One could argue even before realignment that the SEC was already the best conference in college football, and it got even better this offseason.
Already stacked with No. 1 Georgia and No. 5 Alabama, the conference officially added No. 3 Texas and No. 16 Oklahoma earlier this month.
Nine SEC teams are nationally ranked, with four inside the top 6. With the addition of the two former Big 12 schools, conference veteran Jalen Milroe is excited about the new competition.
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An SEC logo billboard prior to the NCAA Women’s Final Four. (Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports)
“It’s great. It’s added competition to the league,” the Alabama quarterback told Fox News Digital. “To have that, to have more importance to the conference, it’s gonna be dope. Just to have that experience, it’s gonna be awesome, man.”
Added No. 13 LSU’s gunslinger Garrett Nussmeier, “I think you add those schools, it only grows the competitiveness and aura in our conference that was already the best conference in all of college football. You add those two, and it makes it even stronger and more competitive.”
Quinn Ewers is an SEC rookie. He recently praised the 12-team playoff, noting it was difficult to see the SEC champ left out last year. Georgia, which had been 42-1 in 43 games, lost the conference title game to Alabama, which put the Crimson Tide in and left the Bulldogs out.
Quarterback Quinn Ewers of the Texas Longhorns throws downfield against the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the first half of the Big 12 championship at AT&T Stadium Dec. 2, 2023, in Arlington, Texas. (Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
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Assuming all goes as planned, numerous SEC teams will be in the playoff, and Ewers is pumped about his new competition.
“I’m fired up. I’ve always wanted to play in the SEC. Just get that outside feeling of — they got a saying, ‘It means more,’” the Texas quarterback said. “They really care about their football. So, to be a part of a conference like that, it’s gonna be a lot of fun.
“They have some of the best competition. So, to be a part of a conference like that, where it’s top-notch competition week in and week out, it’s gonna be awesome. If you want to be the best, you have to play some of the best, so I’m excited for this year.”
The SEC logo on the field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, Fla., Sept. 1, 2022. (Brad McClenny/The Gainesville Sun/USA Today Network)
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Ole Miss (No. 6), Mizzou (No. 11), Tennessee (No. 15) and Texas A&M (No. 20) are the other ranked teams in the conference.
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