Spring practice continues to get underway across the SEC as March begins. Roster turnover is at an all-time high thanks to the transfer portal and NIL earnings being through the roof.
What used to be essential for success and key to building the blueprint for winning in college football is now almost obsolete. I’m talking about returning starters.
Veteran experience can be bought instead of developed. That, along with the CBS College Football theme song being used for Rutgers versus Indiana every Saturday instead of a top ten SEC showdown, is one of the weirdest new wrinkles in the fabric of the sport. Even from a year ago, the changes for roster retention are much different around the SEC.
2026 CFB Returning Starters:
Most
Maryland 14
Notre Dame 14
Oregon 14
Minnesota 13
Oklahoma 13
Virginia Tech 13Least
Iowa State 0
Oklahoma State 2
Arizona State 3
Colorado 3
Penn State 3
West Virginia 3
Auburn 4Offense and Defense combined. Power 4 teams only. Doesn’t…
— Brad Powers (@BradPowers7) March 6, 2026
A season ago five of the 11 teams with the most returning starters in all of college football were in the SEC. All five of those teams (Florida, Alabama, Missouri, Vanderbilt and Texas A&M) returned at least 13 starters from their previous teams in 2024. Does that translate into success? Not necessarily.
Sure, four of those five teams finished with a winning record. Three of the five finished with ten or more wins and two of those five made it to the College Football Playoff.
What about outside the SEC, though? The other teams rounding out the top ten were Michigan (13), Iowa State (14), Penn State (14), Pittsburgh (14), Arizona State (16), Clemson (16) and Illinois (16). All six of those schools finished with winning records on the year, but none of them won double digit games. Even the three teams with the most returning starters failed to win more than eight games.
It’s a lot to keep up with from year to year, and no part of me envies Phil Steele and Athlon trying to keep track of the rosters in those preseason magazines that will debut in a few short months. Still, even if it’s not necessary for success, there are several programs that prefer familiar faces over mercenaries from the portal every year.
Here’s a look at how many starters each SEC team returns from last year.
14 – Georgia
14 – Oklahoma
13 – Tennessee
12 – Texas
10 – Ole Miss
10 – South Carolina
10 – Vanderbilt
9 – Florida
9 – LSU
9 – Texas A&M
7 – Alabama
7 – Mississippi State
7 – Missouri
6 – Arkansas
5 – Kentucky
3 – Auburn
