With the unveiling of the USA Today’s preseason coaches’ poll, it sheds a new light into coaches’ minds heading into the season, assuming SIDs or graduate assistants didn’t fill out every coach’s top 25.

Nonetheless, preseason rankings don’t mean much…or do they? At this point, nobody knows what’s raging in the selection committee members’ minds. Preseason rankings are often criticized, but I wish there were more of them. It creates conversation and fuels optimism.

SDS ranked the SEC’s strength of schedule in June, and it was a mere forecast of top 25 teams. Now that we have the actual preseason poll live, we can put the projections behind us.

Auburn plays the most preseason top 25 teams with seven. Four of the seven are road games, which include Georgia and Alabama to close out a nasty November stretch. Navigating a brutal schedule will be the biggest obstacle for Auburn to overcome in order to repeat. The SEC hasn’t had a repeat champion since 1999 Tennessee. Perhaps the season’s most important game falls on a Thursday night against Kansas State.

Arkansas plays the second most with six preseason ranked opponents; four of the six are home games, with Texas A&M being a neutral site game. Auburn is the only true road game for the Hogs.

Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri and Vanderbilt all play the least amount of top 25 teams, and all four are in the SEC East.

Please note this isn’t a strength of schedule ranking; it’s a mere look at how many ranked opponents every team plays in 2014, according to the USA Today coaches’ poll:

Auburn (7)
Ranked opponents: at #21 Kansas State, #13 LSU, #9 South Carolina, at #19 Ole Miss, #20 Texas A&M, at #13 Georgia, at #2 Alabama

Arkansas (6)
Ranked opponents: at #5 Auburn, vs. #20 Texas A&M, #2 Alabama, #12 Georgia, #13 LSU, #19 Ole Miss

Florida (5)
Ranked opponents: at #2 Alabama, #13 LSU, vs. #12 Georgia, #9 South Carolina, at #1 Florida State

LSU (5)
Ranked opponents: vs. #14 Wisconsin, at #5 Auburn, #19 Ole Miss, #2 Alabama, at #20 Texas A&M

Mississippi State (5)
Ranked opponents: at #13 LSU, #20 Texas A&M, #5 Auburn, at #2 Alabama, at #19 Ole Miss

Tennessee (5)
Ranked opponents: at #3 Oklahoma, at #12 Georgia, at #19 Ole Miss, #2 Alabama, at #9 South Carolina

Texas A&M (5)
Ranked opponents: at #9 South Carolina, #19 Ole Miss, at #2 Alabama, at #5 Auburn, #13 LSU

Alabama (4)
Ranked opponents: at #19 Ole Miss, #20 Texas A&M, at #13 LSU, #5 Auburn

Ole Miss (4)
Ranked opponents: #2 Alabama, at #20 Texas A&M, at #13 LSU, #5 Auburn

South Carolina (4)
Ranked opponents: #20 Texas A&M, #12 Georgia, at #5 Auburn, at #16 Clemson

Georgia (3)
Ranked opponents: #16 Clemson, at #9 South Carolina, #5 Auburn

Kentucky (3)
Ranked opponents: #9 South Carolina, at #13 LSU, #12 Georgia

Missouri (3)
Ranked opponents: at #9 South Carolina, #12 Georgia, at #20 Texas A&M

Vanderbilt (3)
Ranked opponents: #19 Ole Miss, #9 South Carolina, at #12 Georgia