The SEC is back in the conversation for the sport’s biggest prize.
After three straight seasons without a national championship appearance, the league has plenty of teams positioned to push back toward the top. The preseason AP top 25 tells the story: nine SEC teams are ranked, and five of them land inside the top 11.
The talent is there. The real question is which rosters have enough at quarterback, along the lines and across the depth chart to survive three or four playoff games against elite competition.
Georgia looks like the safest bet. The Bulldogs open at No. 3 in the AP poll and were the SEC media’s clear favorite, pulling in 88 votes to win the conference.
Kirby Smart’s team also brings back the league’s deepest group of preseason All-SEC selections, a sign of how complete this roster is on both sides of the ball. Georgia’s offensive backfield comes back experienced with quarterback Gunner Stockton and running back Nate Frazier leading the way.
The one obvious concern is the pass rush after a season that produced just 20 sacks. If that front can create more disruption, Georgia has a direct path to a title run.
Texas is right there too, and in some eyes may be the SEC’s most gifted roster. The Longhorns are No. 5 in the AP preseason rankings and finished second in SEC media voting.
Arch Manning returns at quarterback after a strong finish to last season, and Texas added a major offensive piece in receiver Cam Coleman, the top-ranked target out of the portal. The defense brings back edge rusher Colin Simmons, giving Texas the kind of balance that can win in different ways.
The catch is obvious: the SEC schedule leaves almost no room to stumble.
Texas A&M also belongs in the championship conversation. The Aggies are No. 8 nationally and have enough firepower to be a real threat beyond the usual preseason chatter.
Marcel Reed is back at quarterback, Mario Craver returns at receiver, and the upside is obvious. The uncertainty comes from major turnover on both lines, which makes the path more complicated.
Even so, Texas A&M has the kind of ceiling that can turn into something much bigger if it handles a tougher schedule than it faced a year ago.
Ole Miss is coming off a trip to the College Football Playoff semifinals, and the Rebels have enough talent to dream big again. Kewan Lacy returns as one of the nation’s premier offensive weapons, and quarterback Trinidad Chambliss earned first-team preseason All-SEC honors.
But the changes are significant. Lane Kiffin is gone, Pete Golding is in, and the roster transition brings real questions about continuity.
The talent is championship-level; repeating last season is another matter.
Oklahoma enters at No. 10 and brings a different kind of case. Brent Venables has built a strong defensive base, and the Sooners have tried to fix last year’s offensive issues by adding more weapons.
If the offense can get to even average, the defense may be good enough to carry Oklahoma into the playoff. The Sooners are not the obvious pick in the league, but they have enough to get in and make life difficult once they do.
LSU sits at No. 11 and has made one of the boldest roster overhauls in the country, along with one of college football’s biggest coaching shifts. Kiffin brought in a huge transfer class led by quarterback Sam Leavitt and offensive tackle Jordan Seaton, while defensive coordinator Blake Baker remains in place.
LSU has the kind of talent that can play for a title, but the challenge is getting all those new pieces working fast enough. If the offense clicks early, the Tigers could be one of the SEC’s most dangerous teams by November.
Alabama rounds out the group at No. 13, a little lower than fans are used to seeing but still squarely in the mix. The Crimson Tide have major talent, especially on defense, but quarterback Keelon Russell has to replace the production of Ty Simpson.
That makes Alabama more of a challenger than a favorite at the moment. Even so, the combination of talent, coaching and pedigree means the Tide can’t be written off.
Georgia and Texas stand out as the SEC’s strongest title bets. Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Oklahoma and LSU all have real playoff routes if their biggest questions get answered. After a three-year absence from the national championship game, the SEC has more than enough firepower to get back there.
In Other News...
Texas Fans Suddenly Have Another Quarterback Story To Watch
Freshman quarterback Dia Bell has been one of the early bright spots of Texas fall camp, enough to get noticed far beyond the Longhorns practice fields. Even with Arch Manning and KJ Lacey sitting ahead of him on the depth chart, Bell has begun building the kind of buzz that usually turns into a real conversation later on, especially around a program that is always looking for its next quarterback.
Steve Sarkisian has made it clear he wants Texas to keep developing its own quarterbacks, and Bell looks like a meaningful part of that approach. He is still in the early stages of his college career, but the attention he has drawn suggests this is more than a typical freshman camp story, and it gives Longhorns fans another name to track as the quarterback picture keeps taking shape. [Read more 🡒]
Mark Stoops Could Shape The Texas Identity Sarkisian Really Wants
Mark Stoops arriving on Texas staff this spring as a special assistant to the head coach was easy to miss in the shuffle of an offseason, but it may end up being one of the more telling additions to Steve Sarkisians program. Texas is still settling into life in the SEC, and the Longhorns have made no secret of wanting to look a little different there, with more emphasis on physical play and a run game that can travel anywhere.
Stoops brings exactly the kind of conference experience Texas is trying to absorb, after years of building Kentucky around toughness and rushing offense. For Sarkisian, the value of having that perspective in the room is obvious, especially as the Longhorns keep trying to define what their identity should look like in their third season in the league. The real question is how much of that Stoops influence ends up showing up when the games start to matter. [Read more 🡒]
Arch Manning Just Got A Challenge Texas Fans Will Notice
Arch Manning is heading into his second season as Texas starting quarterback, and the expectation around him is only growing. He already enters the fall as one of the early Heisman Trophy contenders, but head coach Steve Sarkisian has made it clear there is still room for Manning to raise his game, especially in the way he carries himself and operates on the field.
Sarkisian wants to see Manning become more energized and sharper, a push that could matter just as much for the Longhorns offense as any individual stat line. With a new offensive addition in Cam Coleman joining the mix, Texas has more pieces around its quarterback, but the next step for Manning may be less about adding pressure and more about meeting a challenge his coach believes can unlock even more from the offense. [Read more 🡒]