Forward-thinking SEC Program Rankings after four weeks of football

Four weeks into the season, it feels like we have a strong sense of who’s who in the SEC for 2025.

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South Carolina and Florida have already collapsed; Kentucky, Mississippi State, and Arkansas still feel bottom of the barrel, and Georgia is still the top dog in this conference until someone takes it from them.

The middle ground in the SEC truly is as strong as ever, with anywhere from eight to ten teams legitimately competing for an SEC Championship this season. NIL has balanced the power scale in many ways, allowing teams to compete without being elite recruiters.

Recruiting used to be one of the easiest metrics to rank programs. That, and actually winning football games in the year you’re bringing in elite talent, formed a pretty simple Venn diagram.

Bring in great players, but don’t do much with them? Middle-tier program.

Don’t bring in great players, but win a decent amount? Middle-tier program, with a great floor but a lower ceiling.

Do both? You win championships.

But now things are a bit more complicated, and we’ve hit a reset point in the year as Texas viewers. So where do the Longhorns rank among SEC programs?

Bottom Tier: Mississippi State, Arkansas, Kentucky

Kentucky has gotten some good transfer classes, Arkansas has the financial ability to get back into the higher tiers, and Mississippi State feels on the rise after a big win against Arizona State earlier in the season, but there’s no arguing this.

Sam Pittman is on the hot seat in Arkansas, and they’re one of the worst finishers over the past few years. They also barely use the transfer portal to add assets to an already struggling program. Pittman should be gone soon, and the program has plenty of potential to go higher.

Kentucky is stagnant. Mark Stoops makes too much money, and the team is consistently fine. By pure talent and finishes, they may be a bit better than the other two, but the ceiling for this program is low. Plus, they probably have the worst QB in the league this year.

Mississippi State is on the rise with young head coach Jeff Lebby, but they were coming from the absolute depths over the last few years. It’ll take more than a win against a Big 12 team to overcome poor finishes and talent acquisition in recent years.

Vanderbilt Tier: Vanderbilt

At this point, it doesn’t feel like they’re as bad as the other teams. They’re the best of that group currently, were the best of that group last year, and have a sought-after coach and a great QB. Maybe this changes going forward, but they use the portal well and will slowly recruit better. This isn’t the same program that struggled for most of our lives.

Struggling Tier: Florida, South Carolina

The job title of head coach of the Florida Gators is a great one, but the current program is a mess. They just haven’t been good under Billy Napier. He isn’t the guy. He’ll likely be gone after this season despite some success in recruiting. But the team doesn’t portal well, and they may be wasting the potential of 5-star QB DJ Lagway.

We were reminded this year that South Carolina is still South Carolina. Shane Beamer is a good coach and a good culture fit there. LaNorris Sellers is electric. But teams built on a strong but older defense often struggle the next year if talent acquisition isn’t as good. SC is around the 10th-best recruiter in the league over the past few years. That will need to improve.

Middle of the Road: Missouri, Auburn, Oklahoma

These are all strong programs with obvious flaws.

Missouri is performing well, and Eli Drinkwitz is a good on-field coach, but they can’t acquire talent. They’re as bad as MS State and Kentucky in recruiting. Missouri’s ceiling is capped, and upcoming schedules won’t be as favorable as those over the past three years.

Auburn has a Hugh Freeze problem. The talent is there, the talent acquisition is there, and the NIL is there, but Freeze can’t win close games. He’s also not recruiting well in the 2026 class, and it seems clear Jackson Arnold isn’t the guy. Freeze could be out by year’s end, and then who knows where Cam Coleman ends up.

One win over Michigan isn’t going to completely change opinions on Oklahoma. Brent Venables is being pushed out of power; they haven’t been great on the field, and their talent acquisition is just average. He’s a decent recruiter, and the brand speaks for itself, but they just aren’t moving the needle right now. What’s after Mateer and R Mason Thomas? Is Venables the guy for the next five years? Too many questions.

Great, but Not Elite: Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Tennessee

Mike Elko is building a good program in College Station, whether you like it or not. They’re the best recruiters outside of the teams above this tier and have been fairly successful on the field over the past few seasons. The program has a clear plan to get into the next tier and has a young QB and a lot of talent to build around, both in current and incoming recruiting classes.

Josh Heupel is just an awesome coach. He may be in the top four of the SEC. The fact that this Tennessee team looks like a playoff contender after the Nico Iamaleave fiasco is a testament to his coaching ability. He recruits well, has won a lot of games, can build a good defense, coach a great offense, and will only improve as a talent acquirer.

Ole Miss has taken a smart approach. If you can’t outrecruit the top-tier teams, get NFL talent in the portal and maximize your chances every year. Last season, they may have underachieved with their group, but Ole Miss was still a top four-five team. This year, they already have two SEC wins and one of the top five units in the league. There’s a chance Florida and Ole Miss switch spots by the end of 2026 if a certain hire happens…

Almost Elite: LSU, Alabama

With the loss to FSU to start the year and the growing distrust of Kalen DeBoer, Alabama falls a tier. They still recruit like the teams above, and it’s still Alabama, but DeBoer failed to make the Playoff last year and faces an uphill climb this season. A win against Georgia this weekend would change that dramatically.

LSU is the locked-in No. 4 team here. Brian Kelly is a good, not exceptional coach. They recruit well, but not as well as the teams above. The transfer portal has helped, but not enough to overcome talent differences. They haven’t had as much success on the field under Kelly as expected. They would need an elite 2026 recruiting class and a strong Playoff finish to move up.

Elite: Texas, Georgia

These are the cream of the crop. The SEC Championship game last year featured the two best teams in the conference. No one brings in talent like Steve Sarkisian and Kirby Smart. No one coaches their teams better. Smart has two of the last four national championships. Sarkisian is the only coach to make back-to-back CFP semi-finals.

Texas will remain below Georgia until proven otherwise. They’ve already started, winning key battles and flips over the Bulldogs in the 2026 class, but there’s still work to be done on the field. Beat Georgia in Athens, win the SEC, then we can have that conversation.

Who is ranked too high? Who’s too low? Now’s the time to make those takes public before we get too deep into the season.