEC West program that you would classify as "on the rise"?

LSU has more talent than any SEC West team not named the Crimson Tide, but does anybody fear them under Ed Orgeron more than they did under Les Miles?

Coach O may recruit at an elite clip, may modernize their offense with a hot-shot coordinator, and may get them to play at a sky-high and adrenaline-fueled level for a big game or two, but who among us thinks he is equipped to lead a team through the pressure-filled gauntlet of a full season at a championship level?

Auburn seems to be regressing offensively under Gus, as teams have adjusted to stop his trick-bag offense and his shortcut-laden recruiting has left him lacking the right playmakers to run it.

Ole Miss has returned to Planet Earth and the NCAA is still lurking (the cloud of uncertainty may hurt worse than the actual penalties—who knows?—but it hurts nonetheless). Unless Freeze finds a miracle worker to resurrect his defense, 5 to 7 wins per year seem logical going forward.

Arkansas seems stuck in neutral, as middling recruiting classes have yielded middling results. Bret Bielema’s dream of turning the Hogs into a better-than-Big 10-style smashmouth team that nobody wants to play seems as elusive as ever.

Texas A&M? The strongest distinguishing characteristic of Kevin Sumlin’s last four Aggie teams has been their ability to wilt down the stretch.

Sadly for Mississippi State, Dak Prescott now wears Cowboy blue and silver instead of Bully maroon. It should be clear to any rational observer that Dan Mullen has maxed out the potential in Starkville, and should either move on to greener pastures or be satisfied that his best years at Bulldogs’ helm are probably behind him.

I would lean toward LSU being our biggest threat going forward, but not a huge threat. As I alluded above, Coach O may be able to get them sky-high to beat us at some point if they catch a few breaks, but they can’t play that way on emotions for a whole season.

45longcolt said:

I would lean toward the team with the most MONEY!!

That is the teams who are not already under the microscope!

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That's a tricky one, but the teams with the most money spent unethically in pursuit of us would be a close race between Auburn and Ole Miss.

Seems to me that Coach O is putting a ton of pressure on his yet-to-be-named/found offensive coordinator to transform the program from its current plateau into a title contender. It'll be interesting to see if they go whole-hog on a new system and try to shove a square peg in a round hole ala Tony Franklin under Tuberville or if they phase in a new system with the weapons they have. This is a situation where perhaps an offensive-minded head coach would have given a longer honeymoon/more rope to put a system in place than a "miracle worker" coordinator will.