Georgia at Auburn 11/10
Alabama will enter the year as the top-ranked team on most preseason lists, but Georgia looked like the better team during the first half of the National Championship Game this past January. On top of that, former Saban assistant Kirby Smart has been outdoing his mentor on the recruiting trail. The Bulldogs have five-star recruits all over the field. And despite returning quarterback Jake Fromm bringing Georgia to the biggest stage as a freshman last season, they also brought in prized recruit Justin Fields to challenge him. Fields was one of the most highly-touted high school quarterbacks in the nation last year. He will find a way to have an impact even if he doesn’t wrestle the starting job away to start the season.
While the Crimson Tide dominated the conversation in the SEC, it’s easy to forget that they didn’t even represent their division in the 2017 conference title game. That was Auburn, who beat the eventual champions handily before losing to Georgia in their rematch (The Tigers trounced the Bulldogs 40-17 earlier in the season). Behind Jarrett Stidham and a ferocious defense, Auburn is the biggest threat to both Georgia and Alabama in 2018.
