Tennessee was considered a national preseason No. 1 by a few experts, so it's no surprise that the Lady Vols are regarded as the SEC favorite.

Still, LSU (fourth), Vanderbilt (10th) and Georgia (ninth) were each ranked in the top 10 of the preseason ESPN/USA Today coaches poll, so there will be plenty of competition once league play starts. And don't count out Arkansas just yet or Mississippi State just yet.

A look at how the SEC race might shape up during the 2002-03 season:

FAVORITE
Tennessee
Tennessee has more depth, balance and experience than anyone else in the country. Last season, Tennessee outscored opponents by nearly 15 points and grabbed 8.5 more rebounds than its foes while harassing them into almost 20 turnovers a game. The Lady Vols also return more than 70 percent of last season's offense, losing only one double-digit scorer in Michelle Snow. And with the exception of Courtney McDaniel, each of Tennessee's returners started at least one game last season and averaged double-digit minutes, gaining a lot of experience as the Lady Vols earned their 13th Final Four appearance.

Seniors Kara Lawson and Gwen Jackson should step up their games to the All-American levels as hoped. Lawson holds the program's career mark for 3-pointers made (179), averaged a team-high 15.1 points and shot 46.6 percent from the field en route to landing a spot on the All-SEC first team. Jackson needs to play like she did two years ago after Tamika Catchings went down.

A healthy Ashley Robinson makes up for losing Snow, but the major void might be at point guard, especially with April McDivitt's transfer. Loree Moore must take advantage of the chance to run this team, which has the talent to win a national championship and could shape up as one of Pat Summitt's best teams in her 29 years at Tennessee.

Don't forget you can't ever underestimate Summitt, who has guided Tennessee to a 67-3 mark in the SEC over the past five seasons. The Lady Vols are shooting for their sixth consecutive conference title.

CONTENDERS
LSU
LSU looked really good last season with just seven healthy players, and all indications point to an even better season in 2002-03. Temeka Johnson is a top-notch point guard, and led the SEC last season with 7.5 assists per game. Forward Aiysha Smith had a breakout season last year, leading the team in several key categories, including scoring (15.9) and rebounding (7.7).

Freshman Seimone Augustus is as good as advertised. She plays very similarly to Duke's Monique Currie, and can handle the ball and shoot it very well. Augustus' range is a bit suspect, but that will improve over the course of her college career. While we'll have to wait and see what kind of long-term impact Augustus will have at LSU, she might have the potential to elevate LSU's program as Chamique Holdsclaw did at Tennessee.

The Lady Tigers are very talented at every position, so the big question right now might be whether coach Sue Gunter can keep everybody happy with their playing time. And while LSU has a great perimeter game, the Lady Tigers are a bit undersized in the post and could struggle against bigger teams.

Vanderbilt
It looked like the Commodores had all the pieces to put together a successful NCAA championship run last season, but after winning the SEC tournament title, Vanderbilt was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament by Tennessee in the Elite Eight.

Replacing Zuzi Klimesova and Jillian Danker, who combined for 25 points and 10 rebounds a game last season, will be tough. Klimesova was a matchup nightmare for opponents and helped open up things inside for All-American center Chantelle Anderson, who averaged 20.7 points on 64.7 percent accuracy from the field last season and is one of the top five players in her position in the country.

So is point guard Ashley McElhiney, a fiery, little floor general. Problem is that Vandy lacks a really good backup for her. At the forward spot, 6-3 Jenni Benningfield is a good shooter, and needs to pick up some of the offensive slack, but also needs to improve her quickness.

Overall, the inside-outside combination of Anderson and McElhiney can be a lethal one, but someone else on this roster needs to step up quickly. Anderson is the only double-digit returning scorer. McElhiney averaged 8.5 points and Benningfield averaged 6.0 last season.

Georgia
Simply put, coach Andy Landers has developed this squad into a really good, young team.

The Lady Dogs' interior game is outstanding, and Georgia's returning frontcourt players averaged 35.3 points and almost 20 rebounds last season. Kara Braxton, a 6-6 sophomore considered one of the nation's top centers, led the way, averaging 16.3 points and 6.8 rebounds en route to earning SEC Freshman of the Year honors. Christi Thomas, a 6-5 forward/center who was the SEC's top rookie two years ago, was right behind with 10.4 points and 6.2 rebounds.

Sophomore forward Ebony Felder, who can play inside or outside but might be sidelined temporarily with a shoulder injury, averaged 8.6 points and 6.6 rebounds. And don't forget about 6-2 sophomore Jessica Pierce, who has the body to play the 4 but is quick enough to also play the 3.

Mary Beth Lycett, a 6-0 guard/forward who averaged 7.7 points and 3.4 rebounds last season, needs to have a big year. After serving as an understudy to the Miller twins and Deanna Nolan, Lycett was effective last season and nearly doubled her statistics across the board.

That's important, because while Georgia's inside game is set, the team's backcourt can be suspect at times. In 2002-03, the Lady Bulldogs will be as good as their guards. They need to handle the pressure better than they did last year, when players such as Mississippi State's Tan White ran right through them. So freshmen guards Sherill Baker and Alexis Kendrick, who are both great athletes, better be ready to step up and help out.

ALSO WORTH MENTIONING
Arkansas
Arkansas is ranked 17th in the preseason AP Top 25, but the Lady Razorbacks got a much higher -- and probably more important -- ranking over the offseason as the All-Star Girls Report ranked this season's freshmen as the nation's fifth-best recruiting class.

During the 2001-02 campaign, Arkansas struggled to consistently score and rebound inside. It also lacked some depth in the backcourt. But coach Gary Blair took care of both of those issues, adding 6-3 post Ruby Vaden and two guards this season.

Blair, in fact, did an outstanding job of recruiting, and along with rising star Shameka Christon, Arkansas looks to make some more noise in 2002-03 after reaching last season's SEC tournament final.

Christon, a 6-1 junior who led Ladybacks in scoring last season, was voted to the preseason All-SEC second team and is regarded among the nation's top forwards, although she must work on putting the ball on the floor. Lakishia Harper is very solid, as is Dana Cherry, who ranked among the conference's top 20 scorers last season. Along the perimeter, India Lewis provided the most damage, sinking more 3-pointers than anyone else in the SEC.

Nancy Lieberman, an ESPN analyst and Hall of Famer, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com's women's basketball coverage.