A new-look Southeastern Conference is here. The Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners joining the league makes for 10 teams now who expect to reach the College Football Playoff this year and a total cluster of teams competing with each other. This is all reflected in our preseason SEC Power Rankings.
16. Vanderbilt
Clark Lea’s team went 0-8 in the conference and 2-10 overall last year. They showed no signs of improvement later in the season. Why should we believe that the Commodores will be anything more than the worst team in the league once again?
15. South Carolina
Shane Beamer’s Gamecocks are a total disaster. He still has his job because of one lucky November in 2022 that may have been aided by Connor Stalions. That’s not going to change the fact that he went 5-7 in league play last year, and while he did finish strong last season, he lost Spencer Rattler, so expect a huge drop-off.
14. Mississippi State
A coaching change is the only reason this one is so low. The Bulldogs, though, were 5-7 last year and in a lot of games. I think Jeff Lebby will have them knocking on the door of a bowl game and pushing some good teams to the limit, but that’s a projection. There’s no way I can use that to put them higher in our SEC Power Rankings for now.
13. Arkansas
Everything is about to collapse for Sam Pittman and the Razorbacks, but bringing back Bobby Petrino should at least put some spark in the offense. Still, the Hogs will finish near the bottom of the league. Circumstances surrounding other teams put them higher than they should be in our SEC Power Rankings.
12. Florida
Billy Napier is likely done, as the Florida Gators have the most brutal schedule to start the year, and the wheels could come off. That has nothing to do with these rankings, though. Despite missing a bowl, UF did win three league games, and they put up a fight for a bit against the Florida State Seminoles last year, so they’re the best of the bad.
11. Kentucky
As is typical for the Wildcats, Mark Stoops’ team will be good enough to reach bowl eligibility while remaining near the bottom of the league. Beating the Louisville Cardinals to end last year, putting up a fight against the Clemson Tigers and adding Bush Hamden and Brock VandarGriff puts this team a bit higher on our list, though.
10. Texas A&M
Forget projections for a second. Why is everybody just assuming the Aggies are one of the bottom teams in the league? If I were doing projections, they would be higher, but Mike Elko takes over a team we know is talented that went 7-5 last year but easily could have won 10 games. As a result, they’re top 10 in the league.
9. Auburn
Hugh Freeze and the Tigers are red-hot on the recruiting trail right now, and he’s really building the program up. However, despite playing the Alabama Crimson Tide close, they lost three straight to close the season. Still, he’s got a lot of talent back, and he’ll have this team expecting to make a push for the College Football Playoff.
8. Oklahoma
Can Brent Venables maintain the momentum after a 10-3 campaign? Joining the league is a knock against the Sooners, but adding Jackson Arnold does propel them a bit. They get to stay in the top half of our SEC Power Rankings, but 10 wins in Big 12 play isn’t enough to put them above here to start 2024.
7. Tennessee
Similar to Oklahoma, the Vols had a solid finish last year and break in a new quarterback with more hype than their previous one. They also have their system figured out under Josh Heupel, but the program has to prove a lot more before moving up this rankings.
6. Missouri
Eli Drinkwitz’s team went 11-2 last year and finished in the top 10. Sure, they played an easy schedule, but they return a ton of talent, so there is still a strong case for them to be higher. As of right now, this program needs more quality wins to be higher. Losing to the LSU Tigers last year keeps it here.
5. LSU
Brian Kelly has an elite offense and a ton of talent on defense, but losing a Heisman winner in Jayden Daniels had to knock him down at least a spot. If he shores up the defense, his team should be much better, but as of right now, the Tigers are holding on to the upper half of our SEC Power Rankings.
4. Ole Miss
Yes, the Rebels are in the same situation as Mizzou in terms of quality wins, but they actually beat LSU last year, so with their quarterback returning and Lane Kiffin doing work in the transfer portal, they are No. 4 to start the year. However, they could easily finish first or 12th in the league, so watch out.
3. Alabama
Kalen DeBoer takes over a team that returns its quarterback and won the SEC last year. However, I still would have closed the year with the Crimson Tide No. 2 in my SEC Power Rankings. Now, with another team in, they start the year at No. 3. Bama has a bit to prove after last year’s sloppy Rose Bowl game.
2. Texas
Steve Sarkisian has to prove he legitimately belongs here, and his team did lose in the CFP semifinals as did Bama. Beating Bama, though, even if if was early, combined with the continuity of returning their coach puts them higher in our power rankings for now.
1. Georgia
You could make the case for the Bulldogs to be as low as No. 3 given the fact that they missed the College Football Playoff last year, but nobody believes they weren’t better than Texas, and with both teams returning proven stars at quarterback, UGA gets the nod. To nobody’s surprise, they enter 2024 atop our SEC Power Rankings.
