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100 days until SEC football Saturdays, here are 100 things I can’t wait to see in 2025 (75-51)
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Congratulations, reader of this column. You’re officially double-digit days away from the first real SEC football Saturday of 2025. That’s wonderful.
You’ve still got a ways to go until you’re yelling at your TV or declaring that your quarterback needs to be in the Heisman Trophy conversation, but don’t worry. I’ve got you covered.
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:
75. Suntarine Perkins putting the Ole Miss defense on his back
Perkins might be the Will Smith meme after Ole Miss had 5 defensive players selected in the NFL Draft, but don’t get it twisted. He’s plenty capable of leading Pete Golding’s unit and perhaps owning the SEC’s sack title by season’s end.
74. Can Mike Matthews become Tennessee’s WR1?
The former 5-star recruit has sky-high expectations, even after a quiet Year 1 in Knoxville. Well, the transfer portal rumors at the end of the season weren’t quiet. With such a new-look offense, Matthews has a prime opportunity to step into a leading role and become Tennessee‘s best receiver after consecutive disappointing seasons for Vol wideouts.
73. The Mike Shula experiment at South Carolina
Yeah, that Mike Shula. He took over Dowell Loggains’ post as South Carolina OC after serving as an offensive analyst. Whether that eases the transition for LaNorris Sellers or sets him back remains to be seen. In case you were wondering, yes, Shula will get to face Alabama on Oct. 25.
72. Keldric Faulk and the first-round buzz
Through 2 years at Auburn, Faulk has blossomed into the star of that defense. The 6-6 edge-rusher is all over the way-too-early mock drafts and appears to be a strong candidate to become Auburn’s first Round 1 selection since Derrick Brown and Noah Igbinoghene in 2020.
71. Diego Pavia travels to Alabama
Here’s my question; how many times will Pavia watch the 2012 Johnny Manziel-Alabama game leading up to the Vanderbilt-Alabama matchup on Oct. 4? Fifty? A thousand? Has he already started doing that? Hey, it worked the first time.
70. A 2024 Kentucky-Ole Miss or 2019 South Carolina-Georgia type upset that leaves us all (still) scratching our heads
As someone who is tasked with making sense of these things immediately after they happen on The Saturday Down South Podcast (shameless plug), I live for these games. They’re not just upsets. They’re the types of games in which a visiting team that many assumed wouldn’t even get off the bus silences a Playoff-hopeful crowd. We need one of those annually.
69. A more competitive Red River Rivalry … please?
Last year was competitive for most of the first half, so I’ll give it that. But Texas routing Oklahoma wasn’t exactly the selling point in Year 1 in the SEC that I hoped for. A repeat of the 2023 game — it can end either way as far as I’m concerned — would be the best way to show SEC fans that it’s one of the Tier 1 rivalry games in the sport.
68. Tennessee trying to win at Florida for the first time in 22 years
People forget that Tennessee hasn’t won at Florida since I was in middle school. Also of note, I’m 35 years old. How long ago was that? “Shake ya Tailfeather” was the No. 1 song in the world. Two decades later, um, we refer to Diddy with slightly different context. But yeah, this game delivered last year in Knoxville, and if Billy Napier had gone for 2 instead of kicking the extra point, perhaps Florida would be riding a 2-year winning streak into 2025.
67. CJ Allen becoming a household name
I haven’t sold any of my Allen stock. I’m bullish on the Georgia linebacker becoming a slightly lesser version of 2017 Roquan Smith or a 2021 Nakobe Dean. Maybe that’s a bit too bullish, but in Year 2 as a starter, don’t be surprised if Allen’s game skyrockets for an improved Georgia defense.
66. Florida-LSU
I wouldn’t have included this game if LSU had beaten Florida for the 6th consecutive year, but finally, the Gators ended the skid. Can they win in Death Valley for the first time since 2016? Either way, this is an elite quarterback matchup that has loads of potential for offensive fireworks.
65. Every SEC nonconference loss being spun as the death of the SEC
Shoutout, Danny Kanell. You know those narratives are coming. I’ve got some good news for the anti-SEC crowd — there are plenty of early-season opportunities for SEC losses with a nonconference slate this good:
- Texas at Ohio State
- LSU at Clemson
- Alabama at Florida State
- Texas A&M at Notre Dame
- Florida at Miami (FL)
- Michigan vs. Oklahoma
- South Carolina vs. Virginia Tech (in Atlanta)
The SEC will likely not go unbeaten in those 7 games, only 1 of which is at home. But hey, even a 5-2 mark will be considered a sign that the SEC is no longer the standard in college football.
64. The Palmetto Bowl
After last year’s thriller in Death Valley (the other one), who doesn’t want a rematch? Well, Clemson’s 2024 defense might not after LaNorris Sellers broke approximately 76 tackles in the 4th quarter. Both teams have elite starting quarterbacks set to return for Playoff-hopeful squads. It’s likely going to be the first time in the Playoff era that both squads start off as top-15 teams. Here’s hoping that yields another late-season clash with mammoth stakes.
63. The Nate Frazier-Josh McCray tag team duo
I love that Kirby Smart went out and added a proven physical back like McCray in the post-spring window. That should be a nice complement for Frazier, who flashed major promise as a true freshman last year. If Year 1 of the Playoff taught us anything, it’s that you need a true 1-2 punch in the backfield. All 4 semifinal teams had that for the majority of the season. Frazier-McCray might not be shades of Nick Chubb-Sony Michel, but it can still be darn good for a championship-hopeful Georgia team.
62. LSU-Alabama
Is this too low? I think I put it too low. To be fair, last year’s game was a blowout Alabama win in Death Valley. Also to be fair, LSU historically has fared better in Tuscaloosa than at home vs. Alabama, so perhaps that’ll be the case this year and Brian Kelly will get one of his biggest wins to date. Alternatively, Kalen DeBoer will do something that he’s done in all 3 years as a Power Conference head coach — go undefeated at home.
61. A 2023 role for Dillon Bell
Bell was one of Georgia’s key weapons in 2023, especially when Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey were banged up. It was natural to assume that with those guys off to the NFL, Bell would again play a pivotal role. Instead, he was partially responsible for Georgia lacking offensive creativity and leading the nation in drops. In 2025, the expectation is that we’ll see Bell moved around the formation more like he was in 2023 when he had 29 catches and 25 carries. He’s still got potential to be a unique hybrid star for the Dawgs.
60. Year 2 Colin Simmons
I thought about putting Simmons and Dylan Stewart together, but that felt disrespectful. Simmons looked more like a 6-star recruit as a true freshman on that loaded Texas defense. He led the Longhorns with 9 sacks, and he added 14 tackles for loss. Fortunately for Simmons, he’s got a ton of familiar faces around him in that Texas front 7, which is a different story for Stewart at South Carolina (we’ll get to him later in this countdown).
59. An unleashed Zachariah Branch?
I put a question mark there because I don’t know that Mike Bobo will find the answer that Lincoln Riley couldn’t come up with. But Branch was getting all the way-too-early All-America love at this time last year because he was a revelation as a true freshman at USC in 2023. At Georgia, he’ll be tasked with making something out of nothing and giving UGA something it lacked far too often last year — a skill-player that actually scared an opposing defense.
58. Year 1 of the Austin Simmons era
I’m intrigued by Simmons after he delivered the biggest drive of Ole Miss’s 2024 season in relief of Jaxson Dart vs. Georgia. Simmons has some Tua Tagovailoa-like qualities to his game, and fittingly, it’s Lane Kiffin who’ll be tasked with unlocking that (Kiffin played a significant role in recruiting Tagovailoa to Alabama). Simmons moved up 2 classes to enroll early at Ole Miss, so he’s still going to be 19 years old as he enters Year 3 on campus. But with the former 2-sport star fully locked into all things football this offseason, he could be set to take the conference by storm.
57. Texas A&M-Texas in Austin
Unlike the first year of the Red River Rivalry in the SEC, the return of this matchup delivered everything that college football fans could’ve hoped for. The only reason that it isn’t even higher on this list is because I wonder if A&M will still have a path to the SEC Championship like it had against Texas last year. Either way, these teams could be 0-11 and it would still be an elite college football atmosphere. This will be the star of Black Friday.
56. A vintage Alabama defense?
It depends on what you consider to be “vintage.” Most people didn’t realize that Alabama had its best scoring defense since 2017 last year. That 2017 group, which finished No. 1 in the country, qualified as “vintage.” There are questions about whether Kane Wommack’s unit — one that’s loaded with guys like LT Overton, Deontae Lawson, Domani Jackson, etc. — can take another step and be a top-5 unit in the sport. If the Tide can do that, it won’t experience consecutive Playoff misses for the first time.
55. Ryan Wingo becoming Arch Manning’s go-to target
There’s a feeling that Wingo is going to become the next great Texas wide receiver, and it’ll happen in 2025. His rapport with Arch Manning was evident during his early-season reps for an injured Quinn Ewers. Both of his touchdown catches came from Manning, one of which was a 75-yard score. The former 5-star recruit can now step into the lead role with Matthew Golden and Isaiah Bond off to the NFL.
54. The inevitable surprise Playoff contender
Last year, it was South Carolina and A&M. Yes, A&M was a surprise contender as the last SEC unbeaten in conference play who also had a de facto SEC semifinal matchup vs. Texas. This year, will a team like Auburn or Oklahoma rise up and have Playoff life in November? In this era of the sport, it feels like the SEC will always spit out at least 1 team who fits that description.
53. A Year 4 Brent Venables defense
Oklahoma’s 2024 defense was one of the most underrated units in the sport because the offense was historically horrific. That unit deserved better in the final year of the Danny Stutsman/Billy Bowman era. Even with those guys gone, Venables’ unit is loaded with proven guys at every level. R Mason Thomas, Eli and Peyton Bowen, as well as Florida State transfer Marvin Jones Jr., should pick up right where that group left off. As long as the OU offense can turn a new page, OU could have one of the top-10 units in America.
52. Texas-Georgia, Part III
You know there’s a ton to look forward to when the rematch of the conference title game doesn’t even crack the top 50. I suppose the conference championship was the rematch, but you get what I’m saying. A pair of preseason top-10 teams will have tons on the line when they face off in mid-November. How many combined losses will both teams have by that time? I’ll set the over/under at 2.5. Steve Sarkisian handing UGA its first loss in Sanford Stadium in the 2020s — no other FBS team can claim such a feat — would potentially be even more impressive than the 2023 win at Alabama. Alternatively, Smart improving to 3-0 vs. Texas during the Sarkisian era would be a reminder that he’s still the gold standard among college football coaches. Either way, lock in College GameDay for that one.
51. The return of Harold Perkins Jr. and Whit Weeks
Both LSU linebackers suffered season-ending injuries, albeit at much different points of the season. Weeks became the alpha of Blake Baker’s defense after Perkins tore his ACL against UCLA in September. He had 125 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 2 forced fumbles in his breakout season. How will they co-exist with Perkins at the STAR position? That remains to be seen. Ideally for LSU, both players will be at full capacity when fall camp opens up. If not, LSU’s dubious 5-year losing streak in season-opening games could continue at Clemson. Or, perhaps, LSU will have the top linebacker duo in America.
We’ll continue with 50-26 on Saturday.
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.
