ESPN College GameDay crew picks SEC dark horses

The first ESPN College GameDay show of the season is airing and the GameDay crew has made some picks for the dark horse in the SEC race in 2023. Some of the picks might surprise you.

The first almost certainly will not, as Pat McAfee revealed his pick.

“It kind of feels like a cop-out because they’re the 12th-ranked team in the country, but I like Tennessee,” McAfee said. “It’s another year with (Josh) Heupel in the system, and obviously Joe (Milton)‘s going to have to do a good job at quarterback.

“But they’re +1500 to win the SEC, so it is a long shot. It is a dark horse. What we did with them last year, that magical run, it was beautiful. Made me fall in love with Rocky Top. I think Tennessee is a nice dark horse.”

The Volunteers won 11 games a year ago but came up short of the College Football Playoff after suffering a surprising late loss to South Carolina a year ago.

A team that wasn’t nearly as close to reaching the College Football Playoff a year ago was Desmond Howard‘s pick to be the SEC dark horse this season.

That was Texas A&M.

“Hey guys, I think I was a year too soon last year,” Howard said. “I picked them to win it all, baby, they were 5-7. But they return 20 starters this season. They went out and got Bobby Petrino to be the offensive coordinator. He’s an excellent play-caller. I think the Aggies just might be the dark horse, Herbstreit.”

Rounding out the picks from the College GameDay crew, Kirk Herbstreit provided a third team, though he noted he had a tough time deciding and very nearly picked Auburn as his dark horse pick.

Instead, Herbstreit went with a team that’s had a little bit more success of late.

“Just like I’m not letting go of Kentucky,” Herbstreit told Howard, who went back-to-back with his dark horse picks from last year to this. “Old Mark Stoops, here they go, look at. Now remember, they’ve got Devin Leary coming over from North Carolina State. You lose Will Levis but you have a talented, experienced quarterback. New offensive coordinator Liam Coen.

“This team, again, Mark Stoops has a team every year that is going to be physical, they’re going to bring a chip on their shoulder. Now they’ve got a quarterback, I think. Will Levis, his hype, he didn’t have a great year offensively. This year I think they can be better with Coen there, with Leary coming in. Look out for ole UK.”