SEC Football Unfiltered

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,...

Did Texas just assemble the best team money can buy? Maybe. Alternatively, it spent big for a playoff-caliber roster that will come up short of the national championship game once again, after two straight years bowing out in the semifinals.

This much we know: The Longhorns spent big. Just how big? Well, the Houston Chronicle recently reported that Texas’ budget for its 2025 squad is expected to be in the $35 to $40 million r...

Kirby Smart remains the No. 1 coach in the SEC. Any naysayers, consider the reigning SEC champion. It's Georgia.

When ranking SEC coaches, 1 through 16, the debate becomes lively after Smart, the obvious starting point.

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams reveal their lists, from first to last. 

Auburn's Hugh Freeze becomes the subject of the biggest disagreement among the hosts. 

Adams also goes just...

Tennessee slapped a tire patch in the gaping hole in the rubber of its quarterback situation. UCLA’s disposable goods became the Vols’ prize.

Tennessee is expected to add transfer quarterback Joey Aguilar from UCLA, after the Vols lost starter Nico Iamaleava to none other than UCLA.

In other words, UCLA decided it would rather anoint Iamaleava as its starter than Aguilar, who transferred in December after two seasons st...

Nico Iamaleava reportedly wanted more money from Tennessee. The Vols wouldn’t meet his demands, so, Tennessee’s starting quarterback entered the transfer portal.

Iamaleava now needs a new school to pay him to be its starting quarterback, while Tennessee needs a transfer to stay in the playoff contender column for this season.

This public breakup between a quarterback and a school that had invested so much in him encapsu...

March Madness just does not miss.

This year’s tournament served fewer upsets but made up for it with an epic Final Four. 

The 68-team tournament provided another reminder that this annually stands as one of the best postseason events in all of sports – not just college sports.

In contrast, college football supplies maybe the best regular season in sports, but its postseason often falls flat. Even College Football P...

The nation's best basketball conference supplied half the teams in the Final Four. Bravo, SEC. The SEC lived up to the hype throughout March Madness, taking the Sweet 16, Elite Eight and now Final Four by storm.

Even so, oddsmakers point to Duke as having the best team, and if you've watched the Blue Devils throughout the tournament, you know that's a fair projection.

So, which SEC team is better positioned to upset Duke in the nat...

Cinderella went home before curfew, and true madness never appeared this March. That’s fine by the SEC. The relative lack of chaos in this NCAA Tournament proved good for the conference that qualified the most teams.

The SEC advanced a record seven teams into the Sweet 16, and the conference retains an opportunity to sweep the Final Four spots.

In today’s basketball-themed episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams g...

The SEC has taken March Madness by storm, and the conference enjoys a strong chance for multiple Final Four berths due to its sheer volume of qualifiers and the lofty seeding of several of its teams.

It’s not all that far-fetched to consider the possibility of the SEC claiming every spot in the Final Four. Among the SEC’s top teams, which faces the toughest path to San Antonio? That might be Auburn. The No. 1 overall se...

The conversation of best active coaches without a national championship begins with Gonzaga's Mark Few. You won't get very far down that list, though, before arriving at Auburn's Bruce Pearl and Tennessee's Rick Barnes.

They're career winners. They've been great for their respective universities. Each owns a Final Four appearance. But, they continually come up short of the top prize. This could be the year one of those two coaches ...

We’re doing this again. SEC brass are debating whether to go to a nine-game conference schedule, up from eight, for the 2026 season. The SEC has considered adding a ninth conference game for more than a dozen years but never before made the move.

Commissioner Greg Sankey wants an additional conference game, but some within the league are hesitant, wondering if adding another tough game is worth the risk of a loss that could d...

Pressure’s on the football coaches in the state of Alabama, but for different reasons.

Kalen DeBoer knows the Alabama standard creates a playoff-or-bust mentality. That means his debut season ranks as a bust and ratchets up the pressure on his second season.

At Auburn, the Tigers last tasted a winning season when Gus Malzahn coached the team. Hugh Freeze’s buyout offers insufficient protection. He’ll be in win-or-...

A great annual offseason debate hinges on whether college football would benefit from an overarching commissioner – and whether Nick Saban would be the prime choice for the job, if ever created.

We agree that a college football commissioner could enact some meaningful, widely popular changes within the sport, but we're not ready to cede this responsibility to Saban, who likely would foremost look out for coaches. In fact, we'...

As many as 10 or more SEC football teams might be ranked in the preseason top 25, but the playoff chances of those teams are far from equal.

Take, for instance, Texas and South Carolina. While they might be about 10 spots apart in the rankings, their playoff outlooks are dramatically different. Some SEC teams enjoy schedules built for playoff qualification, while others face doomsday schedules.

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppm...

No SEC quarterback is more proven than Garrett Nussmeier, but if you're building a depth chart, would you go with the LSU quarterback first, or gamble on the upside of Texas' Arch Manning or Florida's DJ Lagway? 

Our annual SEC quarterback draft is back!

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams go head-to-head trying to build the best four-deep roster of SEC quarterbacks.

Adams makes a safe choice with his No. ...

The SEC endured a rough showing this season. Short-term problem? USA TODAY's too-early preseason top 25 suggests as much. The rankings are loaded with SEC teams, but is it too much love?

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams react to the rankings and offer verdicts of overrated, underrated or just right for each SEC team. 

Mostly, they think SEC teams are being overrated, including teams like Alabama and Geo...

Kalen DeBoer needs a quarterback. Now, who's it going to be?

Alabama took a turn for the worse in DeBoer's first season, despite him inheriting a proven starter in Jalen Milroe. The position heads toward an uncertain future. Ominous or opportunity?

On today's episode, Blake Toppmeyer of the USA TODAY Network is joined by Chase Goodbread of the Tuscaloosa News to unpack Alabama's quarterback situation, one of the most interesting po...

Let Arch-a-palooza begin. 

The Quinn Ewers era at Texas sunsets after the Longhorns lost to Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. Arch Manning takes the keys to the Texas engine now, and the hype for Manning leaps off the charts.

But, what are fair expectations for Manning in 2025?

On today's episode, host Blake Toppmeyer of the USA TODAY Network is joined by David Eckert of the Austin American-Statesman as they preview what we shoul...