3 Huge Takeaways From the SEC College Football Preseason Poll – Which Team is Shockingly Low?

The SEC Media Poll has been released, with more surprises than you may think. Unlike the Big 12, where the media poll doesn’t seem to predict where teams will finish accurately, the SEC has historically at least been pretty close to being accurate.

Results of the SEC Media Poll

Here are the full results:

Georgia picked by media to win the SEC by a large margin over Texas in the first year of a 16-team SEC. pic.twitter.com/5wgi8c2x13

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) July 19, 2024

It is unsurprising that Georgia, Texas, and Alabama are the first three teams and that Arkansas, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt are the lowest. Still, there are a few surprises everywhere else. Here are three of the biggest surprises.

Georgia’s Margin of Ranking

The top four teams in the conference all return their starting quarterback from last year, yet the consensus is that Georgia will be the favorite, and it isn’t particularly close. The gap between Georgia and second-place Texas is 289 points. There isn’t another gap that large between teams until between fourth and fifth (Ole Miss and LSU) and 15th and 16th (Mississippi State and Vanderbilt).

In other words, most are confident that Georgia will win the conference despite Alabama beating the Bulldogs last year and the Longhorns also playing in the CFP.

Missouri Still Being Overlooked

Missouri has by far the easiest schedule in the SEC. The Tigers avoid playing Georgia, Texas, Ole Miss, LSU, and Tennessee. In other words, of the seven highest-rated teams in the conference, Missouri only plays against one of them. At the same time, they play Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Arkansas, and South Carolina, the bottom four teams in the conference.

Missouri doesn’t need to be THAT good this year to go 6-2 in the SEC and likely finish in the top three or four. If they go 7-1, they could be playing in the SEC title game very well.

Of all the teams in the poll released, Missouri seems to have been ranked by far the lowest compared to where it should be.

SEC Media Poll Shows How Stupid Preseason Polls Are

Two media members selected Vanderbilt to win the conference, and South Carolina also got a vote. Of course, this was done as a joke, but for the common AP voter/coaches poll voter who doesn’t really dive into the numbers, the SEC Media poll may be a legitimate poll on which to base their preseason AP vote.

Additionally, it appears that the list, which is supposed to be “Predicted Order of Finish,” is more of a list of who the actual best teams are while not considering the schedules that every team plays. Here are a few examples:

• Missouri (6th)- See above.
• Florida (12th) – Florida isn’t supposed to be particularly good this season, which 12 reflects that, but if you look at the schedule, even a bad Florida team will have a tohttps://www.espn.com/college-football/team/_/id/201/oklahoma-soonersugh time finishing above 14th. They have the opposite schedule of Missouri, playing Georgia, Texas, LSU, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and Tennessee. It would be a success if Florida goes 2-6 in conference play, having them finish below 12th.
• Oklahoma (8th)—Similar to Florida, Oklahoma has a gauntlet schedule with games against Texas, Ole Miss, Missouri, Alabama, LSU, and Tennessee. Their only “easier” game is against South Carolina. Oklahoma may be an average team in the SEC talent-wise, but going 4-4 and finishing in the middle of the pack would be a huge accomplishment.

Again, if this is a list of actual talent, the list is pretty good. But in today’s era of no divisions and conferences with 16+ teams, the schedule needs to be seriously considered if these lists are going to be taken seriously.

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