The SEC polled the media at SEC Media Days this week in Atlanta and on Friday, released the projected order of finish for the league standings.
Kalen DeBoer and Alabama football are projected to finish third, behind Texas and Georgia. Of the 204 media members polled, Alabama was projected to win the league by 29 of them. The Tide received the third most total points and the third most first-place points, behind both Texas (projected champion) and Georgia.
A third-place finish would undoubtedly be a step in the right direction after a season in which the Tide lost three league games, but DeBoer and his team have bigger goals in mind. Those goals would include making it to Atlanta for the SEC Championship and then getting into the College Football Playoff.
A third-place finish in the league would likely be good enough to get Alabama into the playoff, which would probably be enough to show proof of concept to disgruntled fans after a disappointing 2024 season.
The projected order of finish is below:
- Texas
- Georgia
- Alabama
- LSU
- South Carolina
- Florida
- Ole Miss
- Texas A&M
- Tennessee
- Oklahoma
- Auburn
- Missouri
- Vanderbilt
- Arkansas
- Kentucky
- Mississippi State
Alabama lands just two on All-SEC 1st Team, 11 total across all three teams
Alabama only landed two players on the media's All-SEC 1st Team, and that included none from a defense that many project to be among the best in the country.
WR Ryan Williams and OT Kadyn Proctor are the 1st teamers representing Alabama. Williams, who recently signed an NIL deal with Nike, is considered one of the two best wide receivers in college football. Proctor is expected to compete to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
The second team has more of a crimson flavor. Offensively, C Parker Brailsford and OG Jaedan Roberts give the Tide three offensive linemen on the first or second teams, which is a big reason some project the Tide to have arguably the top offensive line in the country. Brailsford remains perhaps the most underrated player in the country and has a case as not only the best center in the SEC, but in the entire country.
The second-team defense sees DL Tim Keenan III, DL LT Overton, LB Deontae Lawson, and CB Domani Jackson. All four have a tremendous case for first-team inclusion, and each will have an opportunity to prove that during the season.
Rounding it out for Alabama on the third team is RB Jam Miller and safeties Keon Sabb and Bray Hubbard.