2026 SEC Fall Previews: Tier II [LSU, Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma]​

Offense: What could go wrong
Leavitt has been somewhat injury-prone in his college career and the depth chart behind him is uncertain. The big thing for Kiffin to fix quickly, though, is the running game. Neither Caden Durham nor Harlem Berry have lived up to expectations yet in their Tiger careers and LSU can’t fall into the trap of throwing on every down. There’s also some whispers that the changes on the line aren’t going to make as big an impact as Kiffin thinks.

Defense: What could go right
Kiffin brought DE Princewill Umanmielen with him from Ole Miss, which ought to fix a lot of the problems LSU had making plays on the edge. The linebackers have plenty of experience and LSU thinks it even might have upgraded there. A host of high-profile transfers at defensive line make Tiger fans hopeful that the defense is able to assert its will like it used to under Les Miles and Nick Saban. The secondary is in a good place but needs to play to its potential. Time will tell if retaining defensive coordinator Blake Baker was the right call, as he didn’t always get consistent results from his defense under Brian Kelly’s leadership.

Defense: What could go wrong
The secondary shouldn’t be an issue but it’s probably the most vulnerable, mostly because safety play needs to be improved and LSU is replacing Mansoor Delane at cornerback. DL depth has been an issue for a couple of years now, and LSU is looking to freshmen to help shore up some of those slots. There’s continuity with the retention of Baker, but Lane Kiffin’s brother Chris is listed as a co-defensive coordinator and it could turn into a forced marriage if not handled properly.

One-sentence summary: Kiffin is finally back at a blue-blood program; can he keep the show from turning into a circus?
The divorce from Ole Miss was messy, and Kiffin has become such a polarizing figure that proposed new legislation governing college sports has a “Kiffin rule” in it. Controversy, though, doesn’t seem to bother young talent – if anything, the modern athlete gravitates toward it – and Kiffin has leaned hard into the rebel persona on his way back up the ladder. LSU will be elite again soon, but this feels like a transition year.

Offense: What could go wrong
No SEC teams truly have bad quarterbacks anymore, but Tennessee’s job is likely to come down to one of a pair of freshmen (Faizon Brandon or George MacIntyre) or Colorado transfer Ryan Staub. The smart money is on the true freshman Brandon, but the leash will be short, especially if Tennessee struggles against Georgia Tech in Week 2. There isn’t anything else on this side of the ball that looks truly problematic, but spring scrimmages were a horror story at quarterback and head coach Josh Heupel is already somewhat on the hot seat heading into the season.

Defense: What could go right
The linebacker group is in good hands and we probably have underrated them in our previews, to be honest. The big change here is at defensive coordinator, where Jim Knowles takes the helm and is coming off impressive years at Ohio State and Penn State. If Knowles can fix some of the issues in gameday playcalling and adjustments, Tennessee has enough talent to overachieve. There is enough talent on the line and in the secondary to perform, but we’re going to have to see it to believe it.

Defense: What could go wrong
Pretty much everything that could go wrong in 2025 did go wrong. Pass defense was abysmal and the changes Tennessee made in the offseason don’t appear to be truly program-changing in nature. The defensive line did a good job getting to the quarterback, but it was porous against the run and couldn’t get off the field when it needed to. Like the secondary, the offseason changes made up front don’t appear to be transformative. There’s a lot riding on Jim Knowles and if Tennessee struggles with the new scheme, things could get ugly.

One-sentence summary: Tennessee has the weapons, but the program also has the feel of one that is slowly reverting to the mean.
Heupel has long been a source of heartburn for a lot of Tennessee fans that watched his Central Florida teams closely. Heupel’s record regressed from the first season onward; at Tennessee, the Vols have been up and down but have never been able to get back to the level of the 2022 season – a year in which Tennessee still wasn’t able to win its division, despite breaking a 15-game losing streak to Alabama. The Vols are unlikely to challenge for an SEC title this year, either, because the quarterback situation just won’t allow for it.

Offense: What could go wrong
Austin Simmons really hasn’t proved it against decent competition yet, and Beau Pribula isn’t around in case of emergency like he was last year. Most troubling, though, is that Ahmad Hardy was shot in the leg at a concert in the spring and wasn’t ready to start fall camp on time. Missouri won’t fall apart without him, but the Tigers won’t be the same team they would have been with him, should he continue to be out for any extended length of time. Of a more practical concern is the wide receiver group, which has fine tight ends but nothing really of note at the actual receiver spots. This group will be learning on the fly.

Defense: What could go right
While no starters return – and that by itself is becoming more common in this transfer portal era – there may not be a more veteran unit in all of college football. It’s possible Missouri will field as many as 8 senior starters and 2 juniors. Missouri got bigger in the defensive backfield over the offseason, especially at safety. Placekicker Blake Craig returns from a torn ACL.

Defense: What could go wrong
There just aren’t a lot of proven commodities here. The punting game is an outright question mark, but how the new pieces fit together with the veteran former reserves is what everyone will be watching. All of Missouri’s defensive metrics, other than turnover margin, were solid in 2025, and defensive coordinator Corey Batoon is a rising star in the coaching ranks. But he’s going to have identify leaders early, and the moves in the secondary all need to hit.

One-sentence summary: The SEC’s most blue-collar team will be a tough out for any opponent, but the ceiling appears limited.
Eliah Drinkwitz is roundly regarded as one of the more sound SEC coaches, but the Tigers always seem to be fighting with a hand tied behind their back, talent-wise. It’s not much different this year, as the receiver corps looks to be more at home in a mid-tier conference, and the decision to go large in the secondary, perhaps at the expense of speed, is a gamble.

Offense: What could go wrong
When this offense is running right, it looks unstoppable. The problem is the “when” in that sentence translates to “not often enough.” The running back group was probably the biggest disappointment in 2025 given the talent on-hand, but the offensive line was right behind it, and the talent level there has gone down, not up. Heading into 2026, OU appears to be sacrificing some playmaking ability at tight end in exchange for better blocking on the edge, which leads us to surmise that if something happens to Sategna, the Sooners could find themselves plodding toward the finish line like it did in 2024.

Defense: What could go right
The secondary could easily be the second-best in the conference to Alabama, and might even give the Crimson Tide a run for its money. If Michael Boganowski comes through at safety, and if the Sooners can develop some depth early, the back end of the defense will quickly become a no-fly zone. The linebacker group has potential to become better than average, and the Sooners have one of the best defensive ends in the conference in Taylor Wein.

Defense: What could go wrong
There isn’t a lot of depth in key positions, and the other DE slot across from Wein is going to be a work in progress, at least early on. Injuries are the real concern, because the defensive line, the safety group and the linebacker group behind the starters isn’t the best. Oklahoma has done a good job of developing younger talent in recent years when it needed to do so, but injuries could force the Sooners into an uncomfortable outcome.

One-sentence summary: Always hard to predict, Oklahoma has the QB and some nice pieces, but probably lacks enough of the latter to push the Sooners over the top.
Brent Venables is, to be kind, a strange bird among SEC head coaches, and the Sooners have not exactly been pillars of consistency under his watch. John Mateer can either be the SEC’s best quarterback, or one of its most disappointing, depending on the week. We’re not sure why the running game has struggled to the degree that it has, or why a team with such a physical comportment seems to struggle with physical play on the offensive line at times.

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