So, with that in mind, CBS Sports went through the schedules for all 16 SEC teams and identified where each program could face its first stumbling block of the season. Check out how CBS Sports sees things shaping out for the SEC in 2025 below<\/a>:<\/p>\n First loss:<\/strong> at Georgia<\/a><\/strong>, Sept. 27<\/p>\n This shouldn\u2019t come as much of a surprise, especially given how difficult the game was a year ago in Tuscaloosa, where Alabama needed a SportsCenter Top 10 play from star freshman WR Ryan Williams<\/a><\/strong> just to escape with a victory. Add to the fact that Georgia hasn\u2019t lost in Athens since mid-2019, and this certainly could be the Crimson Tide\u2019s first loss in 2025.<\/p>\n First loss:<\/strong> at Ole Miss<\/a><\/strong>, Sept. 13<\/p>\n The Rebels have won the last two games in this series and the last four games played inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford. And while Ole Miss certainly enters the 2025 season with serious question marks, it still has the superior roster in terms of sheer talent compared to the Razorbacks. That said, an 0-1 start to SEC play could signal the beginning of the end for Arkansas\u2019 Sam Pittman<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n First loss:<\/strong> at Oklahoma<\/a><\/strong>, Sept. 30<\/p>\n CBS Sports predicts Auburn will open 3-0 on the season and be in the Top 25 when it travels to Norman in Week 4. This game will also be the much-anticipated return of former Sooners transfer Jackson Arnold<\/a><\/strong>, who is the Tigers\u2019 new QB1 this season. But given Auburn\u2019s struggles in SEC openers under third-year head coach Hugh Freeze<\/a><\/strong>, this could be another 0-1 start to SEC play for the Tigers.<\/p>\n First loss:<\/strong> at LSU<\/a><\/strong>, Sept. 13<\/p>\n After snapping a five-game losing streak in its series with a 27-16 upset of LSU last season in Gainesville, CBS Sports expects the host Tigers won\u2019t be as forgiving in Baton Rouge this season. The Gators are also just 1-6 in its last seven games in Death Valley, with the lone road win coming in 2016. While the QB battle will be one to watch, LSU\u2019s Garrett Nussmeier<\/a><\/strong> has the weapons to outduel UF\u2019s DJ Lagway<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n First loss:<\/strong> at Auburn<\/a><\/strong>, Oct. 11<\/p>\n It\u2019s the Deep South\u2019s Oldest Rivalry where anything and everything can happen in this series \u2014 just look back at 2013\u2019s \u201cPrayer in Jordan-Hare.\u201d That said, the Bulldogs have completely dominated this series of late, winning eight straight, including in the 2017 SEC Championship game. But given the pressure already building around Freeze, this could be the perfect time for a program-defining upset.<\/p>\n First loss:<\/strong> vs. Ole Miss<\/a><\/strong>, Sept. 6<\/p>\n This is a rare Week 2 SEC opener for both teams, and after the Wildcats slapped the host Rebels with a 20-17 upset in Oxford last season, expect Lane Kiffin<\/a><\/strong> and Ole Miss to be eager for a little revenge this season in Lexington. The Rebels have actually won their last two games inside Kroger Field and three of the last five on the road dating back to 2001.<\/p>\n First loss:<\/strong> at Clemson<\/a><\/strong>, Aug. 30<\/p>\n CBS Sports clearly doesn\u2019t expect the visiting Tigers to come out on top in this season\u2019s much-anticipated Week 1 showdown in the Battle of the Death Valleys. Should this loss come to pass, it\u2019ll be LSU\u2019s sixth consecutive season-opening loss, and fifth straight under head coach Brian Kelly<\/a><\/strong>. Of course, the Tigers will have a chance to avenge this loss next season, but that won\u2019t sit well with the growing Kelly critics.<\/p>\n First loss:<\/strong> vs. Tennessee<\/a><\/strong>, Sept. 27<\/p>\n CBS Sports is clearly higher on Hail State than others, predicting a 4-0 start to the 2025 season, including a Week 2 home win over defending Big 12 champ Arizona State<\/a><\/strong>. Should that come to pass, the Volunteers would certainly pose the greatest threat to knocking off Jeff Lebby<\/a><\/strong>\u2018s upstart Bulldogs. Of course, given Tennessee\u2019s own question marks, especially at quarterback, this could be a lot closer than expected.<\/p>\n First loss:<\/strong> vs. Alabama<\/a><\/strong>, Oct. 11<\/p>\n Due to a rare scheduling gift, the Tigers don\u2019t leave their home state of Missouri until a mid-October trip to Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn. Of course, CBS Sports doesn\u2019t expect Mizzou to leave home unscathed, predicting a loss to a likely Top 10-ranked Crimson Tide in Week 7. Alabama has won the last six straight in the series vs. Missouri, outscoring the Tigers by an average score of 39-12 since 1978.<\/p>\n First loss: <\/strong>vs. Texas<\/a><\/strong>, Oct. 11 (Dallas)<\/p>\n The Red River Shootout remains one of the most competitive rivalries in college football, with both teams trading wins each of the past three years. Should the Sooners remain undefeated entering Week 7 as CBS Sports\u2019 predicts, this\u2019ll be another potential Top 10 matchup. No team has won back-to-back games in this rivalry series since OU won three straight (2019-21) and five of six between 2016-21.<\/p>\n First loss:<\/strong> vs. LSU<\/a><\/strong>, Sept. 27<\/p>\n In what has become a budding rivalry series given its back-and-forth nature with the home team winning the last five meetings. That includes the host Tigers edged out Ole Miss in overtime last season from Baton Rouge. CBS Sports clearly likes LSU to snap that trend with a win in Oxford this season, and if it doesn\u2019t, a road loss at Ole Miss could be the beginning of the end for the Tigers\u2019 Playoff hopes in 2025.<\/p>\n First loss:<\/strong> at Missouri<\/a><\/strong>, Sept. 20<\/p>\n The Gamecocks were arguably one of the college football\u2019s hottest teams last season, closing out the regular-season on a six-game win streak. And based on this scenario, CBS Sports expects that roll to carry over with three straight wins to open the 2025 season. But that run could come to an end in the SEC\u2019s OTHER Columbia, where new Mizzou QB Beau Pribula<\/a><\/strong> will face his first serious test vs. the Gamecocks.<\/p>\n First loss:<\/strong> vs. Georgia<\/a><\/strong>, Sept. 13<\/p>\n This is another one that shouldn\u2019t come as a surprise simply based on recent history, with the Bulldogs and Kirby Smart<\/a><\/strong> having won eight straight in the series by a dominating average score of 38-13 since a 41-0 blowout in Knoxville in 2017. CBS Sports clearly expects more of the same in 2025, which will be a full decade since Tennessee last beat Georgia inside Neyland Stadium: a 38-31 win in 2015.<\/p>\n First loss:<\/strong> at Notre Dame<\/a><\/strong>, Sept. 13<\/p>\n This is the back-half of a home-and-home series between the two college football bluebloods after the visiting Fighting Irish delivered the Aggies a 23-13 home loss last season in College Station. Notre Dame has established itself as a perennial national title contender after making the CFP national title game last year, and CBS Sports believes the host Irish will simply be too much for the Aggies to handle on the road.<\/p>\n First loss:<\/strong> at Florida<\/a><\/strong>, Oct. 4<\/p>\n The Longhorns have never lost to the Gators in four previous matchups, so this might come as a bit of a shock, especially with CBS Sports projecting Texas will open 4-0 and coming off a bye before traveling to Gainesville. Of course, the Swamp is an unforgiving place to play and Gators QB DJ Lagway<\/a><\/strong> will likely be amped to outduel \u2018Horns QB Arch Manning<\/a><\/strong> in a battle between two former No. 1 overall recruits.<\/p>\n First loss:<\/strong> at South Carolina<\/a><\/strong>, Sept. 13<\/p>\n The Commodores will have one more season with star QB Diego Pavia<\/a><\/strong>, who is already suggesting this year\u2019s Vanderbilt squad has championship potential. That potential will face its first serious test in Columbia, S.C., where the Gamecocks have their own superstar at QB in Heisman Trophy contender LaNorris Sellers<\/a><\/strong>. If this is a shootout, South Carolina will likely have the advantage in firepower. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"August is officially here, and the 2025 college football season officially begins three weeks from Saturday with select…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":111781,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[1318,1317,1315,1316,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-111780","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-football","11":"tag-ncaafootball","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114956689989251944","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Ole](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/USATSI_24656771-1-1024x576.jpg\")
(Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n![\"Auburn](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hugh-freeze-kirby-smart-1024x538.jpg\")
(Jake Crandall-USA TODAY NETWORK)<\/p>\n![\"Mississippi](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Mississippi-State-vs.-Tennessee-1024x538.jpg\")
(Bryan Lynn-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n![\"lsu-trolls-lane-kiffin-by-digging-up-old-joke-made-about-brian-kelly-dancing-video-rat-poison\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/lsu-trolls-lane-kiffin-by-digging-up-old-joke-made-about-brian-kelly-dancing-video-rat-poison.jpg\")
(Jonathan Bachman-Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"Jeremiyah](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Jeremiyah-Love-Notre-Dame-vs.-Texas-AM-1024x538.jpg\")
(Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n