SEC Bowl Projections for 2026

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Steven Lassan | Last updated Jul 17, 2026 9:45 AM ET

With the start of the 2026 college football season less than 45 days away, it’s never too early to project bowl games and playoff contenders for the 16-team SEC. Ending a three-year national championship drought is the conference's top priority this fall, with Georgia and Texas among the favorites to win it all. The Bulldogs and Longhorns seemingly have all the right pieces to win the national championship, but they could have plenty of company in the College Football Playoff. Three other teams — Oklahoma, Texas A&M and LSU — are projected to join Georgia and Texas in the 12-team field.

Counting those five teams, the SEC is projected to send 13 teams to the postseason in '26. However, with the shift to a nine-game conference slate, achieving bowl eligibility is harder for some of the teams in the middle tier still fighting for six (or more) wins. Ole Miss, Alabama, Tennessee and Florida are projected as the SEC's top teams just outside the playoff and should be among the first picks in the next tier of selections.

With fall practice just around the corner, where do SEC teams stack up in bowl projections for ’26? Athlon Sports projects SEC teams and bowls for this fall:

SEC 2026 Preview: Predictions | All-Conference Team | 138 Rankings
Coach Rankings | All-America Team | Bowl Projections

SEC Bowl Projections for 2026

Athlon Sports released its complete preseason bowl projections earlier this offseason, so let’s take a look at how the predictions stack up for where SEC teams will spend their postseason:

The Order of Selections for 2026

1. College Football Playoff

BowlSelection Order After Playoff

2. Citrus

3. Pool of Six: After the Citrus Bowl makes its selection, six games — Gator, Music City, Liberty, Texas, ReliaQuest and Las Vegas — will consult with the SEC and school personnel to determine where teams are scheduled. Bowls try to avoid repeat matchups or repeat locations for the same teams.

4. After those six games decide their selections, the Birmingham and Gasparilla bowls will make their picks to round out the SEC's bowl partners.

The Projections for 2026-27

College Football Playoff

The 12-team CFB Playoff field features five automatic bids and seven at-large selections. The four champs from power conferences are guaranteed a spot. The highest-ranked Group of 6 team is also guaranteed a bid. Also, the selection committee's top four teams will receive a first-round bye.

SEC Teams Projected to Reach Playoff

Georgia (No. 2 seed)
Texas (No. 3 seed)
Oklahoma (No. 8 seed)
Texas A&M (No. 9 seed)
LSU (No. 10 seed)

Numbers indicate projected College Football Playoff seed