SEC win projections — Alabama: 9.5
One of the biggest storylines of this season will be how the Alabama Crimson Tide fare in their first season after Nick Saban’s retirement. The Tide made a great hire in Kalen DeBoer—likely the best coach available to them, outside of possibly Dan Lanning due to the latter’s recruiting acumen and connections in the area—but no coach will immediately live up to what Saban was able to in Tuscaloosa.
Alabama faces a decently tough schedule this year, traveling to LSU and hosting Georgia. They avoid the Longhorns, Aggies, and Rebels, however. The biggest question here is whether the Tide can avoid the kind of slumps that DeBoer’s Washington team would find themselves in from time to time, such as a mere 15-7 win over 3-9 Arizona State last year. You can’t afford to have games like that in the SEC. I’ll go UNDER for the regular season.