We already created a tier of four SEC teams with no chance of contending for anything, and while this group is worthy of respect, these squads will still need some luck and help to emerge as serious contenders during the 2025 college football season.
These SEC teams could emerge as real contenders
Oklahoma Sooners
With additions like John Mateer at quarterback and Jaydn Ott at running back, there are high expectations for the Oklahoma Sooners to drastically turn things around in 2025, but after going 6-7 and winning only two SEC games last season, it's still hard to just slip OU right in with the serious contenders.
The Sooners have a daunting schedule again, so they'll need Mateer to live up to the hype and some other teams to slip up, but if those few things go OU's way, Brent Venables could save his job and have the Sooners fighting for a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Tennessee Volunteers
The Tennessee Volunteers seemed like solidified contenders, but then starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava bolted to UCLA this spring and gave Josh Heupel little time to find a sufficient replacement. The Volunteers also already had to replace a host of other talent, including leading rusher Dylan Sampson.
But if UCLA transfer Joey Aguilar steps up at QB and the Volunteers were able to fill in some other holes, then they could still look to go back to the College Football Playoff for the second season in a row.
Arkansas Razorbacks
These next two need a lot more luck and help, but any team from the SEC can emerge as a contender if things go its way.
The Arkansas Razorbacks seem to be a sleeping giant that never gets poked. But they return quarterback Taylen Green and added some solid weapons from the portal to help him out, so with a rather soft SEC slate, the Razorbacks could rattle off some wins and be near the top of the conference by the end of 2025. If not, a poor season with that schedule is worth losing a job over.
Missouri Tigers
Eli Drinkwitz has at least made the Missouri Tigers consistently competitive, but they still haven't been able to get over the hump. As a bottom top-25 team, though, if the Tigers just manage an extra upset and avoid slipping up, Drinkwitz could have Mizzou at new heights.
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