Bottom line
The SEC is the deepest power conference on the frozen SoT: Ole Miss #3, Texas A&M #6, Texas #8, Oklahoma #10, Auburn #13, Alabama #16. Win totals compress because everyone plays each other. This is not a CFP bracket.
Contenders
Ole Miss (power 3, E[wins] 8.46, Trinidad Chambliss) is the index leader. Texas A&M (6 / 8.38, Marcel Reed) and Texas (8 / 7.56, Arch Manning) sit in the same talent band. Oklahoma (10 / 6.92, John Mateer) is the fourth row inside the top 10.
Sleepers
Auburn (#13, Byrum Brown) and Alabama (#16, Austin Mack) are still top-20 power. They are not G5 sleepers — they are SEC rows whose win totals get taxed by the same slate.
Schedule / path notes
Week 1: Ole Miss vs Louisville (neutral), Texas A&M vs Missouri State, Texas vs Texas State, Oklahoma vs UTEP, Alabama vs East Carolina. Several openers are not conference games.
Research angles
Use power order for talent, E[wins] for path. A 9-win SEC prior is rarer than a 9-win ACC/Independent prior on this board. Track Project Game on the official openers; Edge Board for books only.
Model note
KosEdge CFB Model · N=10,000 · as_of 2026-08-31 · used_in_spread=false · KEI is a separate published line.