The College Football Playoff race is still wide open as November approaches, and the SEC remains the conference that could scramble the bracket the most. ESPN’s Football Power Index currently gives eight SEC teams at least a 16.9% shot to make the CFP, which tells you just how crowded this picture still is.
On Wednesday morning, Joel Klatt tried to sort through the mess and settled on four SEC teams making his 12-team field: No. 2 Georgia, No.
7 Texas, No. 8 Ole Miss and No.
11 LSU.
Klatt had Georgia winning the SEC, then turned to Texas as an at-large team. “We get into some of these at-large teams, I think Texas gets an at-large spot,” Klatt began after anointing Georgia the SEC Champions.
“I can see Texas actually being a 10-2 team. And if they’re 10-2… they would probably be the seven seed and hosting a first-round game.”
He slotted Ole Miss in at No. 8 as the “SEC Championship game loser,” but placed the Rebels behind Texas because of their head-to-head loss. LSU finished out his SEC quartet, with Klatt projecting the Tigers to land at 9-3.
“I do think a 9-3 team gets in this thing,” Klatt said. “Look for [LSU] to get a couple big wins late in the season as they begin to play better.”
Not everyone in the SEC made the cut in Klatt’s projection. Alabama was one of the biggest omissions, even though the Crimson Tide have FPI’s second-highest playoff odds in the conference at 62.9%, behind only Georgia.
Kentucky also missed out, despite sitting fourth among SEC teams in CFP odds at 52.1%. The Wildcats still have Tennessee, Florida and Missouri ahead before closing with in-state rival Louisville.
In Other News...
Ole Miss Just Won A Huge In-State Recruiting Battle
Ole Miss landed a major in-state recruiting win when Mitchell Turner, one of Mississippis top prospects and a four-star defensive lineman, announced he is officially committed to the Rebels and has closed his recruitment. Turner had drawn plenty of interest and kept looking at his options, including a visit to Alabama, but he ultimately settled back on the program closest to home, giving Ole Miss a significant addition on the defensive front.
For a Rebels staff trying to keep elite local talent from drifting elsewhere, this kind of commitment carries extra weight. Turners standing as a nationally ranked prospect only raises the stakes, and his upcoming appearance in the 2026 Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game will give everyone another look at what Ole Miss is adding as it continues to build around the states best players. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Could Get A Timely Boost Up Front Vs Auburn
Ole Miss got through the Texas game without a sack allowed, but the offensive line still had to work around a key absence at right tackle. Terez Davis left that game with an injury and was held out as a precaution, a development that mattered even in a performance where the pass protection held up and the running game was not as sharp.
Pete Golding said Davis is expected back for the Auburn matchup, which would be a welcome bit of stability up front for a line trying to keep building on its pass-protection success. His return would also give the Rebels another piece to lean on as they look to find more balance on offense and avoid making that side of the ball do extra work. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Just Landed In A Postseason Picture Fans Will Debate
With the postseason picture still taking shape, ESPNs latest bowl projections have started to map out where the SECs top teams could land if the season ended right now. Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach updated their matchups across the conference, and the list includes the familiar heavyweights along with the rest of the leagues crowded middle, all of it tied to current rankings and how teams have performed to this point.
For Ole Miss fans, the interest is less about the certainty of any one destination and more about the range of possibilities still in play. Projections this early are always fluid, especially with so many SEC teams still sorting themselves out, but they do offer a useful snapshot of how the Rebels fit into a postseason race that could keep shifting right up to the end of the regular season. [Read more 🡒]