The SEC keeps producing teams that look ordinary in August and dangerous by December, and 2026 could bring another surprise from the league. Every year of the College Football Playoff era seems to produce at least one team that wasn’t on the preseason radar, and the SEC has already shown it can send an unexpected contender through the door. South Carolina came close in 2024, while Oklahoma and Texas A&M reached the field this past season.
Missouri feels like the cleanest sleeper in the group. Eli Drinkwitz has built something steady in Columbia, with the Tigers logging 10-plus-win seasons in two of the last three years.
The playoff breakthrough still hasn’t happened, but the foundation is there. The challenge is the closing stretch: there’s no Alabama on the schedule, but November brings Texas, Georgia, and then Oklahoma in the finale.
If Missouri reaches that Oklahoma game still in the CFP picture, that one could carry real weight.
South Carolina belongs in the conversation for a different reason. The Gamecocks had a strong case for the 2024 Playoff after winning four of their final five regular-season games, and every one of those wins came against ranked opponents.
Then came a 4-8 crash in 2025. Even so, that season may have been more delay than dead end.
Shane Beamer kept a major chunk of the roster together, including LaNorris Sellers, Nyck Harbor, and Dylan Stewart, all of whom could have entered the transfer portal. The issue, as with Missouri, is the schedule.
Auburn is another team that could force its way into the picture if things click fast enough. The Indiana Hoosiers offered a useful model: bring in the right portal pieces and watch the results follow.
Curt Cignetti turned that approach into two CFP trips and a national title after moving from James Madison to Indiana. Alex Golesh arrives at Auburn from South Florida with 13 players, including Byrum Brown, but a leap straight to national contender status would still be a big ask.
The Hugh Freeze era was defined by being close without quite finishing, and Auburn now has to turn those near-misses into wins.
Tennessee is trying to bounce back from a 2025 season that never really settled down. The top quarterback left in the spring, and the Vols never found real stability at the position.
Even so, they were nine points away from finishing 10-2 and came close to upsetting Georgia at home. Add in a lot of returning experience and a top-15 recruiting class for Josh Heupel, and the path back to playoff relevance is still open if the quarterback situation gets sorted out and the team makes a positive impact.
Florida rounds out the list, and it comes with its own odd bit of history: the Gators have never played in the College Football Playoff. First-year head coach Jon Summrall gets a roster that still includes Jaden Baugh and Vernell Brown, while new offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner has brought multiple players with him from his time as Georgia Tech’s offensive coordinator. Summrall has won everywhere he’s coached, and while most projections have Florida headed back to bowling in 2026, that doesn’t rule out a serious run in his first season in Gainesville.
In Other News...
Bruce Pearl Steps Into A Debate Auburn Fans Will Want To Hear
Bruce Pearl has not been shy about weighing in on issues far outside the sideline, and his latest public comment landed squarely in one of the most charged debates in womens sports. After Enes Kanter Freedom announced plans to enter the 2027 WNBA draft, Pearl urged the people who oversee womens basketball to protect the sport, putting a familiar Auburn name into a conversation that quickly spread well beyond college hoops.
The WNBA responded by saying there are no immediate eligibility issues and by rejecting efforts to use the topic to marginalize others. For Auburn fans who followed Pearl for years on the Plains, it is another reminder that his voice still carries, especially when he chooses to step into a national argument that has plenty of emotion and not many easy answers. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn Running Backs Face A Camp Battle That Could Reshape Roles
Auburns running back room is heading into camp with a clear message from Larry Porter: everyone has to think and prepare like a starter. The Tigers running backs coach said he is coaching every player equally, and while the offense wont hand out equal snaps to everyone, there should still be ways for the group to help the team, especially on special teams.
Omar Mabson, Bryson Washington and Tay Meadows were among the names Porter pointed to as players with traits that could make them useful in different ways. It sets up a competitive summer for a room that may not sort itself out quickly, and the pecking order could have a real impact on how Auburn pieces together its offense and coverage units once the season gets going. [Read more 🡒]
Auburns Biggest Preseason Battle Is Brewing Behind Jeremiah Cobb
Alex Golesh has made it clear Auburn wants to lean on the run in 2026, which puts a premium on the backs behind Jeremiah Cobb. Cobb is expected to be the top option, but the depth chart after him is far from settled, with Bryson Washington, Omar Mabson, Tae Meadows, Nykahi Davenport and Alvin Henderson all in the mix for the next spots in a room that still feels very much under construction.
The intrigue is in how quickly that pecking order can take shape once the Tigers get deeper into camp and the season approaches. Some of the contenders are still working their way back or are expected to keep developing, which leaves Auburn with real questions about how the rotation will look when the carries start to matter. For a team built to feature the ground game, sorting out the man behind Cobb may be one of the biggest preseason decisions left. [Read more 🡒]