The SEC is loaded with playoff contenders again, but is still pushing through an uncharacteristic national-title drought. It doesn't get much easier this season as its 16 members move to a nine-game conference schedule. That's eight additional losses for teams – and you just know that not all of those losses will fall on the cellar dwellers.
The contenders are the usual suspects. Georgia leads after back-to-back SEC titles, but Texas looms with perhaps the league's most talented roster. Arch Manning and Steve Sarkisian have to make that final push across the finish line. Don't forget about Alabama or LSU, particularly after Lane Kiffin's arrival set the transfer portal ablaze with superstars landing in Baton Rouge. Oh, and there's Ole Miss, fresh off a Kiffin-less playoff appearance and the returns of quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy.
Will another contender rise? Might Oklahoma, saddled by a subpar offense last season, contend for the SEC title? Will Vanderbilt fall back into the SEC cellar without superstar Diego Pavia throwing and running the ball?
The SEC might be the deepest conference in the country, but supremacy requires a team raising the CFP trophy in January.
Let's get ready for another incredible SEC season before kickoff arrives with CBS Sports' predictions on how everything will shake out.
Most overrated team
Texas A&M: The Aggies had a dream 10-0 start to the 2025 season before it came crashing down in home losses to in-state rival Texas and first-round playoff opponent Miami. Texas A&M coach Mike Elko had to replace his offensive and defensive coordinators (Collin Klein, Jay Bateman) and a program-best 10 NFL Draft picks from last year's team. The No. 8 Aggies get No. 5 Texas at home this year, but its other three highest-ranked opponents (No. 10 Oklahoma, No. 11 LSU and No. 13 Alabama) all come on the road. There's plenty of talent on this Aggies team but it feels a nudge below and a bit more unproven than the conference's elite teams. -- John Talty (also Tom Fornelli, Chip Patterson, Brandon Marcello, Richard Johnson and Brad Crawford)
Alabama: Compared to some of the other favorites in the SEC, the Tide simply have more questions. Most people point to the inexperienced Keelon Russell as Alabama's weak point. But my concerns focus more on the Tide's offensive line and run game. Alabama is one season removed from ranking 126th of 136 teams nationally in yards per carry. That was with a first-round pick at offensive tackle. Now, Alabama is replacing four offensive line starters and failed to add a high-level transfer at running back. Could some of the Tide's young players emerge as difference makers and plug those holes around Russell? Absolutely. But until I see that element of the Tide's offense improve, I have major questions about the offense and the roster as a whole. -- Chris Hummer
Most underrated team
Oklahoma: The Sooners didn't have much of an offense last season and still reached the College Football Playoff. Oklahoma will be much improved offensively with a healthy John Mateer, who was dynamic early last season as a threat in the running game. Mateer apparently changed his throwing motion, too, but I'm not counting on him for his elite throwing abilities. The Sooners should hold as an elite, suffocating defense. If the offense can just improve a tad, especially at running back, Oklahoma will be a factor in the SEC championship race. -- Marcello (also Johnson)
LSU: This a team with a roster closer to the top five than where the Tigers landed in the preseason AP Poll at No. 11. LSU's three toughest games come in Baton Rouge — Texas, Alabama and Texas A&M — and the Tigers should be better up front than all but one opponent they'll play during the regular season. How quickly Lane Kiffin unlocks Sam Leavitt's heightened potential determines this team's ceiling, along with ensuring a rebuilt defense through the transfer portal goes high octane. LSU will be one of three SEC teams in the CFP. Book it. – Crawford (also Patterson)
Florida: Thirteen of the SEC's 16 teams received at least a vote in the preseason AP Top 25, with nine ranked in the Top 25. Florida was not one of those teams, and while I won't argue the Gators deserved to be in the Top 25, I do believe there's a very good chance this team finishes the year there. Jon Sumrall has been a head coach for four seasons. He's won three conference titles (across two leagues) and played for a fourth. I doubt that trend continues in the SEC, but a talented team combined with an excellent coaching staff could lead to much-improved results in a hurry. -- Fornelli (also Hummer)
Ole Miss: This is a bit of a cheat because Ole Miss is still ranked highly, at No. 9 in the Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll and in our predicted finishes, but I am the highest in the group on the Rebels at No. 3. It's understandable to think Ole Miss could take a step back without coach Lane Kiffin and offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., but I'm bullish on the roster Pete Golding inherited and what his staff was able to add in the transfer portal. If Ole Miss can at least split early season games against Louisville and LSU, I think it'll have a real shot to out-perform the predictions that have the Rebs on the outside looking in the playoff race. -- Talty
Bold predictions
Tom Fornelli: The SEC will get five teams into the CFP and two of them will have three losses.
Chip Patterson: Multiple SEC teams occupy the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25 poll before the end of the season. Though the SEC didn't earn any first-place votes in the preseason poll, the parity at the top of the sport leaves the door open for Georgia, Texas or another contender to surge to the top of the rankings with a key win against another top team.
Brandon Marcello: Ole Miss will beat LSU in the Lane Kiffin Bowl, but the Tigers will improve as the Rebels regress in October and November. The Bayou Bengals leapfrog the Rebels in the SEC standings, pushing LSU into the CFP and Ole Miss out of the picture. The SEC lands four teams in the CFP and quickly finds out that a nine-game conference schedule hinders its prospects in a 12-team CFP. The deepest conference in the country will be tougher than ever for the middle-of-the-pack teams.
John Talty: Everyone expects the SEC to struggle to get as many teams into the College Football Playoff now that the conference has moved to a nine-game schedule. In theory, it makes a lot of sense, too. Even some within the conference believe this. But look for the SEC to still place four or more teams in the playoff this season. There's a real chance the SEC could have six or more teams with nine wins that could all still be in the playoff hunt come December.
Richard Johnson: Steve Sarkisian finally gets over the Kirby Smart sized hump on the way to a national title. It hasn't mattered whether it's Athens, Austin or Atlanta, the Dawgs have had their day when they face Texas. That ends this season. All the fancy toys placed around Arch Manning push Texas over Georgia when the two meet for the SEC Championship game in December.
Brad Crawford: Two SEC teams finish 9-3 — Alabama and Ole Miss — and neither make the CFP bracket. SMU and BYU will squeeze the Crimson Tide and Rebels out of the conversation after both teams conclude 11-2 overall with conference title-weekend losses coming in their respective finales. Then, strength-of-schedule chatter from Greg Sankey intensifies.
Chris Hummer: Georgia makes it to a sixth straight SEC championship game. Nick Saban's Alabama dynasty never accomplished that. But unlike Georgia's last three games against Texas, the Longhorns manage to get over the hump and win in Atlanta.
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SEC champion
Georgia: While the SEC appears to have more College Football Playoff contenders than any other league, we have a situation where the group of top-tier conference title contenders looks much smaller. That's because Texas is the team with the obvious splashy talent, and Georgia is the program that has done it more consistently than anyone else in the league. Kirby Smart's group has won the SEC four times in the last five years largely on the strength of its high school recruiting and player development, and that championship-caliber operation is why you see support from the expert picks community despite the No. 7 transfer portal class in the conference, per 247Sports.
Road trips to Alabama and Ole Miss could be road bumps in the path to a spot in the SEC Championship Game, but if it does come down to Georgia and Texas (as our experts are suggesting) I'll take the "been there, done that" side of the coin flip and expect the Dawgs have answered some of their more pressing questions by the time the game arrives in early December. -- Patterson (also Fornelli, Marcello, Talty and Crawford)
Texas: Texas hasn't been able to get over the Georgia-sized hump to win the SEC, but count me as a believer the Longhorns do it this year. Combine Arch Manning's late-season progression with the pieces Steve Sarkisian and his coaching staff have put around him on offense (Cam Coleman, Raleek Brown and Hollywood Smothers) and you have the ingredients for a potent offense once Sark gets done cooking. Yes, the secondary is a question mark but with a little Will Muschamp magic sprinkled on it, Texas' defense will be just fine. The natty is the limit for this Texas team. -- Johnson (also Hummer)
