SEC Football Unfiltered

The SEC’s rivalries are set, at least for the next four years. 
The nine-game conference schedule will preserve most premier rivalries, but there are some notable omissions. Alabama-LSU will not be kept annually. Neither will Florida-Tennessee.
On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams sound off on the SEC’s assignment of annual opponents. They highlight the teams that received the stiffest riv...

Oklahoma is back! OK, so that’s a bit premature, but programs have been declared resurrected based on less evidence.

Seriously, though, when evaluating SEC teams after three weeks, who’s playing better than Oklahoma? Combine the Sooners’ stout defense with cool-handed transfer quarterback John Mateer, and they’re playing like the SEC's most balanced team.

Speaking of good defenses, the way LSU’s is pla...

It’s Billy Napier vs. The Field in the race within the SEC to claim the season’s first buyout check.

Florida’s embattled fourth-year coach coughed up the goodwill he built at the end of last season by losing at home to South Florida in Week 2. Gators fans exited The Swamp chanting for Napier’s firing.

On this edition of “SEC Football Unfiltered,” hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams reset the hot...

The Kalen DeBoer bandwagon has emptied out. It’s been left to rust. The Script A translated to awful in Alabama’s season opener, and if you're left holding stock in DeBoer, it's trading at a 52-week low.

Alabama has about 60 million reasons (aka DeBoer’s buyout) to stay the course with its beleaguered coach. Talk of the hot seat probably remains a wee premature, but there’s no denying this much: There’...

Everyone’s cooking up their final College Football Playoff predictions before the season kicks off, but here on “SEC Football Unfiltered,” we’re serving something unique.

Why not put two heads together to create the ultimate playoff projection?

On today’s episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams team up to create a single bracket. Each host gets to select six teams to create the 12-team field, whi...

College football is back. And its Week 1 lineup of games is as good as ever.

Arch Manning will try to deliver a road victory for No. 1 Texas at No. 2 Ohio State, and No. 9 LSU will aim to assert itself as a contender against No. 6 Clemson, in what will be a pivotal game for Brian Kelly. LSU has never won a season opener under Kelly, who’s entering a pressure-packed season. Hype and pressure surround Manning, too.

On today&rsq...

Auburn will retire Cam Newton's jersey number this season, an honor for a quarterback who delivered one of the greatest individual seasons in college football history, complete with a national championship.

Newton's got company in the conversation for single-season greatness.

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams reminisce about some of the most stellar individual seasons they've witnessed.

Adams dials up the way...

Jon Gruden says he'd "die to coach in the SEC." We must assume he's being hyperbolic, but the former NFL coach sounds serious about wanting to coach again – and wanting to coach in college.

He's not the only former coach with an eye toward new opportunities. Former Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher says he's up for a return to the sideline, too. This projects as an active year for the hot seat, so would either Gruden or Fisher...

The SEC buried the Big Ten in the US LBM Coaches Poll. Fire up the preseason chants of superiority, but that will mean squat come College Football Playoff selection time.

In fact, the SEC's poll takeover could be a sign of a playoff path filled with landmines, while Big Ten frontrunners Ohio State, Penn State, Oregon and Illinois enjoy cleaner routes to the postseason.

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams react ...

Since the College Football Playoff’s inception, Alabama has never gone consecutive seasons without making the field. By missing the playoff last season, the Crimson Tide missed the program’s standard in Kalen DeBoer’s debut. He knows it. Now, Alabama has retooled with effective offseason maneuvering, but is it enough to make the playoff in the face of a tough schedule, with a new starting quarterback?

On today&rsq...

No SEC football coaches were fired a year ago. What's the encore to that? Well, buckle up for a particularly spicy hot seat this season.

Proud programs like Oklahoma, Auburn and Florida starve for success at a level their current coaches haven't proven they can supply. The hot seat doesn't stop there, either.

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams identify their top five SEC coaches on the hot seat. Their lists ea...

It was a matter of time before a media member introduced the rumor that Nick Saban wants to return to coaching. Greg McElroy did the honors this week, saying that someone "in the know" told him that Saban will coach again.

McElroy later denounced the rumor he started. By then, it was too late. The rumor had gained oxygen and made the rounds at SEC media days. Never mind the veracity of this speculation.

On today's episode, hosts Bl...

Auburn’s athletic director says the Tigers are determined to do things "the right way." Never mind that Auburn’s recruiting class ranks last in the SEC. Have patience. Athletic director John Cohen’s words echo the sentiments of coach Hugh Freeze, who admits Auburn's recent approach is "not really to our advantage."

Who cares about rules nowadays? Insisting on doing things "the right way" tends to be the battle cry...

The SEC became the nation’s best conference because of its strength at the line of scrimmage, punishing running backs and perimeter speed. Somewhere along the way, though, this conference began attracting the best quarterback talent, too.

That’s especially reflected this season. The SEC's crop of quarterbacks includes a crowded top tier, resulting in a heated debate about who's the No. 1 man.

On today's episode, host Bl...

The company line within the SEC is that no other conference matches the gauntlet of its conference schedule. Perhaps, but it's also true that no other conference plays as many cupcake games as the SEC.

That's a sticking point for the Big Ten as the conferences try to reach an agreement on a College Football Playoff format for 2026 and beyond. The Big Ten wants the SEC to join it in playing nine conference games. The SEC, so far, ke...

Tennessee’s mid-April quarterback swap damaged the Vols’ chance of making the College Football Playoff, but did the Nico Iamaleava for Joey Aguilar swap make the Vols one of the SEC’s weakest teams? That’s what one preseason publication thinks.

Lindy’s magazine picked Tennessee 11th in the SEC in its conference picks. Might want to take a peek at that schedule, though, before predicting such a freefall...

Several SEC coaches enter this season facing an inflection point in their tenures. That doesn't necessarily mean each of these coaches is on the hot seat (not yet, anyway), but this projects as a defining season for coaches like LSU's Brian Kelly, Florida's Billy Napier and Auburn's Hugh Freeze.

Kelly says he's got his best LSU roster to date. No argument here. Napier's Gators finished last season on a hot streak. Auburn hasn't sho...

Battle lines are forming in the ongoing debate for the College Football Playoff's future format. The Big Ten wants to rig the playoff. The Big 12 and ACC fight against that.

The SEC hangs out in the middle, unsure whether to side with the Big Ten or the other power conferences.

To rig, or not to rig? That is the question.

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams unpack the leading playoff formats under consideration...

The SEC's scheduling debate will renew when the conference's spring meetings begin later this month.

It's that age-old question of whether to stick with eight conference games or bump up to nine.

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams debate the merit of adding a ninth conference game versus sticking with the status quo. Retaining the eight-game format would sacrifice the annual nature of some secondary rivalries,...