Post-Spring SEC Football Tiered Power Rankings

SEC teams are over a month removed from spring practice and additions from the final transfer portal period, and we now have a much clearer view of what most of these teams will look like come August. It’s going to be an extremely competitive group in 2025 with no clear-cut favorite, but the portal and some key coaching hires separate a few teams above the rest.

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Tier 5: There’s Always Next Year

Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Kentucky

We won’t spend too long on this one. These three teams are not competing for an SEC championship and likely won’t play a huge role in determining the playoff picture. Texas is lucky to not only play all three teams but also absorb two road games in Starkville and Lexington.

Mississippi State is a few years away from competing. Entering Jeff Lebby‘s second year with the program, the team has hope for the future with Luke Kromenhoek and Kamario Taylor in the QB room waiting behind Blake Shapen, but not even Brenen Thompson can turn this team into a contender.

Vanderbilt had a great season last year with Diego Pavia, but they don’t recruit the line of scrimmage well enough to sustain consistent .500 or better SEC seasons.

Kentucky did well in the portal, but Zach Calzada and no more Dane Key or Barion Brown makes this offense look sluggish on paper with a defense that somehow looks worse.

Tier 4: Upset Curious

Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee

This group has the upside to win against any team in this conference, but actual title aspirations seem foolhardy for this group.

Tennessee is the big headliner here, but I don’t know how you rank them higher. Joey Aguilar was far from their top choice of QBs to be entering the season with, and the portal only saw them bring in one other impact player for 2025. Freshmen on the offensive line, depleted skill positions, and losses on the defensive line are true ceiling cappers for this team. They’ll knock off a team when you least expect it, but this team gives off 8-4 even with an easier schedule.

Arkansas and Missouri are about where you expect them to be. Missouri has a great coaching staff that helps raise its floor year-to-year, but is there enough talent from previous seasons left on the roster? Arkansas may have the best QB of this bottom six, but the rest of the roster doesn’t have many NFL guys looking forward.

Tier 3: Surprise Title Contenders

Auburn, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, South Carolina, Ole Miss

This tier is a lot bigger and features a lot of teams that I think are power rated as top-20 but not top-10 teams in the nation. There’s a ton to like about a lot of these programs. Oklahoma and South Carolina may have two of the 5–10 best QBs in the nation. Auburn’s receivers, A&M’s runners, and Ole Miss’s ability to find quality starters in the portal year after year are all some of the biggest individual strengths of any team in the conference.

Oklahoma and A&M are the ones y’all will want to read about, so here’s the deal. Both of these teams are well-constructed at pretty much every position, and the main holes from last year have been filled. Oklahoma’s offense is brand new and stands to be much, much better. A&M has a QB they can lean on for an entire season and returned a full offensive line for the 2025 season.

You still have to be hesitant with these programs because neither head coach has proven their ability to take that next step as a program, and both groups lack the stars on the defensive end of things that they possessed last year.

South Carolina, Ole Miss, and Auburn are all going to be playoff spoilers. The Gamecocks may be a year away from truly taking that final step to contention, Ole Miss not making the playoff last year with a far superior group makes it hard to project it in the field in 2025, and Auburn is still too young and unproven. Top 20 teams, with nine wins being a good spot to be at for most.

Tier 2: CFP Participants

LSU, Florida

I know that second name gave you a jump scare. Florida’s team is ready to compete in 2025. They were the unhealthiest group in the nation last year, losing double-digit starters throughout the season, and yet ended the season 4-0 with wins over LSU and Ole Miss. They have the toughest schedule in the country for 2025, which will be used to invalidate their high placement, but this team is legit. DJ Lagway in year two, day one and two picks all over the trenches, and a healthy group of weapons. This team will be very hard to beat in The Swamp.

LSU has everything going for them right now, even if Bryce Underwood is in Ann Arbor instead of Baton Rouge. Garrett Nussmeier is a legitimate Heisman candidate, the weapons are back to being NFL-level, and DC Blake Baker has his first full offseason to build a defense. If the defense can just be a top-40 group in the nation, LSU will be in the playoff.

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Tier 1: National Title and SEC Champions

Texas, Georgia, Alabama

Texas is finally fielding a team that is truly Steve Sarkisian‘s. Michael Taaffe is the only player who predates the fifth-year head coach, and no one associates the former walk-on with Tom Herman. Texas is loaded with talent in every position group and would be a clear favorite if not for questions surrounding the top pass catchers and offensive line. Arch Manning will be one of the best in the nation.

Georgia could’ve been dropped a tier below just based on their roster. Gunner Stockton is a huge unknown at QB, their pass catchers are not homegrown, and the pass rush falls short of what you’d expect from a Bulldog roster. Still, you can’t count out the best coach in the sport, Kirby Smart, someone who has been in or won seven of the last eight SEC championships.

Kalen DeBoer is not entering his fifth season like Sark is, but the 2025 Alabama team is much closer to the makeup DeBoer wants in a program. Ryan Grubb is back under him at OC, Jalen Milroe is out and they have the ability to choose from three talented QBs. No team features more talent at the offensive line and the defense. Oh, they also have Ryan Williams. It still has some players who remember a Nick Saban era in Tuscaloosa, but that’s not entirely a bad thing. He inherited a much better roster than Sarkisian, so hitting 11 wins in year two is much more plausible for the former Washington HC.