{"id":48642,"date":"2023-06-02T09:00:02","date_gmt":"2023-06-02T13:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=48642"},"modified":"2025-09-13T14:49:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T18:49:16","slug":"breaking-down-sec-west-win-totals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2023\/06\/02\/breaking-down-sec-west-win-totals\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking Down SEC West Win Totals"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The SEC West is the most difficult division in college football. Is that still true in 2023? <\/span>Georgia has won back-to-back national championships and has the highest win total<\/a> in the country at 11.5<\/span><\/span>. Looking back at the 2022 season, it was not up to the standard the division and fans <\/span>are accustomed<\/span><\/span> to. LSU beat Alabama and won the SEC West, but <\/span>was smoked by<\/span><\/span> Tennessee 40-13 in early October. Alabama had a “down” season that saw them lose two games by a combined four points to Tennessee and LSU.\u00a0Both Mississippi schools were 4-4 in conference play. Arkansas took a step back after a strong 2021. Internal turmoil at Auburn and Texas A&M led to disappointing 5-7 seasons. Can the SEC West rebound in 2023?\u00a0Here is a look at the projected SEC West win totals for the 2023 season.<\/span><\/div>\n
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We\u2019ve included each team\u2019s projected win total, non-conference opponents, and SEC East opponents, before offering our prediction for the 2023 season<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Breaking Down SEC West Win Totals<\/h2>\n

Alabama<\/h3>\n

O\/U:<\/strong> 10.5
\nNonconference Opponents:\u00a0<\/strong>Middle Tennessee (H), Texas (H), South Florida (A), Chattanooga
\nSEC East Opponents: <\/strong>Tennessee (H), Kentucky (A)
\nPrediction:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Under. <\/strong>Change seems to be the only constant in Tuscaloosa. <\/span>Nick Saban<\/strong> shook up his coordinators by bringing in Tommy Rees<\/strong> to run the Tide’s offense and Kevin Steele<\/strong> to run the defense<\/span><\/span>. <\/span>Rees is a former Notre Dame quarterback who spent the last six seasons in South Bend, the last three running the offense<\/span><\/span>. Alabama’s offense ranked <\/span>11th last year in total offense<\/span><\/a> and averaged 41.7 ppg under Bill O’Brien<\/strong>. Notre Dame was 60th in the country, averaging 31.8 ppg. Gone too are Bryce Young<\/strong> and Jamhyr Gibbs<\/strong> to the NFL<\/a>. Needless to say, there are more questions than answers heading into 2023 for the Tide.<\/span><\/p>\n

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This will be Steele’s third stint under Saban in Tuscaloosa. <\/span>This move comes in conjunction with hiring\u00a0Austin Armstrong<\/strong> as inside linebackers coach<\/span><\/span>. <\/span>Armstrong is one of the brightest young minds in college football and spent the last two seasons at Southern Miss as its defensive coordinator<\/span><\/span>. Steele is a veteran with stints at LSU, Auburn, and Clemson. <\/span>His challenge will be finding ways to limit the explosive plays that seemed to haunt Alabama’s secondary last season<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

LSU<\/h3>\n

O\/U: <\/strong>9.5
\nNonconference Opponents: <\/strong>Florida State (N), Grambling State (H),\u00a0 Army (H), Georgia State (H)
\nSEC East Opponents:\u00a0<\/strong>Missouri (A), Florida (H)
\nPrediction:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over.<\/strong>\u00a0Brian Kelly<\/strong> had his doubters heading into the 2022 season. <\/span>From talking about his “family” at his introduction to dancing with recruits, many were waiting for the Tigers to stumble<\/span><\/span>. Kelly is too good of a coach and his track record shows he can build a strong program and win wherever he goes. <\/span>Kelly overcame a blocked extra point against the Seminoles and a blowout loss to the Volunteers to lead the Tigers to wins over Alabama and win the SEC West<\/span><\/span>. <\/span>Jayden Daniels<\/strong><\/a> returns to lead the offense in 2023 and Harold Perkins Jr.<\/strong> <\/a>will be one of the top defensive players in the country<\/span><\/span>. A second straight trip to Atlanta is not out of the cards for LSU. <\/span><\/p>\n

Texas A&M<\/h3>\n

O\/U: <\/strong>7.5
\nNonconference Opponents: <\/strong>New Mexico, Miami (A), Lousiana-Monroe (H), Abilene Christian
\nSEC East Opponents: <\/strong>Tennessee (A), South Carolina (H)
\nPrediction:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Under. <\/strong>After a disastrous 2022 season, the Aggies went from ranked No. 6 in the preseason to finishing the year 5-7 and 2-6 in conference play. An $86 million dollar buyout kept Jimbo Fisher<\/strong> from <\/span>being fired<\/span><\/span>. At one time, Fisher <\/span>was considered<\/span><\/span> one of the top offensive play callers in the game. Last season, proved that is no longer the case. The Aggies finished 93rd in the country in total offense. <\/span>Bobby Petrino<\/strong> and Steve Addazio <\/strong><\/span><\/span>were hired<\/span><\/span> in the offseason to help resurrect the offense<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Petrino is one of the top offensive coaches in the game. Given the opportunity, he has a chance to help the Aggies rebound. Fisher told the media this Spring that “the plan” is for Petrino to call plays, but there won’t be a lot of changes in the scheme but rather focus on execution<\/span>. <\/span>Regardless of what happens on the field, Fisher, Petrino, and Addazio all have strong personalities that should lead to plenty of off-field intrigue<\/span><\/span>. <\/span>A soft nonconference schedule may prove the Aggie’s only saving grace in 2023. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Arkansas<\/h3>\n

O\/U: <\/strong>7
\nNonconference Opponents:\u00a0<\/strong>Western Carolina (H), Kent State (H), BYU (H), FIU (H)
\nSEC East Opponents: <\/strong>Florida (A), Missouri (H)
\nPrediction:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over.<\/strong> Arkansas took a small step back in 2022 after winning nine games in 2021. Two two-point losses to Texas A&M and Liberty took some of the shine off Sam Pittman’s<\/strong> third season in Fayetteville. Dan Enos<\/strong> steps in as offensive coordinator to fill the void left after Kendall Briles<\/strong> left to take over the play-calling duties at TCU. This is Enos’s second stint in Fayetteville after serving as Bret Bielema’s offensive coordinator from 2015-0217. Enos has KJ Jefferson<\/strong><\/a> returning at quarterback. Jefferson started in 11 of 13 games for the Razorbacks in 2022 passing for 2,648 yards, 24 touchdowns, and just five interceptions. A favorable non-conference schedule and two of the lesser SEC East Teams should see Pittman and Arkansas back with eight or nine wins.<\/p>\n

Auburn<\/h3>\n

O\/U: <\/strong>6.5
\nNonconference Opponents:\u00a0<\/strong>UMass (H), Cal (H), Samford (H), New Mexico State (H)
\nSEC East Opponents:\u00a0<\/strong>Georgia (H), Vanderbilt (A)
\nPrediction:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Under. <\/strong>The Bryan Harsin<\/strong> experiment is over on The Plains. Auburn fans clamored for Auburn AD\u00a0 John Coehn<\/strong> to swing big and bring in Lane Kiffin<\/strong> or Hugh Freeze<\/strong> to Auburn. The newly hired Cohen took a leap and hired Freeze<\/a> from Liberty. Freeze had tremendous success in his short time in Oxford defeating Alabama in back-to-back seasons in 2014 and 2015. The party for Freeze at Ole Miss as soon as started. Freeze resigned in the summer of 2017 under recruiting sanction and personal conduct allegations. Freeze resurfaced again at Liberty and went 34-15 as the head coach of the Flames. Expectations will be high in Auburn.<\/p>\n

The Tigers have fallen behind top rivals Georgia and Alabama on the field and in recruiting. Georgia has won 9 of the last 10 games in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry and Auburn is 3-7 against Alabama in the Iron Bowl. After falling behind in recruiting, many expected Freeze to dive head-first into the transfer portal this season. Auburn ranks 23rd in the country and is relying upon Michigan State transfer quarterback Payton Thorne<\/strong> to guide them<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ole Miss<\/h3>\n

O\/U: <\/strong>6.5
\nNonconference Opponents: <\/strong>Mercer (H), Tulane (A), Georgia Tech (H), Louisiana-M0nroe (H)
\nSEC East Opponents:\u00a0<\/strong>Vanderbilt (H), Georgia (A)
\nPrediction:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over. <\/strong>Lane Kiffin is college football’s Portal King, sorry Coach Prime. Kiffin will have three quarterbacks to choose from this Fall. Jaxson Dart<\/strong><\/a> (a transfer from USC in 2022) is the returning starter. After an uneven performance, Kiffin brought in Walker Howard<\/strong><\/a> (LSU) and Spencer Sanders<\/strong><\/a> (Oklahoma State) to push Dart. Kiffin promotes competition and knows he must use the Transfer Portal to make up for any shortcomings from high school recruiting. He’s not worried about hurting player’s feelings, but making the Rebels better. As he told ESPN, “Just like the pros, we can’t sign players based on your feelings.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Mississippi State<\/h3>\n

O\/U: <\/strong>6.5
\nNonconference Opponents:\u00a0<\/strong>Southern Louisiana (H), Arizona (H), Western Michigan (H)
\nSEC East Opponents:\u00a0<\/strong>South Carolina (A), Kentucky (H)
\nPrediction:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Under.\u00a0<\/strong>The pirate left before Stark Vegas really got to know him. Mississippi State and college football were rocked by the death of Mike Leach<\/a> in December following the end of the regular season. Leach seemed to be a natural fit in Starkville and had the Bulldogs trending in an upward direction. Leach’s Defensive Coordinator Zach Arnett<\/strong> steps in to fill Leach’s shoes. Arnett is a mastermind of the 3-3-5 defense and is just 36 years old. Gone with Leach is the Air Raid as most of the offensive staff has turned over. Mississippi State needs to do things differently to win. Leach did that with the Air Raid, will the 3-3-5 defense be enough?<\/p>\n

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Photo Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The SEC West is the most difficult division in college football. Is that still true in 2023? Georgia has won back-to-back national championships and has the highest win total in the country at 11.5. Looking back at the 2022 season, it was not up to the standard the division and fans are accustomed to. LSU […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4424,"featured_media":48647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"1294","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2,35582],"tags":[35,314,162,437,729,1546,438,495,86,3310,41,258,20,64],"class_list":["post-48642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sec","category-featured","category-ole-miss-rebels","tag-alabama-crimson-tide","tag-arkansas-razorbacks","tag-auburn-tigers","tag-bobby-petrino","tag-brian-kelly","tag-hugh-freeze","tag-jimbo-fisher","tag-lane-kiffin","tag-lsu-tigers","tag-mississippi-state","tag-nick-saban","tag-ole-miss-rebels","tag-sec","tag-texas-am-aggies"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4424"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48642"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78056,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48642\/revisions\/78056"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}