Talkin’ Season is rolling, and the SEC is once again at the center of the conversation as college football inches toward the 2026 kickoff. The league has spent the last three seasons outside the national championship picture, but the path back to the top still starts the same way: win the SEC.
Paul Finebaum thinks Texas is the team best positioned to do it.
“I know it’s easy to say and we all say it, but I do think this is Sarkisian’s year. I don’t think that is the ultimate goal for him,” Finebaum said while projecting Texas will win the SEC championship on On3 Sports.
That view lines up with where the Longhorns stood a year ago, when AP top 25 voters put them at No. 1 in the country for the first time in school history. But that hype took a hit fast after Arch Manning’s rough first start in a loss at Ohio State. Texas sat at 3-2 in mid-October before flipping the script with a stronger second half, capped by a win over undefeated rival Texas A&M and then Michigan in the postseason.
Now Manning has more help around him, including transfer running back Hollywood Smothers, who ran for 939 yards last season, and Cam Coleman, the No. 1 national transfer wide receiver and former five-star Auburn commitment.
Ohio State is back in the picture again, only this time the Buckeyes head to Austin for a huge Week 2 matchup that will shape the early conversation around Texas all over again.
Georgia is still very much in the hunt, too. Kirby Smart brings back what should be another loaded defense and an expected dozen total starters, along with quarterback Gunner Stockton after a strong run at the helm. The offense may not be flashy, but it should be efficient, especially with seven blockers returning with starting experience.
LSU has also pushed into the mix after an active offseason that included the hiring of Lane Kiffin as head coach and a roster packed with playmakers.
Ole Miss is fresh off a College Football Playoff run and has Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy back to drive the offense.
Oklahoma and Texas A&M have both made recruiting noise and each enters with strong defenses plus quarterbacks who have real SEC experience.
Alabama, meanwhile, is trying to show Kalen DeBoer is the right man for the job, and it should have a tough defense with questions answered at quarterback and in the backfield.
There’s a long road to Championship Saturday, and the SEC has no shortage of teams that can make a push. But in early August, Finebaum has picked up on the momentum, and he’s putting Texas at the front of the line.
In Other News...
Alabamas SEC Ranking Just Raised The Pressure On Kalen DeBoer
Preseason SEC media rankings always come with plenty of noise, but they still tell you which programs are being judged through a higher lens before a single snap is played. Texas landed second behind Georgia, Ole Miss checked in third with a new coach, and Vanderbilt was slotted 13th despite having already shown it can outplay that kind of expectation. For Alabama, though, the number that matters most is sixth, because that is where the conversation around Kalen DeBoer starts to sharpen.
A preseason slot that ordinary programs might shrug off carries a different weight in Tuscaloosa, where the standard is never about simply being respectable in the league picture. The ranking does not decide anything on its own, but it does frame the season in a way Alabama fans know well: every early stumble gets magnified, every good run gets measured against history, and DeBoer enters the fall with the kind of pressure that comes with coaching one of the sports most scrutinized teams. [Read more 🡒]
Alabamas Quarterback Battle Could Decide More Than Just The Starting Job
Fall practice often has a way of turning a position battle into something bigger, and that is especially true at quarterback for Alabama. Among the high-profile names being watched across college football, the Crimson Tides competition under center stands out because it is not just about naming a starter, but about finding the player who can steady the offense and match the expectations that come with the job.
In Alabamas case, the attention around the quarterbacks also carries a wider edge for the program heading into the season. The Tide need development at several key spots, but the progress of the most unproven signal-caller could end up shaping how this fall is judged, and even how much confidence there is in the direction of the team as the season unfolds. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Has Three Returning Starters Facing Huge Pressure This Season
Alabama heads into the new season with a lot of turnover after losing 10 players to the 2026 NFL Draft, and the burden now falls on a small group of returning starters to steady things. Michael Carroll is the lone returning starter on the offensive line, and his move inside gives the Tide at least one veteran piece to anchor a unit that will have plenty of new faces around him. On the edge, Yhonzae Pierre returns after leading the team in sacks last season, giving him a chance to build on that production and strengthen his case as one of the top pass rushers in the country.
The pressure is just as real at wide receiver, where Ryan Coleman-Williams is set to become a primary target in a thinner group and will need to take a clear step forward in his third year. With so much of the roster in transition, Alabama does not have the luxury of easing these players in, especially when each one is being asked to handle a larger role right away. How well they respond could go a long way toward shaping the early feel of the season. [Read more 🡒]