Spring 2022 SEC Power Rankings
The Georgia Bulldogs exorcised decades worth of 1980s jokes with their comeback victory over Alabama in the national championship last season, but the college football calendar has officially turned to 2022. With flowers blooming, birds chirping and Masters commercials dominating televisions, that means it’s time for one thing: SEC Power Rankings.
The Crimson Tide are the early favorites to not only win the SEC but the national title, while Georgia and Texas A&M are considered legit playoff contenders. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt is amid a long and painful rebuild, and remains in the cellar of the league.
But after that? It’s a muddled mess for the majority of the conference. You can make decent cases for or against every team slotted between 4-11 in our initial SEC Power Rankings. Expect parity to be a popular talking point throughout the 2022 season.
Breaking down the Spring 2022 SEC Power Rankings
- Alabama (13-2, 7-1 SEC) – Ever heard of them? The Tide will — and should — be the preseason favorites for the national title with Bryce Young at quarterback and Will Anderson at outside linebacker — perhaps the best two players in all of college football. Nick Saban told everyone that Alabama would be just fine in the era of the transfer portal, and college football’s king was correct. Outside of quarterbacks Caleb Williams, Quinn Ewers and Spencer Rattler, Alabama arguably added three of the most talented players in the transfer portal in tailback Jahmyr Gibbs, corner Eli Ricks and wideout Jermaine Burton. All three could emerge as stars in likely their lone season in Tuscaloosa, and the trio has quickly impressed coaches and teammates alike early in spring camp.
- Georgia (14-1, 8-0 SEC) – The reigning national champions could have as many as five players selected in the first round of this month’s NFL Draft, and yet Kirby Smart still returns a loaded roster. The Bulldogs are thin at receiver and corner this spring, but those are still rich man’s problems with the four and five-stars set to arrive on campus over the summer. Hybrid tight end/wideout Arik Gilbert needs to continue to improve his conditioning but the former five-star has reportedly turned heads early in spring practice and might be the most intriguing breakout star in the SEC come the fall.
- Texas A&M (8-4, 4-4 SEC) – Jimbo Fisher has an overall roster that is on par — or at least close — to Alabama and Georgia, but it won’t matter if he can’t figure out the quarterback position. The Aggies have three guys battling for reps this spring — last year’s incumbent starter Haynes King, who returns from his ankle injury, LSU transfer Max Johnson and five-star freshman Conner Weigman. Fisher is notoriously prickly with his quarterbacks and this battle, much like a year ago, probably won’t be decided until late in fall camp.
- Arkansas (9-4, 4-4 SEC) – Sam Pittman may get his own statue in Fayetteville if Arkansas can somehow win nine games in back-to-back seasons considering its gauntlet schedule once again this fall. Pittman has established an unimpeachable culture at Arkansas, but can the Razorbacks overcome a real loss of talent off last year’s roster? The transfer portal swung both ways for the Hogs this offseason, with some noted departures but also interesting newcomers like OLB Drew Sanders (Alabama), DB Latavious Brini (Georgia), CB Dwight McGlothern (LSU) and EDGE Landon Jackson (LSU). All four players have opportunities to carve out starting spots for Barry Odom’s defense this spring. Meanwhile, former Oklahoma wideout Jadon Haselwood was an alpha dog as a recruit and has an opportunity to become a true dude replacing Treylon Burks.
- Tennessee (7-6, 4-4 SEC) – Could this actually be the year the Return of Rocky Top is real? Josh Heupel has a perfect trigger man for his offense in quarterback Hendon Hooker, and the Vols could legitimately make their case as the second-best team in the SEC East this fall. That is, if the Vols can figure out their defense. Tennessee is going to score points in bunches, but unless it finds a way to stop someone (UT allowed nearly 30 points per game last season, better than only Missouri and Vandy), it won’t matter. While Tennessee’s secondary is super thin this spring, DC Tim Banks still needs to find an answer or two heading into the fall.
- Kentucky (10-3, 5-3 SEC) — The Wildcats are Team Oatmeal of the SEC. Nothing sexy but it gets the job done. And that’s not a pejorative! Mark Stoops has built a great, stable program in Lexington, which is no small feat, and just won 10 games for the second time in three seasons. Tailback Chris Rodriguez Jr. is back, which is key, but the rest of the offense faces a total overhaul. Kentucky must replace its hot-shot OC, the team’s top three offensive linemen and dynamic playmaker Wan’Dale Robinson. Stoops dipped into the portal to upgrade at receiver with Tayvion Robinson from Virginia Tech and Javon Baker from Alabama. Both have chances to build rapport with quarterback Will Levis and emerge as WR1s for the ‘Cats.
- Mississippi State (7-6, 4-4 SEC) – Too high? Well, I’m ringing the cowbell for the Bulldogs this spring. Mike Leach has a roster that returns more production than any team in the SEC, per ESPN stat guru Bill Connelly. Leach has one of the conference’s more underrated quarterbacks in Will Rogers, too, plus several veteran playmakers. Losing top target Makai Polk early to the NFL Draft stings, but the more important priority this spring is finding some answers along the offensive line, particularly replacing bookend tackles Charles Cross and Scott Lashley.
- LSU (6-7, 3-5 SEC) – New coach, new accent, same story. Meet the SEC’s Jekyll and Hyde team once again. The variance on LSU’s potential ceiling this fall is extreme. If Brian Kelly can get a whopping 14 newcomers via the transfer portal to really “feel like family,” then the Tigers could truly battle Texas A&M and Arkansas for the No. 2 spot in the SEC West. The rest of the roster is that talented. But if Kelly & Co., can’t solve an offensive line room that needed a complete overhaul or figure out who exactly is going to play quarterback between Jayden Daniels, Garrett Nussmeier and Myles Brennan then the Tigers could be positioned for another cellar-dweller season.
- Ole Miss (10-3, 6-2 SEC) – Lane Kiffin led Ole Miss to its greatest regular season in school history in 2021, and while the Lane Train is still rolling, the tracks are much more rickety heading into the 2022 season. The Rebels saw a mass exodus of player movement, with more than 17 guys leaving the program. The Portal King responded by adding 14 transfers to the roster, including USC quarterback Jaxson Dart, mercurial TCU tailback Zach Evans, TCU edge rusher Khari Coleman and USC tight end Michael Trigg. Michigan State’s Mel Tucker parlayed a slew of transfers into a $95 million extension, so meshing a bunch of new faces into a quick-fix winner is at least possible. The larger concern for Kiffin is managing an absurd amount of turnover on his coaching staff. This offseason, Kiffin had to replace all three coordinators plus almost every other assistant off last year’s 10-win team.
- Florida (6-7, 2-6 SEC) – Billy Napier has been granted the keys to an army of staffers so the Gators can compete with the Alabamas, Georgias and LSUs of the SEC. Napier hired an impressive coaching staff that has plenty to clean up this spring from the mess leftover by the Dan Mullen regime. Quarterback is obviously a priority (though, Anthony Richardson is the early favorite to beat-out Jack Miller), but transitioning to a dramatic scheme change and fixing a leaky defense (27 points per game allowed in 2021) are two macro issues that also need addressing immediately.
- South Carolina (7-6, 3-5 SEC)— Shane Beamer came to Columbia and immediately engineered an impressive turnaround in Year 1, instilling a young Gamecocks squad with confidence and hope. Beamer inherited a 2-win team with almost zero returning production (No. 125 in the nation last season), but he found a way to make less more by winning seven games, including upsetting Florida and Auburn. The Good Vibes only continued this offseason when Beamer reunited with former five-star Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler and OU tight end Austin Stogner. The Gamecocks finally have some actual offensive talent, but can they block? Rattler has serious upside potential but he needs to build cohesiveness with an OL that returns five starters but allowed 31 sacks last season.
- Auburn (6-7, 3-5 SEC) – After a wild offseason, Bryan Harsin remarkably made it to spring practice with the Tigers, but if he’s going to make it to Year 3, then that needs to be the first of many upsets on The Plains in 2022. Outside of tailback, where Harsin notably convinced star Tank Bigsby to return to Auburn, the Tigers have question marks littered across the roster. Former Texas A&M quarterback Zach Calzada is in a battle with Oregon transfer Robby Ashford and TJ Finley, but Calzada is dinged up right now. Could that give Ashford or Finley a leg up over the next few weeks? The Tigers also lost their three best players on defense (DB Roger McCreary and LB Zakoby McClain and DB Smoke Monday) and are changing schemes under first-year coordinator Jeff Schmedding.
- Missouri (6-7, 3-5 SEC) – Eli Drinkwitz is recruiting much better than most expected with the Tigers, but the plaudits pretty much end there after a disappointing 2021 season. Mizzou already went through spring practice, with much of the focus on Stanford transfer tailback Nathaniel Peat and five-star freshman receiver Luther Burden. Burden looks like Dez Bryant 2.0 at Oklahoma State, while fellow East St. Louis wideout Dominic Lovett, a 2021 blue-chip recruit, flashed in the Tigers’ spring game. That’s the good news. Unfortunately, Drinkwitz still doesn’t have a firm answer at quarterback and the defense stunk that last season. Tyler Macon tossed a pick-six on his first pass of the spring game and Brady Cook didn’t fare a whole lot better. Drinkwitz could opt to go portaling before the May 2 deadline, or he could simply hope that freshman Sam Horn is the answer this fall.
- Vanderbilt (2-10, 0-8 SEC) – Clark Lea faces an impossibly daunting rebuild with the Commodores, as Year 1 proved just how far the floor had fallen in Nashville. Vandy scored more than three touchdowns worth of points in just three games all season, averaging 15.8 points per game. Incredibly, that was actually an improvement from 2020 (14.8). Ken Seals and Mike Wright are in a QB competition that won’t be decided this spring. Defensively, Lea has to figure out how to design more pressure from a group that had just nine sacks in all of 2021 — worst among all FBS programs in the country.