The SEC’s academic pecking order is starting to look a little different heading into the 2026-27 school year, and the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings show a conference with five schools inside the national top 100.
Vanderbilt still sits alone at the top of the league’s academic ladder, but the bigger story is what happened behind it. Oklahoma made the biggest leap in the conference, and the Sooners also remain the only SEC school with an in-state undergraduate tuition rate below $10,000 a year.
That matters because Oklahoma has joined the SEC without seeing its tuition spike dramatically, and it now heads into its third academic year in the league with a stronger national standing than it had a year ago.
The conference also remains a place of huge enrollment swings. Vanderbilt is the only private school in the SEC, and Mississippi State and Ole Miss are the only schools with fewer undergraduates than Oklahoma.
At the other end of the scale, eight SEC schools have undergraduate enrollment above 30,000, with Texas A&M leading the way at more than 60,000. Texas is next at more than 40,000.
Here’s how the SEC stacks up academically, according to U.S. News & World Report:
Vanderbilt University is No. 1 in the SEC, with undergraduate enrollment in fall 2024 at 7,221. The school was ranked No. 18 nationally in 2024, with tuition at $71,226 and an acceptance rate of 6%.
The University of Florida and the University of Texas are tied at No. 2 in the conference. Florida has 36,573 undergraduates, was ranked No. 28 nationally in 2024, charges $6,381 in in-state tuition and has a 24% acceptance rate. Texas has 43,156 undergraduates, was ranked No. 32 in 2024 and No. 30 in 2026, and lists in-state cost at $11,678.
No. 4 in the SEC is the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs have 32,399 undergraduates, were ranked No. 47 nationally in 2024, No. 46 in 2025 and No. 46 tied in 2026, with in-state cost at $11,492 and an acceptance rate of 38%.
Texas A&M checks in at No. 5.
The Aggies’ enrollment of 60,710 is the largest in the conference, and they were ranked No. 47 nationally in 2024 and No. 51 tied in 2026. In-state cost is $12,928, and the acceptance rate is 57%.
Three schools are tied at No. 6 in the SEC: Auburn, Missouri and Tennessee.
Auburn has 27,907 undergraduates and moved from No. 93 in 2024 to No. 105 in 2025 and No. 102 in 2026. In-state cost is $13,318, and the acceptance rate is 46%.
Missouri has 24,449 undergraduates, was ranked No. 124 tied in 2024 and No. 109 tied in 2025, with in-state cost at $15,548 and an acceptance rate of 78%.
Tennessee has 30,564 undergraduates, was ranked No. 109 tied in 2025 and No. 102 tied in 2026. In-state cost is $13,812, and the acceptance rate is 42%.
Oklahoma comes in at No. 9 in the SEC. The Sooners have 23,351 undergraduates, were ranked No. 132 in 2025, and list in-state cost at $9,887 with a 77% acceptance rate.
South Carolina is No. 10, with 30,187 undergraduates, a 2025 national ranking of No. 121, in-state cost of $12,688 and a 60% acceptance rate.
Kentucky is No. 11. The Wildcats have 25,534 undergraduates, climbed from No. 159 in 2024 to No. 152 in 2025 and No. 143 in 2026, and list in-state cost at $13,907 with a 93% acceptance rate.
Three schools are tied at No. 12: Alabama, Ole Miss and LSU.
Alabama has 34,389 undergraduates, moved from No. 170 in 2024 to No. 171 in 2025 and No. 169 in 2026, with in-state cost at $12,484 and an acceptance rate of 77%.
Ole Miss has 21,585 undergraduates, was ranked No. 169 tied in 2026, and has in-state cost of $10,150 with a 97% acceptance rate.
LSU has 34,242 undergraduates, improved from No. 179 tied in 2025 to No. 169 tied in 2026, and lists in-state cost at $12,551.
Arkansas is No. 15 in the SEC. The Razorbacks have 28,859 undergraduates, moved from No. 189 in 2025 to No. 183 in 2026, and have in-state cost at $10,496 with a 74% acceptance rate.
Mississippi State is last in the conference at No. 16. The Bulldogs have 18,567 undergraduates, were ranked No. 208 nationally in 2026, and list in-state cost at $10,604 with a 78% acceptance rate.
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
After finishing 10-3 and getting back to the College Football Playoff, Oklahoma is once again being judged by a standard that used to define the program: not just whether it can make the field, but whether it can chase a national title. That shift matters in Norman, where the expectation has moved beyond simply recovering from a disappointing season and back toward the kind of ceiling that turns a good year into a memorable one.
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 🡒]