College football rankings: SEC predicted order of finish for 2022 season

SEC Media Days ended on Thursday, bringing to a close the event that signals the unofficial beginning of the college football season to come.

That makes it officially prediction season, as credentialed members of the media voted on their latest SEC preseason football poll.

Unlike most projections, these tend to be more or less accurate, at least in recent years. The media poll has picked the correct SEC football champion in five of the last eight seasons.

Let's take a look at what to expect this fall.

SEC predicted order of finish for 2022 college football season

First place votes in parentheses

First let's look at the predicted division standings, and then the SEC championship picks.

SEC East

Georgia is the SEC East favorite and college football's defending champion

7. Vanderbilt (1). One optimistic first-place vote for the 'Dores, who haven't won a game in the SEC since 2019, scores about 16 points per game, and allows almost 40 to conference teams.

6. Missouri. Eli Drinkwitz and company have to break in a new quarterback and a new lead rusher, but have 5-star wideout Luther Burden to help patch things over while this team works out some structural issues on the roster.

5. South Carolina (3). Shane Beamer has already outpaced expectations, which just increased after he signed transfer quarterback Spencer Rattler to lead this offense. But it's another tough schedule for the Gamecocks.

4. Florida. An open question coming into Billy Napier's first year and with crucial early games against Utah and Kentucky, but with plenty of talent to work with on this roster and what should be a surer foundation recruiting.

3. Tennessee (1). Hendon Hooker was the SEC's most efficient passer and led the No. 9 ranked offense in college football a year ago. He gets Cedric Tillman back at receiver and USC transfer Bru McCoy to help, but the Vols need to patch up a secondary that allowed 34 ppg against SEC foes.

2. Kentucky (4). Will Levis returns at quarterback coming off a 10-win season and a chance to build some real momentum heading into a November tilt at home against Georgia. But will running back Chris Rodriguez be around all year as he deals with legal issues?

1. Georgia (172). College football's defending national champion is the overwhelming favorite to repeat as division champions, and, should the Bulldogs beat Oregon in Week 1, have a real shot at running the table again heading to Atlanta.

SEC West

Alabama is the consensus No. 1 team in college football - again

7. Auburn. Almost no analysts predict anything great for the Tigers under embattled second-year coach Bryan Harsin, not with a coaching staff overhaul and a transfer exodus that didn't result in a ton of incoming skill.

6. Mississippi State. Will Rogers returns at quarterback to light up the stat sheet and the Bulldogs bring back the SEC's fourth-best defensive unit, but it'll be a major slog against what might be the toughest schedule in college football this year.

5. LSU. We'll see what Brian Kelly is able to do in the SEC lining up against the West Division after struggling against Southern teams when he was at Notre Dame. He'll have fertile recruiting ground to work with, but questions on the offensive line and the defensive backfield.

4. Ole Miss. "Portal King" Lane Kiffin got aggressive after losing the core of an offense that ranked top 10 in college football a year ago. The Rebels landed major inputs at the skill spots and defensively, which should preserve those gains, at least in the early part of the schedule.

3. Arkansas (1). Sam Pittman led arguably the surprise team in college football last season, and while he loses some of that impact talent, he vitally retains KJ Jefferson at quarterback in a crucial year that will determine if the Hogs really belong.

2. Texas A&M (3). Jimbo may have signed the highest-rated recruiting class in college football history, but it's still not enough to top the Tide, according to the media poll. This should be Fisher's most talented defensive team, but it'll get tested in the SEC West, especially at Alabama on Oct. 8.

1. Alabama (177). Blue-chip talent out, blue-chip talent in. Eight returning starters on an elite defense, Heisman winning quarterback Bryce Young driving this offense, and a small but dominant group of transfer additions add up to what is once again the consensus No. 1 team in college football.

SEC football championship

1. Alabama — 158 first-place votes
2. Georgia — 18
3. South Carolina — 3
4. Texas A&M — 1
5. Vanderbilt — 1

That's quite a discrepancy between Alabama and Georgia in the prediction to win the SEC championship, with the majority once again siding with the Crimson Tide.

Georgia loses some pieces off that historically-dominant defense, but still easily project as one of the top four teams in college football again this year.

Texas A&M only getting one vote for the conference crown was surprising, especially considering Vanderbilt also received a vote.

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