A pair of SEC heavyweights that were featured in the College Football Playoff last season could find themselves behind the eight ball in making a return visit t
A pair of SEC blue bloods could be in trouble come College Football Playoff time, analyst Joel Klatt has warned. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images A pair of SEC heavyweights that were featured in the College Football Playoff last season could find themselves behind the eight ball in making a return visit to the field in 2026.
That’s the opinion of veteran college football analyst Joel Klatt, who recently poured some cold water on the postseason hopes of a pair of highly regarded SEC contenders, his skepticism adding another layer to the heated debate surrounding which programs are truly built to navigate the demands of a College Football Playoff run. Not exactly what thefaithful want to hear coming off a 2025 effort in which they were unceremoniously bounced from the College Football Playoff after an ugly 38-3 loss in the Rose Bowl to eventual national champion Indiana.
Ty Simpson basically carried the offense a year ago as Alabama ranked just 125th nationally rushing the ball, but now the quarterback is gone, as is most of the starting offensive line, and star target Ryan Coleman-Williams is coming off a down year. Now facing the gauntlet of the SEC schedule will be a young quarterback, either five-star Keelon Russell or Austin Mack, and another solid defensive unit, but there is still tremendous uncertainty and inexperience at key positions in a crowded playoff field.
“Bama is going to be a good football team, but I don’t know if that’s going to be enough,” Klatt said of the Crimson Tide.made history a year ago by qualifying for its first ever College Football Playoff, even if the coach who helped put the program there is now somewhere else, and now Klatt believes Lane Kiffin’s successor, Pete Golding, could face an uphill battle making a return in ‘26. Klatt tabbed the Rebels with a “sell” moniker in his projection, despite the return of key inputs like quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, running back Kewan Lacy, and linebacker Suntarine Perkins, but other positions could belie other structural weaknesses.
Defensively, the Rebels were a mixed bag, at times allowing chunk plays on the back end and on the ground, giving up 32 plays of 20-plus yards a year ago, and the unit surrendered more than 154 rushing yards per game on average, key points Golding must emphasize heading into this fall. Klatt’s comments stand out because the SEC is once again expected to be one of the nation’s most represented conferences when postseason selections are announced.
Yet the Fox Sports analyst believes reputation and offseason hype don’t always translate into playoff success, particularly in a league where every week presents a major challenge, even more so with its new nine-game league schedule. With expectations soaring and margin for error shrinking, his assessment raises an important question: which SEC programs may be receiving more playoff buzz than they deserve heading into the season? Loading recommendations...
Please wait while we load personalized content recommendationsJames Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He has covered football for a decade, previously managing several team sites and publishing national content for 247Sports.com for five years. His work has also been published on CBSSports.com. He founded College Football HQ in 2020, and the site joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022 and the On SI network in 2024.
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