Greg McElroy explains why the SEC appears wide open entering 2023 season
The SEC could be very wide open during the 2023 season, according to former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy.
There’s a bevy of contenders such as Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, LSU and more. Yes, that’s what’s happening in the SEC right now: everyone is trending up.
McElroy joined On3’s J.D. PicKell on The Hard Count and broke down the lay of the land in the SEC.
“Well, I mean not mentioned there is LSU who’s going into year two under Brian Kelly, a team that really over achieved last year,” McElroy said when PicKell mentioned contenders. “I think the sky’s the limit, right? I mean, you should feel very excited around Baton Rouge about what comes back and, and understanding that even though some of the guys that depart the program are ultimately going to hurt the program, because of their departure. So I think LSU is a team that’s on the rise. And if you look at it, just tell me how many teams right now in the SEC don’t feel like the arrow is pointing up? Because there’s not many.”
McElroy practically mentioned the entire conference as a team with an arrow pointing up.
“I think if you go across the board,” McElroy said. “Vanderbilt arrow pointing up … Vanderbilt is better under Clark Lea than they were under Derrick Mason at the end of his tenure. Kentucky right now pointing up. Tennessee, arrow feels like it’s pointing up. South Carolina, arrow feels like it’s pointing up. Florida would be one where you’re like ‘I’m not really sure right now.’ But last year after you get dragged by four touchdowns against Oregon State, not sure you can go any lower than that. Now the schedule is tough this year. And ultimately you might have to go down just a little bit before you start to ramp up. But that’s all part of the natural process of building a program at the foundational level and can’t get any worse than they were last year.
“Ole Miss is a little bit of a question mark. I think last year there were a question mark and somehow found a way to be pretty dang competitive, especially knowing that they lost so many pieces on one of the best teams in program history. Mississippi State‘s a bit of a question mark but you gotta think the arrow might be pointing up. They’ve done a pretty good job defensively. The last couple of years now they’re going to complement that defense with the quality run game with what they bring in now as a new offensive coordinator that’s going to be a little bit more balanced. Missouri feels pretty steady.”
Even with a team like Auburn, the arrow is pointing up according to McElroy when it comes to the SEC.
“I mean, to me, I think you’d have to honestly work hard to find teams throughout the footprint right now that don’t feel like things are getting better,” McElroy said. “Auburn things feel like they’re getting better. I think everyone feels like they’re on the upswing. Now, ultimately, you can’t win every game. They got to play each other. So it’s going to come down to matchups, but I think if you asked or to take the temperature of most fan bases in the SEC, they all feel pretty good about where they’re at. And I think most of them probably feel like the best is in front of them.”