Who is SEC favorite now?

Each week during the college football season, Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay kick off the week by settling a debate, look at emerging NFL prospects and then peek ahead to next week.

Who is the favorite to win the SEC now?

Todd McShay: This is a brutally hard question to answer at this point in the season, because we've had such a limited sample of meaningful games to evaluate -- and based on what we have seen it looks like a wide-open conference title race. But I do feel as though the SEC West will once again deliver the league champ. In projecting an SEC champ, I'll focus on how I view the top four teams in the West division, all of which I consider legitimate conference title contenders, starting with my pick to win it, the Alabama Crimson Tide.

1. Alabama: I'm going with the Tide, although it's a close call. I think this is the team to beat because it has the most talent top to bottom in the entire conference. I get the concerns. Alabama has to figure out the quarterback situation with Blake Sims and Jake Coker and get efficient and mistake-free play from that position, and the secondary (mainly at CB) must get better. But the skill-position talent should offset the inexperience at QB -- wide receiver Amari Cooper is a star, and the backfield features three future NFL running backs in T.J. Yeldon, Kenyan Drake and Derrick Henry -- and I'm confident that this defense will continue to improve over the course of the season because it has too much talent and depth. Besides, coach Nick Saban and defensive coordinator Kirby Smart are as good at coaching that side of the ball as any staff in the country.

Also, the schedule sets up well for Bama. The Tide get a bye week before traveling to Ole Miss, get Texas A&M at home, have a bye week before the trip to LSU, and get Auburn in the Iron Bowl at home. Bama will have lots of tough competition for the league title (see the next three teams below), but in a wide-open race like this one, I'll go with the most talented team, and that's Alabama.

2. Texas A&M Aggies: The Aggies have been the most impressive SEC team on the field so far, and I almost went with them as my pick here. Kevin Sumlin is just a great offensive coach, and he's always done an excellent job of developing QBs, so it's no surprise they are thriving with Kenny Hill, even after the departures of Johnny Manziel and receiver Mike Evans to the NFL. But there were two reasons that made me nervous about picking the Aggies: 1. The defense, while much improved from a year ago, still has too many holes and too many inexperienced contributors; and 2. They have to play Alabama in Tuscaloosa.