South Bound & Down
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Ranking every SEC football team by chance of making the College Football Playoff

By Patrick Previty

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 09: Stetson Bennett #13 of the Georgia Bulldogs looks to pass in the second quarter against the TCU Horned Frogs in the College Football Playoff National Championship game at SoFi Stadium on January 09, 2023 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 09: Stetson Bennett #13 of the Georgia Bulldogs looks to pass in the second quarter against the TCU Horned Frogs in the College Football Playoff National Championship game at SoFi Stadium on January 09, 2023 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
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SEC Football
College Football Playoff Trophy (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) /

At the start of each SEC football season, every fan hopes their favorite team or alma mater can make a run at the coveted four spots that make up the College Football Playoff.

For some, those hopes are likely to be fulfilled. For others, not so much.

Georgia and Alabama fans fall into the first part of that–as well as a good chunk of SEC football teams if they can put together a run.

For awhile–until the Big 10 got Michigan and Ohio State in the playoff last season–the SEC was the only conference in college football that could say they put two teams in the College Football Playoff in the same year.

It’s an honor and a reflection to how talented the conference is.

For the SEC, the two-team scenario has occurred twice. In 2017, when Alabama joined SEC champion Georgia after going 11-1. And in 2021, when Georgia lost in the SEC Championship Game to Alabama but were still selected to participate in the playoff.

Those seem like the formulas to make the CFP. You could be a 2-loss conference champion but that hasn’t happened in the SEC yet in the playoff era.

Ranking every SEC football team by chance of making the College Football Playoff

So when making these rankings three things were considered:

  1. Do you have the ability to beat the teams on the schedule? Is your ceiling high enough to put together a string of wins in the SEC? I was a bit lenient with this one.
  2. If you are in the SEC East, can you beat Georgia (No)? And if not, is the rest of your schedule strong enough to the point where you can build a formidable resume as an 11-1 non conference champion?
  3. If you are in the SEC West, can you make it to the SEC Championship Game? If so, what is the record you most likely could put together? Is it 12-1 with a conference championship loss? Is it 11-2 with a conference championship loss? Or will you be the SEC Champion?

Certainly a lot to juggle with these rankings as there is more to take into account rather than how “good” a team appears to be in the preseason. There has to be a reasonable path for a run.

Some teams have a path and have shown promise, some have no path but have promise, some have a path but no promise… and others have neither.

So now that you are confused, let’s get started.

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