SEC football: buy or sell?

Welcome to the first edition of the buy or sell with the SEC. This article will discuss some of the hot takes through Week 1 of the college football season.

Selling: LSU defense

On Sunday night in Las Vegas, the LSU Tigers were ousted by USC. Before the season began, Tigers fans had high hopes for their defense after an abysmal 2023 season under defensive coordinator Matt House and thought it would take the next step forward.

That wasn’t necessarily the case on Sunday night. The USC offense had hardly any trouble moving the ball. The LSU defense did reduce the amount of explosive plays against but this later vanished in the 4th quarter with the Trojans producing seven chunk plays in the waning moments of the game.

The new defensive coordinator, Blake Baker, has many things to do to get the defense right in Baton Rouge. LSU will welcome Nicholls in Week 2.

Buying: Napier’s hot seat gets hotter

Coming into the 2024 college football season, there may not have been a head coach under more pressure than Florida head coach Billy Napier. Napier entered the 2024 season on the heels of two consecutive losing seasons as well as owning one of the most horrendous schedules in all of college football.

On Saturday, the Gators welcomed in-state rival Miami as the swamp was then drained with a 41-17 home loss. This loss did little to quiet the Gator fans calling for Napier’s job as Florida’s last 8 of their final 10 games are in conference play and the other two being against UCF and Florida State.

The Gators have a get-right game this weekend as they host Samford. It is probably easy to say it will be a long season in Gainesville, but Napier's 2024 campaign could come to a close well before their final game on November 30th.

Buying: Alabama won’t lose a step without Coach Saban

When Nick Saban retired after the 2023 season had ended, many thought Alabama’s long reign of dominance retired with him. Shortly after coming off a 14-1 season and a trip to the CFP National Championship game, Kalen DeBoer was hired as the next head coach at Alabama. Bama seemed to have found the right guy for the job as DeBoer has a career record of 104-12 across nine seasons as a head coach.

DeBoer’s offensive mind paired with quarterback Jalen Milroe and 17-year-old receiver Ryan Williams, who recorded two grabs for 139 yards and two Td’s, will be a catalyst for the Tide this season and was on display on Saturday with a 63-0 victory over Western Kentucky.

Obviously losing Saban is monumental and you can't replace the greatest coach to ever do it. The Tide might not be the dominant force they once were, but at the end of the day, it's still Alabama and the roster is still overflowing with talent.

Buying: Jaxson Dart odds to win the Heisman

Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart lit up Furman in the season opener on Saturday throwing for over 400 yards and recording six total touchdowns in the first half alone. Dart's razzle-dazzle performance led the Rebels to a 76-0 win, which has brought up some national attention here in the early portion of the season.

Ole Miss has never had a Heisman winner, so Dart could find himself in some historic territory if he keeps this type of play up throughout the rest of the season.

It is early on in the season so Dart and the Rebels have bigger things on their mind, but if Dart is able to keep up this level of play, the individual hype will continue to grow. Ole Miss is set to host Middle Tennessee this Saturday.

Austin Moran is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email acm6506@psu.edu.