In the last 20 years, Alabama football has ruled college football, starting with their own conference. They’ve won nine out of the last 20 SEC titles, and four out of the last six, including last year’s upset over Georgia that kept the Bulldogs from a chance of three-peating for the national title.
With Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs having a dominant run over the last few seasons similar to what Nick Saban did with Alabama, the Crimson Tide hasn’t always entered as the favorite to win the SEC. However, now with Saban gone, Alabama football, sneaks into the top five instead of top two.
Currently, the Crimson Tide have the fourth-best odds of winning the SEC at +950, with Ole Miss, newcomer Texas, and Georgia ahead of them. This drop out of the top two is likely due to the departure of Saban. That’s what happens when the greatest coach in college football history retires.
With Saban’s departure came a number of losses in the roster, leaving new head coach Kalen DeBoer with quite a bit to make up for. Still, this is one of the more talented rosters in the country. DeBoer was able to dip into the transfer portal once the spring window opened. Add that to the roster that stayed — like Heisman Trophy hopeful Jalen Milroe — along with DeBoer’s excellent coaching track record, and Alabama can still very likely take the conference again.
But because they’re still considered the benchmark of the sport, Alabama will have a target on their back again. Plus, with two new members in the SEC this year, making 16 teams and eliminating divisions, there will be a few coming after the kingdom that Alabama has ruled for so long.
Georgia Bulldogs
Let’s start with the most obvious, and the favorite to win the SEC. Typically, Smart and Georgia football, like much of the rest that faced Alabama football and Saban, have had their struggles against them. Georgia did take the national title from them in 2022, but even that took a second try.
With Saban gone now, that changes everything—even if DeBoer is an excellent replacement. The Bulldogs are once again stacked throughout their roster, full of four- and five-star recruits with depth at nearly every position.
The blessing and potential curse is that Georgia faces Alabama during the regular season this year. In fact, they play before the end of the first month, on Sept. 28. However, it will be at Bryant-Denny Stadium. That will be just one of the Bulldogs’ tough opponents they face in 2024, as their schedule is set to be one of the toughest in the country.
Texas Longhorns
There’s a reason why Texas football is the odds-on second favorite to win the SEC. Steve Sarkisian has built his roster up to this point, preparing and constructing it to survive within the SEC conference to which it now belongs. Granted, the Longhorns recently took a massive hit, losing two of their top running backs. Offensively, however, they still have a top quarterback in Quinn Ewers and a loaded wide receiver room to score a lot of points.
The Longhorns also have a lot of momentum coming off last season, winning their first Big 12 title since 2009. Of the two newcomers, none is better built than Texas to make some noise immediately and take the SEC by storm.
Unlike Georgia, the Longhorns actually have a favorable schedule in 2024, at least by SEC standards. They will have to host Georgia in mid-October and finish the regular season at old rival Texas A&M. But having Arkansas, Vanderbilt, and Mississippi State for SEC competition definitely bodes well for them. Unless Alabama gets to the conference title game, they won’t even have to face them to take their crown.
Ole Miss Rebels
The Rebels come into 2024 with a lot of hype, perhaps more than they ever have. That’s all thanks to what might be the best roster ever assembled in Oxford. Head coach Lane Kiffin has done a phenomenal job of using NIL to his advantage, becoming more or less the transfer portal king.
Possibly the biggest caveat is that not only does Kiffin not have to face Alabama football during the regular season, but he also doesn’t have to face Saban again, whom he was 0-4 against lifetime. Earning 11 wins for the first time in school history was a huge deal for Ole Miss last year. Imagine how big it would be if the Rebels somehow pulled off winning their first SEC title since 1963? That, of course, would also put them in the College Football Playoff.
Tennessee Volunteers
There has been a groundswell in Knoxville since the 2022 season when that year’s Tennessee football team was at one point ranked the No. 1 team in the country. Though it was short-lived, it still set off alarms throughout the rest of the SEC that the Volunteers were in a resurgence.
Though Tennessee didn’t quite have a repeat season or better last year, all the makings of a good team to make some noise in the SEC this year are there. That, of course, starts with starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava. The redshirt freshman looks to revamp the vaunted Tennessee offense that was so dangerous two seasons ago.
However, this does seem a bit premature. Yes, Tennessee has all the makings of a good team and could even make one of the spots in the playoff. But winning their first SEC title since 2007 may be a stretch. There is talent there, but some of it is young and some is on the way. We’ll at least get to see if the Volunteers are even up to the standard of Alabama football when they face off on the third Saturday of October. That game will be at the daunting Neyland Stadium, where two seasons ago the Volunteers pulled off a victory in one of the best games of the entire season. It was their first win over the Crimson Tide since 2006.
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