No SEC football team will go undefeated, coach predicts

Running the table in college football's premier conference just got a lot harder after this year's historic realignment, one SEC coach has said.

Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports

Going undefeated in the SEC was never easy, but now as college football's best conference expands this season to include perennial winners Texas and Oklahoma, finishing with a perfect record will be that much harder. So hard, we may not see it happen.

That's the opinion of first-year Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby, who says that by adding the Longhorns and Sooners to the rotation, it might be impossible to run the table in the SEC.

"I think it's completely different than it was five, six, seven years ago," Lebby said on the College GameDay podcast. "I just don't see multiple SEC teams being undefeated. I don't know if I see a single team being undefeated in this league."

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He added: "I just think it is so incredibly tough to do to be able to run the table, then go win an SEC Championship Game before you get in the playoffs.

"I think that's just where we're at from a college football landscape now. I think there's a little more parity than there's been, and that bodes well for us."

Georgia's schedule, in particular, got much more difficult.

The Bulldogs lost just two games over the last three seasons, going undefeated during their 2022 national championship run.

But this year, Kirby Smart's team faces three daunting road games: playing at Alabama, then at SEC newcomer Texas, and then at Ole Miss.

Lebby has his own murderer's row of games on the schedule in his debut 2024 season as head coach. Mississippi State plays at Arizona State, at Texas, at Georgia, at Tennessee, and at Ole Miss, with home dates against Missouri and Texas A&M, as well.

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