College Football Unfiltered

Tennessee tumbled from the national top 10 with its loss to Florida, Alabama had a four-quarter tussle on its hands against lowly South Florida, and Georgia needed a second-half rally to beat South Carolina.

The struggle is real for the SEC’s projected frontrunners.

Of the teams the media projected would finish in the top three of each SEC division, only Georgia (3-0) remains undefeated. Oh, and it’s only Week 4.

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams rank their level of concern for Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee, one through 10, with one being “nothing to see here; everything is fine,” and 10 being “sound the alarm!”

They also debate who's responsible for Alabama's offensive struggles, ahead of a pivotal game against Ole Miss.

Later in the episode, some love for Missouri's "thicker kicker," and Week 4 picks against the spread.

 Stay connected on Twitter with Blake (@btoppmeyer) and John (@JohnAdamsKNS) and stay up to date on SEC football news by subscribing to KnoxNews: knoxnews.com/subscribe.

Texas mauled Alabama on Saturday, to the extent that you had to wonder whether this was the final punch on the chin of Nick Saban's fading dynasty. The team with the better quarterback won.

Led by Quinn Ewers, Texas blitzed Alabama in the fourth quarter. Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe threw two critical interceptions. After an offseason of quarterback uncertainty, is a change in order? Would it even matter?

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams examine Alabama's loss to Texas and what impact a quarterback change would have.

Their conclusion: Milroe didn't help Alabama's cause, but he was far from the only issue. Alabama got whipped at the line of scrimmage, its wide receivers couldn't get open and its running backs were pedestrian.

The losing squad in Tuscaloosa didn't resemble a CFP team.

Milroe's running ability is an asset. Without it, Alabama's offense could become more limited. Backup Tyler Buchner might provide a steadier passer, but judging off Saturday, Alabama doesn't possess the wide receivers to take advantage.

Each of the three projected frontrunners in the SEC West – Alabama, LSU and Texas A&M – has a nonconference loss, leaving a slim avenue to the College Football Playoff. With those three in a weakened state, Toppmeyer and Adams discuss whether Ole Miss is a contender or pretender in the West. Also, they offer their Week 3 picks against the spread!

 Stay connected on Twitter with Blake (@btoppmeyer) and John (@JohnAdamsKNS) and stay up to date on SEC football news by subscribing to KnoxNews: knoxnews.com/subscribe.

Remember that meme where a Western Kentucky player looks to a camera during a 2011 game against Kentucky and says, "They supposed to be SEC!" with a delighted grin of mockery?

That line came to mind in Week 1, when three SEC teams went down against ranked opponents.

Utah crushed Florida. North Carolina destroyed South Carolina. Florida State picked apart LSU.

They supposed to be SEC?

The nation's preeminent conference got humbled.

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams unpack the SEC's stumble out of the blocks.

Four ranked SEC teams – Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Texas A&M – dispatched of meek opponents without issue. But, in the marquee games, the SEC fell flat. Which teams have a road to recovery?

Later in the episode, the hosts highlight their Week 1 sizzlers and fizzlers and make their Week 2 picks against the spread.

Stay connected on Twitter with Blake (@btoppmeyer) and John (@JohnAdamsKNS) and stay up to date on SEC football news by subscribing to KnoxNews: knoxnews.com/subscribe.

Who will be Alabama's starting quarterback, and how long will he remain the starter? Will this be the first season since 2018 that no SEC coach is fired? Will anyone test Georgia? And, in the 10th and final season of the four-team College Football Playoff, will the SEC qualify two teams for the third time? 

These are questions on our mind as Week 1 nears kickoff. It's about to get real, starting with Florida's game at Utah on Thursday. South Carolina will clash with North Carolina on Saturday night, and LSU's top-10 showdown with Florida State on Sunday is the game of the week.

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams discuss their most-anticipated games of Week 1, and they engage with several fact-or-fiction prompts for SEC teams this season. 

They finish with some Week 1 picks against the spread.

Stay connected on Twitter with Blake (@btoppmeyer) and John (@JohnAdamsKNS) and stay up to date on SEC football news by subscribing to KnoxNews: knoxnews.com/subscribe.

Prediction season is nearly finished. Games are nearly here. That leaves one last chance for preseason takes – or, in our case, second-guessing predictions.

As kickoff nears, we're changing our opinion of a few teams. We haven't scrapped any predictions at the top of either division, but the middle of the SEC East and the bottom of the SEC West could use re-evaluation.

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams revisit some of their preseason predictions that are giving them second thoughts, ranging from Kentucky to Auburn.

Later in the episode: Three SEC schools recently named starting quarterbacks: Payton Thorne (Auburn), Graham Mertz (Florida) and Carson Beck (Georgia). The hosts debate which member of that trio is least likely to finish the season as the starter. Plus, does Hugh Freeze or Zach Arnett face more pressure in Year 1?

Stay connected on Twitter with Blake (@btoppmeyer) Adam (@AdamSparks) Mike (@ByMikeWilson) and John (@JohnAdamsKNS) and stay up to date on Vols sports news by following @GoVolsXtra. 

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Voters in college football's two major polls agree: Georgia, Alabama, LSU and Tennessee are the SEC's top teams entering the season. That's two teams per division.

Outside of that quartet, who are the SEC's party-wreckers? We're talking teams that can finish better than their division projection, spring a couple of upsets and maybe even spoil the College Football Playoff hopes of a preseason frontrunner.

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams examine the credentials of four potential disruptors in the SEC. Then, they poke holes in each of these teams' chances of playing spoiler.

Teams highlighted as potential party crashers include Ole Miss, Kentucky, Texas A&M and Missouri.

Later in the episode, Toppmeyer's SEC quarterback rankings go under review, with Adams thinking one SEC East quarterback, in particular, got snubbed. Plus, what's got Nick Saban smiling so much this preseason?

Stay connected on Twitter with Blake (@btoppmeyer) and John (@JohnAdamsKNS) and stay up to date on SEC football news by subscribing to KnoxNews: knoxnews.com/subscribe.

The Big Ten can compete with the SEC on the financial ledger, and the conference will span from coast to coast after the arrival of four Pac-12 teams. But, the SEC isn't in danger of getting passed on the playing field – not yet, anyway.

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams discuss what the Big Ten’s additions (and the Pac-12’s demise) mean for the SEC and whether the SEC needs to craft a rebuttal expansion.

Their verdict: While the SEC would have preferred for the Pac-12 to survive , these Big Ten maneuvers do not threaten the SEC's supremacy.

Throughout the CFP's nine years, the Pac-12 only supplied two playoff qualifiers. So, the B1G raid of the West Coast does not reorder college football's conference pecking order.

However, fissures are forming in the ACC, while Florida State barks in dissent of the conference’s media rights deal, which pales in financial comparison to the Big Ten and SEC deals.

What if fissures become fractures?

Unlike the Pac-12, the ACC has produced three national champions in the past 10 seasons (Clemson twice and FSU once). The Big Ten snapping up either of those programs would be a coup.
The SEC must stay vigilant and be ready to act if ACC schools are determined to break out of the conference’s sticky grant of rights.

Stay connected on Twitter with Blake (@btoppmeyer) and John (@JohnAdamsKNS) and stay up to date on SEC football news by subscribing to KnoxNews: knoxnews.com/subscribe.

The Big 12 looked in dire straights two years ago after the SEC’s heist of Oklahoma and Texas. The conference endured, and it’s enjoying a renaissance. Colorado became the Big 12's latest seizure.

We’re so intrigued by this alignment of Big 12 programs, we’re eyeing a four-team swap with the SEC.

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams engage in a thought exercise: If the SEC was required to swap four teams in an exchange with the Big 12, which quartet should it say farewell to, and which four teams should it desire in return?

Some choices may seem obvious, but we're thinking outside the box with a couple of selections.

Later in the episode, Toppmeyer unveils his SEC coach power rankings, where Kirby Smart claimed the No. 1 spot. The debate heats up from there.

Stay connected on Twitter with Blake (@btoppmeyer) and John (@JohnAdamsKNS) and stay up to date on SEC football news by subscribing to KnoxNews: knoxnews.com/subscribe.

Five credentialed media members think Vanderbilt will win the SEC Championship. Now that's a hot take. 

We can't match that boldness – or, is lunacy a better word? – but we do have a few against-the-grain SEC football predictions. Call them lukewarm preseason takes.

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams offer their predictions that swim upstream against the votes cast at last week's SEC Media Days.

From the last-place debate in the SEC West to the SEC East's sleeper team to a quarterback being overlooked, we've got thoughts that don't subscribe to group-think.

Later in the episode, an unpacking of Nick Saban's unusual philosophy on expectations creating disappointment, and Lane Kiffin swaps Portal King for Irony King.

Stay connected on Twitter with Blake (@btoppmeyer) and John (@JohnAdamsKNS) and stay up to date on SEC football news by subscribing to KnoxNews: knoxnews.com/subscribe.

Phillip Fulmer didn't want to fire Jeremy Pruitt after the 2020 season, but if that's the direction Tennessee chose, Fulmer had a plan to replace the embattled coach.

Fulmer was UT's athletics director at the time, and he drafted a list of 16 possible candidates. Fulmer's list of names ranged from the unimaginative to the unqualified to the unreal. (One of Fulmer's listed names, Alex French, is not a football coach.)

However, his list also featured a few possibilities that other SEC schools would soon target: Shane Beamer, Billy Napier and Hugh Freeze.

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams review the brazen and sloppy NCAA rule-breaking that toppled Pruitt's tenure and recently landed him a six-year show-cause penalty. Additionally, they dive into Fulmer's list of potential candidates and debate who might have been a fit for the Vols, if Fulmer had been allowed to hire Pruitt's replacement.
Later in the episode, they propose some dream nonconference matchups involving Big 12 opponents, and they debate whether Georgia's tumultuous offseason will affect its on-field product.

Stay connected on Twitter with Blake (@btoppmeyer) and John (@JohnAdamsKNS) and stay up to date on SEC football news by subscribing to KnoxNews: knoxnews.com/subscribe.