79th annual SEC post-spring football report: A first-time conference champion in 2025?

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You'd have to go back to Florida in 1984 to find the last time a first-time champion won the SEC in football, but that's what is being predicted this year.

Texas, SEC runner-up in its 2024 debut season, is the pick to take home the conference title in its second year in the league. The Longhorns received seven of nine votes from AL.com sports staff members as part of the 79th annual SEC post-spring football report, first published by the Birmingham News in 1947.

Georgia was the correct prediction of last year's AL.com panel, beating Texas 22-19 in overtime in Atlanta for its second SEC championship in three years. The Bulldogs were picked to finish second this year, receiving one first-place vote.

Texas, which returns a star-laden defense led by tackle Colin Simmons, linebacker Anthony Hill and safety Michael Taaffe, totaled 140 poll points to outdistance Georgia (130) in the overall preseason rankings. Highly touted sophomore Arch Manning takes over as the Longhorns' quarterback following the departure of Quinn Ewers to the NFL.

Georgia finished 11-3 last season, falling to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl College Football Playoff Quarterfinal. The Bulldogs must replace star quarterback Carson Beck -- who transferred to Miami -- as well as 13 players drafted by NFL teams, three of them in the first round.

Auburn, which finished 5-7 last season, received the other first-place vote. The Tigers have not won the SEC title since 2014.

Teams were ranked 1-thru-16, with 16 points for first place on down to one for 16th (last). Mississippi State, which went 2-10 in 2024, was named last on eight of nine ballots.

Alabama, coming off a disappointing 9-4 finish under first-year coach Kalen DeBoer, is picked to finish third in the SEC this year. The Crimson Tide did not receive any first- or second-place votes for the first time in recent memory, but totaled 118 poll points to rank behind only Texas and Georgia.

LSU (103 points) is the pick to finish fourth, with Ole Miss (90), Florida (87), South Carolina (82) and Texas A&M (81) rounding out the top half of the projected standings. Tennessee (80) checks in ninth, followed by Oklahoma (73), Missouri (68), Auburn (64), Vanderbilt (46), Arkansas (31), Kentucky (21) and Mississippi State (10).

COMING SUNDAY: Answering key questions about the SEC's top teams and players in 2025.