Greg McElroy Projects SEC Tiers for the 2024 College Football Season

The college football season is only a couple months away as we approach July. ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy is looking ahead to the upcoming season.

McElroy was asked to share where SEC football teams stand heading into the year. He provided his tiers for the season.

The former Alabama quarterback and national title winner is looking at coaching, talent and experience in predicting which teams are set up to have the most success.

McElroy began by looking at the three teams in which he has the most confidence. He shared his thoughts on the " On Texas Football " channel.

Tier One: Georgia , Texas , Alabama

McElroy: "The Top 3 are pretty obvious for me in the SEC. Whatever order you wanna go in, it's Georgia, Texas, Alabama. Whatever order you wanna go in. Those three have kind of, I think, accelerated to the top based on personnel, coaching, all those other things."

Ole Miss might belong in the tier as well after retaining key players and building a force on the defensive side in the portal, but the above three all likely belong in the top tier.

Tier Two: Tennessee , Ole Miss , Missouri , LSU , Oklahoma

McElroy: "I look at the next tier as the playoff contender tier. I think playoffs are expected in the top three. I think the next tier is the playoff contenders. So I look at Tennessee, Ole Miss, Missouri, LSU ... I'd include Oklahoma in that group, even though they're new, so it's still a little bit of a thought process."

Outside of Ole Miss perhaps being underrated, the rest of the teams belong in the second tier. McElroy classifies these teams as programs who could beat just about anybody in a given game, which could bear itself out in upsets this season.

Tier Three: Texas A&M , Auburn , Kentucky , Florida

McElroy: "Texas A&M at the top, super dangerous, could very easily join the second tier if the opportunity presents itself. Auburn I think is really, really dangerous. Kentucky is very, very dangerous. And then I would go as far as to include a team like Florida."

McElroy aptly characterizes this group as the dangerous group while noting that Texas A&M could climb up a tier. The Aggies have an easier schedule than some in conference to pad their resume with wins. Texas A&M avoids Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Oklahoma this year. The Aggies could get to 10 wins.

Tier Four: Mississippi State , South Carolina , Arkansas , Vanderbilt

McElroy: "The bottom tier, which is whatever order you kinda wanna assume, that'd be Mississippi State, South Carolina, Arkansas and Vanderbilt."

The bottom group simply doesn't return enough or possess enough talent to contend barring a surprise. Mississippi State returns four starters from last year, South Carolina loses quarterback Spencer Rattler and two NFL caliber wide receivers, Arkansas went 4-8 last year and Vanderbilt went 2-10.

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