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Every SEC football season is its own real-life, three-month, made-for-mayhem movie. And though there are always themes that carry over into the next season like, say, Alabama dominating, the same scripts rarely repeat themselves.
With that, here are 10 things that happened in the 2015 season that we can’t envision a sequel for in 2016:
1. Auburn won’t finish last in the SEC West: A glance at those final 2015 SEC standings can make you cringe when seeing the tradition-rich Tigers at the bottom with a 2-6 record. Well, Alabama fans probably didn’t mind. But facing national runner-up Clemson at home in the 2016 season opener should bring out Auburn’s best right away, which should carry over into the conference season.
With another top-10 recruiting class to sprinkle onto its roster, a new defensive coordinator in Kevin Steele and defensive end Carl Lawson returning, you just can’t picture the program of Bo Jackson and Cam Newton sitting in the cellar again.
2. Missouri won’t be outscored by Vanderbilt: Tigers fans don’t want to hear it, that their anemic offense scored just 163 points last season during a nightmare 1-7 SEC campaign, this after winning the SEC East title the previous two seasons. Vanderbilt scored 182 points in 2015, but the Commodores won’t outscore the Tigers again.
This doesn’t mean Missouri will be an offensive juggernaut. But with quarterback Drew Lock having a season under his belt, a new offensive coordinator in Josh Heupel putting his stamp on Missouri’s attack and even a new offensive line coach in Glen Elarbee demanding better from his revamped line, the Tigers seem to have more than enough fuel to get moving in the right direction offensively.
3. Leonard Fournette won’t fade late in the season: LSU’s dynamic running back was a Heisman frontrunner going into November, but by the end of the month he didn’t even get an invite to New York for the ceremony. The fall began Nov. 7 when the Tigers were blitzed in Tuscaloosa, as Fournette was held to an eye-popping 31 yards on 19 carries in a 30-16 loss that shattered LSU’s national title hopes and Fournette’s Heisman dreams.
Fournette was held to 91 yards the next week in a home loss to Arkansas and that was that, as he finished sixth in the Heisman voting.
Fournette won’t fall off the cliff again this November. He’s too talented and now one year older and wiser. And this time around he’ll have that home crowd in Baton Rouge behind him against Bama on Nov. 5.
4. Florida will not win the SEC East: This doesn’t mean the Gators won’t be good. But last year they got away with winning a lot of close games (to their credit) and got by with an anemic offense that was ultimately exposed by Alabama in the SEC title game. This time, Tennessee, with its dynamic running attack, or Georgia, with its dynamic running attack and Kirby Smart on the sidelines, will outlast Florida and go to Atlanta instead.
The Gators have to go to Knoxville and face a Volunteers team with revenge on its mind after a brutal loss in Gainesville last year. And put Georgia in that revenge pool, too, when the teams meet in Jacksonville.
5. Alabama won’t go undefeated on the road: This doesn’t mean the Crimson Tide can’t repeat as national champs. Last year, they lost to Ole Miss at home and then ran the table, going 4-0 in true road games along the way.
Yes, there will be a ton of talent reinforcements, as always in Tuscaloosa. But with a new quarterback and no Derrick Henry, there will be a few too many potential potholes on that road back to glory, including a rugged quartet of trips to Ole Miss, Arkansas, Tennessee and LSU.
6. South Carolina won’t go winless on the road: Similar to Bama finally getting stung on the road, you just can’t imagine the Gamecocks going through another road schedule without a win in Will Muschamp’s first season. A prime chance comes on the first night of September when South Carolina visits Vanderbilt in the Thursday night opener.
Trips to Mississippi State and Kentucky later in September also provide strong chances for the Gamecocks to break through after going 0-5 away from Columbia last fall.
7. Kentucky won’t finish with a losing record: The Wildcats finished 5-7 again last season, so breaking even at 6-6 this fall is just another win away, and Kentucky should be good for getting that with the return of its top three receivers, quarterback Drew Barker established as the starter and a fine running back tandem of Stanley “Boom” Williams and Jojo Kemp. There’s also a new offensive coordinator, Eddie Gran, who coached with Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops at Florida State.
The defense? That could be a different story. But we aren’t saying the Wildcats will contend for the SEC East crown, just that they can go from 5-7 to 6-6 and head to a bowl game for the first time since 2010.
8. The SEC title game won’t be boring: Last season was tough watching Florida’s inept offense go against a brick wall in Alabama’s defense. It was an inevitable result, and the Gators couldn’t be blamed because getting to Atlanta was amazing enough led by their terrific defense in Jim McElwain’s first season as coach.
But we think there will be drama this December at the Georgia Dome, with the guess that either a high-octane offense from Georgia or Tennessee will be a better challenge to the SEC West representative’s defense — whether it’s Alabama’s or not.
9. Auburn won’t suffer another Week 2 letdown: The nightmare was about to happen at Jordan-Hare Stadium last Sept. 12, and then it didn’t, as the Tigers escaped 27-20 in overtime against Jacksonville State. It was, of course, the foreshadowing to a long season for Auburn.
But the Tigers won’t get caught off guard again, for two reasons. The first is having to play mighty Clemson in the season opener, which will open the Tigers’ eyes, whether in an upset win or an expected loss. And the second reason is that this year’s Week 2 non-SEC foe is Arkansas State, which went 8-0 in the Sun Belt last year and won nine games. The Red Wolves should surely have Auburn’s attention.
10. Bama won’t get to the 500-point mark, even if it plays 15 games again: Last season, led by the locomotive Henry, the Tide rolled up 526 points, capped by their 45-point effort against Clemson in the national title game.
The new quarterback and feature back will be ultra-talented, like always, but a slight step back, not to mention four potentially tough SEC road games, will knock that point total down a peg or two. Of course, if Bama does play the maximum 15 games again this season, nobody in Tuscaloosa will care about any point totals.
Cory Nightingale, a sports copy editor at the Miami Herald, lives for Saturdays. He especially enjoys the pageantry, tradition and history of SEC football.
