Phil Steele, widely recognized as one of college football’s leading experts, has released his preseason Top 25 for 2020 via his annual season preview magazine.

Steele ranks 8 SEC teams in his preseason poll. Alabama leads the way, checking in at No. 3 behind Ohio State (No. 1) and Clemson (No. 2). Some SEC fans will likely be surprised by the two teams that follow the Crimson Tide. Texas A&M is No. 5 coming off an 8-5 season in 2019. Defending national champion LSU, which replaces 14 starters and 2 key assistant coaches, is next at No. 6 overall. The full Top 25, which  also includes Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee, can be viewed below:

  1. Ohio State
  2. Clemson
  3. Alabama
  4. Oklahoma
  5. Texas A&M
  6. LSU
  7. Georgia
  8. Notre Dame
  9. Oregon
  10. Penn State
  11. USC
  12. Texas
  13. Florida
  14. Wisconsin
  15. Michigan
  16. North Carolina
  17. Miami
  18. Virginia Tech
  19. Auburn
  20. Tennessee
  21. Kentucky
  22. UCF
  23. Iowa
  24. Oklahoma State
  25. Memphis

Steele’s rankings differ from some of the other major preseason polls. Both Sporting News and CBS Sports ranked Georgia ahead of LSU and Texas A&M in their polls. ESPN’s Football Power Index, a simulation-based ranking as opposed to opinion-based publication polls, ranks the top SEC teams as such: No. 3 Alabama, No. 5 Georgia, No. 6 LSU, No. 9 Auburn, No. 12 Florida and No. 15 Texas A&M.

We’ll be getting even more rankings between now and the kickoff of the 2020 season, hopefully.

[H/T 247Sports]