Following SEC Media Days in Atlanta, the 2025 SEC Preseason Media Poll is officially out, and South Carolina fans have plenty of reason to smile. After being picked 13th in last year's preseason projections, the Gamecocks stunned the conference by finishing tied for fourth with a 9-4 overall record, 5-3 in the SEC. Shane Beamer's squad now enters the season with momentum and more respect, landing at the fifth picked team to win the 2025 SEC Championship.
Texas, who fell to Georgia in last year's SEC title game, is the media favorite this time around. The Longhorns earned 96 votes to win the conference title in their second season in the SEC, while Georgia (who was projected to finish first in the SEC last year) received 44 votes. Alabama came in with 29 votes, and LSU rounded off the top contenders with 20 votes. Next up, was the Gamecocks with five votes.
In the last 30+ years, there have only been ten times that the preseason media has picked a team that won the SEC title. But don't count South Carolina out just yet, especially if last season's breakout campaign is any indication of their aim for greatness.
The 2024 SEC Championship game betweenthe Georgia Bulldogs and the Texas Longhorns was the most-watched college football game of the year. It drew in an impressive 16.6 million viewers and peaked at nearly 20 million during overtime. If South Carolina finds itself in Atlanta this December, the college football world will definitely be watching.