The SEC is home to some of the best college towns in the country. Well, at least some of them can be considered towns. Some SEC schools, like Vanderbilt and Texas, are really located in major cities. The sweet spot for SEC college towns appears to be between a population 100,000 and 150,000. Half of the SEC's 16 schools land in this zone. This size is perfect and is big enough to host major events, but still small enough to have a true college town feel. There's nothing wrong with a big or small college town either. Below we rank all 16 SEC college towns from biggest (Austin, Texas) to smallest (Starkville, Mississippi). All population data is from the U.S. Census and is estimated for July 1, 2025.Ranking SEC college towns largest to smallest population1. Austin, TexasSchool: University of TexasPopulation: 1,002,632Student enrollment: 55,0002. Nashville, TennesseeSchool: Vanderbilt UniversityPopulation: 721,074 (Nashville-Davidson metropolitan government)Student enrollment: 13,6703. Lexington, KentuckySchool: University of KentuckyPopulation: 329,751 (for Lexington-Fayette urban county)Student enrollment: 38,7194. Baton Rouge, LouisianaSchool: Louisiana State UniversityPopulation: 222,795Student enrollment: 39,6725. Knoxville, TennesseeSchool: University of TennesseePopulation: 202,021Student enrollment: 40,4216. Gainesville, FloridaSchool: University of FloridaPopulation: 148,671Student enrollment: 61,8907. Columbia, South CarolinaSchool: University of South CarolinaPopulation: 147,035Student enrollment: 40,3348. Norman, OklahomaSchool: University of OklahomaPopulation: 130,943Student enrollment: 36,5109. Columbia, MissouriSchool: University of MissouriPopulation: 130,851Student enrollment: 32,10510. Athens, GeorgiaSchool: University of GeorgiaPopulation: 128,612 (for Athens-Clarke County unified government)Student enrollment: 43,88811. College Station, TexasSchool: Texas A&M UniversityPopulation: 127,472Student enrollment: 81,31412. Tuscaloosa, AlabamaSchool: University of AlabamaPopulation: 114,316Student enrollment: 42,36013. Fayetteville, ArkansasSchool: University of ArkansasPopulation: 106,623Student enrollment: 34,16114. Auburn, AlabamaSchool: Auburn UniversityPopulation: 85,113Student enrollment: 35,17215. Oxford, MississippiSchool: University of MississippiPopulation: 26,773Student enrollment: 25,22216. Starkville, MississippiSchool: Mississippi State UniversityPopulation: 25,754Student enrollment: 23,563Follow UGA Wire on Instagram, Facebook, X, or Threads for more Georgia coverage!This article originally appeared on UGA Wire: Ranking SEC college towns by population from largest to smallest