Power ranking the SEC teams entering the 2023 season
We’re just two days away from the kickoff of the 2023 college football season.
Only one SEC team — Vanderbilt — will be in action during Week 0 while the rest of the league will have to wait for the following weekend to begin another campaign.
It’s an interesting year in the conference. Back-to-back national champion Georgia looks to be strong once again but has pieces to replace, while Alabama enters a full-on transition on both sides of the ball and LSU hopes its collection of experienced transfers and home-grown stars can push UGA for the top spot in the league.
Add in some other teams trying to break through like Ole Miss, Tennessee and South Carolina, and it’s shaping up to be a very interesting season in the SEC. Here’s how I see all 14 teams stacking up as the season is set to begin.
Missouri Tigers
Missouri has been perfectly average in Eli Drinkwitz’s first three seasons. He has a 7-19 record, and while he’s never finished a regular season below .500, he’s also still searching for his first finish above that mark.
The Tigers were solid defensively last season and added some depth via the transfer portal, but it’s hard to see this team taking a massive step forward from last year’s 6-7 finish.
Much of last year’s core is back on offense, but that isn’t necessarily a good thing. Quarterback Brady Cook wasn’t particularly impressive, and though former five-star receiver Luther Burden could be poised for a breakout, the Tigers just don’t seem primed to take much of a leap overall.
Vanderbilt Commodores
Congrats, Commodores! You aren’t starting out on the bottom this time.
Vanderbilt ultimately turned in a pretty impressive 5-7 season last fall, with late upset wins over Kentucky and Florida putting the team in position to play for a bowl game in the final week of the regular season.
AJ Swann looked very good down the stretch as a true freshman, and now the quarterback will have full reign of the team with one of the league’s top wideouts in Will Sheppard. Defensively, the starting lineup is filled with upperclassmen.
Vanderbilt is still operating at a talent deficit, and while Clark Lea is building something interesting, it’s likely to continue to be incremental. Still, this team looks like it can take another step this fall, and a bowl game seems like a reasonable goal.
Auburn Tigers
There seems to be a good deal of optimism Auburn will improve in Year 1 under Hugh Freeze, and that may be because the final few games in 2022 truly illustrated former coach Bryan Harsin’s incompetence.
Say what you will about Freeze, but he can recruit, and those early returns have been apparent. It’s been apparent in the transfer potal, too, where the Tigers added a number of likely starters on both sides of the ball including former Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne.
Playing in the SEC West isn’t going to be easy this fall, but Auburn should take a step in the right direction.
Florida Gators
The Gators are coming off a disappointing first season under Billy Napier. The campaign began with a bang as Florida upset Utah in the season opener, but the team finished the year 6-7.
Quarterback Anthony Richardson showed flashes of the talent that ultimately got him drafted fourth overall, but he struggled with decision-making in a volatile passing offense. The ground game, on the other hand, was tremendous and should be again with Montrell Johnson and Trevor Etienne.
Wisconsin quarterback transfer Graham Mertz is now the starter here, and while he brings a lot of experience to the table, most of it wasn’t great. He won’t be asked to do a lot and will have more talent at receiver, so you could talk me into this unit being sufficient.
The defense is the bigger question. It was bad last season but has a new coordinator in Austin Armstrong. Through portal additions, this front seven has improved but the unit still has a lot of questions overall.
The Gators may be a better team in 2023, but with one of the nation’s hardest schedules, it’s hard to imagine the record improves significantly in Year 2.
Mississippi State Bulldogs
There is no bigger mystery in the conference than the Bulldogs.
After coach Mike Leach tragically passed away in December, the team elevated defensive coordinator Zach Arnett to the permanent role. A respected defensive mind, Arnett has no ties to the air raid tree and will move away from that style of offense.
It’s a big transition, and it’s unclear if Mississippi State really has the personnel to make it effectively. Quarterback Will Rogers is one of the league’s best and should ease that, but he loses his top receiver in Rara Thomas, who transferred to Georgia.
Arnett certainly deserves the benefit of the doubt in Year 1, but it would be truly impressive if the team doesn’t take a step back from last year’s 9-4 finish.
Texas A&M Aggies
The 2022 season was an unmitigated disaster for Texas A&M, which lost to Appalachian State at home and missed out on bowl eligibility with a loss to an interim-led Auburn team. A potential playoff-spoiling win over LSU to close out the year salvaged some optimism, but the vibes here are certainly not great.
The Aggies seem likely to improve, though. Freshman quarterback Connor Weigman looked pretty good down the stretch, and his fellow freshman Evan Stewart looks poised to become one of the league’s top receivers.
Now, Bobby Petrino is in to direct that group, at least nominally. We don’t know who will actually call plays, but we’re likely to see at least some sort of change.
I don’t think the Aggies make much noise in the SEC West, but they should get back on track despite Jimbo Fisher’s $77 million buyout not really putting much pressure on this staff.
Kentucky Wildcats
There’s no denying the consistency of the Wildcats program Mark Stoops has built, but last season’s 7-6 finish felt like a disappointment with quarterback Will Levis taking a step back.
To replace Levis, the team added Devin Leary from NC State. Leary looked like one of the nation’s best quarterbacks in 2021 before injuries limited his 2022 campaign. With the Wildcats bringing offensive coordinator Liam Coen back after a one-year stint with the Los Angeles Rams, it’s easy to like the potential here on offense.
The team also added running back transfer Ray Davis from Vanderbilt and returns a very good sophomore receiver in Dane Key. UK is also fairly experienced on defense.
This looks like a middle-of-the-pack team right now, but its ceiling is considerably higher.
Arkansas Razorbacks
Arkansas looked ascendant after finishing 9-4 in 2021, but last season was a disappointing step back as the team went just 7-6 in the third season under Sam Pittman.
The Hogs return a lot in 2023, namely one of the SEC’s best quarterbacks in KJ Jefferson, a very physical runner and solid passer. Raheim Sanders is also one of the best running backs in the entire country.
Still, this team did have to portal pretty heavily. While it had some nice pickups, that always makes you a bit nervous, especially facing an SEC West gauntlet.
Pittman seems to have lost some of his early momentum, and this will be a huge year for his tenure with the Razorbacks.
South Carolina Gamecocks
Which South Carolina team will we see in 2023? The one that upset playoff contenders in Tennessee and Clemson? Or the one that suffered a homecoming loss to Missouri and was embarrassed by a mediocre Gators team in Gainesville?
Will we see the Spencer Rattler that torched the Vols with six touchdown passes? Or the one who threw multiple interceptions in four games last fall?
It’s hard not to like South Carolina’s potential. Shane Beamer is quickly building a very competent program, and it’s loaded with offensive talent. In addition to Rattler, the Gamecocks have one of the best receivers in the SEC in Juice Wells and a five-star tight end in Nyckoles Harbor who could make a big impact as a true freshman.
If all goes well, this is a dark horse in the East. But if it doesn’t, this could be a team that finishes near the bottom of the standings. There’s just a lot of potential variance here.
Ole Miss Rebels
Last season started on a high note as Ole Miss was 7-0 and reached No. 7 in the rankings. But it struggled down the stretch to an 8-5 finish.
The Rebels have a clear identity under Lane Kiffin. They are electric on offense, and they use the portal well. They did so once again this offseason, adding not one but two quarterbacks in former Oklahoma State starter Spencer Sanders and five-star redshirt freshman Walker Howard from LSU.
Both are competing with last year’s starter Jaxon Dart, but whoever wins that job will have arguably the SEC’s best running back in Quinshon Judkins and UTSA transfer Zakhari Franklin, one of the Group of Five’s best receivers from a year ago.
The defense has been rough under Kiffin, though, and to rectify it, he brought in former Alabama defensive coordinator Pete Golding. This should be one of the better teams in the SEC once again, but the Rebels need to prove that they can compete with the league’s elite squads.
Tennessee Volunteers
A Mickey Mouse offense? Perhaps.
But there’s no denying how effective Tennessee’s attack has been in two seasons under coach Josh Heupel. Even after losing quarterback Hendon Hooker with a torn ACL late last season, backup Joe Milton III didn’t miss a beat.
Milton, a Michigan transfer with a big arm, will be the opening-day starter for the third time in his career. This time, he’ll look to hang on to the job.
The Vols lose two of their best receivers in Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman, but Bru McCoy is still one of the SEC’s best talents. We’re going to find out just how plug-and-play this offense really is, but it’s hard to see this team taking a significant dip.
Whether it can find a way to compete with Georgia in the East is an entirely different question.
Alabama Crimson Tide
As long as Nick Saban roams the halls in Tuscaloosa, it’s a safe bet that the Crimson Tide will be loaded with talent. But this season marks a major transition for this Alabama program.
A new offensive coordinator in Tommy Rees will likely move the team away from the spread scheme it has run since Kiffin was hired as the offensive coordinator, and the defense has a new coordinator in Kevin Steele, as well.
At the most important position, the Tide have questions. Bryce Young is moving on, and with neither Jalen Milroe or Ty Simpson seizing the job in the spring, Alabama added Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner.
A step down from the No. 1 overall pick feels inevitable, and a Crimson Tide team that seemed a bit lacking in the playmaker department last fall lost its best one in Jahmyr Gibbs. On defense, multiple starters move on headlined by Will Anderson.
To be clear, this is still probably a team with a 10-win floor, but it’s the weakest Alabama has looked entering the season in quite a while.
LSU Tigers
Even most LSU fans probably didn’t expect the success Brian Kelly’s team saw in Year 1. A squad picked to finish near the bottom of the SEC West ultimately won the division, upsetting Alabama and winning 10 games in the process.
There’s a lot of hype around the Tigers — a preseason top-five team — this time around. Quarteback Jayden Daniels is seen as a legitimate Heisman contender, while his favorite target Malik Nabers could be one of the nation’s best receivers.
The running back room is loaded, the offensive line is more experienced, and while the defense is transfer-heavy, it brings back key players like Harold Perkins, Maason Smith, Mekhi Wingo and Greg Brooks Jr.
LSU looks like the best team in the West entering the season. The biggest question is whether it has closed the gap with our No. 1 team.
Georgia Bulldogs
In spite of losing its starting quarterback and a bounty of defensive playmakers, Georgia still enters 2023 as the clear favorite to not only repeat as SEC champions but also to win its third-straight national title.
Kirby Smart recruits like his life depends on it, and that has resulted in a Georgia team that doesn’t really experience the concept of “transition years.”
This is probably the closest we’ll see, though. New starter Carson Beck is pretty green having only attempted 58 passes in three seasons, and he replaces one of the most experienced quarterbacks in the country in Stetson Bennett IV.
Still, he’ll have arguably the nation’s best overall player in tight end Brock Bowers to help him out as well as veteran SEC receiver transfers in Thomas from Mississippi State and Dominic Lovett from Missouri.
On defense, sophomore safety Malaki Starks could be about to break out on a unit that features a lot of new faces but remains loaded with blue-chip talent.
Georgia is still my pick to win this league, but if someone is going to knock the Bulldogs off, it could happen this year.
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