The 2026 college football season is fast approaching, and Athlon Sports has predicted the order of finish for the SEC teams. This comes as the SEC will play nine conference games this year instead of eight. <\/p>\n
This means that the conference schedules for all 16 SEC teams will be a little more challenging. But fans want to know which squads in the SEC have the best chance to win a national title. <\/p>\n
[ $19.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage ]<\/a><\/p>\n Can Georgia repeat as SEC champs, or will Texas get past the Bulldogs in Arch Manning\u2019s final year with the team? Here\u2019s a look at the SEC order of finish predicted by Athlon Sports.<\/a><\/p>\n Athlon is confident that the Georgia Bulldogs will win the SEC for the third consecutive year. Fans will like it, but they really want to see this team win a playoff game since that hasn\u2019t happened since the 2022 season. <\/p>\n QB Gunner Stockton is back and looks ready to take a big step forward. He will be joined by RB Nate Frazier and a dangerous defense led by DL Elijah Griffin and S KJ Bolden. <\/p>\n After finishing the 2025 season with a 10-3 record, Texas is ready to go on a run with Manning. After a slow start last year, Manning came into his own and became a top QB by season\u2019s end.<\/p>\n The good news for Manning (and Longhorns fans) is that he will have a deeper offensive line and a talented group of wide receivers led by Auburn transfer Cam Coleman. The defense also got a big boost with the hiring of defensive coordinator Will Muschamp.<\/p>\n Oklahoma was one of the more surprising teams last season after recording a 10-win season and a trip to the College Football Playoff. Defense was key for the Sooners, allowing just 15.5 points per contest. <\/p>\n QB John Mateer is back and should make more plays in his second year in Norman. With Mateer and a stout defense led by head coach Brent Venables, Oklahoma could go on another run in 2026. <\/p>\n Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko has this team on the upward trend after winning 11 games and reaching the College Football Playoff last year. But can the Aggies make that next step and go on a deeper run? <\/p>\n QB Marcell Reed returns, and he will need to be more consistent for Texas A&M to be a title contender. One big thing to watch is the defense, as only five starters return this fall.<\/p>\n It\u2019s likely LSU fans are not happy with the team being No. 5 on this list. But it might take a little bit of time for head coach Lane Kiffin to turn things around since he will be working with a slew of new players.<\/p>\n The Tigers\u2019 success will depend on how QB Sam Leavitt adjusts to the SEC. The Arizona State transfer only played in seven games last year due to a foot injury but was named the Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year in 2024 after throwing for 2,885 yards and 24 touchdowns.<\/p>\n If there\u2019s one SEC team to watch this season, it might be Ole Miss. Kiffin led the Rebels to a College Football Playoff, but interim head coach Pete Golding, who is now the official head coach, led them to playoff wins over Tulane and Georgia.<\/p>\n QB Trinidad Chambliss and RB Kewan Lacy are back for the 2026 season. Those two and a strong defensive line will be the reason Ole Miss could make another playoff run this year.<\/p>\n It was an interesting 2025 season for Alabama. The team had big wins against Georgia in the regular season and Oklahoma in the playoffs but had blowout losses to Georgia in the SEC title game and Indian in the playoff quarterfinals.<\/p>\n The 2026 season is huge for head coach Kalen DeBoer. He will have a lot of talent on both sides of the ball, and if he falls short of expectations, his future with the program might be in question. <\/p>\n After reaching the College Football Playoff in 2024, Tennessee took a step back last season with an 8-5 record. This led to head coach Josh Heupel making some changes, including hiring Jim Knowles to run the defense. <\/p>\n The biggest question for the Vols is the QB position. True freshman Faizon Brandon and redshirt freshman George McIntyre are battling for the job, and whoever wins will be working with a strong offensive line and a talented RB in DeSean Bishop.<\/p>\n Florida\u2019s success in 2026 will depend on head coach Jon Sumrall. If the players buy into what he brings, the Gators could be the SEC\u2019s biggest sleeper team. <\/p>\n Like Tennessee, Florida has a QB battle with Aaron Philo and Tramell Jones Jr. Philo could end up winning the job since he played for new offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner at Georgia Tech.<\/p>\n South Carolina is in a similar situation as Tennessee. After nearly reaching the College Football Playoff in 2024, the Gamecocks took a step in 2025 by finishing 4-8. <\/p>\n QB LaNorris Sellers returns for his final season and will work with veteran coordinator Kendal Briles to get the offense going. Fans are hoping that All-SEC defensive end Dylan Stewart can have a huge 2026 season after dealing with a back injury.<\/p>\n Rest of the SEC order of finish <\/p>\n 11. Missouri<\/a>
12. Auburn <\/a>
13. Mississippi State<\/a>
14. Vanderbilt<\/a>
15. Kentucky<\/a>
16. Arkansas<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 college football season is fast approaching, and Athlon Sports has predicted the order of finish for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":706700,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,398,396,397,99],"class_list":["post-706699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-football","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=706699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/706700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=706699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=706699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=706699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}