ESPN ranks SEC Football teams from first to last ahead of Week 4

Through the first three weeks of the 2025 college football season, teams in the Southeastern Conference are starting to show their true colors.

Teams like Vanderbilt and Ole Miss are heavily impressing, while teams such as South Carolina and Florida have not quite gotten off to the starts that they were expecting preseason.

Heading into Week 4 of the college football season, ESPN updated its FPI Rankings. 2-1 Alabama leads the way in the SEC, followed by Georgia and Texas. The entire list is below.

1. Alabama Crimson Tide (22.0 FPI)

Although it opened the season with a disappointing 31-17 loss to Florida State, Alabama has bounced back in a strong way. After dismantling Louisiana-Monroe 73-0 to get their first win of the season, the Crimson Tide blew out Wisconsin (for the second consecutive season) 38-14.

Quarterback Ty Simpson has begun to blossom into his own under Kalen DeBoer, as he’s completed 41/46 passes for 608 yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions over the past two games. Alabama has Week 4 off before matching up against Georgia in one of the biggest college football games of the season on Sept. 27.

2. Georgia Bulldogs (21.5 FPI)

Georgia passed its first major test of the season on Saturday by holding off Tennessee 44-41 in overtime in front of a packed Neyland Stadium. The Bulldogs extended their winning streak over the ‘Vols to nine games and once again reminded the college football world that they haven’t gone anywhere at the top of the sport.

Just as Alabama does, Georgia has Week 4 off prior to their monstrous matchup at home against the Crimson Tide on Sept. 27. Georgia has lost nine of its last 10 games against Alabama, with its one win coming in the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship Game.

3. Texas Longhorns (19.8 FPI)

After dropping its season opener to Ohio State, Texas has rebounded nicely with blowout wins over San Jose State and UTEP. Longhorn fans are however still waiting to see consistent quality play out of quarterback Arch Manning, who received a smattering of boos in Saturday’s win. Through three games, Manning has completed just 55.3% of his passes for 579 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions.

The Longhorns have one more warm-up game this weekend against Sam Houston before opening SEC play on the road at Florida on Oct. 4. That matchup will pit quarterbacks Manning and DJ Lagway against each other, two of the most ‘disappointing’ arms in the conference so far this season.

4. Ole Miss Rebels (19.8 FPI)

Ole Miss is the only 2-0 team in the SEC following wins over Kentucky (30-23) and Arkansas (41-35) in two of its first three games this season. The hits just keep on coming for the Rebels however, as they host Tulane this weekend in Oxford. The Green Wave are 3-0 with wins over Northwestern and Duke and seem to be of the favorites to earn the Group of Five bid in this season’s College Football Playoff.

Quarterback Austin Simmons continues to deal with a nagging injury, but backup quarterback Trinidad Chambliss has been excellent in relief. In the Rebels’ win over Arkansas, Chambliss passed for 353 yards and one touchdown.

5. Tennessee Volunteers (18.6 FPI)

It seemed as if Tennessee was finally going to snap its eight-game losing streak against Georgia last Saturday, but kicker Max Gilbert missed what would have been a game-winning 43-yard field goal with three seconds remaining in regulation. This sent the game to overtime, where the ‘Vols would eventually fall by score of 44-41.

Following the disappointing loss, Tennessee will have a chance to bounce back this weekend against UAB. Through three games this season, the Volunteers are averaging 569 yards and 53 points per game.

6. Missouri Tigers (16.5 FPI)

It’s been a quiet but dominant start to the 2025 season for Eli Drinkwitz and his Missouri Tigers, as they’ve outscored Central Arkansas, Kansas and Louisiana 155-47. The going gets even sweeter for Missouri, as it opens SEC play this weekend against a banged-up South Carolina team. The Tigers have won five of the last six matchups between the two programs.

Quarterback Beau Pribula has been much better than expected, as he currently ranks sixth in the SEC in passing (791 yards) and has thrown seven touchdowns (T-5th in SEC). Dating back to last season, Drinkwitz has led Missouri to wins in seven of its last eight games.

7. Oklahoma Sooners (16.5 FPI)

Oklahoma rolled its strong showing from its 24-13 win over No. 15 Michigan into a dominant 42-3 win over Temple in Philadelphia last week. The Sooners are 3-0 for the fifth consecutive season and seem like they could be crawling into a perennial College Football Playoff contender.

Transfer quarterback John Mateer leads the SEC with 944 passing yards and currently sits at the top of the Heisman Trophy race early in the season. Through just three games, Oklahoma has played an exciting brand of football and will look to carry that into its SEC opener this Saturday against former quarterback Jackson Arnold and Auburn.

8. Texas A&M Aggies (15.9 FPI)

In what was one of the best games of the young college football season so far, Texas A&M went on the road and held off No. 8 Notre Dame 42-41 thanks to a game-winning Marcel Reed passing touchdown with 13 seconds remaining. The Aggies are now 3-0 and have scored 40-plus points in all three games.

Texas A&M has this upcoming weekend off before opening SEC play against Auburn on Sept. 27.

9. LSU Tigers (14.3 FPI)

Through just three games this season, LSU has already knocked off household names in Clemson (17-10) and Florida (20-10). Although it is ranked No. 3 in the AP Poll, the Tigers rank ninth in ESPN’s FPI among SEC teams due to the nature that it is winning games. Though the Tigers aren’t necessarily blowing teams out, they’re racking up wins due to clutch play on offense and a suffocating defense.

LSU gets a cool-down game this weekend against SE Louisiana before traveling to No. 13 Ole Miss on Sept. 27. Winning a big game on the road is no tall task for the Tigers however, as they’ve already won on the road at Clemson this season.

10. Auburn Tigers (14.0 FPI)

Auburn is enjoying a dominant start to the season with wins over Baylor, Ball State and South Alabama. The real season starts now however for Hugh Freeze‘s team, as the Tigers travel to Norman for a clash with Oklahoma this weekend. They’ve scored at least 30 points in all three games this year and have won every contest by at least two scores.

Sitting at No. 22 in the AP Poll, Auburn has a chance to potentially climb back into the top-15 for the first time since Nov. 2021 with a convincing win over the now No. 11 ranked Sooners.

Teams 11-16

11. Vanderbilt Commodores (13.9 FPI)
12. Arkansas Razorbacks (13.1 FPI)
13. Florida Gators (10.2 FPI)
14. South Carolina Gamecocks (7.8 FPI)
15. Kentucky Wildcats (6.8 FPI)
16. Mississippi State Bulldogs (6.8 FPI)