Because it happens so infrequently, it is worth mentioning when the SEC doesn’t come into a new season as the kings of the castle.
Prior to 2023, it had been five seasons since anyone other than an SEC program reigned supreme in college football. And in a somewhat fitting piece of poetic justice, the four-team College Football Playoff ended like it began – with a Big Ten team claiming the crown.
Greg Sankey’s league is far from downtrodden, however. In fact, the SEC looks so strong this season that it wouldn’t surprise me if they made up a quarter of the participants in the first ever 12-team Playoff. The battle at the top will be fierce, the in-conference matchups on a week-to-week basis excellent, and the hardened steel that makes it out of this collective and into the Playoff will be some of the favorites to lift the trophy at the end.
Teams I Like
Georgia
As a parting gift to his former understudy, Nick Saban and Alabama knocked Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs out of the final version of the four team College Football Playoff. But unlike Saban, Smart and Georgia are back and with revenge on their minds. Much of the team that suffered heartbreak in the SEC title game last season is back again, including Heisman hopeful Carson Beck and a lot of talent on the defensive front and secondary. Highly talented pieces have joined the fold as well, including Florida’s top running back Trevor Etienne.
Most teams faced with a schedule like Georgia’s would not be favored to run the table. The Bulldogs start with Clemson and see Alabama, Texas and Mississippi all on the road. While daunting, it resembles the type of tests that the Bulldogs are used to taking, and passing, under Smart. At times in 2023 it appeared as though there were cracks in the armor, but only arguably the greatest coach the game has ever seen was able to orchestrate a victory over Smart. Until proven otherwise, this is the best team in college football in 2024.
Mississippi
With the expansion of the Playoff to 12 teams, it’s a perfect time for Lane Kiffin to field the most talented team that he has had in Oxford. Despite losing some key pieces to the portal, Kiffin worked it just as hard as he was worked and landed new toys that can replace lost personnel without missing much of a beat. In the end, the Rebels return starters at nearly every position and could be even deadlier on offense this season thanks to a rock solid offensive line.
Kiffin’s teams have been known to lay an egg at some point in the season, and typically this type of performance has prevented Mississippi from being a real threat to win the SEC, and thus a threat to break into the CFP. While it’s unclear if that will plague them again, the additional wiggle room granted by the larger Playoff pool provides new opportunity to good teams that suffer a lapse or two. The Rebels should hang around the Top 15 or better all season, and play the most difficult competition on their schedule (Georgia and Oklahoma) at home.
Texas A&M
For the second time in less than a decade, Texas A&M is paying a former head coach a large sum of money to go away while they pay the current head coach a separate large sum of money to clean up the mess created by the former. This time, though, I think they got things right. Mike Elko did a great job making football relevant at a basketball school and knows his way around campus at College Station, having been defensive coordinator for the Aggies from 2018-2021.
One thing that Jimbo Fisher did do for Elko was leave the cupboard pretty full of talent, something that Elko didn’t have nearly as much of at Duke. His defenses have always been good, and this year may be elite. With any amount of stability at quarterback the Aggies could be surprisingly potent offensively. The schedule is manageable, with home games against Notre Dame and Texas to begin and end the regular season being the toughest on paper. The Aggies might rub elbows with the top teams in the conference standings despite not seeing most of them on the field in 2024.
Not High On
LSU
Coming off a season in which the Tigers were the nation’s top offense in terms of yards per game, there is bound to be some level of drop-off going from Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels to Garrett Nussmeier at quarterback. While Nussmeier proved he isn’t a scrub in the team’s bowl game, his style is vastly different than what Daniels brought to the table and there may be some growing pains early.
Defensively it was uncharacteristically messy for Brian Kelly’s squad in 2023, so there was a cleaning house of sorts on that side of the ball with regards to the coaching staff. While the Tigers are expected to be better on defense (it can’t really get much worse), LSU faces some incredibly potent offenses this season and there is no Jayden Daniels to cover warts. I think the Tigers are a half step below the real SEC contenders this season, and that will show in the Tigers’ biggest games.
Players To Watch
Jalen Milroe, Alabama quarterback
I was not high at all on Milroe after a few games last season, going as far to assume that the Crimson Tide would be out of the Playoff conversation by the middle of their SEC slate in large part due to their quarterback play. Oh boy, how wrong I was there. Milroe turned it around fantastically, taking full control of the starting job at Alabama and leading the Crimson Tide to the Playoff, coming about one yard from knocking off the eventual champion.
As an apology for the shade thrown at Milroe in 2023 alone, he belongs on this list. Playing in Kalen DeBoer and OC Nick Sheridan’s system should highlight Milroe’s strengths even more than last year, which is one of the reasons why the junior is on the very short list of real Heisman contenders heading into this season.
Caden Prieskorn, Mississippi tight end
No one in college football is going to completely fill the shoes of Brock Bowers, but if anyone is going to come even remotely close it’ll be Prieskorn. The senior had the second most receiving yards by a tight end behind Bowers with 449 in 2023, but was as valuable as a blocker for Lane Kiffin’s squad as a pass catcher.
Like Bowers, Prieskorn was hampered by some injuries last season, but if he can stay healthy for the majority of 2024 then the Mackey Award has this guy’s name written all over it.
CJ Baxter, Texas running back
The 6’1” 218-pound sophomore is next in line to assume the role of feature back for the Longhorns, and those shoes have been filled by some pretty talented individuals in the last couple of years (Bijan Robinson in 2022, Jonathan Brooks in 2023). Bigger than both Robinson and Brooks with a similar ability to break free in open space, Texas may legitimately have its best of the bunch to utilize in 2024.
With a big, experienced offensive line to run behind, Baxter and his fellow backs should have plenty of room to run. With the Texas receiving corps coming in a bit unproven, there could be a few early season games where Coach Sarkisian leans heavily on the run game to move the chains consistently.
Games to Watch (Non-Conference)
LSU vs. Southern Cal [game in Las Vegas] (September 1)
The Tigers’ rebuilt defensive coaching staff is allotted no time to ease into the swing of things, drawing Lincoln Riley’s Trojans to kick off the season.
North Carolina State vs. Tennessee [game in Charlotte, NC] (September 7)
The quarterback matchup here is highly underrated, with both Nico Iamaleava and Grayson McCall possessing the ability to earn all-conference honors by the end of the year.
Games to Watch (Conference)
Georgia at Alabama (September 28)
The rematch of last year’s SEC title game occurs fairly early in the season, but it won’t be Georgia’s first big game. Kalen DeBoer will have the advantage of his first chess match against Kirby Smart being at home. It is an early Heisman highlight opportunity for Carson Beck and Jalen Milroe.
Oklahoma vs. Texas [game in Dallas] (October 12)
The first Red River Rivalry game as an SEC contest comes after a bye week for both teams.
Georgia at Texas (October 19)
This will be Georgia’s first trip to Austin to play the Longhorns since 1958, and possibly a rare instance where Texas enters a home underdog under Steve Sarkisian as head coach.
Georgia at Mississippi (November 9)
If Kirby Smart represents consistency in the SEC, then Lane Kiffin represents creativity. This could be a wild one and unlikely to be a blowout like the 2023 edition between these two.
Texas at Texas A&M (November 30)
The Lone Star Showdown returns to college football for the first time since 2011, one of a number of benefits of Texas joining the SEC.
Aw, Shuck It (3 Bets to Place)
*odds via DraftKings at time of publication. Around The Corn is not responsible for lost bets!
Jalen Milroe to win Heisman Trophy (+1400)
Unless there is a player in college football like Jayden Daniels (this year, there is not), it’s usually a pageant show and it’s a decent bet that the winner will be a quarterback and come from one of the top ranked teams in the country. Milroe obviously fits criteria number one and Alabama could very well still fit criteria number two in December.
Mississippi to make Playoff (-130)
Relying on Lane Kiffin to return for you is always going to be risky, but his 2024 squad appears to be his best since at Mississippi and he no longer needs to win the SEC title game to do it. You know what they call the No. 10 seed in 2024? Playoff bound.
Florida under 4.5 wins (+130)
No love for the Gators from Around the Corn in 2024. The schedule is brutal (by some measures the toughest in the country), the quarterback options are slightly above average at best and things could get ugly internally if things don’t go well early as it is well known that Billy Napier is already on the hot seat. Florida might not win a single football game after mid-October.
Predictions
- Mississippi (11-1, [7-1])
- Georgia (11-1, [7-1])
- Alabama (10-2, [6-2])
- Texas (10-2, [6-2])
- Texas A&M (8-4, [5-3])
- LSU (9-3, [5-3])
- Oklahoma (9-3, [5-3])
- Missouri (9-3, [5-3])
- Tennessee (8-4, [5-3])
- Auburn (8-4, [4-4])
- Kentucky (7-5, [3-5])
- South Carolina (6-6, [3-5])
- Mississippi State (5-7, [1-7])
- Arkansas (4-8, [1-7])
- Florida (3-9, [1-7])
- Vanderbilt (3-9, [0-8])
Conference Title Game
Georgia vs. Mississippi [game in Atlanta]
Champion: Georgia