Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press
The SEC has been regarded as the best football conference in the country for the past decade, though last season, it did show cracks in the foundation, even as Alabama was one second away from winning its fifth national title since 2009.
It's a conference built primarily on dominant defenses, like Alabama, LSU and Florida, with vanilla offenses that do just enough to not lose games.
Washington State head coach Mike Leach, who spent two seasons as Kentucky's offensive coordinator from 1997-98, is an innovative offensive mind who thinks SEC offenses are too predictable.