It may be February, but college football rosters are beginning to take shape ahead of spring practices next month. In the SEC, everything feels more significant ahead of the first season of the expanded 12-team playoff structure.
While Nick Saban’s retirement from Alabama is certainly the talking point of the offseason, new Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko is looking to clean up the mess that Jimbo Fisher left after winning just 12 games the Aggies’ last two seasons despite elite recruiting year after year.
With Texas and Oklahoma set to enter the SEC in July, so comes the elimination of the East and West divisions, as the Georgia Bulldogs will now have plenty of competition to finish in the top spot, including the loaded Missouri Tigers, who are coming off a Cotton Bowl victory over Ohio State.
On paper, this looks like. It’s a two-horse race between Georgia and Texas, but don’t count out the Ole Miss Rebels to spoil things late.
After making my own predictions earlier this month, ESPN’s Jake Wimberly released his own. Here are those rankings for your viewing pleasure.