There's a difference between realistic expectations and visions of impractical grandeur.

While Alabama, Georgia and a few others in the SEC taking the field this fall with national title hopes, most programs understand they're a recruiting class — or several — away from competing at the elite level, strong enough to dethrone the league's heavyweights at the top of each respective division.

As a result, there's several matchups on the schedule — noticeably varying in difficulty — that are weighted differently than others, no matter how much league-wide coachspeak will deny this fact in August.

For teams hovering around bowl eligibility based on preseason win totals, the home games against comparable competition are must-wins. Victories over ranked teams are rare for squads outside the Top 25 and results in those contests won't hold as much bearing as, say, a tough-to-stomach loss to an opponent you expected to beat.

Here are our picks for the most important game for every SEC team this season relative to obtainable goals for every program: