New College Football Rankings Reveal The No. 1 RB In The SEC
The SEC always has elite running backs, but heading into 2026, the Missouri Tigers' Ahmad Hardy is sitting alone at the top.
He joined the Tigers from the Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks ahead of the 2025 season after rushing for 1,351 yards and 13 touchdowns as a true freshman. The 20-year-old Mississippi native continued his solid showing in his sophomore year as well. He carried the ball 256 times for 1,649 yards and 16 touchdowns, averaging 6.4 yards per carry.
He finished the year second in the country in rushing yards and led the nation with 1,186 yards after contact. Those dominating stats made him one of the three Doak Walker Award finalists and a consensus first-team All-American.
Analysts across the board have Hardy at the top of their lists. SEC Country ranked him No. 1 because he was the conference's most productive runner last year and is returning for 2026.
The rest of the top five include players like Kewan Lacy from the Ole Miss Rebels at No. 2 and the Florida Gators' Jadan Baugh at No. 3. The Tennessee Volunteers' DeSean Bishop and Georgia Bulldogs' Nate Frazier were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Hardy's production was on point throughout the season, although Missouri finished 8-5 overall. The Sisyphean part? All eight wins came against teams that finished with losing records, while the Tigers went 0-5 against teams with winning records.
Their offense struggled after injuries to quarterback Sam Horn and kicker Blake Craig early in the season. This forced the team to rely heavily on Hardy despite opposing defenses loading the box.
However, a few Missouri fans argued that even Hardy's backup, Jamal Roberts, finishing with 753 rushing yards and six touchdowns in 2025, deserved a ranking of his own. He ranked in the top five in the SEC after scoring 6.1 yards per carry.
Head coach Eli Drinkwitz has publicly called Roberts one of the best backs in the country in his own right, and if both return healthy, Mizzou will run out the deepest backfield in the SEC.
So, expectations around Hardy Heidin into 2026 are now even higher following the ranking. And not to mention, Drinkwitz is aiming for a playoff spot with Hardy as the focal point of the offense.
And to help Missouri, he brought in transfer quarterback Austin Simmons from Ole Miss. Simmons is a former pitcher with the arm strength to fix the passing struggles that held the team back last season.
Analysts think the combination of Simmons' arm and Hardy's running will be difficult for defenses to plan for. And if everything goes according to plan, then it remains to be seen whether Hardy can play his way into the Heisman finalist conversation.
Related: LSU's Lane Kiffin Announces QB Sam Leavitt Injury Update
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This story was originally published April 14, 2026 at 8:08 PM.