Roundtable: Predicting Where LSU, SEC Football Teams Will Finish in the Conference Rankings in 2020

While there is serious doubt about whether a season will occur this fall, there were hardly any disagreements when choosing the rankings for how the SEC teams would fare in conference play. With the potential of the SEC eventually deciding to move to an all-conference schedule, this was a timely exercise.

Sports Illustrated’s SEC Publishers were in complete agreement about three things when voting on how the league’s 2020 football season will finish, but not about which team will eventually be crowned champion.

Alabama was the unanimous pick to win the West, while Arkansas and Vanderbilt were pegged for last in their respective divisions on every ballot cast in the preseason poll. The Crimson Tide received the most votes to win the league title, with Florida a distant second and Georgia third.

Last week, Alabama topped all teams with 10 first-team selections, and 12 overall when SI Publishers selected their 2020 Preseason All-SEC teams. LSU had seven players between the All-SEC first and second teams, headlined by receiver Ja'Marr Chase and cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. Here's the projected order of finish, by division:

East Division

Georgia
Florida
Tennessee
Kentucky
South Carolina
Missouri
Vanderbilt

West Division

Alabama
LSU
Auburn
Texas A&M
Ole Miss
Mississippi State
Arkansas

The closest votes were for third in the East, between Kentucky and Tennessee, and for fifth in the West with Ole Miss and Mississippi State.

The 2020 SEC Media Days were scheduled to kick off in Atlanta on Monday, but have been postponed until a course of action for the season during the coronavirus pandemic can be determined. Instead, the league held a meeting for the athletic directors in Birmingham.

“It is clear that current circumstances related to COVID-19 must improve and we will continue to closely monitor developments around the virus on a daily basis," Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement. "In the coming weeks we will continue to meet regularly with campus leaders via videoconferences and gather relevant information while guided by medical advisors. We believe that late July will provide the best clarity for making the important decisions ahead of us."

Only seven times since 1992 has the predicted champion at media days won the SEC Championship Game. Alabama was picked to defeat Georgia last year, and will be the likely favorite again if the 2020 media days poll is conducted.

Notes from around the SEC:

LSU

Over the weekend, the Tigers landed their 16th commitment of the 2021 class in inside linebacker Greg Penn.

The Tigers have been business as usual despite the ever growing chances that a college football season seems to be, at the very least, on the precipice of dramatic change. Coach Ed Orgeron said in an interview last week that he has been told the season will be played “in all likelihood.”

Alabama

With the Pac-12 deciding to play only conference games this season, Alabama lost its marquee opener against USC in Arlington, Texas. The teams opened the 2016 season there and the Crimson Tide won 52-6. Alabama was set to receive a $6 million payout for the neutral-site game. Back in May, Alabama and TCU, which was scheduled to open at Cal, were reportedly discussing playing as a contingency plan.

"As I've said before, USC AD Mike Bohn and I had multiple conversations over the last several months, and we were both planning on playing the football game on September 5 in Arlington," Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne said in a release. "With the PAC-12's decision to move to a conference-only schedule, we will do our best to adjust. What that looks like is to be determined."

Alabama has a little motivation to play this season as it’s spent $107 million on improvement to Bryant-Denny Stadium, including extra to have the project completed before its home opener. Despite two reported outbreaks of the coronavirus among construction workers, it’s still on pace to be finished before hosting Georgia State on Sept. 12.

South Carolina

This week the Gamecocks received commitment from four-star defensive end George Wilson Jr.

As fear mounts about the cancellation of the annual Clemson-Carolina game as well as the season in general, SC athletic director maintains that the Gamecocks will play.