ESPN has unveiled its first power ranking of the 2024 season. Surprise, surprise, but Georgia took the top spot.

The top 5 from ESPN mirrored the preseason AP poll that dropped last week. Georgia was joined by Ohio State, Oregon, Texas, and Alabama. Teams ranked 6-10 by the Worldwide Leader were also all the same as they were in the AP poll, with the only change being Notre Dame at No. 6 and Ole Miss at No. 7. (AP voters had the 2 reversed.)

Here’s how the panel of ESPN writers ranked the full top 25:

  1. Georgia
  2. Ohio State
  3. Oregon
  4. Texas
  5. Alabama
  6. Notre Dame
  7. Ole Miss
  8. Penn State
  9. Michigan
  10. Florida State
  11. Missouri
  12. Utah
  13. LSU
  14. Tennessee
  15. Clemson
  16. Kansas State
  17. Oklahoma
  18. Oklahoma State
  19. Miami
  20. NC State
  21. Arizona
  22. Texas A&M
  23. USC
  24. Kansas
  25. Iowa

All 25 teams represented in the AP poll showed up in ESPN’s top 25. NC State was 4 spots higher in ESPN’s ranking, Kansas State was 2 spots higher, Texas A&M was 2 spots lower.

On the Aggies — who are getting a ton of love this preseason despite a 7-6 record last fall — ESPN’s Eli Lederman wrote the following:

Texas A&M has gone 20-17 since its 9-1 finish under Jimbo Fisher in 2020. What’s a reasonable expectation this fall under new leadership with Mike Elko settling into life in College Station? … Between visits from Notre Dame, Missouri, LSU and Texas, the Aggies get all of their toughest games at home, a favorable draw in a foundation-building season for Elko & Co. — Lederman

The Aggies are one of the more interesting teams in the new-look SEC. They recruited alongside the conference’s elites during Jimbo Fisher’s tenure but perennially underperformed on the field. Insert coach Mike Elko, who routinely did more with less at Duke, and the hope is A&M can enjoy more of a reset than a rebuild.

DraftKings has the Aggies’ win total at 8.5 this season, with plenty of action on the over (-120). They have the sixth-shortest odds of any SEC team to make the league’s title game (+450) — ahead of schools like Tennessee and Missouri.

A&M is 1 of 9 teams from the SEC to appear in ESPN’s preseason power rankings. The Big Ten was represented by 6 teams while the Big 12 had 5 and the ACC had 4.