Editor’s note: This story is adapted from The Athletic’s preseason guide to all 138 FBS teams ahead of the 2026 season.The SEC hasn’t sent a team to the national championship game since Georgia won in 2022, but it has a deep pool of teams that have high hopes of getting to the College Football Playoff and making a run, from Arch Manning and Texas to Lane Kiffin and LSU, among several others.Who’s trending up and down in the SEC entering 2026? What do you need to know about all 16 teams? Here’s our guide to the league’s teams, coaches and top players, with rankings from Chris Vannini’s The Athletic 138, and Playoff and conference championship odds from Austin Mock’s predictor model.Alabama Crimson Tide2025 record: 11-4 (7-1 SEC)
Location: Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Odds to make the CFP: 36%
Odds to win the SEC: 11%
The Athletic 138 ranking: 15thWill they be better, worse or the same this year? The same.Pedigree: Last year was the 100th anniversary of Alabama’s first national championship, under Wallace Wade. The program claims 17 more, won by the likes of Bear Bryant, Gene Stallings and Nick Saban, who retired after the 2023 season with six rings in Tuscaloosa, along with three more CFP title game appearances.Why they’re interesting: From the outside, the pressure seems to be on Kalen DeBoer in Year 3 to at least make a long Playoff run. But Alabama’s administration gave DeBoer an offseason contract extension including a raise. Will that faith be rewarded, or will the pressure only ratchet up?Who is the coach? DeBoer, 51, was Curt Cignetti before Cignetti: Google him and learn that he’s won at every stop and is 124-20 in his 11-year head coaching career. But he’s only 20-8 at Alabama, with one Playoff appearance, which resulted in a quarterfinal drubbing at the hands of Cignetti’s Indiana team.Who is the QB? Austin Mack, who appeared in four games as Ty Simpson’s backup last year, knows DeBoer’s system, having followed him from Washington after the Huskies’ 2023-24 CFP run. But DeBoer is betting on the upside of Keelon Russell (No. 33 in QB Tiers), a five-star recruit who has had a year to learn the playbook and won the job in preseason camp.Key player: Ryan Coleman-Williams (No. 39 in the Freaks List) has the talent to be the best receiver in the country, and he looked like he would be after his freshman season. Then came last year’s sophomore slump. If he rebounds — and he’s still only 19, far from a finished product — it would be a huge lift to the new quarterback and a young offense.Game to circle: Oct. 10 vs. Georgia. This is an important narrative game for DeBoer: Losing at home to Georgia, and for the second time in a row to Kirby Smart’s team, would be bad. It’s also the start of the most difficult stretch of the season: at Tennessee, home against Texas A&M, at LSU, at Vanderbilt.— Seth EmersonArkansas Razorbacks2025 record: 2-10 (0-8 SEC)
