Alabama – With three BCS Championships in the past four years, the Crimson Tide enter the season as the overwhelming favorites to play for the crystal football in the Rose Bowl next January. With a returning core of QB A.J. McCarron, RB T.J. Yeldon, WR Amari Cooper, OT Cyrus Kouandjio, LB C.J. Mosley and S Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix, the pieces are in place to survive the gauntlet that is the SEC regular season. Oh yeah, having Nick Saban orchestrating the whole show helps a bit too.

Texas A&M – It’s hard to imagine Texas A&M having a better debut season in the SEC than the one they enjoyed in 2012. Not only did the Aggies win 11 games, including a Cotton Bowl smackdown of Oklahoma, but redshirt freshman Johnny Manziel dazzled the nation on his way to the Heisman Trophy. Johnny Football lost reliable left tackle Luke Joeckel, as well as speedy receiver Ryan Swope. But with WR Mike Evans returning and OT Jake Matthews sliding over to the blindside, Manziel had enough help to challenge ‘Bama for a spot in the SEC Championship Game.

LSU – No team lost a greater amount of underclassmen talent to the past NFL Draft than the Bayou Bengals. Fortunately for Les Miles and his coaching staff, the Tigers have recruited incredibly well over the last couple seasons, and there is enough talent to make a run at the conference crown. RB Jeremy Hill and WR Odell Beckham form the backbone of the offense, while DT Anthony Johnson and CBs Jalen Mills and Jalen Collins form a young defensive nucleus.

Ole Miss – Rebels coach Hugh Freeze has quickly worked his way up the coaching ranks, and did a great job guiding Ole Miss to a bowl game in his first season. The offense returns QB Bo Wallace and WR Donte Moncrief, while Freeze was able to reel in the best recruiting class in school history, including the nation’s No. 1 prospect in Robert Nkemdiche.

Mississippi State – The Bulldogs need to do all they can to hold onto Dan Mullen. The fifth-year head coach has turned State into a perennial bowl team, and could have his best team to date returning in 2013. With record-setting QB Tyler Russell and 1,000 yard rusher LaDarius Perkins back for MSU, the offense should be able to put points up on the board in bunches.

Auburn – There is nowhere to go but up for the Tigers, who endured a precipitous fall from grace over the last two seasons. New head coach Gus Malzahn must get his offense up to speed, which does return productive runner Tre Mason. Malzahn also brought in an excellent recruiting class, headlined by defensive linemen Carl Lawson and Montravious Adams, who could be big contributors right away.

Arkansas – The Razorbacks enjoyed a nightmarish season on the field and in the press, losing eight games and watching former coach Bobby Petrino become involved in an ugly extramarital affair. New coach Garrick McGee is charged with reinvigorating a program that appeared to be in the midst of a breakthrough just 12 months ago.

While the offense returns a ton of talent and experience, the defense will have to replace seven defense starters. However, the secondary should be a team strength, with All-American CB Bradley Roby and senior safeties C.J. Barnett and Christian Bryant returning to the starting lineup. Only one starting linebacker, Ryan Shazier, returns to the Buckeyes in 2013, but he happens to be one of the best LBs in the country. The biggest challenge will be replacing all four starters along the defensive line, including first team All-Big Ten picks John Simon and Johnathan Hankins. Fortunately for the Buckeyes, talented sophomores Noah Spence and Adolphus Washington appear poised for much bigger roles in their second seasons. If the defense can adequately replace some of last year’s departed standouts, the offense should be able to match up with any team in the country in a shootout, making the Buckeyes a serious threat to make their way to Pasadena for the final BCS Championship Game.

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Of course, more than a few teams will have something to say about that. The biggest challenge the Tide may face will come from within the division, as Texas A&M looks to take the next step forward in its second year in the SEC. Led by reigning Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel, the Aggies will be a huge challenge for the Tide, and A&M hosts the battle in College Station this year. Notre Dame looked overmatched in the title game in South Florida, but should be one of the favorites in 2013. QB Everett Golson should be even better as a sophomore, and the defense will have All-America candidate Stephon Tuitt. The Oregon Ducks will be without head coach Chip Kelly for the first time since 2008, but new head man Mark Helfrich should be fine in his first season, and he has the luxury of a proven star QB in Marcus Mariota. Urban Meyer helped guide Ohio State to a perfect 12-0 record last year, and now that the Buckeyes are eligible again, he and Heisman hopeful QB Braxton Miller should be in the BCS mix all year long. Georgia loses a lot of defensive talent, but brings back not only All-SEC QB Aaron Murray, but star RBs Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall. While Florida doesn’t return the offensive talent that UGA does, the Gator defense was one of the nation’s best in 2012, and Will Muschamp is close to locking up the country’s best recruiting class. Stanford has proven that it belongs among the nation’s elite the last three years, and head coach David Shaw may have the best offensive line in the country at his disposal. Any number of other contenders (Clemson, Florida State, Oklahoma, LSU, South Carolina) could force their name into the conversation as well. College football never ends, and the race to end the season in Pasadena in 2014 is already underway.

The Tide will lose a number of key seniors, with Barrett Jones, Chance Warmack, Jesse Williams and Robert Lester all exhausting their eligibility. Additionally, juniors such as Eddie Lacy, D.J. Fluker, C.J. Mosley and Dee Milliner may decide to forego their senior seasons and enter the 2013 Draft. But head coach Nick Saban has recruited so well in recent seasons that McCarron will still be surrounded by a wealth of talent. RB T.J. Yeldon has already proven himself to be an elite back in the SEC, and WR Amari Cooper is well on his way to becoming the best Tide receiver since Julio Jones. While the offensive line will need to rebuild, it will still be led by LT Cyrus Kouandjio, one of the most talented blindside protectors in the college game. On the defensive side of the ball, second-leading tackler Trey Depriest is coming off a successful true freshman campaign, while safeties Vinnie Sunseri and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix give the secondary plenty of returning experience as well. It is never too early to look ahead to next season, and Tide fans have to like the look of the team with McCarron back for one more campaign in 2013.

Alabama struggled on special teams during key points in 2011, but have done a good job of fixing those issues this year. Jeremy Shelley, the team’s short placekicker, has been automatic this year, connecting on all 11 of his attempts this year. Though he has not attempted a kick further than 38 yards, Shelley gives the Tide a reliable option on shorter kicks. Alabama’s long field goal kicker, Cade Foster, has only made 4-of-9 kicks in 2012, but never attempted a kick shorter than 40 yards, and also connected on a 52-yarder as well. While his accuracy is spotty, he has shown the ability to blast long field goals for the Tide. Alabama did have a FG attempt blocked against Georgia, so they will need to improve their protection against ND. Punter Cody Mandell was even better than Turk, averaging 43.8 yards per punt with only five touchbacks. The Crimson Tide did allow a kickoff return for a touchdown, but they were very good in punt coverage. Christion Jones is Alabama’s best returner, averaging 10.6 yards per punt return and 30.3 yards per kickoff return with a score, so he is dangerous when he gets his hands on the ball.

On the Notre Dame side of the ball, the Fighting Irish have been surprisingly stout against the pass. After losing first-round safety Harrison Smith, as well as starting corners Robert Blanton and Gary Gray from the 2011 squad, the Irish were not expected to perform this well in pass defense. New corners Bennett Jackson and KeiVarae Russell have played extremely well, combining for six interceptions and 12 pass defenses on the season. Zeke Motta does not make a lot of plays on the ball in coverage, but he is a sure tackler in the secondary. The pass defense was helped by the excellent pass rush, as Stephon Tuitt, Prince Shembo, Kapron Lewis-Moore and others combined for 34 sacks on the season. Of course, it helps to have a linebacker as good as Manti Te’o in coverage, and his seven interceptions are proof of his ability to disrupt opposing passing games. With the two sides so evenly matched in this facet of the game, one mistake or great play by either team could make a huge difference in the outcome of the contest.

The Tide are nearly as stout against the pass as they are against the run, and have a ton of talent in the secondary to work with. Dee Milliner turned in an All-American season at one of the cornerback spots, and Deion Belue and Geno Smith were solid opposite him. Alabama also has three great safeties in Robert Lester, Vinnie Sunseri and Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix, and all three will see the field often against the Irish. The Crimson Tide secondary combined for 15 interceptions on the season, so Golson will have to be very careful when throwing at this balanced, dangerous group. The Tide would seem to have the advantage in this area of the game, but Golson has continued to impress this season, and he does have a couple nice weapons in Eifert and Jones to work with. For tickets to the game, continue reading here!

The Notre Dame run defense revolves around Heisman Trophy runner-up Manti Te’o, who piled up a whopping 103 tackles. But besides Te’o, the front seven has been incredibly stout against the run as well. NT Louis Nix and DEs Stephon Tuitt and Kapron Lewis-Moore form a physically imposing front line on defense, often requiring multiple blockers to neutralize them, which frees up the rest of the unit to make plays on the ball carrier. Safety Zeke Motta is the team’s second-leading tackler, and the former linebacker often plays close to the line of scrimmage in order to help with run defense. While ND is fourth in the country in run defense, the most impressive statistic is that they have allowed only two rushing touchdowns all season. The Tide should find it very difficult to punch it into the endzone on the ground. This matchup may very well decide the ballgame, as it pits the biggest strengths of both teams against each other.

Defensively, the Tide will likely stack the box against the run and dare the Irish to throw the ball. Alabama runs a 3-4 defense more often than not, and the presence of massive nose tackle Jesse Williams in the middle of the line makes it very difficult for opponents to find running room inside the tackles. Even when the Tide have five DBs on the field, safeties Robert Lester and Vinnie Sunseri often function as an extra linebacker near the line of scrimmage. Nick Saban and Kirby Smart like to frequently rotate their defensive players in order to keep everyone fresh throughout the game, so the Irish may find it difficult to wear out this deep, talented unit. The one constant is LB C.J. Mosley, who is the unquestioned leader of the defense, and as the team’s leading tackler, he backs up his status with his play.

Return for Part Two, which will feature the matchup between the Tide rushing attack and the Irish run defense.

Tuitt also appears to have a very bright future with the NFL. Defensive ends in the 3-4 defense are incredibly valuable commodities, especially ones that can rush the passer as well as Tuitt can. With another year similar to the one he just had, the sophomore could hear his name called very early in the 2014 NFL Draft. The matchup with Alabama will be Tuitt’s toughest assignment all year, as the Tide have perhaps the best offensive line in all of college football, with NFL prospects throughout the unit. But if this year has taught Irish fans anything, it is that Tuitt is more than up for the challenge.