There’s at least one immutable fact heading into the 2015 season: Only one team can win the SEC West.

And there can be ties in terms of record, but at least one team has to finish last as well.

That’s very difficult to predict, as Athlon Sports has ranked every SEC West team in its spring practice edition of the Top 25. Even Mississippi State, which is losing virtually everyone but QB Dak Prescott and WR De’Runnya Wilson, slides into the ranking at No. 24.

Meanwhile, Alabama (No. 3) and Auburn (No. 5) are the two teams Athlon feels is most likely to make the College Football Playoff out of the SEC, with Georgia (No. 9) and Missouri (No. 20) representing the only two ranked SEC East teams.

Curiously, Tennessee was left out of the rankings. It’s hard to imagine the Vols not finishing the season higher than the last SEC West team with the talent that program returns, but that’s why we play the games, right?

Florida is another team that, if everything breaks right in Jim McElwain’s first season, could sneak into the bottom of the Top 25 at some point, but the Gators aren’t a glaring omission as of spring practice the way UT probably is.

Personally, even with Prescott back, I’m not sure Mississippi State remains a Top 25 team in ’15, and either Arkansas (No. 21) or Texas A&M (No. 22) likely will level off — if nothing else, just because every single SEC West team can’t win eight or more games.

What do you think about Athlon’s rankings?

1. Ohio State
2. TCU
3. Alabama
4. Baylor
5. Auburn
6. Michigan State
7. USC
8. Oregon
9. Georgia
10. Florida State
11. Clemson
12. Notre Dame
13. LSU
14. Ole Miss
15. Georgia Tech
16. Arizona State
17. UCLA
18. Arizona
19. Wisconsin
20. Missouri
21. Arkansas
22. Texas A&M
23. Oklahoma
24. Mississippi State
25. Oklahoma State