In prime time, LSU demolished Virginia Tech in Death Valley, while South Florida upset Auburn on The Plains.

This could be the year Vanderbilt snaps its painful string of 24 consecutive losing seasons. When you combine a roster loaded with experience, some star power and a schedule that features eight home games, you have all of the necessary ingredients for a six- or seven-win season in Nashville.

The Heisman Trophy runner-up and Doak Walker award winner, Darren McFadden, returns to a team that won the SEC West. So does Felix Jones, another 1,000-yard rusher. The hopes of the 2007 Arkansas season rest on the shoulders of these two backs as the entire Razorback nation looks to get over a turbulent offseason.

Those young Gators will have to grow up quickly if they hope to come close to duplicating the success of last season. Florida must replace virtually all of its defense and a four-year starter at quarterback. The Gators face a rough schedule that features home games against Tennessee, Auburn and Florida State, the annual tussle with Georgia and a visit to LSU.

There are exclamation points ? most notably the return of a more seasoned Matthew Stafford ? and there are also question marks. The offensive line is inexperienced, the wide receivers are underachieving, and the defensive ends and most of the linebackers are just flat gone. One thing is for sure. It should be one heck of a year in Athens.

The Tigers go into the 2007 season with lofty and realistic expectations of battling for the national championship. And perhaps it?s not a coincidence that Les Miles? stamp on the Tigers is more obvious now than it was in his first two seasons.

Alabama is not deep, and its defensive front is suspect in size, numbers and talent. However, a big pack of skill players returns on offense. Couple that with Alabama's good-schedule year and maybe Nick Saban can pull a surprise in his first season in Tuscaloosa.

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