{"id":976508,"date":"2026-08-18T12:18:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T12:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/976508\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T12:18:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T12:18:14","slug":"2026-sec-college-football-predictions-why-texas-is-finally-poised-to-win-the-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/976508\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 SEC college football predictions: Why Texas is finally poised to win the conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

At long last, the SEC has instituted a nine-game conference schedule<\/a>. Expect the politicking to begin right from Week 1. Coaches, ADs, league officials and the SEC Network will be sure to let us know just how grueling the grind is now.<\/p>\n

All while the rest of the country reminds them just how long it\u2019s been since their last national championship.<\/p>\n

The SEC is full of intriguing storylines, from Lane Kiffin\u2019s first LSU squad to Arch Manning\u2019s quest for glory to the mounting pressure on Kalen DeBoer to return Alabama to the top. Six schools have new coaches, and star quarterbacks abound \u2014 Ole Miss\u2019s Trinidad Chambliss, LSU\u2019s Sam Leavitt and Texas A&M\u2019s Marcel Reed, just to name a few.<\/p>\n

Here are my predicted standings, plus 10 other predictions for the 2026 SEC season. Read my Big 12 predictions here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SEC championship: Texas over Oklahoma
Playoff teams: Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, LSU<\/p>\n

1. Texas loses to Ohio State again, everyone freaks out, then the Longhorns go on to win the SEC. Steve Sarkisian\u2019s team is the most talented in the conference after adding high-end transfers like NC State RB Hollywood Smothers and Auburn WR Cam Coleman. But the top of the Big Ten is better than the top of the SEC.<\/p>\n

2. No one finishes the regular season better than 10-2. The reality of the SEC is that no one is as dominant as 2010s Alabama or early 2020s Georgia, but the conference runs about 10 deep with teams that can beat any of the others, and now everyone is playing an extra game against each other.<\/p>\n

3. LSU\u2019s Lane Kiffin<\/a> goes 9-3 but makes the Playoff. Half the league is taking an extra loss, but the league\u2019s fourth-best team could still have a top-12 resume. With LSU\u2019s schedule, it could theoretically lose to two ranked teams and a third .500 team and still beat three preseason top-10 teams.<\/p>\n

4. Florida surges under Jon Sumrall<\/a>. The 2025 Gators had no business going 4-8, but quarterback DJ Lagway\u2019s regression and youth at key positions doomed Billy Napier\u2019s last team. Sumrall managed to retain budding stars like RB Jadan Baugh, WR Dallas Wilson, LB Myles Graham and edge Jayden Woods.<\/p>\n

5. Ole Miss returns to earth. Pete Golding did a fantastic job leading the Rebels to the brink of the national championship game, but it helped he still had Kiffin\u2019s staff. Trinidad Chambliss \u2014 No. 1 in <\/a>The Athletic\u2019s QB Tiers \u2014 got an extra year of eligibility, but without offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. and others, 2026 may be bumpier.<\/p>\n

6. Vandy also returns to earth but doesn\u2019t crumble. Heisman runner-up Diego Pavia willed the Commodores to 10 wins last season. He may prove to be irreplaceable. But Clark Lea signed five-star freshman QB Jared Curtis<\/a> and has built a foundation that prevents a return to the 3-9\/2-10 days of old.<\/p>\n

7. Tennessee fans get mad at Josh Heupel. The Vols head coach got a pass for last year\u2019s slip to 8-5, knowing Nico Iamaleava bailed on him in the spring. But he\u2019s going to be trotting out an inexperienced QB (whether it\u2019s Faizon Brandon or George MacIntyre) to go with a rebuilding defense. If the Vols take another step back, Heupel will go into 2027 on the hot seat.<\/p>\n

8. South Carolina\u2019s LaNorris Sellers<\/a> rebounds. The first-round hype last offseason proved premature, as Sellers regressed in 2025, thanks in part to an offensive line that allowed 43 sacks and a misfit OC hire in Mike Shula. Shane Beamer upgraded his staff with OC Kendal Briles and O-line coach Randy Clements.<\/p>\n

9. Mississippi State\u2019s Kamario Taylor will be the nation\u2019s best QB on a bad team. In his first start as a freshman, Taylor ran for 173 yards, but his team lost 38-19 to Ole Miss. It could be a lot more of that, as Jeff Lebby\u2019s team, which finished 5-8 last season, faces a particularly unforgiving schedule.<\/p>\n

10. The SEC\u2019s national title drought hits a fourth year. Texas is probably the league\u2019s best hope to end its skid, though don\u2019t put it past LSU with its all-star portal class<\/a>. But it\u2019s not like either is obviously better than the likes of Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon, Miami or Notre Dame.<\/p>\n

Plus, as you know, the SEC\u2019s contenders will be gassed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At long last, the SEC has instituted a nine-game conference schedule. Expect the politicking to begin right from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":976509,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[930,7208,7210,331,1301,7,450,3499,7211,7209,7206,49,48,1787,7207,4278,1541,7212,1078,7205],"class_list":["post-976508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-alabama-crimson-tide","tag-arkansas-razorbacks","tag-auburn-tigers","tag-college-football","tag-florida-gators","tag-football","tag-georgia-bulldogs","tag-kentucky-wildcats","tag-lsu-tigers","tag-mississippi-state-bulldogs","tag-missouri-tigers","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-oklahoma-sooners","tag-ole-miss-rebels","tag-south-carolina-gamecocks","tag-tennessee-volunteers","tag-texas-am-aggies","tag-texas-longhorns","tag-vanderbilt-commodores"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117116476056034877","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/976508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=976508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/976508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/976509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=976508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=976508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=976508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}