1. Alabama - It doesn't get any easier than this. Alabama's in the national championship against Ohio State next week. If the Tide wins it will go down as one of the most dominant teams in recent history. There has been no drop off with Mac Jones at quarterback, even with Jaylen Waddle out the majority of the season. Alabama is far and away the class of the league, beating the No. 2 team by four touchdowns earlier this season.
2. Texas A&M - The Aggies did not make it into the playoffs and there were certainly weeks when they looked less than stellar, but at the end of the day Jimbo Fisher's team went 10-1 against an all-SEC regular season schedule. North Carolina was missing some big names but A&M won the Orange Bowl solidly by two scores with a strong performance late in the game. This team wasn't on par with Alabama, Ohio State, or Clemson, but they're in that next tier with anybody else nationally.
3. Florida - The Gators lost to Texas A&M on the road in a very close game and they played very respectably against Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. What's less justifiable was a loss to LSU. Kyle Pitts being out certainly didn't help. Kyle Trask had an outstanding season and was a Heisman finalist. UF's offense was top notch, the elite of the elite, but the defense wasn't quite good enough. It's tough to judge them too harshly for the bowl loss to Oklahoma because of so many receivers being out but the defense was smoked by Lincoln Riley's squad.
4. Georgia - Once again a Kirby Smart team had one of the nation's top defenses. But for most of the year before JT Daniels was good to go the quarterback play with Stetson Bennett left too much to be desired. The defense was also bested by elite offenses at Alabama and Florida. While UGA was down a notch from where they've been at their very best under Smart, beating Cincinnati in the postseason was a nice accomplishment and a statement for the SEC.
5. Ole Miss - I know the Rebels finished with one less win than Auburn and they lost the head to head, but this is in part how the teams finished the season. Nobody would want to play the Rebels right now. Their offense was fantastic all season and they played Alabama almost as tough as anyone. The defense has a long way to go but Lane Kiffin has this team heading in the right direction.
6. Auburn - The Tigers were fortunate to win six games this year because they benefited from officiating errors or questionable calls in important moments more than any team in the country for the first month of the season. Nonetheless, six wins against an all-SEC schedule is what it is so even though Gus Malzahn was fired they must be in the top half of the league.
7. LSU - The Tigers might be the toughest team to rate. The lows were low. The start of the season was ugly. But over the whole body of work we should probably commend Ed Orgeron for starting to right the ship. They were much better down the stretch and finished with wins against Florida and Ole Miss the last two games of the year.
8. Missouri - First-year coach Eli Drinkwitz did some impressive work in his first year in Columbia. There were quality wins against LSU, Kentucky, and Arkansas, but bad losses to Mississippi State and Tennessee. Almost every team in the league had hard to explain ups and downs. Give LSU the nod here because of a strong finish and a win against Florida, even though Mizzou won the head to head early in the year, but the Tigers a notch above UK because of a better record and handling the 'Cats in a head to head game.
9. Kentucky - Until the postseason Kentucky did not really have a signature win in the 2020 season. South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt all had major struggles during the season. On the flip side, Kentucky lost to as strong a slate of opponents as you're going to find. The win against the Top-25 Wolfpack to finish 5-6 against a Power Five-only schedule showed that even in a season with tremendous adversity, the program has come a long way.
10. Arkansas - The Razorbacks only finished 3-7 but were the most improved team in the conference. This is a team that couldn't win an SEC game before this year so Sam Pittman has them heading in the right direction. They beat Tennessee and both Mississippi schools, also playing Auburn, LSU, and Missouri very close.
11. Mississippi State - When the Bulldogs set records in a season opening win against LSU in Baton Rouge it looked like the Mike Leach era would begin with an interesting season. It didn't turn out that way. Kylin Hill was out for most of the season and the Air Raid under quarterback KJ Costello was grounded. Things got a bit better with Will Rogers and the good news is the way the season ended, with wins over Missouri and then Tulsa in the bowl.
12. Tennessee - This season was really the reverse of last year for the Vols. In 2019 things started terribly but the Vols gained momentum and finished strong. This year UT started the season with wins against South Carolina and Missouri but totally fell off the map. UT lost six games in a row and seven of its final eight, rarely even being competitive. They're in freefall mode under Jeremy Pruitt and now with investigations ongoing it could get very ugly.
13. South Carolina - After last year Will Muschamp was on a very hot seat and he didn't make it through even a pandemic season. The offense occasionally showed signs of life but the defense was terrible. It's tough to understand how this team beat Auburn. That was clearly the highlight of the year, but the Gamecocks lost their final six games, so Shane Beamer has arrived to attempt a rebuild.
14. Vanderbilt - There's not much to say about a team that was completely outmatched virtually every week. Vandy did come within a touchdown of MSU and a field goal of Kentucky, but the 'Dores finished 0-9 and Vandy alum Clark Lea left his post as ND's defensive coordinator to try and fix things in Nashville.
2. Texas A&M - The Aggies did not make it into the playoffs and there were certainly weeks when they looked less than stellar, but at the end of the day Jimbo Fisher's team went 10-1 against an all-SEC regular season schedule. North Carolina was missing some big names but A&M won the Orange Bowl solidly by two scores with a strong performance late in the game. This team wasn't on par with Alabama, Ohio State, or Clemson, but they're in that next tier with anybody else nationally.
3. Florida - The Gators lost to Texas A&M on the road in a very close game and they played very respectably against Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. What's less justifiable was a loss to LSU. Kyle Pitts being out certainly didn't help. Kyle Trask had an outstanding season and was a Heisman finalist. UF's offense was top notch, the elite of the elite, but the defense wasn't quite good enough. It's tough to judge them too harshly for the bowl loss to Oklahoma because of so many receivers being out but the defense was smoked by Lincoln Riley's squad.
4. Georgia - Once again a Kirby Smart team had one of the nation's top defenses. But for most of the year before JT Daniels was good to go the quarterback play with Stetson Bennett left too much to be desired. The defense was also bested by elite offenses at Alabama and Florida. While UGA was down a notch from where they've been at their very best under Smart, beating Cincinnati in the postseason was a nice accomplishment and a statement for the SEC.
5. Ole Miss - I know the Rebels finished with one less win than Auburn and they lost the head to head, but this is in part how the teams finished the season. Nobody would want to play the Rebels right now. Their offense was fantastic all season and they played Alabama almost as tough as anyone. The defense has a long way to go but Lane Kiffin has this team heading in the right direction.
6. Auburn - The Tigers were fortunate to win six games this year because they benefited from officiating errors or questionable calls in important moments more than any team in the country for the first month of the season. Nonetheless, six wins against an all-SEC schedule is what it is so even though Gus Malzahn was fired they must be in the top half of the league.
7. LSU - The Tigers might be the toughest team to rate. The lows were low. The start of the season was ugly. But over the whole body of work we should probably commend Ed Orgeron for starting to right the ship. They were much better down the stretch and finished with wins against Florida and Ole Miss the last two games of the year.
8. Missouri - First-year coach Eli Drinkwitz did some impressive work in his first year in Columbia. There were quality wins against LSU, Kentucky, and Arkansas, but bad losses to Mississippi State and Tennessee. Almost every team in the league had hard to explain ups and downs. Give LSU the nod here because of a strong finish and a win against Florida, even though Mizzou won the head to head early in the year, but the Tigers a notch above UK because of a better record and handling the 'Cats in a head to head game.
9. Kentucky - Until the postseason Kentucky did not really have a signature win in the 2020 season. South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt all had major struggles during the season. On the flip side, Kentucky lost to as strong a slate of opponents as you're going to find. The win against the Top-25 Wolfpack to finish 5-6 against a Power Five-only schedule showed that even in a season with tremendous adversity, the program has come a long way.
10. Arkansas - The Razorbacks only finished 3-7 but were the most improved team in the conference. This is a team that couldn't win an SEC game before this year so Sam Pittman has them heading in the right direction. They beat Tennessee and both Mississippi schools, also playing Auburn, LSU, and Missouri very close.
11. Mississippi State - When the Bulldogs set records in a season opening win against LSU in Baton Rouge it looked like the Mike Leach era would begin with an interesting season. It didn't turn out that way. Kylin Hill was out for most of the season and the Air Raid under quarterback KJ Costello was grounded. Things got a bit better with Will Rogers and the good news is the way the season ended, with wins over Missouri and then Tulsa in the bowl.
12. Tennessee - This season was really the reverse of last year for the Vols. In 2019 things started terribly but the Vols gained momentum and finished strong. This year UT started the season with wins against South Carolina and Missouri but totally fell off the map. UT lost six games in a row and seven of its final eight, rarely even being competitive. They're in freefall mode under Jeremy Pruitt and now with investigations ongoing it could get very ugly.
13. South Carolina - After last year Will Muschamp was on a very hot seat and he didn't make it through even a pandemic season. The offense occasionally showed signs of life but the defense was terrible. It's tough to understand how this team beat Auburn. That was clearly the highlight of the year, but the Gamecocks lost their final six games, so Shane Beamer has arrived to attempt a rebuild.
14. Vanderbilt - There's not much to say about a team that was completely outmatched virtually every week. Vandy did come within a touchdown of MSU and a field goal of Kentucky, but the 'Dores finished 0-9 and Vandy alum Clark Lea left his post as ND's defensive coordinator to try and fix things in Nashville.
