Mississippi State's predicted place in SEC standings not surprising

Not many people will be surprised to see where the Bulldogs land in the media's predictions for the final SEC standings. But the media predictions have been wrong before.

Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby speaks in the Main Media Room during SEC Media Days at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. | Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Any Mississippi State fans looking for hope and optimism about the upcoming need not look at the media predictions.

The Bulldogs were predicted to finish last in the SEC by the media in attendance at SEC Media Days this week. Texas predicted to finish at the top of the standings, followed by Georgia and Alabama. The Bulldogs were also one of five schools to receive any votes for the preseason SEC Championship predictions.

The bottom five, in order, were Missouri, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Kentucky and Mississippi State.

None of this is too surprising for the Bulldogs or their fans. After winning two games last season and not pulling off a miracle in the offseason to drastically improve the roster, the Bulldogs don’t have many reasons to think 2025 will be much better. Throw in the fact Mississippi State has the sixth-hardest schedule amongst all FBS teams and it’s not hard to see how the media came to their conclusions.

But as we all know, preseason predictions can be wrong. Two seasons ago, Mississippi State’s softball team was predicted to finish last among the SEC teams and ended up finishing eighth.

2025 SEC Preseason Media Poll

SEC Champion

Texas, 96
Georgia, 44
Alabama, 29
LSU, 20
South Carolina, 5
Oklahoma, 3
Vanderbilt, 2
Florida, 2
Tennessee, 1
Ole Miss, 1
Auburn, 1

Predicted Order of Finish

Texas (3,060)
Georgia (2,957)
Alabama (2,783)
LSU (2,668)
South Carolina (2,109)
Florida (1,986)
Ole Miss (1,979)
Texas A&M (1,892)
Tennessee (1,700)
Oklahoma (1,613)
Auburn (1,272)
Missouri (1,170)
Vanderbilt (936)
Arkansas (764)
Kentucky (512)
Mississippi State (343)