Alabama, Ole Miss, and Texas will only play four teams ranked in the preseason Coaches Poll. Texas made the semi-finals of the College Football Playoff in 2024 while Alabama and South Carolina were on the outside looking in with 9-3 records after suffering upset losses in SEC play.

Nine SEC teams are ranked in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll. Think the playoff committee will care about that? They didn't last year.

Texas holds the top spot in the USA Today preseason coaches football poll released on Monday. The Longhorns received 28 of the 67 first-place votes. Defending national champion Ohio State is No. 2 after receiving 20 first-place votes and the Buckeyes are followed by No.