On3’s preseason Top 25 poll for the 2026 season was loaded with SEC teams upon its release on Tuesday morning, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to any SEC football follower or college football fan who isn’t connected to the conference.
Plainly put, the SEC is stacked again, even if it hasn’t won a national title since 2022 while the Big Ten has captured the past 3 crowns.
The SEC will try to change that this fall, and according to Tuesday’s preseason On3 poll, there will be many powerhouse SEC teams with a chance to do just that. The parade of 9 ranked SEC teams starts at No. 3 with Texas, which comes in right after top-ranked Ohio State and No. 2 Oregon. The Longhorns return Arch Manning at the helm, and they’ll be motivated to get be in the College Football Playoff, where they fell short last season in Manning’s first year as the starter.
Right behind Texas is 2-time defending SEC champion Georgia, the aforementioned last SEC team to win the national title 4 years ago. After Notre Dame, defending national champion Indiana and Miami held down the next 3 spots in the preseason poll, the SEC party continued with Oklahoma and Ole Miss coming in at Nos. 8 and 9, respectively.
The top 10 was capped by yet another SEC team, with Texas A&M ranked No. 10 as it tries to get back to the Playoff.
And that was only 5 of the 9 SEC teams who On3 put in its preseason Top 25, with 4 more being included in the rankings.
Here is On3’s complete list, which is sure to fire up a few SEC programs and fans on a mid-August Tuesday:
As the On3 preseason poll suggests, the SEC will be a jungle once again in 2026. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about which teams have the best shot to survive that jungle and be the last team standing with the conference trophy in December:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
