Former Florida head coach and present ESPN analyst Dan Mullen not too long ago shared his predictions for the way he thinks the SEC standings will look within the upcoming 2024 season, and he has Texas, not Georgia, ending atop the convention.
Mullen nonetheless has Georgia ending second within the SEC in 2024, however he believes Texas will defeat the Bulldogs on this season’s SEC Championship.
Contemplating that is the Longhorns’ first yr as a member of the SEC, it might be very spectacular if they’re able to instantly emerge as the highest crew within the convention.
Texas is coming off a 2023 season that noticed them win at the least 12 video games for the primary time since 2009. The Longhorns completed the 2023 marketing campaign with a 12-2 report, together with an 8-1 report in Huge 12 convention video games, and their season got here to an finish within the semifinals of the School Soccer Playoff in opposition to the College of Washington.
With quite a few gamers from the college’s 2023 roster returning for the upcoming season, Mullen and plenty of others consider Texas can end among the many finest groups in school soccer as soon as once more this season. The Longhorns are at the moment ranked No. 4 within the AP Prime 25.
As for Georgia, they’re undoubtedly not going to surrender the highest spot within the SEC and not using a battle. The Bulldogs have completed first within the SEC standings in every of the final three years, and the college has competed in six of the final seven SEC Championship Video games.
Georgia has solely come away with a win in two of those six SEC Championship appearances, so it is actually plausible that they might lose to Texas or one other crew on this season’s convention championship sport.
Nonetheless, the Bulldogs not ending first within the SEC’s regular-season standings in 2024, as Mullen predicts, can be an enormous shock.
If Georgia and Texas truly do find yourself assembly on this season’s SEC Championship, everybody will get a preview of the matchup on Oct. 19 when the Bulldogs journey to Austin, Texas, to tackle the Longhorns in a showdown that each colleges doubtless have already got circled on their calendars.
Georgia is at the moment the No. 1 ranked crew within the AP Prime 25, and they’ll start their 2024 season on Aug. 31, inside Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium in opposition to No. 14 Clemson.