If they figure us to be about 8-4 or so, I could see them thinking that's "middle of the road" for the SEC. They probably assume Florida, Alabama, Georgia (look at their schedule), and LSU, to have better records than us, with Ole Miss, Arkansas, Tennessee, and South Carolina to all have about the same record as us. That leaves Kentucky, Miss State, Vanderbilt that would have records worse than ours.
It will probably come down to being 9-3 or 8-4 to determine if we're "upper" or "middle" in the league this year.