Starting with Florida in 2006, an SEC team won 13 of 17 National Championships from 2006-2022. However, a team hailing from outside the SEC team has been crowned National Champions in back-to-back seasons.
Looking to regain dominance in the new-look 12-team College Football Playoff, the SEC has a chance to show it's still the overwhelming powerhouse of college football in Week 1. Several highly-ranked SEC teams are set to battle top teams from other conferences, which makes for an entertaining first full weekend of college football. Along with No. 1 Texas at No. 3 Ohio State, there are four matchups between SEC and ACC teams in Week 1, headlined by No. 9 LSU paying a visit to No. 4 Clemson.
SEC can prove dominance early on in 2025
The SEC season gets started when Auburn visits Baylor on Friday, Aug. 29. Though both teams are unranked, the matchup between the Tigers and Bears is one of the most intriguing games of the weekend. Both programs find themselves in peculiar spots, and the coach of the losing team could catch some heat from their fan base.
On Saturday, the game drawing the most attention is the top-five matchup between No. 1 Texas and No. 3 Ohio State. Arch Manning takes over at quarterback for the Longhorns, while Julian Sayin is the new signal-caller for the Buckeyes. Despite being the No. 1 team in the country, the Longhorns find themselves as slight 2.5-point underdogs on DraftKings Sportsbook.
The SEC and ACC will battle four times this weekend:
Syracuse at No. 24 Tennessee
No. 8 Alabama at Florida State
No. 9 LSU at No. 4 Clemson
Virginia Tech at No. 13 South Carolina (Sunday)
Obviously, the LSU vs Clemson matchup is the headliner of these contests. Both teams have National Championship hopes, and with kick-off slated for 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC, the home Clemson crowd is sure to be rowdy.
LSU is only SEC team that is an underdog in these SEC/ACC matchups, as Clemson is a 3.5-point favorite. However, bettors are backing LSU in big numbers. According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Tennessee is favored by 14 over Syracuse, Alabama is favored by 13.5 on the road at Florida State, and South Carolina is favored by 7.5 against Virginia Tech. If those teams take care of business and LSU pulls a minor upset over Dabo Swinney's squad, it will be a tough weekend for the ACC.
Around the SEC, Missouri (vs Central Arkansas), Georgia (vs Marshall), Arkansas (vs Arkansas A&M), Oklahoma (vs Illinois State), Florida (vs LIU), Texas A&M (vs UTSA), Vanderbilt (vs Charleston Southern), and Ole Miss (vs Georgia State) should all pickup wins by large margins this weekend. Furthermore, Kentucky should also beat Toledo and Mississippi State should take care of Southern Miss.