With the weather starting to heat up in the Yellowhammer State, we are still a ways away from the start of college football season, but it is going to be here before we know it with the beloved Tide and Tigers taking the field soon.

Going into the year, it may just be the most competitive the SEC has ever been in terms of amount of teams who have a legitimate shot at making noise in the race for the conference title, which means Alabama and Auburn have their work cut out for them.

In fact, in a recent power rankings of all teams in the conference from On3, each came in a whole lot lower than fans would like to see as the season approaches.

Alabama was ranked in the No. 7 spot, which is a bit jarring based on the standard the program has set for itself over the last two decades, but it’s tough to make a strong case over everyone that sits ahead of them. With Texas at No. 1, Georgia at No. 2, Ole Miss at No.3, Oklahoma at No. 4, Texas A&M at No. 5, and LSU at No. 6, it goes to show the depth of the conference right now and how much of a challenge it will be to come out on top.

As for the Tigers, while it would be unrealistic in the first season of a new era to expect huge strides to be made and contend for an SEC title, the hope, of course, is that Alex Golesh can have them sitting in a better spot at the end of the year than the No. 13 they come in at currently.

Ahead of just Kentucky, Mississippi State and Arkansas, and behind teams like Missouri, Vanderbilt and South Carolina, Auburn is going to have to prove some people wrong in order to find respect in the conference in 2021.

Both teams in the state hope to exceed expectations this year, and it won’t be all that much longer until we find out if they can do just that.