2026 College Football Preview: SEC

Photo by Brett Davis from Imagn Images

It’s time to talk about everybody’s favorite conference.

The SEC had a reign of terror that gave them the right to be boastful and brag about all of their success and all of their talent.

Now, they still do.

Whether it’s deserved or not is up to the individual.

I, personally, don’t care one way or another. I just wish the coaches and ADs would shut up about it, but I feel that way about every conference.

Let’s talk about the SEC!

Better Luck Next Year

Kentucky Wildcats

Will Stein, a Louisville grad, leads the charge for the Wildcats.

Clearly, he is there to sabotage the program and run them into the dirt.

Actually, he made some great portal additions, such as CJ Baxter from Texas and Jovantae Barnes from Oklahoma.

But this Wildcats team is a completely new offense, in a new offensive system with a first time head coach, in one of the toughest conferences in the sport.

The ceiling for UK is bigger with Will Stein than it was with Mark Stoops, but it’s going to take time to hit that ceiling.

Arkansas Razorbacks

I don’t really know what Arkansas is doing here.

It was time to move on from Sam Pittman. That was clear.

But the Razorbacks, in the money era of college sports, were able to get John Calipari out of Kentucky for basketball.

And for football, with all the possible options for coaches, they were passed over multiple times before they landed on Ryan Silverfield, a coach that continuously underperformed with extremely good Memphis teams.

I’m expected to think Arkansas, in the SEC, with a lot of talented up and coming coaches, are going to succeed in the Silverfield era?

I severely doubt it.

Bowl Game Bound

Ole Miss Rebels

Let’s get this out of the way.

This is low. And I agree, it’s absolutely low.

After all, the Rebels were just a few plays away from the title game last year, made Pete Golding head coach, kept Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy in Oxford, and are set up to succeed again.

So why not dark horses?

There are lots of reasons for Ole Miss’ title fight last year.

Maybe Pete Golding just really is that good of a coach. That’s definitely possible.

Or maybe, there was some motivation for former head coach Lane Kiffin leaving town in the middle of a playoff battle, and the manor in which he did it. That’s also possible.

Or maybe, even with Kiffin gone, his offensive coaching staff remained in Oxford through the playoff race, and is now gone after following Kiffin to LSU.

I’m not saying the Rebels title run last year was a fluke.

But there were too many variables for me to think they can repeat that again.

If I’m wrong, I’ll gladly eat crow.

Florida Gators

Jon Sumrall is a football coach. Period.

What I mean by that is that he does not care about recruiting rankings or star power or anything.

He’s going to win football games.

So for his first year at Florida, the Gators have the 18th ranked recruiting class (certainly good, but not the elite level they expect) and none of the transfers he brought in are particularly thrilling names.

But that doesn’t matter.

There is talent and depth on this football team, like Vernell Brown, TJ Abrams, and Jadan Baugh, and the defensive line looks to be a problem.

If the wins come, the recruits will come.

And Sumrall wins.

Auburn Tigers

If Jon Sumrall was my favorite hire in the SEC this year, Alex Golesh is my second favorite hire.

And a big part of that is because he brought Byrum Brown, among other players, with him from USF.

I had faith for years that pairing would work, and last year, it finally did.

And now, Brown and Golesh get to try it out in the SEC, and they do so with defensive coordinator DJ Durkin staying on to be the coordinator, and giving Golesh a little reprieve in his first year at this level.

So the offense has continuity from one job to the next, the defense keeps their high level coordinator, and the talent is there.

This should be a quick turnaround.

Vanderbilt Commodores

The biggest benefit of the NIL era of college football is Vanderbilt, who have a wealthy alumni base, and now have a great coach in Clark Lea to lead the charge and make it worth it to spend the money on the program.

And that showed this year, with Vanderbilt signing five star QB Jared Curtis out of high school.

That’s a huge get, and he will likely be the starter for the Commodores year one.

And that’s cool, but it also means Vandy might need to take a step back to take a step forward.

There will be growing pains, and it will likely keep Vanderbilt from playoff contention.

But the future is quite bright in Nashville.

Oklahoma Sooners

The 2025 Oklahoma Sooners were a tale of two seasons.

There was the first half of the year, where the Sooners looked to be an elite team, and John Mateer was slinging the rock all over the field.

And then there was the back half of the year after Mateer got hurt, which led to an Oklahoma offense that at times looked totally lifeless and cost them games, including their playoff game against Alabama.

The defense should be good again, even with losing R. Mason Thomas, but it’s all reliant on the offense.

If Mateer stays healthy, they could be great.

If he doesn’t, which is certainly possible in the reckless “Haynes King” style of play he has, it could tank the offense again.

Missouri Tigers

Mizzou last year was good, but how good were they really?

They did not face a particularly difficult schedule, and now they need to replace their QB, their offensive coordinator, and maybe even their running back sadly, as Ahmad Hardy is still recovering from being shot in the leg.

The good news is, the 2026 schedule ain’t too difficult either.

But there’s a lot of changes for us to expect another 8 or 9 win season.

Mississippi State Bulldogs

Watch out for Kamario Taylor this year.

The Jeff Lebby offense is one where QBs can thrive, and Taylor showed that last season.

Where the Bulldogs need to improve, however, is winning games, and not fall off a cliff.

The Bulldogs started the year 4-0, with three easy wins, and one awesome win over Arizona State.

And then, they welcomed Tennessee to town for a statement game, and took the Vols to OT before they just barely fell short.

A tough loss, but not the end of the world.

But then, down the stretch, they lost 7 of 8 games, including heartbreaking losses to Florida and Texas.

If they can stick with it, win the closer games late, and Taylor hits like we expect, State should be quite good.

Dark Horses

Texas Longhorns

Last year was the year.

Texas was supposed to be a dominant team, fight for the playoff, and even fight for the title.

After all, it was Arch Manning time.

But Arch really, really struggled, losing very winnable games against Ohio State, Florida, and Vanderbilt.

It looked really rough.

But then, the game seemed to slow down a little for Arch, and he played a lot better, including a huge performance against arch rival Texas A&M.

So now, heading into 2026, the expectations are back, and maybe even bigger.

The Longhorns get Ohio State again, this time at home.

Will Muschamp joins the group as a defensive coordinator, and say what you want about his head coaching tenures (and there is a LOT you could say), but he is an excellent defensive coordinator.

The question is, can the Longhorns live up to these expectations?

Texas A&M Aggies

And the question for Texas A&M is “Can we beat Texas?”

In Mike Elko’s first year as the head coach, the Aggies were 9-2 going into their game against Texas, the first in over a decade, and they lost, at home, 17-7. It cost them a playoff birth.

The next year they improved, were 11-0 heading into the game against the Longhorns and a chance to go to the SEC title game, and maybe even grab a first round bye in the playoffs, and they lost 27-17, costing them that SEC title game appearance, and putting them in a first round game against Miami, which they went on to lose.

Marcel Reed is back, and while he’s messy, he’s good.

And while the portal was hit hard to improve the lines, that’s never been an issue with Mike Elko teams.

The Aggies will be good again.

But if they can’t beat Texas, it’s not going to get them to Atlanta.

Alabama Crimson Tide

Taking over the job after Nick Saban was always impossible, and while Kalen DeBoer hasn’t lit the world on fire, he hasn’t been terribly bad, all things considered.

But this year will be his biggest test.

The entire offense is basically gone, which means a full reset, but also the first year of DeBoer truly having his guys.

It starts with 5 star QB Keelon Russell, as well as a boatload of underclass skill guys and lineman supporting him.

The defense should, ideally, be absolutely excellent again.

And if it is, and DeBoer’s guys hit, Alabama should be really, really good again.

And maybe, they’ll win the games they should win, unlike the first two years of DeBoer’s era.

LSU Tigers

The man of the hour.

Maybe the man of the year.

Lane Kiffin’s “will he/won’t he” saga last year before the playoffs left a big mess in his wake, as well as a fanbase in Mississippi extremely mad at him.

But the fact is, Lane wins where he goes, and he wins quickly.

Sam Leavitt takes over as QB for the Tigers, Charlie Weis Jr. came with him from Ole Miss, and a variety of transfer receivers fill out the rest of the offense.

The question, as often, is defense.

Lane’s defenses were always a little suspect, and it wasn’t until Pete Golding came around for Ole Miss to have a great defense with Lane Kiffin.

Golding didn’t come along with Kiffin, and while Blake Baker is good, it’s a defense stockpiled with transfers, some from Ole Miss, who Baker did not coach.

But if Brian Kelly had LSU in the SEC title game in his first year, Lane Kiffin surely can.

Tennessee Volunteers

An 8-4 season does not lead to a lot of expectations for a title push, and that’s all very true.

But Josh Heupel’s tenure at Tennessee shows that, after the so so years where they retool after a big year, they come back strong.

They did it with an 11-2 season in 2022, and did it again with a 10-3 season and playoff appearance in 2024.

The offense returns everyone except quarterback Joel Aguilar, and the defense, while new and raw, does bring in defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who had tremendous stints at Oklahoma State and Ohio State.

If Knowles has a successful first year, and Heupel’s offense thrives like we know it can, the Vols could make a run at this.

South Carolina Gamecocks

Two years ago, South Carolina took the sport by storm, with LaNorris Sellers, Nyck Harbor, and Dylan Stewart becoming household names, and the Gamecocks going 9-4.

People expected them to be in the hunt for the SEC title, and instead, the Gamecocks went 4-8.

But a huge part of that was a horrid offensive line, which Beamer made sure to hit hard in the portal, and an allergy to winning close games.

They blew very winnable games against Missouri and Clemson, while blowing late leads against Alabama and Texas A&M.

If they can just turn those winnable games into actual wins, and their offensive line thrives under new OC Kendal Briles, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them make a ton of noise once again.

The Favorites

Georgia Bulldogs

Kirby Smart’s defense is going to be amazing. The Bulldogs offensive line is going to be excellent. Gunner Stockton is going to take care of the football. The running backs are going to thrive and put up big numbers.

Georgia is going to be in Atlanta the weekend after Thanksgiving.

The Bulldogs have made the last 5 SEC title games, and have won the last two.

You can say these teams aren’t as good as the 2021 and 2022 Georgia teams, and I don’t disagree with that.

I’m not sure I see this Georgia team as a national title team.

But you’d be a damned fool to bet against the Bulldogs in the SEC considering their track record of success in recent years.