Early SEC look, looks the same

The juniors have declared their departure for the NFL draft, and recruiting is all done. It's an appropriate time for an early peek at the next SEC football season.
You won't have to look long to conclude that it won't look all that different from the last season. That's a testament to the staying power of Alabama and Florida.
National champion Alabama lost all but three starters from a defense that routinely overwhelmed its opposition. Florida lost five juniors to the NFL.
But both will be favored to meet for the third consecutive time in the SEC championship game.
That tells you something about the consistently top-flight recruiting of Alabama's Nick Saban and Florida's Urban Meyer. It also tells you something about the rest of the conference.
Georgia returns 10 offensive starters and has revamped its defensive coaching staff. It still looks more like a program on the wane than a championship contender.
South Carolina is inching its way upward under Steve Spurrier, but the offense still lags behind the defense.
LSU's Les Miles has come close to matching the recruiting of his predecessor, Saban, but - even after winning a national title just two years ago - his game-day management is drawing more comparisons to another former LSU coach, Curley Hallman.
Arkansas' Bobby Petrino might rank behind only Saban and Meyer among SEC coaches.However, for all the progress he has made in two years on the job, he doesn't have enough defense to win a championship.
Auburn gained ground under first-year head coach Gene Chizik, and Gus Malzahn worked wonders with its offense. But its depth of talent is still lacking.
Tennessee is rebuilding under a first-year coach. Sound familiar?
Ole Miss, which was a consensus top-10 pick last preseason, is headed south. Fast.
It's just hard to envision a championship contender among them, even though the favorites must negotiate more difficult schedules, highlighted by a mid-season Gators-Tide match-up in Tuscaloosa. Florida plays LSU the next week, followed by Mississippi State, a team that has traditionally given it trouble.
Alabama's SEC schedule is even tougher. Its game with Florida is sandwiched between trips to Arkansas and South Carolina.
But the rest of the SEC might tell you that stretch of schedule isn't as daunting as any Saturday against Alabama.