In just about six weeks, SEC football will grace our television screens once again.
One of the biggest storylines heading into the 2025 season is the situation under center at Texas. The highly touted recruit Arch Manning, who famously hails from quarterbacking royalty, is entering the season as the unquestioned starter for the Longhorns for the first time.
Well, the media appears to think highly of Manning's chances to succeed alongside head coach Steve Sarkisian. In the media preseason poll released Friday, Texas received the most points to both finish first in the standings and win the 2025 SEC championship.
Manning was selected to the 2025 preseason media All-SEC third team behind South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers (first team) and LSU signal-caller Garrett Nussmeier (second team).
Elsewhere in the polls, fellow college football powerhouses Georgia, Alabama and LSU finished in second, third and fourth place in both the champion and standings projections.
A surprise in the poll? Vanderbilt, which has had a winning record in conference play just once since 1982, earned two points in the media's picks for the 2025 champion. That's not much, but it is more than Texas A&M, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky and Mississippi State, which didn't receive any points in that poll.
SEC preseason media poll: Picks for 2025 champion
SCHOOL
POINTS
Texas
96
Georgia
44
Alabama
29
LSU
20
South Carolina
5
Oklahoma
3
Vanderbilt
2
Florida
2
Tennessee
1
Ole Miss
1
Auburn
1
The 2025 SEC football championship game is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 6 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Here's how the media projects the full standings, from first place to last:
SEC preseason media poll: Picks for order of finish
PLACE
SCHOOL
POINTS
1
Texas
3,060
2
Georgia
2,957
3
Alabama
2,783
4
LSU
2,668
5
South Carolina
2,109
6
Florida
1,986
7
Ole Miss
1,979
8
Texas A&M
1,892
9
Tennessee
1,700
10
Oklahoma
1,613
11
Auburn
1,272
12
Missouri
1,170
13
Vanderbilt
936
14
Arkansas
764
15
Kentucky
512
16
Mississippi State
343
