Chris Low of On3 gave SEC football fans a fall treat at the beginning of summer. He looked into his crystal ball and on Monday night he broke down which SEC programs had the best chance to be playing in the College Football Playoff come December.
There were 3 tiers to Low’s breakdown. He chose 2 “Best Bets”, which not surprisingly were Texas and Georgia, with the 2-time defending SEC champion Bulldogs loaded once again and with Arch Manning leading the Longhorns this fall.
Then Low listed his “Serious Contenders” from the SEC, which also not shockingly included the likes of Alabama, along with LSU and Ole Miss. Low also had Oklahoma and Texas A&M in that category.
But there was 1 dark horse in Low’s breakdown, too, and it’ll likely leave the fans in Gainesville gasping for air as they anticipate the start of the Jon Sumrall era this fall. Yes, Low had Florida as his lone “dark horse” SEC team that has a shot to sneak into the Playoff.
Here is Low’s complete breakdown, from his best bets to those dark horse Gators:
Florida’s fanatical fan base would go crazy if the Gators actually punched a Playoff ticket in Year 1 of Sumrall’s tenure. But Low actually thinks it has a chance to happen in 2026, and the Gators are his only Playoff dark horse from the SEC, so Low gave Florida special treatment on Monday night when he released his early summer SEC Playoff lookahead.
While Florida tries to become relevant in the CFP picture in 2026, here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about the odds for the top teams it believes are in the mix to be Playoff-bound when Selection Sunday arrives in December:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
