SEC Football Power Index Rankings from ESPN

USA Today

3 days ago

The 2025 college football season is less than three months away. Summer workouts are in full swing, and teams will begin gearing up for fall camp before we know it. The Oklahoma Sooners are looking for a resurgent season in year two in the SEC.
Year one was mired by injuries and inexperience on the offensive side of the ball, leading to a 6-7 season for the second time in three years under Brent Venables. Heading into 2025, Oklahoma will have a new look on the offensive side of the ball. Venables is hoping that the significant overhaul on offense will help a unit that finished 98th in the nation in scoring last year.
Venables entrusted the offense to Ben Arbuckle, one of the hottest offensive coordinator names in the game. Along with John Mateer, Arbuckle is looking to revitalize the offense and return it to the standard that has been set for over 25 years.
With the offense in good hands, Venables took back the playcalling duties following Zac Alley's departure for West Virginia. Venables has been one of the best defensive minds in the game for the last two and a half decades. Though he'll have to replace Danny Stutsman, Billy Bowman, and Ethan Downs, Venables has a lot of talent to work with on the defensive side of the ball.
Though there still may be questions ahead of the 2025 season, there's reason to be optimistic about the Sooners. A number of the post-spring power rankings believe the Sooners are one of the best 25 teams in the nation in 2025. And the computers tend to agree.
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In the latest update to the ESPN Football Power Index, the Oklahoma Sooners come in at No. 16 overall in the rankings.
The Football Power Index (FPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team's performance going forward for the rest of the season. FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule. Ratings and projections update daily. FPI data from seasons prior to 2019 may not be complete. - ESPN Football Power Index
Here's a look at how the SEC ranks, along with where they rank overall in ESPN's Football Power Index and record projections.
16. Vanderbilt Commodores
Overall: 56
Projected Win-Loss: 4.8-7.2
The ball-control style of the Vanderbilt Commodores won't get a lot of love from the computers. They want to shorten the game and minimize possessions to limit exposure of the Commodores defense. Diego Pavia led a magical season in 2024. Can he do it again in 2025?
15. Mississippi State Bulldogs
Overall: 52
Projected Win-Loss: 4.4-7.6
Jeff Lebby has a tough road ahead for the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Any success they have will be predicated on the offense scoring a bunch of points and that's going to require a bounce-back season from Blake Shapen.
14. Kentucky Wildcats
Overall: 34
Projected Win-Loss: 5.6-6.4
It feels like a big season for Mark Stoops and the Kentucky Wildcats after his first season without a bowl game since 2015.
13. Missouri Tigers
Overall: 23
Projected Win-Loss: 6.9-5.2
Missouri is coming off of back-to-back 10-win seasons but will be replacing a first round offensive tackle, the heart beat of the program in Brady Cook, and their playmakers on the outside, Luther Burden and Theo Wease. The schedule is manageable but it may be a fall from grace for Eli Drinkwitz and the Tigers.
12. Arkansas Razorbacks
Overall: 22
Projected Win-Loss: 6.1-5.9
Arkansas was one of the more pleasant surprises in SEC play last year. Led by Taylen Green, they upset Tennessee and returned the Hogs to a bowl game.
11. Florida Gators
Overall: 18
Projected Win-Loss: 6.4-5.6
The only team that might have a schedule as tough as the Oklahoma Sooners is the Florida Gators. Billy Napier is hoping D.J. Lagway can build off of his first run through college football a season ago and take the Gators to the playoff.
10. Oklahoma Sooners
Overall: 16
Projected Win-Loss: 6.9-5.1
It may not all be on John Mateer, but a large portion of Oklahoma's success is riding on John Mateer and Ben Arbuckle and the way the offense plays in 2025.
9. South Carolina Gamecocks
Overall: 15
Projected Win-Loss: 7.3-4.8
LaNorris Sellers has the tools to be one of the best in the nation but he'll need the defense to be as good as it was a year ago for the Gamecocks to contend.
8. Auburn Tigers
Overall: 14
Projected Win-Loss: 7.5-4.5
If Jackson Arnold can shake off the 2024 season, the Auburn Tigers will be dangerous.
7. Ole Miss Rebels
Overall: 13
Projected Win-Loss: 8.3-3.8
Lane Kiffin had the Rebels on the cusp of the playoff last year. But a loss to Kentucky spoiled those plans. Gone are a number of veterans that led on both sides of the ball, including quarterback Jaxson Dart.
6. LSU Tigers
Overall: 12
Projected Win-Loss: 7.9-4.2
The LSU Tigers have one of the best quarterbacks in the nation in Garrett Nussmeier. So much of LSU's success will be dependent on how much the defense has grown over the offseason.
5. Tennessee Volunteers
Overall: 10
Projected Win-Loss: 8.7-3.4
There was so much made about Nico Iamaleava's departure and Joey Aguilar's arrival that people forget that Josh Heupel leaned on the run and played defense a lot in 2024.
4. Texas A&M Aggies
Overall: 8
Projected Win-Loss: 8.1-4.1
The Texas A&M Aggies will go as far as Marcel Reed's arm will allow them. If he's improved as a passer this offseason, the Aggies could be trouble in the SEC.
3. Alabama Crimson Tide
Overall: 3
Projected Win-Loss: 9.6-2.8
Though year one of the Kalen DeBoer era at Alabama ended in disappointment, he's still a talented coach with a talented roster. They could be playoff bound in 2025.
2. Georgia Bulldogs
Overall: 2
Projected Win-Loss: 10.1-2.3
If there was any team in the country that I'd put my money on to win the national championship it would be the most consistent team in the nation over the last five years, the Georgia Bulldogs.
1. Texas Longhorns
Overall: 1
Projected Win-Loss: 10.4-2.1
The people love the Longhorns and the computers love the Longhorns. If Texas isn't in the national championship game, it'll be viewed as a disappointing season.
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