Greg McElroy Makes SEC Championship Prediction For 2024 Season

With just over a week away from the start of the 2024 college football season, ESPN's Greg McElroy revealed his SEC Championship predictions on the latest episode of "Always College Football."

McElroy began by noting how accurate his postseason predictions have been recently. He picked each conference champion outright in 2023 and also predicted the national championship winner.

The SEC is expected to be the most-competitive league in the national discussion this season with three teams within the top five of the preseason AP Poll. Georgia leads the way at No. 1, followed by Texas at No. 4 and reigning conference champion Alabama at No. 5.

Other contenders like No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 11 Missouri make for one of the deepest conference lineups in recent memory.

An automatic bid to the College Football Playoff is at stake for the SEC winner.

McElroy believes Kirby Smart's Bulldogs will make it back to Atlanta, despite drawing road games against Alabama, Texas and Ole Miss.

"I look at Georgia, man, and with all the the question marks about their defense, they still have the best personnel," McElroy said. "They still have arguably the deepest roster and they still might have the best quarterback in Carson Beck..."

McElroy expects UGA to finish with one or two losses at most.

On the other side, McElroy likes Steve Sarkisian's Longhorns to make the conference title game in their first season in the SEC following the move from the Big 12.

"I think there's going to be a period of transition, but ultimately they're probably a 10-2 football team (and) probably a 6-2 team in conference…," McElroy said.

If the former Alabama quarterback's prediction holds true, that would give us a Georgia-Texas rematch for the conference crown. The pair will first square off in Austin on Oct. 19.

McElroy ultimately expects the Bulldogs to take down the Longhorns for their second SEC Championship in the last three seasons.

"(There are) sill some things to figure out defensively, but Georgia has the fewest question marks," he said. "And in a league that's this deep and this talented, they can go toe-to-toe with anybody even in the event in which they have some losses because of injury."

UGA will open the season in Atlanta against No. 14 Clemson noon ET (ABC), while Texas will welcome Colorado State to Austin at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. Both matchups will take place on Aug. 31.

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