ESPN College Football

We kick off our post-spring superlatives look at all 12 SEC teams with defending national champion Alabama.

Strongest position: Running back

Key returnees: Junior Mark Ingram (271 carries, 1,658 yards, 17 touchdowns), sophomore Trent Richardson (145 carries, 751 yards, eight touchdowns)

Key departures: Roy Upchurch (48 carries, 299 yards, two touchdowns)

The skinny: Good luck in finding a better and more explosive running back tandem anywhere in the country than Ingram and Richardson. Ingram is coming off a Heisman Trophy season in which he established himself as a punishing runner after contact. He also caught 32 passes for 334 yards and three touchdowns. Richardson is equally good after contact and has the kind of speed to turn missed tackles into touchdowns. Look for his carries to increase in 2010. The Crimson Tide will also add redshirt freshman Eddie Lacy to the mix. He would be starting for a lot of teams and showcased his talents with a very good spring. Alabama won’t have a problem in finding a way to utilize all three in the fall.

Weakest position: Secondary

Key returnees: Junior safety Mark Barron (seven interceptions, 18 passes defended, 76 tackles)

Key departures: Cornerback Javier Arenas (12 tackles for loss, five interceptions), cornerback Kareem Jackson (14 passes defended), cornerback Marquis Johnson (18 passes defended), safety Justin Woodall (three interceptions), safety Robby Green (7 passes defended, one interception)

The skinny: The good news is that Barron led the SEC with seven interceptions last season and was second only to Rolando McClain on Alabama’s team with 76 tackles. But he’ll be surrounded by a ton of inexperience, which is never a good thing in the defensive backfield. That said, the Crimson Tide won’t be short on talent. Sophomore cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick is a budding star, and LSU transfer Phelon Jones has at least played in the SEC. True freshman cornerbacks DeMarcus Milliner and John Fulton both went through spring practice and will challenge for playing time. Sophomore B.J. Scott, who moved from receiver to cornerback last season, also made a lot of progress this spring. One of the keys will be settling on the other safety opposite Barron. Alabama had hoped that junior college signee DeQuan Menzie would be able to come in and help right away, but he tore his Achilles tendon and will likely redshirt. Green also would have been a candidate for a starting spot, but will sit out this season because of an NCAA-imposed suspension.

2009 overall record: 14-0, BCS national champions

2009 conference record: 8-0, SEC champions

Returning starters

Offense: 8; Defense: 3; Kicker/punter: 0

Top returners

QB Greg McElroy, RB Mark Ingram, RB Trent Richardson, WR Julio Jones, OG Barrett Jones, DE Marcell Dareus, LB Dont’a Hightower, S Mark Barron

Key losses

TE Colin Peek, OG Mike Johnson, NG Terrence Cody, DE Brandon Deaderick, LB Rolando McClain, CB Javier Arenas, CB Kareem Jackson, PK Leigh Tiffin

2009 statistical leaders (* returners)

Rushing: Mark Ingram* (1,658 yards)

Passing: Greg McElroy* (2,508 yards)

Receiving: Julio Jones* (596 yards)

Tackles: Rolando McClain (105)

Sacks: Marcell Dareus* (6.5)

Interceptions: Mark Barron* (7)

Spring answers

1. Running to glory: Imagine having the two best running backs in the SEC on the same team. There’s no imagining to it for the Crimson Tide, who will seek to ride Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson to a second straight BCS national championship next season. Ingram won the Heisman Trophy last season, but there are some in and around the Alabama program who think Richardson is even better. They both are fabulous after-contact runners and can also break the long one. The only problem will be splitting up the carries. What a problem to have, huh?

2. Hightower’s return: Despite a complete reconstruction of his left knee last year following his injury against Arkansas in the fourth week, linebacker Dont’a Hightower was back on the practice field this spring and even went through some contact the final week. Getting him back was critical, because he plays so many roles for the Crimson Tide. He’ll step in for Rolando McClain at middle linebacker in the base defense, plays in the nickel and rushes the passer from his jack linebacker spot on passing downs. If Hightower is indeed close to 100 percent next season, he’ll be one of the better defenders in the league.

3. Loaded at quarterback: Everybody knows what Greg McElroy did in his first full season as the starter. He made the plays he had to, protected the football – and most importantly – didn’t lose a game. He returns as the starter, but also has a ton of talent behind him. Nick Saban said it’s the best the quarterback situation has looked at Alabama since he took over in 2007. Redshirt freshman A.J. McCarron threw the ball as well as anybody this spring and is ready if something should happen to McElroy. And true freshman Phillip Sims, who enrolled early and went through spring practice, might have the best upside of all three.

Fall questions

1. Inexperience in the secondary: With the exception of junior safety Mark Barron, who led the SEC in interceptions, the Crimson Tide lost everybody in the secondary who made a play for them last season. That means a lot of new (and inexperienced) faces will be on the field next season from the outset, which is never the way you want to go into a season. At least, the Crimson Tide will be talented in their defensive backfield. Sophomore cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick has star potential, and true freshmen DeMarcus Milliner and John Fulton also showcased their talent this spring. But Saban will be the first to tell you that inexperience in the secondary can be a killer. It also didn’t help that junior college signee DeQuan Menzie ruptured his Achilles tendon and won't be available next season.

2. Kicking and punting: The unsung hero for Alabama last season was place-kicker Leigh Tiffin, who was so clutch and made 30-of-35 field goal attempts. Punter P.J. Fitzgerald was also solid. Both of those guys are now gone, though, and chances are a couple of freshmen will be filling their shoes. Place-kicker Cade Foster went through spring practice, while punter Jay Williams will be on campus this summer. Replacing Javier Arenas' return skills won't be easy, either.

3. Staying the course: Don’t ask Saban about the chances of Alabama defending its national championship. He’ll quickly tell you the Crimson Tide aren’t defending anything. And he’s right. The key in coming back after a championship season and doing it again is keeping your focus straight ahead and not getting caught up in what you’ve just accomplished. That’s easier said than done. Is the leadership on this team good enough to do that? Can Alabama keep that same game-to-game concentration that made the Tide so good last season? Are these guys still hungry? We’re going to find out.

Alabama will be looking for all the help it can get in the secondary this fall, and one of the players the Crimson Tide were hoping could help won't be able to.

Junior college signee DeQuan Menzie ruptured his Achilles tendon while playing pickup basketball earlier this week and expects to redshirt during the 2010 season. He underwent surgery Thursday, and his recovery could take up to six months.

Having lost so many players in the secondary, Alabama signed Menzie with the thought he would be able to come in and play right away.

But with Menzie sidelined and junior safety Robby Green's eligibility for the upcoming season in question, Alabama's secondary for the 2010 season will easily be the most unproven unit on the team.

The stalwart back there is junior Mark Barron, who returns as one of the best safeties in the SEC. But after him, it gets dicey.

Right now, sophomores Dre Kirkpatrick and B.J. Scott are working with the first team at cornerback, although true freshmen DeMarcus Milliner and John Fulton are both extremely gifted. Kirkpatrick is pretty well entrenched. He's probably the next star cornerback for the Crimson Tide with his mix of speed, instincts and confidence.

Given Nick Saban's track record, it's unlikely that he's going to throw a true freshman out there at cornerback, particularly early, which makes the addition of LSU transfer Phelon Jones all the more important.

Jones is also working in the cornerback rotation and is a candidate for the Crimson Tide's all-important "star" position in the nickel package. It's the same position Javier Arenas played in the nickel last season.

Sophomore Robert Lester is working as the other starting safety opposite Barron.

Saban said this week that he likes what he sees from a talent standpoint in the secondary, but he'd trade some of that talent for more experience.

"To me, you’re always better off when you have guys who have experience, because they will make less mistakes," Saban said. "Even if guys are talented and are going to be really good players, they usually end up costing you back there."

Case in point: Alabama's loss to eventual national champion LSU in 2007.

Arenas, an inexperienced sophomore at the time, was forced into action late in that game. Granted, he left Alabama as an All-American, but Saban said Arenas' inexperience that night was probably the difference in the game.

"He messed up in two-minute, didn’t cover the right guy, covered him wrong and made a couple of mental errors," Saban recalled. "He was a talented kid who was going to be a really good player, but he wasn’t ready to play and he hadn’t played.

"And when he got out there, he kind of froze up, and one mistake led to another. So to have that maturity about you is critical, and that has to develop with these guys."

Saban said he expects to have an answer on Green before the summer. At this point, Saban is planning on not having him.

"But it would be helpful if he was here," Saban said. "We just don't have enough guys who've played back there."

ESPN.com's Ivan Maisel spent the day in Washington, D.C., with Alabama's football team on Monday and has an inside look at the Crimson Tide's visit with President Barack Obama and their tour of all the sights.

Maisel also caught up with quarterback Greg McElroy and former cornerback Javier Arenas to get their thoughts on the whole experience.

Alabama fans will love this anecdote from Maisel's piece: As Karen McElwain, the wife of offensive coordinator Jim McElwain, walked out of the White House, she turned to the policeman sitting behind the desk and said, "See you next year?"

Sounds like Mrs. McElwain is predicting a repeat. Wonder what her husband's boss thinks about that?

The NFL combine wraps up on Tuesday, and a flood of former SEC players have left their mark -- both good and bad.

The defensive backs were the last to run the 40-yard dash, and a lot of eyes were on Tennessee safety Eric Berry.

Unofficially, his two 40-yard dash times were 4.46 and 4.40. Earlier, the 5-11, 211-pound Berry did 19 reps on the bench-press, so he certainly didn’t do anything to hurt himself and figures to be a top 10 pick.

Alabama cornerback Javier Arenas tweaked his hamstring running the 40 and didn’t go a second time. He ran a 4.52 unofficially on the first one.

Florida cornerback Joe Haden turned in a disappointing 4.57 in the 40. Again, these are unofficial times, and we’ll try to get you the official times once they’re posted later Tuesday.

Vanderbilt cornerback Myron Lewis helped himself with a 4.45 in the 40 and also weighed in at more than 200 pounds. The NFL loves big corners who can cover.

LSU safety Chad Jones ran a 4.54, but only did nine reps on the bench-press.

Georgia safety Reshad Jones was second among the safeties with 24 reps.

Mississippi State’s Jamar Chaney posted the fastest 40-yard dash time among linebackers, a 4.54. He also did 26 reps on the bench-press and recorded a 39-inch vertical jump. Chaney solidified himself as a solid mid-round pick, possibly as high as the third or fourth round.

Todd McShay of ESPN’s Scouts Inc. also felt like South Carolina outside linebacker Eric Norwood helped himself by running a 4.71 40-yard dash. At 245 pounds, Norwood also showed good lateral movement, quick feet and demonstrated all the qualities that make him an explosive pass-rusher.

A pair of former SEC linebackers that didn’t impress McShay were Kentucky’s Micah Johnson and Florida’s Brandon Spikes. Johnson (258 pounds) ran a 4.99 and didn’t change directions very well. Spikes didn’t run the 40, but looked stiff in drills.

Florida defensive end Carlos Dunlap turned in a fast 40 time (4.71), but according to scouts McShay talked with, Dunlap didn’t come across well in interviews and was characterized as lazy.

Tennessee defensive tackle Dan Williams continues to look like a first-round pick. Weighing 326 pounds, he ran a 5.17 40-yard dash and did 26 reps on the bench. He also moved fluidly during drills.

McShay thinks Alabama nose guard Terrence Cody will probably be a second-rounder. Cody shed some pounds and was down to 354, but ran a 5.68 40, the slowest among the defensive linemen.

I appreciate your input on the top 30 players in the SEC from this past season, and here are two more entries that I received from you.

The first one is from William in Jackson, Miss., and the second one is from Steve in Atlanta. William has Mark Ingram No. 1, while Steve has Rolando McClain No. 1. Some of the new names on their lists include LSU safety Chad Jones and Vanderbilt running back/return specialist Warren Norman. Both are strong lists.

William's top 30:

No. 1: Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama

No. 2: Rolando McClain, LB, Alabama

No. 3: Tim Tebow, QB, Florida

No. 4: Ryan Mallett, QB, Arkansas

No. 5: Anthony Dixon, RB, Mississippi State

No. 6: Javier Arenas, CB, Alabama

No. 7: Eric Berry, S, Tennessee

No. 8: Dexter McCluster, RB/WR, Ole Miss

No. 9: Carlos Dunlap, DE, Florida

No. 10: Eric Norwood, OLB, South Carolina

No. 11: Joe Haden, CB, Florida

No. 12: Aaron Hernandez, TE, Florida

No. 13: Antonio Coleman, DE, Auburn

No. 14: Brandon Spikes, LB, Florida

No. 15: Patrick Peterson, CB, LSU

No. 16: Pernell McPhee, DE, Mississippi State

No. 17: Randall Cobb, QB/WR, Kentucky

No. 18: A.J. Green, WR, Georgia

No. 19: Mike Johnson, OG, Alabama

No. 20: Dan Williams, DT, Tennessee

No. 21: Montario Hardesty, RB, Tennessee

No. 22: Rennie Curran, LB, Georgia

No. 23: Shay Hodge, WR, Ole Miss

No. 24: Ben Tate, RB, Auburn

No. 25: Maurkice Pouncey, C, Florida

No. 26: Malcolm Sheppard, DT, Arkansas

No. 27: Mark Barron, S, Alabama

No. 28: Chad Jones, S, LSU

No. 29: Terrence Cody, NG, Alabama

No. 30: Julio Jones, WR, Alabama

Steve's top 30:

No. 1: Rolando McClain, LB, Alabama

No. 2: Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama

No. 3: Eric Berry, S, Tennessee

No. 4: Dexter McCluster, RB/WR, Ole Miss

No. 5: Ryan Mallett, QB, Arkansas

No. 6: Anthony Dixon, RB, Mississippi State

No. 7: Javier Arenas, CB, Alabama

No. 8: Joe Haden, CB, Florida

No. 9: Tim Tebow, QB, Florida

No. 10: Antonio Coleman, DE, Auburn

No. 11: Aaron Hernandez, TE, Florida

No. 12: Eric Norwood, OLB, South Carolina

No. 13: Brandon Spikes, LB, Florida

No. 14: Patrick Peterson, CB, LSU

No. 15: Carlos Dunlap, DE, Florida

No. 16: Dan Williams, DT, Tennessee

No. 17: Ben Tate, RB, Auburn

No. 18: Montario Hardesty, RB, Tennessee

No. 19: Mike Johnson, OG, Alabama

No. 20: Maurkice Pouncey, C, Florida

No. 21: Rennie Curran, LB, Georgia

No. 22: Randall Cobb, QB/WR, Kentucky

No. 23: Shay Hodge, WR, Ole Miss

No. 24: Terrence Cody, NG, Alabama

No. 25: A.J. Green, WR, Georgia

No. 26: Pernell McPhee, DE, Mississippi State

No. 27: Malcolm Sheppard, DT, Arkansas

No. 28: Mark Barron, S, Alabama

No. 29: Brandon LaFell, WR, LSU

No. 30: Warren Norman, RB, Vanderbilt

To this point, 12 of the 22 players in our countdown of the SEC’s 30 best players for the 2009 season have been on the defensive side of the ball, including seven of the last eight.

We’ll keep the defensive theme alive with the No. 8 selection. Of course, he wasn’t too shabby on special teams, either:

No. 8: Javier Arenas, CB/RS, Alabama: I can already hear the question echoing down in Florida: Why is Arenas ranked ahead of Joe Haden? What gave Arenas the nod was the dimension he provided on special teams. Few punt returners anywhere in football are as fearless as he is. On top of it all, he developed into one of the better cornerbacks in the league. He rarely gave up any plays and was a blur coming off the edge on those corner blitzes. Arenas finished with five sacks and 12 tackles for loss, a remarkable number for a cornerback. He also played the star position (nickel back) when the Crimson Tide went to five defensive backs. He wound up with five interceptions and was third on Alabama’s team with 71 total tackles. In short, he did a little bit of everything in helping lead the Crimson Tide to their first national championship in 17 years.

• No. 9: Joe Haden, CB, Florida
• No. 10: Antonio Coleman, DE, Auburn
• No. 11: Aaron Hernandez, TE, Florida
• No. 12: Eric Norwood, OLB, South Carolina
• No. 13: Brandon Spikes, LB, Florida
• No. 14: Patrick Peterson, CB, LSU
• No. 15: Carlos Dunlap, DE, Florida
• No. 16: Dan Williams, DT, Tennessee
• No. 17: Ben Tate, RB, Auburn
• No. 18: Montario Hardesty, RB, Tennessee
• No. 19: Mike Johnson, OG, Alabama
• No. 20: Maurkice Pouncey, C, Florida
• No. 21: Rennie Curran, LB, Georgia
• No. 22: Randall Cobb, QB/WR, Kentucky
• No. 23: Shay Hodge, WR, Ole Miss
• No. 24: A.J. Green, WR, Georgia
• No. 25: Pernell McPhee, DE, Mississippi State
• No. 26: Malcolm Sheppard, DT, Arkansas
• No. 27: Mark Barron, S, Alabama
• No. 28: Terrence Cody, NG, Alabama
• No. 29: Brandon LaFell, WR, LSU
• No. 30: Julio Jones, WR, Alabama

Now we turn our attention to the defensive players in the SEC over the last five seasons who weren’t necessarily big names during the recruiting process, but wound up playing big where it counts – on the field:

DL Jamaal Anderson, Arkansas: Most recruiting services didn’t even rate him because he was a slow 205-pound receiver coming out of high school. He grew into a defensive end who led the SEC with 13.5 sacks in 2006 and was selected with the eighth overall pick of the 2007 NFL draft.

DL Antonio Coleman, Auburn: With all the sacks Coleman racked up during his career at Auburn, it’s hard to believe he was only a three-star prospect. However, he didn’t even weigh 220 pounds coming out of high school, which no doubt hurt his rating.

DL Malcolm Sheppard, Arkansas: A three-star prospect who chose among Arkansas, South Carolina and Southern Miss, Sheppard wasn’t ranked among the top prospects in the state of Georgia. All he did the last two seasons was lead SEC interior linemen with 24.5 tackles for loss.

DL Dan Williams Tennessee: Williams is another three-star prospect who may end up going in the first round of April’s NFL draft. When he came to Tennessee in 2005, he was considered by some to be the throw-in along with his higher-rated high school teammate, Malcolm Rawls.

LB DeMeco Ryans, Alabama: Ryans remains one of the top linebackers in the NFL and was the Defensive Player of the Year in the SEC as a senior at Alabama. But coming out of high school, he was a three-star prospect, and nearly 40 other linebackers were rated ahead of him nationally.

LB Patrick Willis, Ole Miss: Like Ryans, Willis is one of the top linebackers in the NFL. But he wasn't even seriously recruited by his home-state school, Tennessee, and instead went to Ole Miss, where he carved out a brilliant career. He was a two-time All-American and won the Butkus Award in 2006 as the nation's top linebacker.

LB Eric Norwood, South Carolina: He played high school football in Acworth, Ga., but wasn't recruited by Georgia. In fact, his only other visit besides South Carolina was to Oklahoma State. Norwood set the career sacks and tackles for loss record at South Carolina and earned All-SEC honors each of the last three seasons.

DB Javier Arenas, Alabama: Florida Atlantic and Florida International were battling it out for Arenas until Alabama decided to take him late. Not only did he become one of the most feared punt returners in college football history with seven taken back for touchdowns, but he developed into a first-team All-American at cornerback this past season.

DB Captain Munnerlyn, South Carolina: A two-star player whose finalists were Kansas State, West Virginia and South Carolina, Munnerlyn was both a productive cornerback and return specialist for South Carolina and just finished his rookie season in the NFL after turning pro early.

DB D.J. Moore, Vanderbilt: Clemson and South Carolina are both still wondering how they let Moore get out of state to the Commodores. Nobody questioned his athletic ability. They just questioned where he would play in college. It was an easy answer once he got to Vanderbilt. He developed into a two-time All-SEC selection at cornerback and is now in the NFL.

DB Rashad Johnson, Alabama: Johnson was such an unknown that he and his father sent out recruiting tapes to colleges just hoping to get a look. He ended up walking on at Alabama after turning down a scholarship offer to The Citadel and was a two-time All-SEC selection. Johnson intercepted 11 passes his last two seasons with the Crimson Tide.

Now we’ll take a look at this season’s All-SEC defensive players and where they were ranked coming into the league.

South Carolina’s Eric Norwood, a three-time All-SEC selection, had 78 players ranked ahead of him in the state of Georgia alone in 2006.

And in the 2007 class, Florida defensive end Carlos Dunlap wasn’t the top-ranked player in South Carolina. Notre Dame’s Gary Gray and South Carolina’s Brian Maddox were both ranked ahead of Dunlap.

Antonio Coleman and Dan Williams were part of the class of 2005, so there’s no data available from Scouts Inc. for them. Terrence Cody was a junior college player when he signed with Alabama:

Antonio Coleman, DE, Auburn

Class: 2005

ESPN’s Scouts Inc: N/A

Carlos Dunlap, DE, Florida

Class: 2007

ESPN’s Scouts Inc: Grade 84, No. 2 defensive end, No. 3 player in South Carolina, No. 15 player nationally

Terrence Cody, DT, Alabama

Class: 2008

ESPN’s Scouts Inc: N/A

Dan Williams, DT, Tennessee

Class: 2005

ESPN’s Scouts Inc: N/A

Rolando McClain, LB, Alabama

Class: 2007

ESPN’s Scouts Inc: Grade of 79, No. 5 inside linebacker, No. 8 player in Alabama, unranked nationally

Eric Norwood, LB, South Carolina

Class: 2006

ESPN’s Scouts Inc: Grade of 69, No. 99 defensive end, No. 79 player in Georgia, unranked nationally

Rennie Curran, LB, Georgia

Class: 2007

ESPN’s Scouts Inc: Grade of 79, No. 8 inside linebacker, No. 17 player in Georgia, unranked nationally

Joe Haden, CB, Florida

Class: 2007

ESPN’s Scouts Inc: Grade of 79, No. 18 safety, No. 3 player in Maryland, unranked nationally

Javier Arenas, CB, Alabama

Class: 2006

ESPN’s Scouts Inc: Grade of 77, No. 31 cornerback, No. 52 player in Florida, unranked nationally

Eric Berry, S, Tennessee

Class: 2007

ESPN’s Scouts Inc: Grade of 90, No. 1 cornerback, No. 1 player in Georgia, No. 4 player nationally

Mark Barron, S, Alabama

Class: 2008

ESPN’s Scouts Inc: Grade of 80, No. 19 athlete, No. 12 player in Alabama, unranked nationally

The final rosters for the Under Armour Senior Bowl have been posted. The game is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET on Saturday from Mobile, Ala.

Vanderbilt is the only SEC school not represented in the game.

Here's the list of participating SEC players on the South team:

ALABAMA

CB Javier Arenas

NG Terrence Cody

OG Mike Johnson

TE Colin Peek

K Leigh Tiffin

RB Roy Upchurch

ARKANSAS

OG Mitch Petrus

AUBURN

DE Antonio Coleman

RB Ben Tate

FLORIDA

WR Riley Cooper

QB Tim Tebow

GEORGIA

DT Geno Atkins

DT Jeff Owens

KENTUCKY

CB Trevard Lindley

LSU

OT Ciron Black

LB Harry Coleman



MISSISSIPPI STATE

LB Jamar Chaney

RB Anthony Dixon

OLE MISS

WR Shay Hodge

OL John Jerry

RB Dexter McCluster

SOUTH CAROLINA

LB Eric Norwood

TENNESSEE

DS Morgan Cox

OT Chris Scott

DT Dan Williams

The SEC will have 25 players on the South roster in the Under Armour Senior Bowl this year. That's more than any other conference in the country.

Of the 25 SEC representatives in this year’s game, 10 landed on All-American lists this season and 21 were named to All-SEC squads. It’s a group that includes the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year (Tim Tebow), Scholar-Athlete of the Year (Tebow), Special Teams Player of the Year (Javier Arenas) and Jacobs Blocking Trophy winner (Ciron Black).

This year's game will also feature four of the SEC’s five 1,000-yard rushers (Anthony Dixon, Ben Tate, Montario Hardesty and Dexter McCluster), its only 1,000-yard receiver (Shay Hodge), the league leader in scoring (Leigh Tiffin), the league leader in passing efficiency and points responsible for (Tebow) and the league leader in sacks (Antonio Coleman).

The game will be played Jan. 30 at 4 p.m. ET in Mobile's Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

Here's a team-by-team list of the SEC players in the game:

ALABAMA

CB Javier Arenas

NG Terrence Cody

OG Mike Johnson

TE Colin Peek

K Leigh Tiffin

ARKANSAS

OG Mitch Petrus

AUBURN

DE Antonio Coleman

RB Ben Tate

FLORIDA

WR Riley Cooper

QB Tim Tebow

GEORGIA

DT Geno Atkins

DT Jeff Owens

KENTUCKY

CB Trevard Lindley

LSU

OT Ciron Black

LB Harry Coleman

WR Brandon LaFell

RB Charles Scott

MISSISSIPPI STATE

LB Jamar Chaney

RB Anthony Dixon

OLE MISS

WR Shay Hodge

OL John Jerry

RB Dexter McCluster

SOUTH CAROLINA

LB Eric Norwood

TENNESSEE

RB Montario Hardesty

DT Dan Williams

Here’s a look at the SEC seniors invited to participate in the NFL scouting combine Feb. 24-March 2 in Indianapolis. There will also be some underclassmen invited once the deadline passes for early entry into the draft.

LSU had the most players invited in the SEC with 11. Alabama was second with eight:

ALABAMA

CB Javier Arenas

NG Terrence Cody

DE Brandon Deaderick

OL Mike Johnson

TE Colin Peek

K Leigh Tiffin

DE Lorenzo Washington

S Justin Woodall

ARKANSAS

OL Mitch Petrus

DT Malcolm Sheppard

AUBURN

RB Ben Tate

FLORIDA

WR Riley Cooper

DE Jermaine Cunningham

RB/RS Brandon James

LB Brandon Spikes

QB Tim Tebow

GEORGIA

DT Geno Atkins

KENTUCKY

FB John Conner

LB Micah Johnson

CB Trevard Lindley

LB Sam Maxwell

DT Corey Peters

LSU

DE Rahim Alem

DT Charles Alexander

OT Ciron Black

LB Harry Coleman

CB Chris Hawkins

RS Trindon Holliday

WR Brandon LaFell

LB Perry Riley

RB Charles Scott

RB Keiland Williams

DT Al Woods

MISSISSIPPI STATE

RB Anthony Dixon

OLE MISS

CB Marshay Green

DE Greg Hardy

WR Shay Hodge

OL John Jerry

S Kendrick Lewis

RB Dexter McCluster

SOUTH CAROLINA

LB Eric Norwood

S Darian Stewart

TENNESSEE

RB Montario Hardesty

OT Chris Scott

DT Dan Williams

VANDERBILT

CB Myron Lewis

OT Thomas Welch

At the top of the SEC, the 2009 bowl season had that same championship ring to it.

Alabama became the third different SEC team in the past three years to capture the BCS national championship with a 37-21 victory over Texas on Jan. 7 in Pasadena, Calif.

All told, that’s four straight for the SEC and five of the last seven. And, no, there are no immediate plans to rename the BCS National Championship Game the SEC Invitational.

The Crimson Tide became only the second national champion in major college football history to finish a season 14-0. Ohio State also did it in 2002.

Alabama coach Nick Saban would be the first to tell you that the Crimson Tide didn’t play their best game against the Longhorns and they were especially shaky on special teams. But mirroring the way the season went for the Tide, they made every play they needed to -- be it Marcell Dareus’ 28-yard interception return for a touchdown, Trent Richardson’s 49-yard touchdown run or Eryk Anders’ sack and forced fumble -- to pull away in the end.

It’s what made this Alabama team so special. It wasn’t always the usual suspects who made the difference. It was a different cast of characters every game.

“We didn’t have any hanger-ons on this team. If you were in the boat, you were in the boat for a reason,” Alabama senior cornerback Javier Arenas said.

Alabama’s first national championship in 17 years capped what was otherwise a ho-hum bowl season for the SEC, which finished 6-4.

At least Florida made sure there was no hangover from the SEC championship game loss to Alabama, and senior quarterback Tim Tebow said goodbye to college football with a record-setting performance in a 51-24 demolition of Cincinnati in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

Tebow passed for 482 yards and three touchdowns and broke Vince Young’s BCS record for total offense with 533 yards. The Gators (13-1) finished No. 3 in both of the final polls.

Ole Miss completed the first back-to-back nine-win seasons since the John Vaught era with a 21-7 victory over Oklahoma State in the AT&T Cotton Bowl, but the two teams combined for 12 turnovers.

Georgia was impressive in its 44-20 rout of Texas A&M in the AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl. More impressively, the Bulldogs secured their 13^th consecutive season of at least eight wins. Nobody else in the country can match that level of consistency over the past 13 seasons.

The two biggest disappointments of the bowl season for the SEC were LSU and Tennessee. The Tigers were again abysmal on offense in a 19-17 loss to Penn State in the Capital One Bowl, while the Vols wilted in the second half of their 37-14 loss to Virginia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

We won't call South Carolina a disappointment, because the Gamecocks failed to even show up in what was a second straight dreadful postseason performance. They lost 20-7 to Connecticut in the Papajohns.com Bowl after falling 31-10 to Iowa in the Outback Bowl a year ago.

Auburn gets the excitement award for the bowl season. The Tigers, despite giving up 625 yards of total offense, outlasted Northwestern 38-35 in overtime in the Outback Bowl to put a nice wrap on Gene Chizik's first season on the Plains.

Alabama is coming off its best victory of the season. Texas is coming off its worst.

Mark Ingram will be battling the Heisman Trophy jinx in national championship games, and Alabama will be trying to claim the fourth-straight BCS national title by an SEC team. The last non-SEC team to win the title: Texas.

Those are just a few of the subplots in Thursday's Citi BCS National Championship Game. Big 12 blogger Tim Griffin and SEC blogger Chris Low take a look at the matchup and other factors that will play into it.

Tim Griffin: Chris. I saw Alabama in the SEC title game and was very impressed with the way they jumped on Florida quickly and put the Gators behind from early in the game. Do you think Greg McElroy can have a mammoth performance against a strong defense in back-to-back games?

Chris Low: Tim, it's ironic that you would ask about McElroy, because everybody was asking about him back in the spring. Nobody really knew anything about him, whether he could handle the quarterback position or whether he would even finish the season as the starter. I think it's safe to say that he's far surpassed anybody's expectations. He's such a smart player, knows the Alabama offense inside and out and rarely makes the same mistake twice. After all, he's only thrown four interceptions in 13 games. I've seen halves against SEC defenses in which quarterbacks have thrown three or four picks. But McElroy is not just a caretaker of the offense. He'll spread the ball around. He throws a nice deep ball, and is better at moving around and making plays than he's given credit for. In short, if the Alabama offensive line plays the way it did against Florida, I look for McElroy to have another solid game. That's the thing about this Alabama offense. They don't need him to put up mammoth numbers to win. My question to you, Tim, is whether Colt McCoy is going to be running for his life against Alabama like he was against Nebraska a month ago?

TG: If he does, Texas has absolutely no chance. But I think the fact that observers have been questioning Texas' offense for nearly five weeks after the Longhorns allowed nine sacks against Nebraska should serve as a motivational ploy. I look for Texas to try and dictate tempo early. Look for McCoy to try to use the Longhorns' one-minute offense, in which there would be little time between plays as they try to keep them out of their comfort zone. The Longhorns have struggled with their pass blocking all season. Look for freshman Tre Newton to get more time because of his pass-blocking skills. And I would also expect Texas to use tight end Greg Smith more than usual to have an extra blocker. In the Big 12, the Longhorns liked to run a lot of three- and four-wide receiver sets. I think they'll need the extra beef tonight. Chris, speaking of beef, how do you think Alabama's big offensive line will play against Texas' fast and quick defense. The Longhorns led the nation in rush defense, but faced four teams with defenses ranked 100th or worst. Does Alabama feel like they can exploit a Texas defense that is good, but hasn't played many good rushing attacks?

CL: Honestly, I think Alabama thinks it can exploit any defense. This Alabama offensive line isn't as big as the one last year and has relied more on quickness and angles than just lining up and mashing people. Alabama will certainly look to run the football and won't be afraid to use both Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson. It seems like the Crimson Tide always have a fresh back in the game. Against Florida, Alabama was able to throw it some and spread the Gators out. But that was just one game. We also saw Alabama struggle to run the ball against Auburn in the last game of the regular season, and McElroy had to bring them from behind throwing the football. Even in that game, after getting down 14-0, the Crimson Tide didn't panic and didn't get out of character offensively. What do you make of McCoy having two of his worst games against the two best defenses he's faced this season -- Nebraska and Oklahoma?

TG: Chris, interestingly those were also the games where he most faced consistent pressure from blitzes and had more trouble with interceptions. If Alabama can keep him from getting comfortable in the pocket and knock him around some, he could face a similar fate. The Texas offensive front isn't a great line -- by its standards or anybody else's. It's their biggest weakness, but really didn't impact them over the course of the season. The Longhorns had too many weapons and scored touchdowns in other ways to beat all the Big 12 teams they played.

When they played Oklahoma, they were facing a green quarterback in Landry Jones after Sam Bradford's injury earlier in the game. And against Nebraska, they were able to neutralize the Cornhuskers' big defensive effort because Nebraska's offense played so poorly. Chris, I think that Texas is going to have to get some cheap points -- say from a long kick or punt return or a turnover to have a chance. Is there anything you've seen that shows Alabama has got its special teams under control enough to withstand the pressure that D.J. Monroe, Marquise Goodwin and Jordan Shipley will place on the Tide?

CL: Alabama has not been very good on kickoff coverage. That's a given. So it wouldn't be a shock to see the Crimson Tide give up some long returns or even a touchdown. Short fields could be critical in this game, because neither defense has allowed teams to consistently put together long drives. The problem with exploiting Alabama on special teams is that the Crimson Tide have one of the best punt returners in the country in Javier Arenas and a field goal kicker in All-American Leigh Tiffin who's made a bunch of big kicks and also has great range. In short, unless Alabama uncharacteristically turns the ball over and/or is forced to play from behind the whole game, I think the Crimson Tide take home the crystal trophy and complete a perfect season. Alabama 27, Texas 17

TG: I think Texas is going to have trouble stopping the run defense. But if they can get some early momentum, I like their chances of taking this game into the fourth quarter. But at that point, Alabama will have too much power and gradually wear the Longhorns down, likely with a late drive like the one Florida put Oklahoma away with last season. Alabama 24, Texas 13

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- Alabama’s Javier Arenas is one of the most feared return specialists in college football.

As it turns out, he may have been a bit too feared this season. Hardly anybody kicked to him.

“That comes with the territory. You just have to be ready when they do,” Arenas said.

Does he think Texas will kick to him on Thursday in the Citi BCS National Championship Game?

“I don’t know, but I’m going to be ready,” Arenas said.

The truth is he’s been ready since the day he stepped foot on campus at Alabama.

A mere afterthought when he signed the last week before signing day back in 2006, Arenas never had any doubt that he would do big things at Alabama. He was down to Florida International, Florida Atlantic and Florida A&M before former Alabama coach Mike Shula decided to take a chance on him.

It's safe to say that chance paid off and then some.

The 5-9, 195-pound Arenas will play his final game at Alabama on Thursday as a consensus All-America cornerback, the SEC special teams player of the year and needing just 29 yards on punt returns to break Wes Welker’s NCAA record of 1,761 yards.

For his career, Arenas has taken seven punt returns back for touchdowns, including one this season.

“I committed to Florida Atlantic and Florida International and I was excited to go there,” Arenas recalled. “I was going to make a difference if I had gone there. Wherever I ended up, I was determined to make a difference.

“When Bama came along, everything kind of switched. But the determination to make a difference was still inside of me. That drive was still inside of me.”

That drive is what makes Arenas so fearless (and feared) any time he’s back deep on a punt return.

It’s the same thing that’s made him one of the better cornerbacks in the nation, whether he’s coming on a corner blitz or wrestling away a pass from a taller receiver.

“It goes back to that window of opportunity, the chance to play for a great and prestigious university and make something of yourself,” Arenas said. “Guys like that work hard. Every guy on this team works hard. But when you get a guy like me or guys that weren’t really highly recruited, we go out and have so much fun because we know there was a slim chance of us even being here.

“But we made it, and we want to go out and make each and every day count.”