Rece Davis Has No SEC Teams in Top Five of His Preseason AP Top 25

The College GameDay host favored Notre Dame and the Big Ten’s recent champions over a loaded group of SEC contenders.

ESPN broadcaster Rece Davis ranked three SEC teams in the top 10 of his AP Top 25 preseason vote, but none in the top 5. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The SEC placed nine teams in the 2026 preseason Associated Press Top 25, more than any other conference. Yet on one of the poll’s most recognizable ballots, the league could not crack the top five.

ESPN College GameDay host Rece Davis ranked Notre Dame No. 1 and filled the next four spots without an SEC program. Three SEC teams eventually appeared in his top 10, but his overall ballot still finished as one of the poll’s larger outliers.

Rece Davis left SEC out of top five of his AP preseason poll

The full poll looked much different from Davis’ ballot. Ohio State earned the No. 1 ranking with 40 first-place votes, followed by Oregon with 14. Georgia finished third, Notre Dame fourth and Texas fifth.

Despite placing two teams in the top five, the SEC did not receive a first-place vote.

Davis’ connections to the conference make his ballot especially notable. He graduated from Alabama and works for the network that owns the SEC’s primary television rights. Still, neither connection pushed an SEC team into his top five.

According to this chart tracking every voter, Davis posted an outlier score of 2.96. That means his rankings differed from the AP consensus by nearly three spots per team on average. Only a small number of voters strayed further from the final poll. A Reddit user, u/bakonydraco, produced the voter compilation chart.

The SEC has the most teams in the AP top 25 preseason poll, but ESPN's Rece Davis kept the league out of his top five. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

That does not mean Davis is dismissing the SEC or its leading contenders. Earlier this week, he picked Georgia to beat Texas in the SEC Championship Game and believes the Bulldogs are a favorite to win the title.

“I think Georgia’s one of the favorites to win the national championship,” Davis said on See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack.

Georgia has won two consecutive SEC championships, and quarterback Gunner Stockton returns after earning SEC Championship Game MVP honors. Stockton threw for 2,894 yards, 24 touchdowns and five interceptions last season.

Davis clearly has reasons to view Georgia as a contender. He simply believes at least five other teams deserve to begin the season ahead of the Bulldogs.

Big Ten’s recent success shapes the top of the AP Top 25

Davis’ ballot also reflects how much the national picture has changed. The Big Ten has won three consecutive national championships, with Michigan, Ohio State and Indiana each claiming a title during that run.

Indiana completed a 16-0 season last year, while Ohio State came close to beating the Hoosiers for the Big Ten championship. Davis picked the Buckeyes to win the conference this fall.

“I’ll take the team that’s going to show them that Ohio State is here and at the top of the Big Ten for the first time since the COVID season,” Davis said on the College GameDay podcast.

He also made it clear that Indiana remains the team everyone else must catch.

ESPN host Rece Davis interviews Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti after the College Football Playoff National Championship game against the Miami Hurricanes. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“Somebody may favor Ohio State. Somebody may favor Oregon. Everybody’s shooting at Indiana whether you like it or whether you don’t,” Davis said.

The SEC still leads the preseason poll in total representation, placing nine teams in the Top 25 compared with eight from the Big Ten. Most of the SEC’s teams, however, are packed into the middle of the rankings. Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, LSU and Alabama landed between No. 8 and No. 13.

CBS Sports also ranked the Big Ten ahead of the SEC in its preseason conference rankings. The Big Ten went 10-7 against the SEC over the past two seasons, including an 8-2 postseason record.

The SEC continues to produce more NFL talent than any other league. It led all conferences in draft picks for the 20th consecutive year and set a record with 87 selections in 2026. Davis’ ballot, though, appears to reward recent college results over reputation, conference ties or the number of future NFL pros on each roster.

Full Rece Davis AP Top 25 preseason poll vote

1. Notre Dame
2. Ohio State
3. Indiana
4. Miami
5. Oregon
6. Georgia
7. Texas
8. Ole Miss
9. Texas Tech
10. BYU
11. USC
12. Oklahoma
13. Texas A&M
14. Alabama
15. SMU
16. LSU
17. Michigan
18. Houston
19. Arizona
20. Penn State
21. Tennessee
22. Missouri
23. South Carolina
24. Illinois
25. Iowa