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100 days until SEC football Saturdays, here are 100 things I can’t wait to see in 2025 (50-26)
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That headline is slightly misleading in both directions. There are no longer 100 days until SEC football Saturdays. That’s good news. That day was Thursday. That’s when this countdown began.
The bad news is that despite how that headline finished (with “50-26”), we are not a mere 50 or 26 days away from the start of college football. It’s a bummer, I know. But fortunately, you’ve come to the right place to pass the time.
Each day this weekend, I’ll rank 25 of the SEC football things that I’m most excited to see in 2025. Here’s what that’ll look like:
- Thursday: 100-76
- Friday: 75-51
- Saturday: 50-26
- Sunday: 25-1
I promise that my list is different than yours. In other words, prepare to disagree with my levels of excitement.
Let’s continue the countdown:
50. Dylan Stewart ripping through triple teams
I say that because with 5 South Carolina defensive players selected in the 2025 NFL Draft, Stewart will be seeing no shortage of those in 2025. Then again, he seemed to handle that just fine as a true freshman game-wrecker in 2024.
49. The most underrated Week 1 game: Auburn at Baylor
It’s a sneaky-good matchup that we’ll get on that Friday night of Week 1. Hugh Freeze has plenty of pressure to take a significant step forward in Year 3, and he’ll face a Baylor team that found some much-needed offensive life with former Mississippi State quarterback Sawyer Robertson. Given how much Freeze has struggled against quality opponents — he has 1 win vs. a power conference team that finished with a winning record — he could use a nice start to 2025.
48. Not a single faked injury
The NCAA approved new rules to prevent faking injuries, which will mean that any medical personnel that takes the field after the ball is spotted will result in a loss of timeout. If a team doesn’t have a timeout, it’ll be a 5-yard delay of game penalty. It took 4 years for any sort of change to come about, but hey, I’m sure you’ll never have to watch Ole Miss fake another injury with such a severe punishment.
47. Eric Singleton Jr. becoming the 2025 version of KeAndre Lambert-Smith
I’m here for that. I don’t think Singleton will be used exactly like Lambert-Smith was, but I do think there’s reason to believe he can be the steadying veteran force behind a potent passing attack. Singleton was one of the most decorated transfers in the entire cycle after 2 years of being a go-to guy for Haynes King at Georgia Tech. If he can become a go-to option for Jackson Arnold in the way that Lambert-Smith was for Payton Thorne, Auburn will have a chance of crawling out of the SEC basement.
46. The Mizzou at UMass “why are they traveling for this?” nonconference game of 2025
Ah, who could ever forget Mizzou playing at UMass last year? I’ve become a sicko for SEC teams playing road nonconference games that seem like 2-for-1 deals that should’ve never happened. This year, that’s Oklahoma at Temple. To be fair, it won’t be played in a venue like UMass. Temple at least plays in Lincoln Financial Field, AKA the home of the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. Still, though. Temple hosting Oklahoma just doesn’t make any sense. If you can believe it, this deal was cut back in 2016 when Bob Stoops was still the coach. So yeah, you’d better believe that this game cracked the top 50.
45. Gus Malzahn vs. Alabama, just like old times
One of my favorite Jon Pardi songs is called “Old Times,” and it has a chorus that goes like this:
Just like old times
Spendin’ the night wrapped up tight
Dancin’ ’round the room
Lost in each other like old times
Let’s see where it goes
And who knows, we might start something new
The Week 1 Alabama-Florida State showdown will be just like old times for Malzahn, who faced the Tide 8 times with a respectable 3-5 record at Auburn. Who knows? Maybe when Malzahn leads Florida State’s offense, he’ll start something new for the Seminoles after they were a disaster in 2024.
44. Throwing away 8 months of offseason thoughts after 1 game
It happens every year. And to be fair, it can go either way. I remembered thinking that 2023 South Carolina was about to finish second in the East, only to watch that offensive line collapse in the season opener against UNC. I also remembered thinking that 2021 Georgia had some major personnel questions, only to watch that defense dominate Clemson en route to a national championship season. Sometimes, 60 minutes is more impactful than 8 months of takes.
43. More of the late-season version of Florida’s defense
The most disappointing unit of the 2020s finally figured things out in the final 4 games of 2024. They allowed just 13 points per game and 4.3 yards/play during that 4-game winning streak. Now, that unit returns veteran defensive linemen Tyreak Sapp and Caleb Banks, which is why Florida ranks 25th in FBS in percentage of returning defensive production. It could be a true strength in a daunting front half of the schedule.
42. A rematch of the most controversial game of 2024: South Carolina at LSU
We were still debating the called-off South Carolina touchdowns into December whenever the Gamecocks’ Playoff credentials were discussed. That game, which saw South Carolina host College GameDay, proved to be one of the best of 2024. In 2025, it could be a matchup of preseason top-15 teams that are led by potential All-SEC quarterbacks with Garrett Nussmeier and LaNorris Sellers. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t get more fireworks in 2025.
41. The Third Saturday in October
I’m not going to pretend that I’m expecting Tennessee to be a 10-win team, but given the timing of when these teams play, we could again have a Playoff elimination game of sorts. The Vols haven’t won in Tuscaloosa since the George W. Bush administration, but this could still be an elite matchup with Tennessee’s defense against the Tide offense. If he can get it, this would be the most impressive road win of the Josh Heupel era, especially when you remember that Kalen DeBoer hasn’t lost a home game since he was at Fresno State in 2021.
40. Gunner Stockton as Stetson Bennett V?
Yeah, I said “Stetson Bennett V” and not “Stetson Bennett IV.” The fifth version of Bennett would mean being 1 thing above all else — clutch. That’s going to be the task for Stockton, who likely won’t make all the next-level throws that a vintage Carson Beck could, nor will he quite have the mobility of some of the conference’s more mobile quarterbacks. Toughness and poise will be everything for Stockton, who got new weapons in Zachariah Branch (USC) and Noah Thomas (Texas A&M). A gritty Georgia offense has been the best Georgia offense to watch under Kirby Smart.
39. The SEC Hot Seat Index
Yeah, I capitalized all of that because it’s something I created for this year and discussed in-depth on The Saturday Down South Podcast. It feels like an appropriate thing to do on the heels of an offseason in which the SEC didn’t have a single coach get fired. Water will likely find its level in 2025, and just as we saw the last time this played out after 2018, it means that a healthy amount of turnover is coming. So who will that be? Will Hugh Freeze, Brent Venables, Mark Stoops, Sam Pittman or Billy Napier get fired? Will someone else? Those discussions aren’t going anywhere.
38. The Egg Bowl
It should be played on Thanksgiving. There. I said it. It’s a shame that the game will be on Black Friday and not in the standalone spot that it deserves, but it figures to still be worth the price of admission. And by “worth the price of admission,” I mean that it’ll be the best type of in-state battle for a college football fan that’s nursing a turkey hangover from the comfort of your couch.
37. The Year 2 RB takeover
“Return of the (Year 2) back.” That’s what I’m calling it. As much as I wonder where all the returning household name running backs have gone in the SEC, I do find myself plenty intrigued with all of these Year 2 SEC running backs:
- Caden Durham, LSU
- Jadan Baugh, Florida
- Nate Frazier, Georgia
- Jerrick Gibson, Texas
- Braylen Russell, Arkansas
Gibson might be the only guy in that group who could be a bit buried on the depth chart, yet at this time last year, Tre Wisner was 3rd on Texas’s running back depth chart. Now, he’s the SEC’s lone returning 1,000-yard rusher. In other words, all 5 of those guys have All-SEC upside in 2025.
36. The long-awaited start of the Ty Simpson era
Most 5-star quarterbacks don’t spend 3 years on the bench anymore. Or if they do, they find a new home for Year 4 like Brock Vandagriff did last year. For Simpson, it’s now or never. He’s in an ideal situation with Ryan Grubb back with DeBoer (more on that in a bit). It also helps that he’s got the best returning receiver in the SEC in Ryan Williams (also more on him but much later in this countdown). If Simpson can fend off Austin Mack and Keelon Russell and hold down the QB1 role, we’ll finally get to see someone that’s mostly been limited to practice and garbage time reps.
35. The Year 2 Collin Klein offense
The raw numbers for the Year 1 Klein offense were somewhat encouraging. Texas A&M scored more points per conference game than any SEC team despite the back-and-forth quarterback situation between Conner Weigman and Marcel Reed. The latter is back to lead what should be one of the conference’s better offenses. Le’Veon Moss’s road to recovery from his midseason torn ACL will be a popular topic of discussion, but there’s a lot to like with a 3-headed rushing attack of Reed, Rueben Owens and Amari Daniels. Reed has to progress as a downfield passer and find consistent weapons, but that might be the only thing that holds A&M back from having late-season Playoff buzz again.
34. Vengeful Tennessee fans in a post-Nico Iamaleava world
Maybe this should crack the top 10. Lord knows a vengeful Vol fan is the best kind of Vol fan. I’m here for all the scoreboard watching of UCLA games. They should have a reserved spot on that massive scoreboard that’s devoted entirely to Nico Iamaleava’s UCLA squad. We need something like that instead of just side-by-side graphics of Iamaleava and whoever Tennessee’s QB1 is in 2025.
33. Kalen DeBoer’s first Iron Bowl on The Plains
He said that after he got the job, he heard about the Iron Bowl every day leading up to his first experience in the game. Fortunately for DeBoer, he won his first Iron Bowl, which meant he probably didn’t have to hear about it every day in his second offseason in Tuscaloosa. Either way, go ask Nick Saban about the house of horrors that Jordan-Hare Stadium can be.
32. Full-time football Nyck Harbor
Harbor, AKA the 2-time winner of Bruce Feldman’s No. 1 “freak” in college football, decided to not use his freakish world-class speed in track and field this spring so that he could devote all of his time to becoming a better receiver. Smart move. South Carolina is depending on him taking that next step alongside the decorated Sellers, who had arguably the worst receiver room in the SEC in 2024. If Harbor starts to put it all together as a route-runner, he can become a human highlight reel for the Gamecocks.
31. Hugh Freeze in the 4th quarter
It’s must-see TV. Freeze’s 4th-quarter collapses last year became appointment viewing. Whether that was ignoring Jarquez Hunter and putting his faith in Payton Thorne or kicking a field goal that his kicker had no chance of making, Freeze’s meltdowns proved costly in a 5-7 season. There should be a “breaking news” alert sent to all of our phones if Freeze is involved in a game that’s within 10 points in the 4th quarter.
30. The LSU-Clemson opener
My proposal is that the winner of this game gets to keep the title of “Death Valley” and the loser can no longer claim that. Maybe that’s a bit unfair with LSU being the road team. We’ll likely hear plenty of references to LSU not winning a season-opening game in the 2020s, and we’ll likely hear few references to Clemson’s 0-3 record vs. SEC competition last season.
29. Alabama-Georgia
There won’t be 5 more anticipated regular-season games in 2025 than this one. Last year’s game somehow went from a dud in the first half to one of the wildest finishes of the entire season. As a result, the Alabama boogeyman still hangs over Kirby Smart and his 1-6 record against the Tide. The best coach in the sport is also the owner of the nation’s longest home winning streak, which dates back to 2019. Fire up the old “something’s gotta give” clichés early and often for this one. Also, there’s a 99.999999% chance that College GameDay has already made this the spot for Week 5. Georgia’s first time hosting Alabama since 2015 will be electric.
28. John Mateer and the new-look Oklahoma offense
Credit Brent Venables for taking an unconventional approach to rebuilding his offense. Venables opted for the same approach that Clark Lea took by poaching the best pieces of New Mexico State’s offense and bringing it to Vandy. That’s basically what Venables did with Washington State by adding offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle and Mateer. They’ll be a defining decision of Venables’ time in Norman. Fortunately for that duo, Oklahoma should have more stability on the offensive line, and as long as the top 5 receivers aren’t out by the end of September, the Sooners will have better injury luck than they had in 2024. Here’s hoping that yields a unit that doesn’t set offensive football back decades like we saw last year.
27. The Ryan Grubb-Kalen DeBoer reunion
I’m a believer that if Grubb had followed DeBoer to Alabama last year instead of taking the Seattle Seahawks job, Alabama would’ve been a Playoff team at 10-2. Instead, DeBoer struggled to find the offensive answers without his right-hand man. Now that they’re reunited, it’s a no-excuses unit despite the fact that it’s a quarterback room that doesn’t have a guy with an FBS start. It’s still going to have Grubb calling plays, which was all the difference for DeBoer at Washington and Fresno State. Something tells me that it’ll be all the difference for an Alabama offense that had too many games in which it looked lost without Grubb in 2024.
26. The Texas defense, AKA the No. 1 returning unit in America
There’s so much attention around Arch Manning, and understandably so. But the reason why Texas deserves to start as the No. 1 team in the sport is because of Pete Kwiatkowski’s defense. It’s not just that it has a preseason All-American at every level (Colin Simmons, Anthony Hill Jr., Michael Taaffe). Texas has a loaded front 7 with guys like Trey Moore and Ethan Burke both back, and there’s an expectation that Malik Muhammad (mentioned earlier on this list) will become the next great Texas corner in a post-Jahdae Barron world. Last year’s No. 3 scoring defense returns a ton of proven talent, and that’s on top of the 3 consecutive top-5 classes that Steve Sarkisian signed. Add it all up and it’ll be clear early on — Manning won’t have to do a ton of heavy lifting to get Texas to the Playoff.
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.
