The Big Ten has had more national title success over the last few years, but no league can replicate the SEC's depth when it comes to national title contention. Three SEC teams reached the 12-team College Football Playoff field a year ago—Georgia, Tennessee and Texas. All three of those programs are still in the mix to return, but they're far from alone in jockeying for playoff position as we hit the midway point of the season.
Ole Miss and Texas A&M remain undefeated at 6–0, while another seven SEC programs have taken just one loss. While we only have a single year of data to go off of at this point, SEC teams with just one or two losses should all be in pretty good shape to earn an at-large big. Last year, 9–3 SEC teams Alabama, Ole Miss and South Carolina were three of the first four teams left out of the field.
As we enter Week 8, which SEC teams would be in as of today, which are on the outside looking in and which have a lot of work to do to make the field? Let's take a look.
Editor's Note: Patrick Andres, Tom Dierberger, Dan Lyons and Mike McDaniel contributed to this story.
SEC teams projected to make the College Football Playoff
No. 4 Texas A&M Aggies
This week: at Arkansas
How Texas A&M can make the CFP: Texas A&M entered the 2025 season ranked No. 19 in the AP poll, and flew up the rankings after traveling to South Bend and exacting revenge on a Notre Dame team that suffocated the Aggies’ offense in the 2024 opener. Since the thrilling 41–40 victory against the eighth-ranked Irish, the Aggies have extended their win streak to six, and enter Saturday’s contest in Fayetteville against Arkansas undefeated and ranked fourth in the country. Bobby Petrino, the Arkansas interim, has never lost to Texas A&M. Could the Aggies be overlooking an overmatched Razorbacks program? After all, A&M is beginning its toughest stretch of the season after this Week 8 tilt, with road trips to LSU and Mizzou.
The Aggies have some wiggle room thanks to the early season win against Notre Dame. A 4–2 finish against a schedule with trips to Arkansas, LSU, Missouri, and Texas along with home games against South Carolina and Samford should get A&M to its first College Football Playoff. -Mike McDaniel
No. 5 Ole Miss Rebels
This week: at No. 9 Georgia
How Ole Miss can make the CFP: The Rebels entered the year expected to take a step back after losing a ton of talent, including quarterback Jaxson Dart, to the NFL. The team suffered an injury to starting quarterback Austin Simmons, leading to former Division II star Trinidad Chambliss stepping in as the trigger man for Lane Kiffin’s offense. And all the Rebels have done in the face of that adversity is go 6–0 to start the year. It hasn’t been perfect—Kentucky, Arkansas and Washington State teams that are nowhere near playoff-caliber all finished within a score of Ole Miss—but the Rebels scored a big win over LSU and only have two huge hurdles remaining with Saturday’s game at Georgia and a Week 9 trip to Oklahoma. The Rebels can afford a loss, although the end of the regular season, which features games against South Carolina, The Citadel, Florida and Mississippi State, doesn’t feature a ton of obvious résumé-builders, so a win over either the Bulldogs or Sooners is important. As of now, though, Ole Miss firmly controls its own destiny. -Dan Lyons
No. 6 Alabama Crimson Tide
This week: vs. No. 11 Tennessee
How Alabama can make the CFP: It might be the third-highest ranked SEC team in the AP Poll, but no conference member’s stock is higher than Alabama’s right now. Shaking off a season-opening loss to Florida State, the Crimson Tide have downed three top 20 teams in a row, including Georgia and Missouri on the road. Alabama could probably take a second loss and hear its name called Dec. 7, but it will likely be favored against Tennessee (Saturday), LSU (Nov. 8), and Oklahoma (Nov. 15). Defensive-minded—and offensively challenged—Auburn looms as a potential land mine Nov. 29, but Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson could use that game as an opportunity for a Heisman closing statement. -Patrick Andres
No. 9 Georgia Bulldogs
This week: vs. No. 5 Ole Miss
How Georgia can make the CFP: Georgia hasn’t been spectacular in 2025, but has certainly been solid in Kirby Smart’s 10th season at the helm. The Bulldogs aren’t as elite defensively this season as they’ve been in years past, and the offense has been a work in progress. Even so, Georgia finds itself 5–1 on the season and ranked ninth in the country, with the program’s lone blemish coming in a three-point loss at home to Alabama. Saturday’s home tilt against No. 5 Ole Miss provides the toughest test remaining on the schedule. Their remaining contests are at home against Florida, a Texas team that’s been disappointing relative to expectations, Charlotte and Georgia Tech. Georgia only has one road game remaining, away at Mississippi State on Nov. 8.
The SEC schedule is manageable, and while Georgia Tech has played the Bulldogs tough the last two seasons, Georgia has yet to lose to the Brent Key-led Yellow Jackets. A second regular season loss isn’t elimination-worthy—but a third loss could be—especially against a schedule that hasn’t been as impossible as it looked in the preseason. -Mike McDaniel
SEC teams on the CFP bubble
No. 10 LSU Tigers
This week: at No. 17 Vanderbilt
How LSU can make the CFP: The first order of business for coach Brian Kelly: getting the offense fixed. LSU’s defense has seen a significant turnaround from 2024 to ‘25, but now it is the offense that can’t get unmoored. The Tigers haven’t scored more than 20 points against a Power 4 foe this season, and Garrett Nussmeier has been dealing with a torso injury, though he is confident that he is on the other side of it, and looked more comfortable throwing against South Carolina in their win last week. LSU is an underdog at Vanderbilt this weekend, and will likely be one in its following two games as well: at Texas A&M and vs. Alabama. Beat Vanderbilt, split those two games and then hold serve against Arkansas and Western Kentucky, and the season finale against Oklahoma could be a win-and-in contest. -Dan Lyons
No. 11 Tennessee Volunteers
This week: at No. 6 Alabama
How Tennessee can make the CFP: Tennessee is on the hunt for quality wins, and Saturday's tilt on the road at No. 6 Alabama would be a great place to start. The Volunteers' best win to date is likely its 41-34 road victory in overtime over Mississippi State. Despite a résumé that lacks quality wins, the one loss is certainly not egregious—a 44-41 overtime defeat at home against No. 6 Georgia.
An upset win at No. 6 Alabama this Saturday would go a long way towards strengthening the program's playoff resume. The toughest games that remain after Saturday include a Nov. 1 tilt with Oklahoma and a season finale against Vanderbilt. The other three games? At Kentucky, home against New Mexico State and away at Florida.
11-1 Tennessee is a lock for the playoff. A 10-2 Vols team could still make the bracket, but it will likely come down to who the second loss was against and whether or not the program has quality wins strong enough to make up for a second defeat. -Mike McDaniel
No. 14 Oklahoma Sooners
This week: at South Carolina
How Oklahoma can make the CFP: Despite its 5-1 record, Oklahoma is facing a slew of headwinds. Quarterback John Mateer looked alternately lost and unhealthy in the Sooners’ 23–6 loss to Texas, and the program’s best wins (Michigan and Auburn) are both actively depreciating. And then there’s that schedule: five straight current top-20 teams to end the regular season, including both Tennessee and Alabama on the road. Oklahoma might need a 4-1 closing stretch to make the field; any performance worse than that and the Sooners will need help from ACC and Big 12 bottom feeders to hollow out the field of middle-class contenders. -Patrick Andres
No. 16 Missouri Tigers
This week: at Auburn
How Missouri can make the CFP: Missouri held up well—as anticipated—against a soft first half of the 2025 schedule. A 5-0 start to the year culminated with the program's first loss of the season at home by three to Alabama in Week 7. The Tigers travel to The Plains to take on a desperate Auburn team in Week 8. It's a must-win for Missouri considering three remaining ranked matchups on the schedule (at Vanderbilt, home against Texas A&M, at Oklahoma). It's a backloaded schedule for Mizzou, and as such, they'll have a strong case to make the CFP with a 10-2 record against a tough conference slate.
No. 17 Vanderbilt Commodores
This week: vs. No. 10 LSU
How Vanderbilt can make the CFP: Vanderbilt’s 5–0 start to the season was a remarkable feat given the history of the program, though it hasn’t aged all that well from a playoff résumé perspective. South Carolina, which Vandy beat 31–7, lost quarterback LaNorris Sellers during the game and the Gamecocks have been relatively disappointing overall this season, while Virginia Tech has had such a poor first half that coach Brent Pry was fired after three games. The Commodores were more competitive against Alabama than the 30–14 final score indicates, but they’ll need to start winning games like that to contend for the CFP.
Saturday’s game against LSU—the first game against a ranked opponent that Vanderbilt has been favored in since 1978—is a great place to start, while Missouri and Texas lie ahead with Tennessee to end the season. For most SEC teams, 10–2 is the floor and for the Dores to get there, they’ll have at least two good wins against other teams in the playoff mix, putting them firmly in the conversation. -Dan Lyons
SEC teams with a lot of work to do
No. 21 Texas Longhorns
This week: vs. Kentucky
How Texas can make the CFP: Arch Manning and the Longhorns got their season back on track last weekend with a dominant 23–6 win over Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry. One big win down, plenty to go. Texas has three games against ranked opponents remaining on its schedule against No. 4 Texas A&M, No. 9 Georgia and No. 17 Vanderbilt. Win those, and that ugly 29–21 loss to Florida will be forgiven. -Tom Dierberger
Run the table and they can still make it
Mississippi State Bulldogs
This week: at Florida
How Mississippi State can make the CFP: The Bulldogs’ 4–2 start is already a tremendous achievement for a team that went just 2–10 and didn’t win an SEC game in Jeff Lebby’s first season in 2024. Lebby is still searching for his first SEC win, and while Week 6’s 31–9 drubbing at Texas A&M doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence that the cowbells will be ringing deep into December, there is a pathway for Mississippi State to pull off a miracle. The Bulldogs have a brutal end of year run that features games against Texas, Georgia, Missouri and Ole Miss. With those probable losses come great opportunities. ESPN’s FPI puts the Bulldogs’ odds of making the CFP at 0.4%, so yes, it’s saying there’s a chance. -Dan Lyons
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as SEC College Football Playoff Chase: Where League’s Contenders Stand Ahead of Week 8.
