College Football Unfiltered

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 starting for Appalachian State. That caused Aguilar to re-evaluate his options. The best opportunity available just so happened to be at Tennessee. He’ll compete with a pair of young in-house options for the starting job.

On today’s episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams assign the winners and losers of this whole saga, and they pinpoint where Vols coach Josh Heupel flawed in his execution. Iamaleava’s missteps were numerous and obvious, but Heupel’s handling of the situation was not flawless. They also identify the favorite in Tennessee’s starting quarterback competition.

Later in the episode, they examine Oklahoma’s case for being a College Football Playoff sleeper on the heels of the Sooners’ marquee transfer acquisitions.

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 encapsulates the college football zeitgeist, as the April free agency period heats up. But, are there any winners in this situation?

On today’s episode, host Blake Toppmeyer of the USA TODAY Network is joined by GoVols247 senior writer Wes Rucker as they unpack how the Iamaleava-Tennessee union unraveled, and where each goes from here.

Iamaleava remains a talented quarterback with upside, but he would have enjoyed a hotter market for his talents if he had transferred in December.

Tennessee’s outlook becomes cloudy. A lot of starting quarterbacks might be wary of leaving their current situation, to have to learn a new offense with a new team in a short time period. Still, Vols coach Josh Heupel says his team will pursue a transfer. If they land a good one, the new arrival could polish Tennessee’s playoff prospects.

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 Playoff expansion didn’t totally solve the lackluster postseason finish.

Can college football’s postseason ever match the drama of March Madness?

That’s up for debate on today's episode. Hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams argue that while college football will maintain an advantage on college basketball’s regular season, it’s unlikely to ever produce a postseason that mimics the March Madness thrills.

Also in this episode, the hosts grade this March Madness, and each host offers the moment he won't forget from this year's tournament.

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 national championship, if it comes to that? Auburn, or Florida?

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams assess the Final Four and make their final predictions. They agree that Florida would be slightly better positioned than Auburn to tackle Duke. Neither host picks Duke to win the national championship.

Later in the episode, they dissect another Tennessee tournament run that ended before the Final Four. Have the Vols hit their ceiling under Rick Barnes?

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 grade the SEC’s performance so far, and they project the winner of each region, plus refresh their national championship picks.

Toppmeyer offers a theory as to why Cinderellas took a downturn this season, and the hosts debate whether Arkansas or Kentucky won the coaching carousel last spring.

Finally, they revisit their initial Final Four picks and decide whether to buy or sell those holdings.

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 seed received a brutal bracket draw.

On today’s episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams offer their bracket breakdown, including spotlighting a few SEC teams that might be in danger of suffering an early upset.

They also provide their Final Four picks. Adams picks a championship game featuring two SEC teams, while Toppmeyer only puts one SEC team in his Final Four, with a Big 12 team capturing the championship.

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 gets off that list.

On today's basketball-themed episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams reveal their Mount Rushmore of best active coaches without a national championship.

They also make their picks to win this week's SEC Tournament. Neither host picks a sleeper team, but they disagree on which favorite will win the conference crown in Nashville.

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 damage postseason hopes.

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams go inside the debate and offer the upsides and downsides of an additional conference game.

Toppmeyer offers a bold scheduling idea that involves the SEC staying at eight conference games.

Later in the episode, a ranking of the SEC's top four national championship contenders in men's basketball.

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-be-fired mode in his third season on the Plains.

On today’s episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams debate which of the two coaches in the Iron Bowl rivalry faces more pressure, with the hosts offering diverging opinions. Toppmeyer has questions about each team’s quarterback situation, while Adams believes in Auburn transfer Jackson Arnold, but he’s not sold on Alabama’s trigger man.

Earlier in the episode, the hosts examine the SEC’s basketball uprising, highlighted by Auburn, Florida, Alabama and Tennessee. Toppmeyer lists two of those four among his favorites to win the national championship.

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're ready to accept the job ourselves.

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams share the role of college football commissioner, enacting sweeping change that includes forcing Notre Dame into a conference, expanding the College Football Playoff but stripping away automatic bids and restoring some old rivalries.