7 SEC teams to play 5 or more teams ranked in preseason Coaches Poll
By Andrew Olson
Published:
SEC scheduling has been a hot topic as of late in the college football world, and things are not quieting down with Tuesday’s release of the preseason Coaches Poll.
Nine SEC teams are ranked in the Coaches’ preseason top 25. And now that SEC teams are about to play 9 conference games – up from 8 in previous years – that means many squads are looking at facing numerous ranked programs.
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SEC communications director Chuck Dunlap shared an interesting note following the release of the preseason Coaches Poll: 7 SEC teams are looking at playing 5 or more games against top-25 teams.
Florida is facing the highest number of ranked opponents, with 7 UF foes in the preseason top 25. Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Auburn are next with 6 each. Arkansas and Mississippi State have 5 ranked opponents on their schedule.
Teams in all of FBS who play the most Top-25 teams in 2026. There is a common theme: pic.twitter.com/Hnw8pdcQZq
— Chuck Dunlap 🏈 (@SEC_Chuck) August 4, 2026
The Coaches Poll remains part of the college football conversation, but the AP Top 25 is treated as the ranking of record up until the College Football Playoff selection committee releases its rankings. It will certainly to be interesting to see how many of the Coaches’ preseason top 25 remain ranked, and if the AP poll also includes 9 SEC squads.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaign of Fred Taylor.
