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How Media Projects 2025 SEC Football Standings in Preseason Poll
In just about six weeks, SEC football will grace our television screens once again.
One of the biggest storylines heading into the 2025 season is the situation under center at Texas. The highly touted recruit Arch Manning, who famously hails from quarterbacking royalty, is entering the season as the unquestioned starter for the Longhorns for the first time.
Well, the media appears to think highly of Manning's chances to succeed alongside head coach Steve Sarkisian. In the media preseason poll released Friday, Texas received the most points to both finish first in the standings and win the 2025 SEC championship.
Manning was selected to the 2025 preseason media All-SEC third team behind South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers (first team) and LSU signal-caller Garrett Nussmeier (second team).
Elsewhere in the polls, fellow college football powerhouses Georgia, Alabama and LSU finished in second, third and fourth place in both the champion and standings projections.
A surprise in the poll? Vanderbilt, which has had a winning record in conference play just once since 1982, earned two points in the media's picks for the 2025 champion. That's not much, but it is more than Texas A&M, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky and Mississippi State, which didn't receive any points in that poll.
SEC preseason media poll: Picks for 2025 champion
SCHOOL | POINTS |
|---|---|
Texas | 96 |
Georgia | 44 |
Alabama | 29 |
LSU | 20 |
South Carolina | 5 |
Oklahoma | 3 |
Vanderbilt | 2 |
Florida | 2 |
Tennessee | 1 |
Ole Miss | 1 |
Auburn | 1 |
The 2025 SEC football championship game is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 6 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Here's how the media projects the full standings, from first place to last:
SEC preseason media poll: Picks for order of finish
PLACE | SCHOOL | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
1 | Texas | 3,060 |
2 | Georgia | 2,957 |
3 | Alabama | 2,783 |
4 | LSU | 2,668 |
5 | South Carolina | 2,109 |
6 | Florida | 1,986 |
7 | Ole Miss | 1,979 |
8 | Texas A&M | 1,892 |
9 | Tennessee | 1,700 |
10 | Oklahoma | 1,613 |
11 | Auburn | 1,272 |
12 | Missouri | 1,170 |
13 | Vanderbilt | 936 |
14 | Arkansas | 764 |
15 | Kentucky | 512 |
16 | Mississippi State | 343 |
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Tom Dierberger is a staff writer and editor on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in November 2023 after stints at FOX Sports, Bally Sports and NBC Sports. Dierberger has a bachelor's in communication from St. John's University. In his spare time, he can be seen throwing out his arm while playing fetch with his dog, Walter B. Boy.