SEC Preview: The Conference Is Wide Open and Everyone's Lying to Themselves
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The Southeastern Conference will once again be one of, if not the, conference to watch in the 2026 college football season.
Although the SEC hasn't won a national title in three years, the conference has plenty of national title contenders this year. The Texas Longhorns are one of the top-ranked teams heading into the year, while the Georgia Bulldogs, LSU Tigers, Texas A&M Aggies, Alabama Crimson Tide, and Ole Miss Rebels, among others, are legit threats.
Texas entered last season as the No. 1-ranked team and with the best odds to win it all. However, the Longhorns lost to Georgia and Florida, which wasn't even ranked, and barely got past the likes of Vanderbilt and Kentucky, showing how deep the SEC is.
The Longhorns enter the season with the second-best odds to win the SEC at +310.
Georgia, meanwhile, is once again the favorite to win the SEC at +260, but the Bulldogs have some question marks with their roster. Gunner Stockton is a fine quarterback, but not an elite one, which could hinder the Bulldogs.
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Texas A&M, Alabama, LSU, and Ole Miss round out the top six odds to win the SEC, as all six have a legit chance of winning the conference.
Unlike other college football conferences, there truly is no clear-cut favorite as we've seen in years past; anything can happen on any given Saturday in the SEC, which makes the conference so interesting and so hard to predict.
Just last year, Georgia lost to Alabama, Texas lost to Florida, Texas A&M lost to Texas, LSU lost to Vanderbilt, Ole Miss lost to Georgia, and Alabama lost to Oklahoma, among others, showing that anything can happen and any team can beat anyone.
So, heading into 2026, 6+ teams have a shot at winning the SEC, and it seems very unlikely a team will go undefeated and run away with it. Despite Texas and Georgia having the best odds to win the conference, it's more than likely that one of them won't have as good a season as expected, given how tough the SEC is.
Games to Watch in SEC
With the SEC filled with elite teams and a path to five playoff teams, the conference has plenty of big games to watch.
Although some SEC teams have big non-conference games to begin the year, the first big conference game is in Week 2 when Alabama goes on the road to play Kentucky. Although the Wildcats aren't expected to be good, Kentucky has played teams tough as of late.
Week 3 is when the conference games heat up as LSU goes on the road to play Ole Miss.
Here are some of the big SEC games to watch this season:
- Week 3, Sept. 19: LSU @ Ole Miss
- Week 4, Sept. 26: Ole Miss @ Florida
- Week 4, Sept. 26: Texas A&M @ LSU
- Week 4, Sept. 26: Texas & Tennessee
- Week 6, Oct. 10: Georgia @ Alabama
- Week 6, Oct. 10: Texas vs. Oklahoma (neutral venue)
- Week 7, Oct. 17: Alabama @ Tennessee
- Week 7, Oct. 17: Florida @ Texas
- Week 8, Oct. 24: Texas A&M @ Alabama
- Week 8, Oct. 24: Ole Miss @ Texas
- Week 9, Oct. 31: Florida vs. Georgia (neutral venue)
- Week 10, Nov. 7: Alabama @ LSU
- Week 10, Nov. 7: Georgia @ Ole Miss
- Week 10, Nov 7: Texas A&M @ South Carolina
- Week 11, Nov. 14: Texas @ LSU
- Week 11, Nov. 14: Ole Miss @ Oklahoma
- Week 11, Nov. 14: Tennessee @ Texas A&M
- Week 12, Nov. 21: Texas A&M @ Oklahoma
- Week 12, Nov. 21: Georgia @ South Carolina
- Week 12, Nov. 21: LSU @ Tennessee
- Week 13, Nov. 28: Texas @ Texas A&M
- Week 13, Nov. 28: Auburn @ Alabama
- Week 13, Nov. 28: Miss State @ Ole Miss
Just off the schedule, there are tough games every week for every team, and there's a real chance a one-or two-loss team ends up winning the SEC.
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This story was originally published by Lindys Sports on Jul 7, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add Lindys Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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