2024 post-spring, post-portal SEC Power Rankings: Georgia fends off Texas for top spot
With spring football and the second transfer portal window (essentially) in the rearview mirror, we’re officially entered the doldrums of the college football offseason.
Or have we?
Although the spring transfer window wasn’t the dizzying carousel many anticipated, so much has changed since the Early Signing Period in December so now is the perfect time to asses where teams stand entering the summer before the 2024 season.
The SEC projects to be the best conference in the nation once again this fall, with as many as 7-9 teams believing they can vie for a College Football Playoff spot if the ball rolls right.
Here’s how the league stacks up exiting the spring with the 2024 post-spring, post-portal SEC Power Rankings:
1. Georgia
The Bulldogs are one of the favorites to win the 2024 national championship, and with good reason — from Carson Beck back at quarterback to a defense littered with experience and blue-chip talent, the roster is as good as any in the country. UGA avoided the injury bug through spring practice, and added impact tight end Ben Yurosek and potential QB insurance in Jaden Rashada.
2. Texas
While Arch Manning stole the show in Texas’ spring game, Quinn Ewers — EA Sports College Football 25 cover-boy — remains the headliner for a Texas offense that projects to be elite again in 2024. The Longhorns used the spring to incorporate Ewers’ new weapons (like Alabama wideout Isaiah Bond, Houston wideout Matthew Golden), while shoring up some defensive holes by flipping tackle Jermayne Lole away from Oklahoma and adding Arizona end Bill Norton.
3. Alabama
It may take some time for the Tide to totally gel in 2024, but Kalen DeBoer has a squad capable of contending for a College Football Playoff spot in Year 1 post-Nick Saban. The roster looks a lot differently than it did in 2023, but with the boomerang transfer of 5-star tackle Kadyn Proctor, the offensive line should be a major strength and the secondary added key pieces this spring from Michigan, Penn State, Wake Forest and elsewhere.
4. Ole Miss
Coming off their best season in school history (11-2), the Rebels have gone all-in on making the CFP and competing for an SEC Championship this fall. Lane Kiffin did yeoman’s work retaining the key portions of Ole Miss’ roster and adding star transfers like Walter Nolen and Juice Wells. During the spring, the Rebels grabbed a pair of tailbacks to supplement the offense’s lone weakness. If a defense full of mercenary transfers can coalesce, Ole Miss will top last year’s historic season.
5. Missouri
The Tigers have the makeup of a CFP contender this fall, as Eli Drinkwitz has assembled a roster that can compete with any program in the SEC. The loss of defensive coordinator Blake Baker to LSU stung, but Drinkwitz has proven he can hire capable assistants as well as any coach in the league recently. The Tigers still have some pressing questions to answer defensively during fall camp, but they did grab Georgia Tech edge Eddie Kelly for some depth, and All-AAC offensive lineman Marcus Bryant from Houston.
6. Tennessee
Outside of Nico Mania, Tennessee had a rather quiet spring. The Vols didn’t add a single transfer, and much of the focus was on implementing all the new pieces — offensively and defensively — from the previous window. While Iamaleava has star potential, Tennessee’s defense (which returns just three starters) could actually be what spearheads a special season with the return of pass rusher James Pearce (maybe the best defensive player in the conference) and the additions of Oregon State corner Jermod McCoy and MTSU safety Jakobe Thomas.
7. LSU
It’s hard not to be down on LSU’s 2024 ceiling after the Tigers exited the spring with continued questions defensively, and then whiffed on key targets in the transfer portal. Brian Kelly upgraded LSU’s defensive staff, but the failures to add more than a single defensive tackle (and zero DBs) in the second window leaves the Tigers’ defense shorthanded before the season even begins. While the offense should remain really good, it’s likely to take (a natural) slight step back after losing Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels and two 1st-round picks at wideout.
8. Oklahoma
The Sooners have the look of a potential playoff spoiler in 2024. Brent Venables’ program has been overshadowed by Texas all offseason, but OU boasts an offense that should be one of the SEC’s best even with first-year starting quarterback Jackson Arnold and a completely new starting five along the line. They brought in SMU’s Branson Hickman to start at center, and landed a key defensive piece in TCU tackle Damonic Williams. The schedule is gnarly, so it’ll be imperative for the new-look OL to come together immediately this summer.
9. Texas A&M
Mike Elko has quickly put his stamp on TAMU’s program, buttoning up the operation in College Station with a strong coaching staff and key transfer portal additions (Purdue edge Nic Scourton and Florida linebacker Scooby Williams chief among them) up and down the roster. After a busy initial window, the Aggies brought in another five players including Utah center Koli Faaiu. Notably, Faaiu was recruited to replace multi-year starter Bryce Foster, which was a significant loss for the Aggies. Former blue-chip safety Jacoby Mathews also let the program this spring.
10. Florida
Facing a potential make-or-break season, Billy Napier has done well bolstering UF’s roster with impact transfers this spring. Graham Mertz remains QB1, but 5-star freshman DJ Lagway impressed during his first few months on campus. Florida can not afford to miss a bowl game again in 2024, so recent transfer additions like Arizona State wideout Elijah Badger and Colorado corner Cormani McClain could prove to be the difference.
11. Kentucky
The Wildcats have fully leaned into passing the QB baton to the latest transfer addition, going from Will Levis to Devin Leary and now Brock Vandagriff in as many seasons. Mark Stoops continues to turn over the OC position, too, with Bush Hamdan ideally around for more than just 12 games come the fall. The ‘Cats did pickup a key piece in the secondary this spring (DJ Waller from Michigan) and Vandagriff reportedly meshed quickly with wideouts Dane Key and Barion Brown.
12. Auburn
Hugh Freeze remains steadfast in his belief that Payton Throne is a winning quarterback in the SEC, and the Tigers have certainly surrounded the former Michigan State transfer with plenty of weapons for 2024. Auburn’s OL should be better, and 5-star freshman Cam Coleman, Georgia State transfer Robert Lewis and Penn State’s KeAndre Lambert-Smith all represent major upgrades in skill talent. Did the Tigers do enough along the defensive line? Spring additions of Indiana edge Phillip Blidi and USC (by Texas A&M) tackle Isaiah Raikes could prove key.
13. Arkansas
The Hogs (and embattled head coach Sam Pittman) have a lot riding on the return of Bobby Petrino as offensive coordinator and the addition of Boise State transfer quarterback Taylen Green. Both were at least impressive in Arkansas’ spring game. Same for transfer tailback Ja’Quinden Jackson. Still, Arkansas’ defense is littered with question marks and it’s TBD on if several spring additions (at tackle, multiple linebackers and safety) were enough for the Razorbacks to field even a serviceable unit in 2024.
14. South Carolina
The regression bug bit Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks hard in 2023, and then South Carolina saw the bones of its roster get picked off one-by-one this offseason. Beamer stopped some of the bleeding with additions like Rocket Sanders from Arkansas, a potential All-SEC tailback if healthy, and Georgia Tech edge Kyle Kennard. First-year starting quarterback LaNorris Sellers will have a few more playmakers at his disposal after South Carolina picked up a pair of receivers in the spring window, headlined by FSU’s Vandrevius Jacobs.
15. Mississippi State
Jeff Lebby is a first-time head coach facing an SEC schedule with four preseason Top 10 teams (Georgia, Texas, Ole Miss and Missouri) — only one of which is at home. The good news is the Bulldogs are transitioning back to an Air Raid offense after a disastrous one-season stint doing whatever they were doing in 2023. Baylor transfer Blake Shapen looked good as the team’s QB1 this spring, too. The bad news is MSU’s roster has been ransacked, with the team’s five most productive pass-catchers from last season no longer in the program. They’re counting on UTEP’s Kelly Akharaiyi and Louisville’s Kevin Coleman to be impact playmakers on Day 1.
16. Vanderbilt
Clark Lea did a 180 this offseason, reversing course from his aversion to transfers by bringing in 21 newcomers — including nine this spring. The pivot was well-warranted after Vandy’s roster (and many of its best players) was poached the last two years. Entering Year 4, Lea is under some pressure to show progress, so the early returns from New Mexico transfer quarterback Diego Pavia (and OC Tim Beck) are positive.