The Big Ten has won the last two national championships, so even after the addition of Texas and Oklahoma, the SEC’s dominance over college football is in question. The league needs to climb its way back to the mountaintop, and after a spring transfer portal shakeup, there might be one less team in the mix for the College Football Playoff.
Tennessee took a step back with the departure of Nico Iamaleava, which could make room for another team to elevate into conference contention. Auburn fans are hoping their head coach seizes the opportunity.
Hugh Freeze has spent two seasons stockpiling young talent at Auburn, but high recruiting success has yet to translate into wins on the field. 2025 might be the season that it finally comes together for the Tigers, and if not, Freeze could find himself on the hot seat.
Auburn fans are ready for a contender, but the SEC has plenty of great teams in the Tigers’ way. Let’s dive into some post-spring transfer portal power rankings for the conference.
The Longhorns are losing a lot, but even with Quinn Ewers off to the NFL, they’re likely getting an upgrade at quarterback. Ewers spent most of last season nursing oblique and ankle injuries, but Steve Sarkisian was hesitant to hand the reins over to Arch Manning. Now, as the former five-star heads into his sophomore season, it’s finally time.
Sark prioritized defensive line depth in the transfer portal, but for difference makers, Texas will rely on young players developing into larger roles. Defensive end Colin Simmons looked like a future star in his true freshman season, and wide receiver Ryan Wingo will have an opportunity to be WR1 in his sophomore campaign. It’s a talented team with national title aspirations, but a largely inexperienced one, so youth could be the Longhorns’ Achilles heel.
LSU fans are ready for Brian Kelly to finally take the next step and contend for an SEC Title in Year 4. The defense should continue to improve with linebackers Whit Weeks and Harold Perkins Jr. returning to Baton Rouge, and FSU transfer Patrick Payton could be one of the best pass rushers in the conference. LSU added multiple defensive starters in the portal. Yet, the strength of Kelly’s roster is still on the other side of the ball.
Fifth-year senior and second-year starter Garrett Nussmeier could be the best quarterback in the country, and Kelly made sure he had weapons with the additions of wide receivers Barion Brown (Kentucky) and Nic Anderson (Oklahoma), in the transfer portal.
Georgia’s defense is always going to be one of the best in the country, even with Mykel Williams, Jalon Walker, and Malaki Starks all leaving to be first-round picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. While they’ll be young up front, Smart’s defense is elite up the middle with linebackers CJ Allen and Raylen Wilson, and safety KJ Bolden aging into trustworthy veteran stars. That’s before mentioning an elite cornerback room led by Daylen Everrette.
Offensively, Georgia is putting a lot of faith in Gunner Stockton to lead the way. Stockton was passable in the Sugar Bowl loss to Notre Dame, but in a league with Garrett Nussmeier, LaNorris Sellers, Arch Manning, and DJ Lagway, the Dawgs just don’t measure up at the most important position. Still, the offense has a chance to take a step forward without Carson Beck because Smart addressed the wide receiver room with incoming transfers Noah Thomas and Zachariah Branch.
With the standard that Nick Saban set in Tuscaloosa, Kalen DeBoer will be feeling the pressure to get his team into the CFP in Year 2, and he might have the roster to get it done. Ty Simpson looks poised to replace Jalen Milroe at quarterback, and while he’s unproven, he’ll have the offensive infrastructure to succeed in DeBoer and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb’s offense.
The Crimson Tide are returning Kadyn Proctor at left tackle and Parker Brailsford at center as the foundation of a quality offensive line. So, Simpson will have time to get the ball to Miami transfer Isaiah Horton, Germie Bernard, and Ryan Williams, who had a phenomenal freshman year. Alabama will need to get better defensively, which may not be easy with Jihaad Campbell in the NFL, but that much offensive firepower will keep the Crimson Tide in contention.
Once again, the Florida Gators have one of the toughest schedules in the SEC with Texas, Georgia, and LSU on the slate this year, so Vegas is setting the win total at just 6.5. While it could be tough for the Gators to win enough games to grab a spot in the CFP, Billy Napier’s roster belongs near the top of the SEC.
Rising sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway is a legitimate Heisman Trophy contender, as long as his shoulder checks out medically, and fellow sophomore Jadan Baugh will be one of the most productive running backs in the SEC after his breakout freshman season. Florida has plenty of talent, especially along the defensive line with Tyreak Sapp and Caleb Banks. Now, Napier just has to prove he can win a big game or two, or Florida could find itself as the most exciting eight-win team in the country for the second straight year.
Much like Florida, much of the case for South Carolina’s SEC contention falls on the shoulders (and legs) of its talented quarterback. LaNorris Sellers torched the SEC across the Gamecocks’ six-game win streak to end the year, and with his dual-threat ability, he’s a nightmare to gameplan for. Now we’ll get to see if Shane Beamer was able to assemble enough talent in Columbia for Sellers to thrive.
South Carolina will never have the deepest roster in the country, but Beamer can head into the year feeling confident about his superstars on both sides of the ball. Defensively, Dylan Stewart could be a Jadeveon Clowney-level force off the edge. As a true freshman, he led the team with 51 quarterback pressures last season, with 6.5 sacks and three forced fumbles. He’ll be even better in Year 2.
Last year was an all-in season for Lane Kiffin, the transfer portal king, and without elite high school recruiting, it’s not easy to stay all-in, year after year. Jaxson Dart is gone, but quarterback is not the reason to be concerned about a drop-off. Austin Simmons was excellent in limited work last season, and Kiffin’s offense is so quarterback-friendly that he’s likely to succeed in his first year as a starter.
No, the reason to worry is on the other side of the ball. The Rebels shed a lot of defensive line talent into the NFL with Walter Nolen, Jared Ivey, JJ Pegues, and Princely Umanmielen all hearing their names called in Green Bay last month. Kiffin has done his best to offset those losses with the additions of Princewill Umanmielen and Da’Shawn Womack in the transfer portal, but it may not be enough for another 10-win season.
When offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby left to become the head coach at Mississippi State last offseason, Brent Venables elevated Seth Littrell and looked to keep the system the same for Jackson Arnold. It didn’t work. Now, both Arnold and Littrell are gone, replaced by John Mateer and Ben Arbuckle from Washington State, and the offense should be good enough to support another strong Venables defense.
Then, during the spring portal window, Oklahoma added the cherry on top, running back Jadyn Ott. Ott was a star at Cal two years ago, but struggled with injuries for the Golden Bears in 2024. Now, one of the most dynamic backs in the country has a chance for a career revival in Norman.
Another team that had to spend much of last season sorting out its quarterback situation, Texas A&M finally settled on Marcel Reed, and there is real optimism surrounding the redshirt sophomore this offseason. With an electric runner like Reed in the backfield next to Le’Veon Moss, the Aggies’ run game should be elite, and Mike Elko plucked wide receiver talent out of the transfer portal to threaten defenses through the air. Kevin Concepcion, Mario Craver, and Jonah Wilson will significantly raise the ceiling of the A&M passing game, no matter Reed’s limitations as a dropback passer.
Defensively, the Aggies lost Shemar Stewart, Shemar Turner, and Nic Scourton to the NFL, but Elko’s portal haul should help offset those losses. The Aggies enter the season with a high floor, but Elko has yet to raise the ceiling on a program desperate for an SEC title.
While it ultimately resulted in a blowout loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes, Josh Heupel and Nico Iamaleava led the Tennessee Volunteers to the CFP last season. Now, only one half of that duo is returning for 2025. Heupel told his former five-star QB to walk in the spring portal amid an NIL dispute, which led to a transfer portal trade of sorts with Iamaleava heading to UCLA, and UCLA QB Joey Aguilar making the move to Knoxville.
While it may seem like a massive downgrade, going from a five-star to a quarterback who last played at Appalachian State, Aguilar is more than capable of running Heupel’s QB-friendly system and thriving with the Vols. Still, there is just too much uncertainty surrounding this program to place it any higher.
Of the teams ranked outside the top 10, the Auburn Tigers have the best chance of shooting up the SEC Standings and potentially even nabbing a CFP bid. If everything breaks right for Hugh Freeze’s group, they could be a surprise SEC contender with a sky-high ceiling, but a lot has to break right.
Jackson Arnold has to finally deliver on his five-star potential, Auburn’s young receiver corps has to emerge as one of the best in the country with Cam Coleman, Malcolm Simmons, and Perry Thompson as sophomores, and highly-touted defensive freshmen like Malik Autry and Jared Smith must produce in Year 1. The talent is there, but if things break wrong, Freeze may not be at Auburn long enough to see it blossom.
Missouri won 10 games last season, but in its three losses, to Texas A&M, Alabama, and South Carolina, Eli Drinkwitz’s team was outscored 109-40, and the five teams the Tigers beat in SEC play, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Auburn, Oklahoma, and Mississippi State went a combined 10-30 in conference play.
Missouri was a massive beneficiary of the unbalanced scheduling that comes with a 16-team conference, and with Luther Burden gone and Penn State transfer Beau Pribula replacing Brady Cook at quarterback, the Tigers should tumble down the SEC standings, even with a lighter SEC slate again in 2025.
Tennessee wasn’t the only program to lose an Iamaleava this spring. Madden Iamaleava also departed Arkansas for UCLA to back up his older brother this season, though that loss didn’t sting nearly as much for Sam Pittman’s Razorbacks. No, Arkansas didn’t see one big-name superstar flee the program this offseason, but the sheer volume of turnover will make it tough for the Razorbacks to get back to a bowl game in 2025.
Pittman saw 40 players leave Arkansas through the transfer portal this offseason and had to replace them with a 31-player incoming class. Returning quarterback Taylen Green should provide some level of continuity, but that won’t be enough for Arkansas to do much more than play spoiler as Pittman looks to preserve his job.
Thanks to the junior college eligibility rules, Diego Pavia is back for another season at Vanderbilt, and that’s reason enough to be excited about the Commodores. Pavia is dripping with moxie, one of the toughest and most unafraid players in the country, but moxie can only get you so far.
Clark Lea and his staff do an excellent job identifying and developing overlooked talent, but in the transfer portal era, those players can then just move onto Georgia like wide receiver Micah Bell did this offseason, or Florida State like offensive tackles Gunnar Hansen and Josh Raymond.
Mark Stoops was active in the spring portal window, adding UCF tight end Elijah Brown, New Mexico running back Seth McGowan, SMU wide receiver Ashton Cozart, USC edge rusher Lorenzo Cowan, Ball State offensive tackle Rob Fogler, and reuniting with former Kentucky receiver Hardley Gilmore IV, who was dismissed from Nebraska.
That flurry of moves helps the Wildcats, but it was more about filling holes than raising the ceiling in Lexington. Stoops is barreling towards another disappointing season after last year’s one-SEC-win effort.
Jeff Lebby is one of the better offensive playcallers in the country, bringing the veer-and-shoot offense from Oklahoma to Mississippi State. Even with a quarterback-friendly offense that simplifies the game for the wide receivers and offensive linemen with its wide splits and reliance on RPO, you still need talented players to run it. Mississippi State just doesn’t have enough of them right now and should find itself in the basement of the SEC for the second straight season.