Two rivalry games stand out this week in an SEC that is again elite enough to end a run of Big Ten teams winning the last three national titles. We rank the 16 SEC football teams in tiers.
Some weeks, people in the South and the PR department at ESPN will tell you the SEC has the most exciting games in college football.
Other weeks, SEC football really does have the most exciting games.
Week 6 is one of those: Texas faces Oklahoma in the Red River Shootout (though it may be less of a shootout this year, given the teams’ offensive struggles) and Georgia visits Alabama so long as a hurricane doesn’t cause a postponement.
As the 2026 season approaches its halfway point, here’s a rankings-proof way to think about the pecking order in the sport’s deepest conference (13 of the 16 SEC football teams are in the top 31 of TRACR, which is Team Rating Adjusted for Conference and Roster). I present tiers for every team in SEC. Texas and Georgia, the No. 1 and 2 teams, respectively, in the AP Top 25, are up top (Texas’ TRACR ranking is lower, however). But there’s another contender in the room with them right now. (Here are all FBS TRACR rankings.)
Surefire Elite Teams
Texas (TRACR Rank: 10) Georgia (TRACR Rank: 1) Alabama (TRACR Rank: 3)Texas has weird problems for a team with Arch Manning, Cam Coleman, and running backs Raleek Brown and Hollywood Smothers. Coach Steve Sarkisian’s Longhorns are unbeaten and have a win over Ohio State, but they’re also 121st in FBS in passing plays of 20 yards or more (nine) and 119th in non-sack yards per carry (4.3). These are perplexing problems, but they also haven’t hurt a team that has defensive end Colin Simmons putting fear into opposing quarterbacks several times per game. Oklahoma has a hard time moving the ball against everyone this year and will not find things much easier against the Texas defense.
Georgia remains a self-sustaining machine that would remind you a lot of any other Kirby Smart team: A decent quarterback (Gunner Stockton) keeps the offense on track by not doing anything to negate his running backs and offensive line’s major physical advantage. The defense sits on everyone it faces. But this team has made a few improvements: The pass rush (which shockingly finished last in the SEC in sacks) has picked it up this year, and wideout Talyn Taylor might be the Dawgs’ first big star at that position in several seasons. The linebackers, as usual, are football monsters.
Alabama is the surprising inclusion here, but it’s justified heading into the blockbuster against UGA, as the Crimson Tide are back to being a real national title contender for a few reasons. Dazzling QB Keelon Russell is a big one, but I’m even more focused on how Alabama has totally reversed its two biggest problems from last year: Being unable to run and unable to stop the run. The Tide have restored the trench advantage they so often had under Nick Saban, and their skill-position talent is still great.
TRACR considers how good a team is relative to the strength of its opponent. Each conference’s overall TRACR reflects how many points better or worse its average team would be per 10 drives compared to an average FBS team.Either Alabama or Georgia will wake up Sunday with a loss, unless weather postpones their meeting in Tuscaloosa. But I think both teams have the stuff to win the national title.
Might Be Really Good
LSU (TRACR Rank: 6) Missouri (TRACR Rank: 21) Florida (TRACR Rank: 13) Ole Miss (TRACR Rank: 25) Tennessee (TRACR Rank: 9)LSU has championship upside and is flashing in most of the ways people expected when Lane Kiffin became head coach. The pleasant early season development here is a rush defense that’s third in the SEC (behind Georgia and Alabama) in yards allowed per carry with sacks filtered out. LSU has been relying on true freshmen at defensive tackle, and they’ve done the job in the middle of the line.
Missouri has a real shot to make the College Football Playoff for the first time. I like QB Austin Simmons, who turned the Florida defense into a dartboard and has help from two of the best wideouts in the SEC, Cayden Lee and Donovan Olugbode. The defense is in the top third of the SEC in success rate allowed, despite a pass rush that has declined a bit after losing star players to the NFL and the NCAA transfer portal. The schedule coming home is tough. Will All-American running back Ahmad Hardy return at some point to lift a run game that’s been underwhelming? That might be what decides Mizzou’s fate at the margins.
Florida and Ole Miss have dizzying skill-position talent and could make their own runs on that basis. It’s hard to feel out of the race when a team has Jadan Baugh carrying the rock or Trinidad Chambliss throwing it. But both defenses have been torched lately (Ole Miss against Florida, and Florida against Mizzou) and currently sit 10th (Florida) and 15th (Ole Miss) in SEC football in Defensive SP+, an adjusted defensive performance metric that takes into account quality of competition and game pace.
Tennessee has all the ingredients except the most important one: The Volunteers have not found a workable QB yet, and Josh Heupel is playing coy about who will play this week.
Fun Stories That Will Get Less Fun
Mississippi State (TRACR Rank: 8) Kentucky (TRACR Rank: 27)Mississippi State is nationally ranked and Kentucky is the first team outside the AP Top 25, and neither has a loss to a team other than Alabama. The golden right arm of Kamario Taylor could keep Mississippi State in playoff contention for a while. But Kentucky is poised to take a handful of losses over the next month, and MSU’s post-bye slate begins like this: at LSU, vs. Oklahoma and at Texas. Can the Bulldogs emerge from that without taking more than one additional loss? I would lean against it because they have one of the worst defenses in the SEC.
Talented Disappointments
Texas A&M (TRACR Rank: 16) Oklahoma (TRACR Rank: 31)Texas A&M has lost the pass-rushing juice it had last season and QB Marcel Reed has not developed into a capable downfield passer. The Aggies will be a sad waste of a roughly $50 million roster expense and should lose to Texas for the third time in three years.
Oklahoma also has presided over a developmental failure at QB. The Sooners’ decision to run it back for another year with John Mateer has been a flop, and a series of injuries to critical offensive linemen and receivers have derailed whatever chance they had of fielding a good offense despite the bad QB.
Rebuilders That Need Some Time
Auburn (TRACR Rank: 12) Vanderbilt (TRACR Rank: 57)Auburn imported USF’s offense to the SEC, and it has not gone very well. Byrum Brown has taken a sack or thrown an interception on more than 13 percent of his dropbacks, the highest rate of any QB in the four power conferences. Alex Golesh could still build something good here, and Auburn has one of the better defenses in the SEC, but there’s just not a lot of upside in 2026 because of the offense.
Vanderbilt was due for a big step backward when Diego Pavia (finally) ran out of eligibility. That step has come, as the offense has gone from fifth in SP+ to 51st as five-star freshman Jared Curtis has eased into the QB job. The defense has not improved to make up for it, even though Vanderbilt’s defense did account for the most memorable play of the entire season to date (how generous of NC State).
The Really Bad Situations
South Carolina (TRACR Rank: 39) Arkansas (TRACR Rank: 68)South Carolina needs to fire Shane Beamer. I assume they will do so soon, once they convince some donors to help with his $20-plus million buyout or decide to eat the cost rather than bear it.
Arkansas’ issues go a lot deeper than its coach. Ryan Silverfield never had a chance in this job, which carries the lowest roster budget in SEC football and comes with a disillusioned fanbase that the athletic department continues to hector for money despite Arkansas having several billionaires in its Rolodex. A dysfunctional Year 1 under Silverfield is a symptom of an athletic department that is in over its head.
For more coverage, follow along on social media on Instagram, Bluesky, Facebook and X.
With Texas, Georgia Leading the Way, Here’s SEC Football Ranked in Tiers Opta Analyst.
Hence then, the article about with texas georgia leading the way here s sec football ranked in tiers was published today ( ) and is available on The Analyst ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( With Texas, Georgia Leading the Way, Here’s SEC Football Ranked in Tiers )
Also on site :
- Simon Rodia spent 33 years building 17 towers in his Los Angeles yard from bottles, tiles and seashells; the finished towers are now a national landmark
- Forests Climbing Toward the Clouds, Enchanting Chalets and Alpine Peaks: This Cozy Village Near the ‘Top of Europe’ Is Surging 263% for Winter Getaways
- All matches announced for WWE NXT Halloween Havoc 2026 so far ft. Kelani Jordan, Grayson Waller & more