CFP bubble watch: ESPN names 4 SEC teams who are on track to make the Playoffs
By Rolando Rosa
Published:
We’re just a few weeks into the college football season but it’s never too early to project the College Football Playoff.
After a wild start to 2025, ESPN has named 4 SEC teams who are on track to make the CFP: Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, and LSU. The Longhorns (63%), Bulldogs (62.4%) and Volunteers (53%) all have better than a 50% chance to make the CFP, according to ESPN’s model. LSU is down at just 26.5%, but cracks the top 4 on the strength of its résumé to-date.
ESPN also identified a group of teams in the “word to do” tier. In that category, there’s Ole Miss (59.8%), Alabama (48.6%), Auburn (33.3%), Missouri (26.7%), Texas A&M (20.6%), South Carolina (19.8%), Oklahoma (19.2%), and Mississippi State (1.7%).
The remaining in the “Would be out” category include Arkansas (17.7%), Vanderbilt (10.7%), Florida (5.1%), and Kentucky (1.3%).
Texas bounced back from a Week 1 loss at Ohio State with a home victory vs. San Jose State last Saturday. Georgia is off to a 2-0 start thanks to home victories vs. Marshall and Austin Peay. Tennessee has defeated Syracuse and ETSU at home. LSU knocked off Clemson on the road and followed that up with a home win against Louisiana Tech.
It’s a long season but so far so good for these 4 SEC programs that entered with big expectations. In Week 3, Texas hosts UTEP (4:15 p.m. ET/SEC Network), Georgia heads to Tennessee (3:30 p.m./ABC), and LSU takes on visiting Florida (7:30 p.m./ABC).
