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Fox Sports college football reporter Stewart Mandel released his post-spring Top 25 rankings for the 2016 season on Monday morning, and he’s going all in with the SEC.
Not only do a total of seven SEC programs make the cut, but four appear in the top 10 alone — including reigning national champion Alabama claiming the No. 1 overall spot.
“Nick Saban’s Tide had six players drafted in the first two rounds and still appear loaded, particularly on defense,” writes Mandel. “Linemen Jonathan Allen, Dalvin Tomlinson, Daron Payne and Da’Shawn Hand and OLB Tim Williams lead another dominant front seven. Running backs Bo Scarborough and Damien Harris were both productive throughout spring. And at this point, does it really matter who wins the quarterback job?”
Followed by Alabama is LSU at No. 4, Tennessee at No. 8, and Ole Miss at No. 10. Georgia (No. 17), Florida (No. 23) and Texas A&M (No. 25) round out the list for the SEC.
Here are the complete rankings:
1. Alabama
2. Florida State
3. Clemson
4. LSU
5. Michigan
6. TCU
7. Oklahoma
8. Tennessee
9. Ohio State
10. Ole Miss
11. Stanford
12. Baylor
13. Notre Dame
14. Houston
15. Michigan State
16. Washington
17. Georgia
18. North Carolina
19. Washington State
20. Louisville
21. USC
22. Oregon
23. Florida
24. Iowa
25. Texas A&M
Tyler Waddell is a member of the Saturday Down South news team. He brings over five years of professional journalism experience and is closing in on a Bachelor's in sports management. Follow him on Twitter (@Tyler_Waddell).
