ESPN releases Preseason SEC Power Rankings ahead of 2024 college football season
Football is just over two weeks from kicking off in the SEC. With that will come all kinds of excitement with the league expanding to a new number of programs as well as how they’ll position themselves in the new version of the College Football Playoff.
On Friday, ESPN released a preview from Chris Low and Mark Schlabach that dove into anything and everything about this season in the Southeastern Conference. That included a power ranking of the teams from one through sixteen.
Here’s how that rating came out with conference and national contenders throughout the list:
1. Georgia Bulldogs
The Georgia Bulldogs once again find themselves atop a ranking with this one being from ESPN. It makes sense too with the ‘Dawgs having not lost a conference game, let alone a regular-season one, in almost four years and with them having played for each of the last three SEC Championships.
Kirby Smart has set a standard in the league and sport with what they have been doing, specifically in the 2020s, in Athens. That looks set to continue until it just doesn’t with what they do in contention again in 2024.
2. Texas Longhorns
Texas has also routinely found themselves in the second slot heading into their first season as part of the Southeastern Conference. That’s due to them realigning at the right time with the Longhorns returning again last year by winning the Big 12 and making the College Football Playoff.
Steve Sarkisian has taken step after step through three seasons down on The 40 Acres. He now leads the Longhorns into all-new territory with them in the running immediately as part of the SEC.
3. Alabama Crimson Tide
ESPN, who now employs the former coach of ‘Bama, is high on the Crimson Tide under his successor in Kalen DeBoer. He will make his debut in Tuscaloosa with him fresh off a national title appearance and his new program off yet another playoff berth as well.
Alabama has been the top-tier team in the conference for as long as some can remember with what they accomplished in the tenure of Nick Saban. They’ll now look to keep that standard just as high heading into their own new era, although with several of the same pieces still, under DeBoer.
4. Ole Miss Rebels
Ole Miss is coming off one of the best season in school history at 11-2 in 2023. Now, in 2024, they could potentially top that with where they finish in the conference and national title pictures.
The Rebels return a ton of contributors from that last roster while also adding some of the best transfer classes from the portal cycles this offseason. That now sets up a season with a ton of expectations upon them in their fifth year under Lane Kiffin.
5. Missouri Tigers
Missouri was the biggest surprise in the league last year and one of the biggest in the country after finishing at 11-2. They won’t be catching anyone off guard this time, though, with them rounding out the top-five for ESPN.
Mizzou has some questions to answer about being able to repeat last fall’s success from one season to the next. Still, the Tigers have enough going for them to justify what could possibly another record that may have them in the running both in the conference and across the country.
6. Tennessee Volunteers
Tennessee has found success as a program again with how the last two seasons have gone at 20-6 under Josh Heupel. They’ll now come into this season as yet another team that expects to be playing for it all both in the league and potentially for the playoff.
Of all the factors across the conference, QB Nico Iamaleava might be the biggest one of them all. With him taking over as their starter among other aspects on Rocky Top, the Vols, who just finished outside the top-five for ESPN, want to be contending too in ’24
7. LSU Tigers
Much like the last team on this list, LSU has been successful in their own way over the last two seasons. 20-7 is a great record for most programs but hasn’t been enough for the Tigers’ expectations, even with a conference title appearance in 2022, with no playoff berths to show for it.
As a team, LSU could be a point to keep up with in how they follow up a top-ranked offense and a poor defense last year. How both those units go will make the difference in how year three looks for Brian Kelly in Baton Rouge.
8. Oklahoma Sooners
Many see Oklahoma having a harder time adjusting to the SEC this season than Texas will. However, the Sooners should still be among the better teams in the league with them in eighth for ESPN.
OU has the history to justify them as one of the best programs and brands in the entire conference. It’s just a matter of how they handle the present and how that sets them up for their future as part of the Southeastern Conference.
9. Texas A&M Aggies
Texas A&M never fully achieved what they hoped for during their six seasons under Jimbo Fisher. They’ll try to do so now under a new head coach in Mike Elko in 2024.
Considering how costly this reset was along with the addition of their in-state competition, the Aggies will still be expecting much from their team going into Elko’s first year and beyond. That leaves it up to him to bring what he did in Durham over to College Station.
10. Kentucky Wildcats
As improbable as it once seemed, few programs have been as consistent over the last near decade in the SEC than Kentucky. That’s why Mark Stoops has now become the longest-tenured coach in the conference with what he has done in Lexington.
The Wildcats clearly want to bring more back to the bluegrass and have some more to show from this span. Still, even if they don’t make that move even further up, their record over the past eight years suggests they’ll be bowl eligible, if not a game or two better, again this season.
Nos. 11-16
11. Auburn Tigers
12. Florida Gators
13. Arkansas Razorbacks
14. South Carolina
15. Mississippi State Bulldogs
16. Vanderbilt Commodores