LSU should win the SEC, but count on this team to come out on top

After meeting in last year's SEC Championship Game, Georgia and LSU are expected to be major players in the conference again this season. Here's a look at why one of those teams should win the SEC in 2023 but why the other one will.

Who SHOULD WIN the SEC: LSU Tigers | Among the top competitors for the SEC crown, Brian Kelly's LSU Tigers are the only one to return their 2022 starting quarterback. Kirby Smart and Nick Saban are replacing Bryce Young (Alabama) and Stetson Bennett IV (Georgia) while LSU has fifth-year senior Jayden Daniels for one more year. 

The transfer from Arizona State hit his stride midway through the 2022 season as LSU won the SEC West in Kelly's first year in Baton Rouge. Daniels' favorite target, wide receiver Malik Nabers, returns as well. Both were named to the preseason All-SEC First-Team offense.

The defensive front seven could be the Tigers' best asset. Defensive tackle Maason Smith suffered a torn ACL in LSU's opener last season, but per the team's website, he is "fully recovered and enters 2023 with no limitations." In nine games (four starts) as a freshman, Smith had 19 tackles (five for loss) and four sacks. He was one of three Tigers to be named preseason All-SEC First-Team defense, along with fellow lineman Mekhi Wingo and linebacker Harold Perkins Jr., who ranks fourth in ESPN's list of best college football players this season. 

With so much in LSU's favor, what's stopping them from being the pick to win the SEC? 

The Tigers are young at cornerback, for starters. Transfers Zy Alexander (Southeastern) and Duce Chestnut (Syracuse) are the only upperclassmen on the roster. 

LSU demonstrated last season that handling success wasn't a strength. With a chance to keep themselves in a position for a potential College Football Playoff berth, the Tigers flopped in their regular-season finale against Jimbo Fisher and the lowly Texas A&M Aggies.

A road date at Alabama lurks as a major hurdle. After being one-upped last year, Saban will be eager to get revenge against Kelly this season.

Who WILL WIN the SEC: Georgia Bulldogs | Reloading Georgia, the defending national champ, has preseason All-SEC First-Team members wide receiver Ladd McConkey, tight end Brock Bowers and offensive linemen Amarius Mims, Tate Ratledge, Sedrick Van Pran to build around on offense.

Defensive linemen Nazir Stackhouse and Mykel Williams, linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson and defensive backs Kamari Lassiter, Javon Bullard and Malaki Starks were named to the preseason All-SEC First-Team defense. The team also returns Smael Mondon Jr., who led the team in tackles with 76 last season.

Quarterback is a gray area. Carson Beck will get the nod as Bennett's successor. Smart hinted that the offense might be a bit more conservative until Beck takes full command. 

"A lot of that's got to do with cutting down some of the offense, deciding what we want to use and really focusing in on that," Smart said when discussing the need for all of the team's quarterbacks to improve, per 24/7Sports.

One thing in Georgia's favor is its easy schedule, which will give Beck time to master the offense ahead of the team's toughest test, at Tennessee on Nov. 18. Home games against South Carolina (Sept. 16) and Ole Miss (Nov. 11) appear to be the only potential stumbling blocks before then.

At least one rival SEC defensive coordinator isn't concerned, describing Beck to ESPN as "ultra-talented" and only lacking experience. "From a pure NFL talent standpoint, they say he's got all the tools," he said

When the Bulldogs ultimately win the conference, it will be easy to undersell it as a given. That would be a disservice to this 2023 team.

For as much as Georgia's done over the past two seasons to establish itself as the conference's best program, there are plenty of reasons why it shouldn't win the SEC. It isn't easy to lose a two-time NCAA championship-winning quarterback, or eight players to the first round of the NFL Draft in a two-year span, and maintain a championship level of play. That will make Georgia's 2023 conference title taste that much sweeter.