The Southeastern Conference has been one of the top college football conferences for a few decades now, but in recent years, it has taken a back seat to the Big Ten, which has been on a run of postseason dominance that includes three straight national championships.
Entering the 2026 campaign, CBS Sports writer Cody Nagel put together his power rankings for every FBS conference — both Power Four and Group of Six — and the SEC checks in at No. 2 behind the Big Ten. However, the league still remains among the most formidable in the country, with a robust roster of member schools that is stacked nearly from top to bottom.
"The SEC may have lost its spot on the throne, but it's still a clear No. 2 in these conference rankings. As previously noted,
the SEC has an average ranking of 23.5 in our CBS Sports 138, with four teams in the top 10 and seven in the top 15. That's an absurd level of depth," Nagel begins.
"The SEC also remains college football's top producer of NFL talent, leading all conferences in draft picks for the 20th consecutive year. It set a new record in 2026 with 87 players selected. And while the Big Ten has owned the postseason, the SEC has dominated the regular season outside the league, going 95-36 (.725) against nonconference FBS opponents over the past two seasons."
However, the conference has struggled to translate its regular-season success into the postseason over the last two years.
"But here's the problem: The SEC has the second-worst postseason record of any FBS conference over that span. If only all the other accolades mentioned translated into a national championship. The SEC enters 2026 facing its longest title drought since the turn of the century."
The SEC heads into fall with nine schools in the preseason Coaches Poll and 12 among the top 25 of ESPN's Football Power Index. There is as good a chance as any that the conference snaps its title schneid this season, but the Big Ten still has plenty of bullies to beat en route to the promised land.
SEC records (2024-25)
- Non-Conference: 95-36 (.725)
- Postseason: 10-15 (.400)
- vs. ACC: 17-11 (.607)
- vs. Big 12: 8-3 (.727)
- vs. Big Ten: 7-10 (.412)
- vs. Group of Six: 55-5 (.917)
2026 preseason college football conference power rankings
Power Four
- Big Ten
- SEC
- Big 12
- ACC
Group of Six
- Pac-12
- American
- Mountail West
- Sun Belt
- MAC
- Conference USA
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: How the SEC ranks vs the rest of college football's FBS conferences
