Alabama, the magazine writers seem to have jumped on the Crimson Tide bandwagon early. I believe Alabama is highly overrated.

After getting beat by Utah in the Sugar Bowl, that should have shown the writers something. In the end, Ole Miss will be headed to Atlanta in December, but the Rebels need to watch out because they have two key games. The first is Alabama October 10 at home. On November 28, they travel to Starkville where the Bulldogs, under new leadership, will seek revenge from a 45-0 thrashing last season.

Mississippi State finally has a key component in its system that it hasn’t had in a long time. That would be a field goal kicker.

With new head coach Dan Mullen implementing the spread offense, there should be plenty of excitement in Starkville, and Sean Brauchle will add a much needed kicker. The Dogs will win the games they’re supposed to with an upset here and there.

SEC West predictions

Ole Miss-1, Alabama-2, LSU-3. Mississippi State-4, Arkansas-5, Auburn-6. In the SEC East, Florida-1, Tennessee-2, Georgia-3. South Carolina-4, Vanderbilt-5, Kentucky-6.

John Blackledge is a sports reporter for the Laurel Leader -Call. He may be reached at 601-428-0551, or by e-mail at llcsportswriter@gmail.com.