ESPN’s latest Football Power Index has Texas sitting atop the SEC for the 2026 season, with Georgia right behind it and Oklahoma landing sixth in the league and 12th nationally.
That sets up a conference race that already looks crowded before fall camp even gets rolling. ESPN’s updated projections arrived with SEC media days approaching, and the Sooners find themselves in a strong national position while still staring at a demanding road inside the league. Their schedule includes eight opponents ranked in the top 23 of the FPI, with two in the top five and five in the top 15.
At the top of the SEC, Texas checks in at No. 2 overall with a projected 9.8-2.7 record. Georgia is No. 5 overall at 9.9-2.5, and Alabama follows at No. 8 with an 8.6-3.6 projection.
LSU comes in at No. 9 overall, Texas A&M at No. 11, and Oklahoma at No. 12.
For Oklahoma, the projection is 7.5-4.6, and the reasoning is straightforward: the offense should be better, John Mateer is healthy, the offensive line is expected to be more mature and physically ready for SEC play, and Brent Venables is expected to have the defense ready to go.
Here’s how ESPN’s SEC rankings shake out from top to bottom:
Texas Longhorns - Overall: 2, Projected Win-Loss: 9.8-2.7
Georgia Bulldogs - Overall: 5, Projected Win-Loss: 9.9-2.5
Alabama Crimson Tide - Overall: 8, Projected Win-Loss: 8.6-3.6
LSU Tigers - Overall: 9, Projected Win-Loss: 8.4-3.8
Texas A&M Aggies - Overall: 11, Projected Win-Loss: 8.4-3.8
Oklahoma Sooners - Overall: 12, Projected Win-Loss: 7.5-4.6
Ole Miss Rebels - Overall: 14, Projected Win-Loss: 7.3-4.8
Tennessee Volunteers - Overall: 16, Projected Win-Loss: 7.3-4.7
Florida Gators - Overall: 18, Projected Win-Loss: 6.7-5.3
Missouri Tigers - Projected Win-Loss: 6.7-5.3
Auburn Tigers - Overall: 22, Projected Win-Loss: 6.6-5.4
South Carolina Gamecocks - Overall: 23, Projected Win-Loss: 6.4-5.6
Vanderbilt Commodores - Overall: 29, Projected Win-Loss: 6.2-5.8
Kentucky Wildcats - Overall: 40, Projected Win-Loss: 4.6-7.4
Mississippi State Bulldogs - Overall: 49, Projected Win-Loss: 4.6-7.4
Arkansas Razorbacks - Projected Win-Loss: 4.3-7.7
The Sooners’ spot in the middle of that group reflects a team that looks capable, but not one with an easy path. Oklahoma’s schedule is loaded, and the league around it is packed with teams projected to be dangerous.
Ole Miss lands just ahead of Oklahoma at No. 14 overall with a 7.3-4.8 projection, while Tennessee sits at No. 16 and Florida at No. 18. Missouri, Auburn, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Mississippi State and Arkansas round out the rest of the conference rankings.
ESPN’s numbers also spotlight a few major storylines. Texas A&M is projected at 8.4-3.8 after a tougher schedule than the one that helped it go 11-1 a year ago.
LSU’s place at No. 4 in the SEC comes with skepticism about how fast the turnaround can really happen. Alabama’s season hinges on which quarterback takes control.
And Georgia, with Kirby Smart, a returning quarterback and running back, and a defense built to make life miserable, looks like the safest bet at the top.
For Oklahoma, the path is clear enough: the offense has to take a step, the defense has to hold up, and the schedule won’t offer many breaks. ESPN’s FPI says the Sooners are good enough to matter. The question is whether they can survive the grind that comes with it.
In Other News...
Oklahoma May Finally Be Seeing The David Stone Payoff
David Stones rise has been one of the more encouraging developments for Oklahomas defense, especially for a player who arrived with the kind of recruiting profile that can create instant pressure and instant expectations. The five-star defensive tackle was used sparingly as a true freshman, but his second season looked much more like the version the Sooners hoped they were getting, with 42 tackles and eight tackles for loss while becoming harder and harder to ignore on the interior.
Now Stone is drawing national attention as one of the top defensive tackles in college football, and the praise around him has only sharpened the focus on what comes next for Oklahoma. His production already gives the Sooners a disruptive presence up front, and with analysts pointing to him as a potential difference-maker, the bigger question is how much more he can elevate a defense that will be leaning on him heavily moving forward. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma Is Being Held To A National Title Standard Again
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The optimism around the Sooners comes with clear conditions. The defense has to stay strong, and the offense has to take a real step forward under quarterback John Mateer. If both sides of the ball come together, Oklahoma could find itself in the national championship conversation again, with a path that feels a lot closer to the programs old championship standard than its recent rebuilding phase. [Read more 🡒]
Brent Venables Keeps Giving Oklahoma Fans A Reason To Believe
Since Brent Venables took over before the 2022 season, Oklahoma has had a knack for turning overlooked or lightly celebrated recruits into real SEC contributors. That matters in a league where roster-building is supposed to be as much about development as it is about signing-day splash, and the Sooners have already seen that approach pay off in the trenches and on the back end of the defense.
Gracen Halton, Taylor Wein, Eli Bowen and Courtland Guillory all fit the same broader pattern: players who arrived with questions and quickly became part of the answer. For Oklahoma fans, the encouraging part is not just that Venables has found talent, but that the staff keeps identifying it early and getting it ready for bigger roles before the rest of the conference fully catches on. [Read more 🡒]