On Friday Night, the SEC Football season officially came to an end as the Texas Longhorns lost to Ohio State in the College Football Playoff Semifinal. This season the SEC wasn't as good as expected marking a second straight year the SEC won't compete for the National Championship. As the season comes to a close, here is how we Power Rank the teams in the SEC during the 2024 season.
Any time you finish conference play without a win there isn't any debate where you rank in the conference. This season was always going to be a rocky year for Jeff Lebby's team in the first year of a new regime. As Jeffy Lebby continues to get his pieces in place, the Bulldogs should continue to improve and his team did always show up for every game.
There weren't a ton of expectations for the Kentucky Football team this season but, it was still a massive disappointment. The continuing transfer quarterback carousel didn't work again this season as Brock Vandagriff wasn't the answer for Kentucky. Next season has to be a better year for Kentucky otherwise the Wildcats may be moving on from Mark Stoops.
After all the buzz Auburn built up this offseason, the actual season was a massive disappointment. The entire season, Auburn searched for consistent quarterback play but, the Tigers never could find it despite Hugh Freeze constantly changing starters. This season did give Auburn fans a ton to be excited about heading into 2025 as some of the underclassmen emerged as stars.
This season was a disaster for Oklahoma and some of the issue lies with Brent Venables while some of it was things he couldn't handle. Venables couldn't control the offensive line taking a massive step back or losing his top four wide receivers for most of the season. Nonetheless, Oklahoma has high expectations as a program and Venables will need to meet them in 2025.
If you said at the beginning of the year that Vanderbilt wouldn't finish in the bottom quarter of the league no one would have believed you. This season Vanderbilt exceeded all expectations and picked up a great win for the program over Alabama while putting up solid showings against Texas, LSU, and Tennessee. Clark Lea has the program heading in the right direction and Vanderbilt should continue to trend upwards.
The Arkansas Razorbacks had some great moments this season especially as they beat Tennessee but, overall it was a mediocre year. The offense played well this season at times but going forward the Razorbacks need to find consistency. The 2025 season may be a make or break year for Sam Pittman as Arkansas feels stagnant the past few seasons.
This season was a rollercoaster ride for Florida fans starting with an embarrassing loss against Miami leading to Florida deciding to keep Billy Napier, and ending with some great moments from DJ Lagway. As Florida heads into the 2025 season, there is a ton of hope that Billy Napier will finally be taking this team in the right direction.
Coming into the season, Missouri was viewed as a College Football Playoff contender and while they finished with a solid record the team never looked the part of a contender. The injury to Brady Cook kept this team from fully reaching its potential at times but, against every team that was better than Missouri they looked clearly outmatched.
This season if you were an LSU fan this team was a bit maddening as at times the offense would be as explosive as ever and the defense would be improved while at other times the offense would stall out and the defense would look like the 2023 unit. In Garrett Nussmeier's first season as the starter he showed a ton of promise and the Tigers played a ton of younger players but, the losses to USC and Florida were a massive disappointment.
In year one under Mike Elko, the Aggies season is tough to digest as at times they looked like a Playoff contender yet they finished the regular season 8-4. The Aggies did finally figure out who was the best fit at quarterback and the defense played well but, the Aggies will need to take the next step in the second year under Elko.
While South Carolina's season ended with a loss, the Gamecocks were incredible down the stretch of the season. The Gamecocks rattled off three Top 25 wins down the stretch of the year and found themselves in the College Football Playoff discussion after starting the season 3-3. This season should be a spring board for South Carolina as a ton of young players emerged for the Gamecocks.
In the first year without Nick Saban in Tuscaloosa, Kalen DeBoer's team was a bit hectic. The Tide were good enough to beat Georgia and South Carolina but, they were also so inconsistent they could lose to Vanderbilt and Oklahoma. Jalen Milroe took a step back under Kalen DeBoer which kept the Tide from reaching their full potential as the defense played well for most of the season.
This season Ole Miss loaded up in the transfer portal with the hopes of competing for an SEC Championship and a College Football Playoff berth. The Rebels ended out missing out on both goals but, the team was still one of the best in the SEC and likely had a better argument for the playoffs than Alabama and South Carolina.
The Volunteers' season came to an end in disappointing fashion but, breaking through into the College Football Playoff meant a ton for the Vols. The offense never reached the levels everyone would've expected under Josh Heupel but, in Nico Iamaleava's first season as the starting quarterback there was always going to be some hiccups.
This season Texas was supposed to a high flying offense yet, it was the defense that carried this team. Part of the offense's struggles this season may have been related to Quinn Ewers' early season injury. Nonetheless, the only teams that could beat Texas this season were Ohio State and Georgia which says a ton about how talented this team is.
While Texas did make it one game further it's clear that Georgia was the better team this year. The teams met twice this season with Georgia winning both matchups once on the road and once on a neutral site. This Georgia team didn't feel like the force we've seen over the past few seasons yet, they were the best in the SEC. Kirby Smart has a ton of reloading to do this offseason especially as Carson Beck transfers to Miami.