SEC underdogs: Three most underrated football teams heading into 2025
SEC underdogs: Three most underrated football teams heading into 2025
Despite 11 teams in the Southeastern Conference being ranked in the top-20 odds to win the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship, including the Texas A&M Aggies (+3000), there are many dark-horse programs in the league entering a new campaign with a chip on their shoulder.
Whether it be from the transfer portal or those moving up the depth charts, many players in the SEC are hoping to make a good first impression for their respective programs, while others are looking to silence any doubters and prove they belong.
Five of the projected starting quarterbacks in the SEC are transfers who will get their first starts at the helm for their programs. That is a sentiment for the plethora of new faces in the league who will be under the national spotlight this season.
Not to mention, there are coaches around the conference who are clinging to hope and trying to retain their jobs this season, as the hot seat continues to spark for those underperforming. Chances are that is where the true underdogs are sitting heading into 2025.
With kickoff a mere 73 days away, here are the three most underrated programs in the SEC this year:
Can we just talk about the job head coach Clark Lea and his quarterback Diego Pavia did last season? I do not think it is emphasized enough just how important Lea and Pavia's contributions were for the Commodores last season, as they helped lead the program to its first bowl game win since 2013.
The talk of any potential outstanding success from Vanderbilt this season has simmered down, but there is an opportunity for back-to-back bowl game appearances for the Dores. With Pavia's return at the helm and tight end Eli Stowers opting not to enter the NFL Draft and return to Nashville, Tennessee, for another season in the Black and Gold, the reconstructed and improved offensive line could help the program repeat in 2025. There is a world where Vanderbilt enters Week 6 with four or five wins.
2025 schedule:
8/30 - Charleston Southern
9/6 - at Virginia Tech
9/13 - at South Carolina
9/20 - Georgia State
9/27 - Utah State
10/4 - at Alabama
10/18 - LSU
10/25 - Missouri
11/1 - at Texas
11/8 - Auburn
11/22 - Kentucky
11/29 - at Tennessee
Even with back-to-back 10-win seasons under his belt, Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz is at the helm of one of the most underrated teams in football heading into this year's campaign. The loss of offensive production with the departures of wide receiver Luther Burden III and quarterback Brady Cook is not to be overstated, but the addition of former Penn State signal-caller Beau Pribula and Mississippi State transfer wideout Kevin Coleman Jr. should help rebuild the lost pieces.
Missouri's defensive unit could also find itself nearing one of the top 20 units in the country with star linebackers Josiah Trotter (Big 12 Freshman of the Year at West Virginia) and Triston Newson rounding out the Tigers' linebacking corps. Besides the lack of depth, the manageable schedule has me questioning why this program is not considered to win more than eight games.
2025 schedule:
8/28 - Central Arkansas
9/6 - Kansas
9/13 - Louisiana
9/20 - South Carolina
9/27 - UMass
10/11 - Alabama
10/18 - at Auburn
10/25 - at Vanderbilt
11/8 - Texas A&M
11/15 - Mississippi State
11/22 - at Oklahoma
11/29 - at Arkansas
Regarding those upper-echelon ranked teams in the SEC this season, the Texas A&M Aggies are an underdog that could really make a splash in the league. With a talented roster that includes sophomore quarterback Marcel Reed, who has the potential to be one of the top gunslingers in the country this season, the football program in Bryan-College Station, Texas, could be one of the most overlooked teams in the nation.
Not to mention, head coach Mike Elko is a defensive genius who will find ways to replace the likes of Shemar Turner, Shemar Stewart and Nic Scourton, all of whom were selected in the 2025 NFL Draft. Tough road games against Notre Dame and Texas will provide some difficulties for the Aggies, but overall they should well-exceed expectations predicted on most outlets.
2025 schedule:
8/30 - UTSA
9/6 - Utah State
9/13 - at Notre Dame
9/27 - Auburn
10/4 - Mississippi State
10/11 - Florida
10/18 - at Arkansas
10/25 - at LSU
11/8 - at Missouri
11/15 - South Carolina
11/22 - Samford
11/28 - at Texas
Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Dylan on X: @dylanmflippo.
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