New win projections for every SEC team for the 2024 college football season

SEC win projections for the 2024 College Football Season.

2024 will mark a new era of the ever-evolving landscape of college football. The Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns make the move to the SEC and face new challenges.

Though if you hear former Texas tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders talk about it, the SEC won’t be much of a challenge.

After a 2023 season that didn’t see an SEC team in the national championship game, there might be something to it. Georgia didn’t make the playoff and lost to an Alabama team that wasn’t necessarily the best of the Nick Saban era.

At the same time, the Georgia Bulldogs have earned the right to be the favorites in 2024. However, if you look at ESPN data analyst Jake Wimberly’s latest win projections for the inaugural season of the new-look 16-team conference, the Dawgs aren’t the favorite. It’s one of the newcomers.

Here’s a look at the projected win totals for the SEC in 2024.

SEC quarterback rankings ahead of 2024 spring football

Where does Jackson Arnold rank among SEC quarterbacks heading into spring ball?

As the SEC expands to 16 teams in 2024, the conference is stacked at the quarterback position. From former five-star prospects to 2024 Heisman contenders to intriguing transfer additions, there will be some fantastic quarterback play on display this fall in the SEC.

Seven of the last nine Heisman winners have come from Oklahoma and the SEC. Two of those seven were non-quarterbacks, DeVonta Smith and Derrick Henry.

Much of what will determine which teams emerge as SEC title and College Football Playoff contenders will be on the shoulders of the quarterbacks who will lead their team in 2024.

There are some quarterback competitions that need to take place, but here’s our pre-spring ball SEC quarterback rankings.

 

How do the Oklahoma Sooners compare to SEC teams in ESPN’s SP+ rating?

The Oklahoma Sooners are heading into a new era in the SEC and come in at No. 8 in the preseason SP+ rankings.

The Oklahoma Sooners had a really good season in 2023 as they bounced back from their 6-7 season in 2022 to win 10 games last year. Now, they prepare for a new era of Oklahoma football with the move to the [autotag]SEC[/autotag].

But they aren’t the only change coming to college football in 2024. The landscape as a whole has changed. The [autotag]Pac 12[/autotag] is essentially no more as everyone but Washington State and Oregon State left for the [autotag]Big 10[/autotag] or the [autotag]Big 12[/autotag].

With the new changes and the 2024 recruiting cycle coming to a close, it’s time to look at where Oklahoma ranks in ESPN data analyst Bill Connelly’s SP+ preseason rankings (subscription required).

For those that don’t know, Connelly releases a preseason SP+ ranking every February where he bases his projections on three primary factors weighted by their predictiveness. Those would be returning production, recent recruiting, and recent history.

So, let’s take a look at how Oklahoma stacks up against the rest of the SEC.

10 SEC teams featured in updated College Football Power Rankings from ESPN

The SEC was prominently featured in ESPN’s updated power rankings for 2024.

Winter workouts are happening across the country. Spring ball is right around the corner. Though the 2024 college football season is still more than six months away, the SEC is shaping up to be a lot of fun in the new era of college football.

Realignment has consolidated power in the SEC and the Big Ten, and it’ll be on full display this fall, especially as the College Football Playoff expands to 12 teams this season.

As the Oklahoma Sooners get set for their first season in their new conference, the schedule provides a number of challenges. But having marquee matchups throughout the schedule is what the Sooners were looking for. In ESPN’s most recent power rankings update ahead of spring ball, 10 SEC schools were featured. Here’s who made the cut.

Oklahoma Sooners in the top 5 of Josh Pate’s SEC Power Ratings

The Oklahoma Sooners are considered a top five program in the SEC according to Josh Pate.

The Oklahoma Sooners are heading into a new era of college football. Now, there are two mega conferences in college football with the additions the [autotag]SEC[/autotag] and Big 10 are making in 2024.

The Sooners elected to join the SEC, which sort of started this new wave of conference realignment. Much has been made about whether Oklahoma is “SEC ready”? Even after a 10-3 season, that question still looms over the program.

The program is heading in the right direction. They may not be ready to compete for an SEC championship in 2024, but you can tell with how they are recruiting, especially on the defensive side of the ball, they have a vision of what it’ll take to make this team ready for the week in, week out grind of the SEC.

While Oklahoma will be competitive in their inaugural season in 2024, 2025 is the year they’ll be serious title contenders. They’re still a young team and by 2025 a lot of this young talent will be seasoned.

But what about next season? How well can the Sooners do in Year 1? CBSSports’ and the Late Kick Show’s Josh Pate shared his SEC Power Ratings heading into the 2024 season Sunday night. In it, he values a rolling three-year snapshot of on-field performance, talent acquisition, and stability resource pool. Given all of that, he feels the Sooners are the fifth-best SEC program heading into 2024.

That means Oklahoma is probably around an 8-4 or 9-3 team in 2024, which is what I would have them at. And with the 12-team playoff incoming, there’s a possibility that puts them in the College Football Playoff in 2024.

I do think the LSU Tigers are a little overvalued because last year they were so bad defensively and were carried by their offense. Well, gone is Heisman winner Jayden Daniels and their star receiver Malik Nabors. Both are first round picks in 2024.

Here’s a look at how the SEC stacks up, according to Josh Pate.

Reacting to Yahoo Sports’ SEC football stadium rankings

Yahoo was very judicious with its choice of who to leave out. Two teams hail from the SEC East and two from the West.

Yahoo Sports recently ranked all the Southeastern Conference football stadiums from one to 10, excluding the bottom four.

The rankings were chosen based on the SEC as presently constructed, so apologies to fans of the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma, you all will have to wait until August to be included.

Yahoo was very judicious with its choice of who to leave out. Two teams hail from the SEC East and two from the West. Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt were left on the outside looking in.

Therefore, if you’re a fan of Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Kroger Field, Davis Wade Stadium or FirstBank Stadium, you likely have an axe to grind with Yahoo Sports, not us. For what it’s worth though, they weren’t necessarily wrong.

In descending order, let’s find out where Texas A&M‘s Kyle Field in Aggieland ranks among the best conference in college football.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Shaun on Twitter: @Shaun_Holkko.

Sooners with the second most difficult 2024 schedule per 247Sports

According to 247Sports Brad Crawford, the Oklahoma Sooners have the second most difficult schedule for 2024.

The 2024 season will forever change the landscape of college football. At least until the next round of realignment. The Sooners will venture to the SEC with Red River rival Texas, creating a 16-team league, adding to the already strong stable of programs in the Southeastern Conference.

Heading into their first season in the SEC, the schedule makers did Oklahoma no favors. According to Brad Crawford of 247Sports, the Sooners have the second most difficult schedule in all of college football.

The Sooners only leave Norman once in September, but that’s when the difficult stretch begins if Oklahoma’s able to get past Tennessee in the SEC opener for a potential 4-0 start. What follows is a trip to Auburn, then five games against top-25 teams over the final seven to close it out. Few teams nationally face the late-November gauntlet that Oklahoma must endure with trips to Missouri and LSU with a home bout against the defending SEC champion in the middle. – Crawford, 247Sports

More: Way too early schedule prediction for the 2024 season

That home date against Alabama looks a lot different with the departure of Nick Saban. Yes, it’s Alabama. They’ll be a good team and one you can’t overlook, but they’ve taken on water due to transfer portal departures. Kalen DeBoer and his staff may have some depth issues when they arrive in Norman.

More: 5 takeaways from the Sooners 2024 SEC schedule.

Oklahoma’s road record will make or break their College Football Playoff hopes. They’ll go on the road to face Auburn, Ole Miss, Missouri, and LSU. There’s not a lot of margin for error.

Joining the SEC, the Sooners are under no misconception about the challenges they’ll face week-to-week. However, they’re used to being the hunted. Now the SEC has to contend with another blue blood program each year. Despite the turnover, the Sooners will be a threat in the SEC.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.

Way too early 2024 SEC Football Power Rankings

The Sooners and Longhorns are making the jump to the SEC in 2024, so where do they land in our way-too-early power rankings?

In 2024, college football will look like nothing we’ve ever seen. Conference realignment did plastic surgery to the game we’ve grown up with.

The Pac-12 is essentially gone as Oregon, USC, Washington, and UCLA move to the Big Ten. The Big 12 added Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah. Stanford and Cal are off to the ACC, along with SMU getting a promotion from the AAC. The SEC is adding Texas and Oklahoma.

The College Football Playoff is expanding to 12 teams, coming off its most competitive four-team version.

All of this is happening in 2024.

It’s a new era of college football. For the SEC, the Sooners and Longhorns are coming off of double-digit win seasons and Texas made the playoff. But how do they stack up against their future SEC counterparts?

Here’s a look at our way-too-early SEC power rankings.

Opinion: USA Today gives Texas A&M football program a harsh grade for 2023 season

USA Today college sports reporter Paul Myberg released his 2023 season grades for all 133 Football Bowl Subdivision teams on Wednesday morning and the grade he gave Texas A&M is harsh, to say the least.

USA Today college sports reporter Paul Myberg released his 2023 season grades for all 133 Football Bowl Subdivision teams on Wednesday morning and the grade he gave Texas A&M is harsh, to say the least.

The Aggies were 1-of-12 teams that Myberg gave a solid D to. Texas A&M (7-6) had the second-most wins in the group, only trailing USC (8-5). However, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and consensus No. 1 overall pick was not under center at Kyle Field this season.

Former head coach Jimbo Fisher was fired on Nov. 12, hours after the Aggies smashed Mississippi State by a final score of 51-10. At that point, Texas A&M was 6-4 overall with three of its losses against ranked teams: No. 11 Alabama, No. 19 Tennessee & No. 11 Ole Miss. The other defeat came in Week 2 at Miami.

Whether or not Fisher should’ve been dismissed is an argument for another day. The overall point is that a D grade is a bit harsh in my opinion. If the Aggies were still in high school, that would be considered a passing grade.

Texas A&M is a university though and to say the 2023 season was a complete failure is inaccurate. The Aggies lost their starting quarterback, sophomore Conner Weigman, in Week 4 to a season-ending foot injury.

Even after firing its leader, Texas A&M completed the campaign with a winning record. So to say the season was a complete failure is inaccurate. In my opinion, the Aggies should’ve received a C- for what they overcame during 2023.

Nevertheless, the Mike Elko era is officially underway and everyone in Aggieland is moving on to greener pastures in 2024.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Shaun on Twitter: @Shaun_Holkko.

Way-too-early ranking of Oklahoma Football’s 2024 opponents

A way-too-early look at how the Oklahoma Sooners 2024 opponents stack up.

For all but two teams, the 2023 college football season has come to a close. That means it’s time to look ahead to the 2024 season.

After making significant improvements on both sides of the ball in 2023, the Sooners jumped from six to 10 wins in Brent Venables’ second season. But now they move to the SEC and are breaking in new coordinators on both sides of the ball.

Additionally, they’ll have a completely new offensive line from the group that started for the majority of the season and a new starting quarterback after [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] left for Oregon.

Jackson Arnold takes the reins at quarterback for the Sooners. Despite his Alamo Bowl performance, the ceiling is very high for Arnold and the Sooners offense.

But they’ve got a difficult schedule in 2024, in particular when they get to SEC play. But how would you rank their opponents in 2024? Here’s how we ranked them here at Sooners Wire.