The SEC already has six teams showing up in ESPN’s early College Football Playoff projections, even though the 2026 season hasn’t kicked off yet.
On Saturday, ESPN analysts Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach released their postseason picks for every bowl game and CFP matchup. They agreed on only two SEC teams in the 12-team field: Georgia and Texas.
Georgia is the one team both analysts clearly believe belongs in the thick of the race, though they don’t line up on the path. Bonagura has the Bulldogs as the No. 5 seed, opening against No.
12 Boise State and then facing No. 4 Indiana in the Fiesta Bowl.
Schlabach is even higher on Georgia, slotting it at No. 2 with a quarterfinal matchup against No. 7 Miami and a semifinal against No.
3 Notre Dame.
Texas also shows up in both projections, again with different routes. Bonagura has the Longhorns at No. 3, meeting No.
6 Oregon in a quarterfinal before taking on No. 2 Notre Dame in the semifinal.
Schlabach places Texas at No. 5, with a first game against Boise State and then a quarterfinal matchup with No. 4 Oregon.
Beyond those two, the SEC picture gets split. Bonagura includes Alabama as the No. 9 seed at Texas Tech, LSU in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Michigan, Ole Miss as the No. 10 seed at No.
7 Miami, and Texas A&M in the Citrus Bowl against Penn State. Schlabach’s board is different across the board: Alabama lands in the Citrus Bowl vs.
Penn State, LSU gets a No. 10 seed at No. 7 Miami, Ole Miss ends up in the Las Vegas Bowl against Washington, and Texas A&M is the No. 11 seed at No.
6 BYU.
The projections also came with Kalshi odds, which had Notre Dame at 82%, Ohio St. at 76%, Oregon at 75%, Georgia at 69%, Texas at 66%, LSU at 41%, Texas A&M at 41%, Alabama at 39%, Ole Miss at 37% and Clemson at 12%.
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