ESPN ranks SEC Football teams from first to last after Week 7

Seven weeks down and halfway into the 2025 regular season, the SEC race is as muddy as ever with double-digit teams still in the mix to win the conference crown. That’s because there are currently 10 SEC teams with one or fewer losses in league play.

The ESPN Football Power Index’s latest update continues to favor a trio of perennial SEC superpowers — Alabama, Georgia and Texas — despite each already suffering early-season setbacks. That includes the SEC-leading Crimson Tide, which have bounced back nicely from its season-opening loss at Florida State to open conference play with three straight victories.

ESPN’s FPI is a measure of a team’s strength as the best predictor of a team’s potential performance moving forward through the rest of the regular season. FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule.

With that in mind, here’s how ESPN’s FPI ranked the SEC’s 16 teams through the first seven weeks of the regular season:

1. Alabama Crimson Tide (5-1, 3-0 SEC) — 22.6 points

Fresh off a hard-fougt 27-24 road win at No. 16 Missouri, the Crimson Tide have now beaten three consecutive Top 20 teams — in SEC play no less — and are among the hottest teams in college football.

Of course, the road doesn’t get any easier for No. 6 Alabama, which has a league-best 51.3-percent chance to win the SEC ahead of renewing the Third Saturday in October series vs. No. 11 Tennessee on Saturday. The Vols have won two of the last three but haven’t beaten the Tide in Tuscaloosa since 2003.

2. Georgia Bulldogs (5-1, 3-1) — 21.5

The Bulldogs have won two straight since falling to Alabama three weeks ago, and are coming off a controversial 20-10 win Saturday at Auburn, Georgia’s ninth straight in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.

But an even bigger test awaits this upcoming Saturday as No. 5 Ole Miss travels to Athens for a pivotal Top 10 showdown that comes with serious SEC title game implications. A win will keep the defending champion ‘Dawgs in the mix to return to Atlanta while a second SEC loss could doom their chances.

3. Texas Longhorns (4-2, 1-1) — 20.9

The Longhorns get a nice boost in the latest FPI update after its convincing 23-6 win over No. 14 Oklahoma in last Saturday’s Red River Rivalry game at the Texas State Fair in Dallas.

Texas hits the road for its next two SEC games against league bottom feeders Kentucky and Mississippi State before closing out the regular season with three Top 25 games in its final four. That includes the revival of the Lonestar State Showdown vs. No. 4 Texas A&M during Rivalry Weekend to end the year.

4. Texas A&M Aggies (6-0, 3-0) — 17.8

The Aggies overtook Ole Miss as the SEC leader after doubling up upstart Florida, 34-17, to remain undefeated in conference play through the first half of the regular season.

After opening SEC play at home, Texas A&M now its the road for the next three games, including back-to-back Top 20 games at No. 10 LSU and No. 16 Missouri to close out the month. The Aggies have the SEC’s second-best chances of making the College Football Playoff at 78.7-percent, behind only Alabama.

5. Ole Miss Rebels (6-0, 3-0) — 16.9

While still undefeated in league play, the Rebels fell out of favor with FPI analytics after struggling through a 24-21 home win over Pac-2 foe Washington State last Saturday.

Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss return to SEC play with Saturday’s Top 10 showdown at No. 9 Georgia with the potential to stake an early claim on a ticket to the SEC title game in Atlanta against the reigning champs. The fourth-ranked Rebels then travel to No. 14 Oklahoma next week before the SEC slate opens up a bit.

6. Tennessee Volunteers (5-1, 2-1) — 16.7

After opening SEC play with a hard-to-swallow 44-41 home loss to Georgia, the Volunteers have won three straight including single-score SEC wins over Mississippi State and Arkansas the last two weeks.

Of course, it gets much more difficult for No. 11 Tennessee, which next travels to Tuscaloosa for the Third Saturday in October rivalry series vs. No. 6 Alabama. A win Saturday could completely change the course of the Vols’ season, especially with Top 25 games vs. Oklahoma and Vanderbilt still ahead.

7. Missouri Tigers (5-1, 1-1) — 15.4

The 16th-ranked Tigers are still reeling off its first loss of the season Saturday when a Top-10 Alabama dealt upstart Missouri a 27-24 home defeat that put their Playoff hopes on life support.

That said, Eli Drinkwitz and the Tigers still control their destiny in SEC play, especially with upcoming ranked games against Vanderbilt, Texas A&M and Oklahoma still ahead. But in the meantime, Mizzou must take care of business Saturday night at unranked Auburn.

8. Vanderbilt Commodores (5-1, 1-1) — 15.3

The 17th-ranked Commodores were on a bye last weekend while nursing their wounds following a hard-to-swallow road loss at a Top-10 Alabama, but life only gets more difficult moving forward.

Vanderbilt now returns home to face back-to-back Top 20 games against No. 10 LSU on Saturday and No. 16 Missouri next weekend before hitting the road at No. 21 Texas to begin November. With such a difficult slate ahead, the ‘Dores now have just a 1-percent chance of winning the SEC.

9. LSU Tigers (5-1, 2-1) — 15.3

The Tigers bounced back nicely from their first loss of the season three weeks ago against then-No. 13 Ole Miss by besting unranked South Carolina in Baton Rouge last Saturday.

No. 10 LSU now enters a three-game stretch against ranked SEC foes, beginning with Saturday’s road game at No. 17 Vanderbilt before Top 10 showdowns vs. No. 4 Texas A&M and at No. 6 Alabama. It’s because of that stretch that the Tigers still have a 32.5-percent chance of making the Playoffs.

10. Oklahoma Sooners (5-1, 1-1) — 14.4

Fresh off a disappointing 23-6 loss in last Saturday’s Red River Rivalry vs. Texas, the Sooners fall to 10th in the FPI’s latest ranking due in large part to its dismal 0.8-percent chance to win the SEC outright.

Following Saturday’s road game at unranked South Carolina, Oklahoma closes out the regular season with five straight SEC games against ranked competition, including road games at Tennessee and Alabama before hosting No. 10 LSU during Rivalry Weekend.

11. Auburn Tigers (3-3, 0-3) — 11.9
12. Florida Gators (2-4, 1-2) — 10.8
13. South Carolina Gamecocks (3-3, 1-3) — 9.9
14. Arkansas Razorbacks (2-4, 0-2) — 8.7
15. Mississippi State Bulldogs (4-2, 0-2) — 6.0
16. Kentucky Wildcats (2-3, 0-3) — 4.6