College Football Unfiltered

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 playing has Brian Kelly fired up – especially at reporters looking to throw stones at his team’s 3-0 start.

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams each rank their five-best teams in the SEC.

It’s a difficult exercise. More than half the conference remains undefeated, and Tennessee showed a punch despite losing in overtime to Georgia.

Later in the episode, an examination of just how dire the quarterback situation is at Texas with Arch Manning.

Finally, Week 4 picks against the spread!

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 seat sweepstakes. Napier climbs to No. 1 on their SEC hot seat list.

Later in the episode, the hosts debate Oklahoma's playoff stock after a win against Michigan, and they weigh in on Arch Manning's latest performance and Steve Sarkisian's comments about media members on the toilet.

Also, Week 3 picks against the spread!

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’s trouble in Tuscaloosa.

DeBoer is swimming upstream against a strong current after Alabama got whipped by Florida State.

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams discuss whether this result puts DeBoer on the hot seat. They’re dumping the idea of Alabama making the playoff, while increasing their stock in two SEC teams that showed promise for a higher-than-expected ceiling.

Also, the hosts react to Arch Manning’s lackluster performance in Texas’ loss to Ohio State, and Adams stumps for a certain SEC team to be ranked No. 1 in the polls. Toppmeyer offers an underrated SEC road trip destination.

Finally, Week 2 picks against the spread!

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, while adhering to the playoff parameters that five conferences must be represented.

The selections begin in a chalky manner, before Toppmeyer surprises Adams with one of his ACC selections. Then, Adams leaves Toppmeyer speechless with his sleeper pick from the Big Ten.

Later in the episode, they make their Week 1 picks against the spread.

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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’s episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams debate whether Manning or Kelly faces more pressure in Week 1. The alarmists will be ready to pounce. In reality, either Manning or Kelly can recover from an opening loss, but Manning struggling or LSU losing would lay groundwork ripe for hot takes and overreaction.

Later in the episode, the hosts react to the SEC’s decision to add a ninth conference game beginning in 2026 and discuss why this decision helps the SEC in more ways than one, and why it might spur a scheduling change inside the Big Ten, too.

For more from Toppmeyer and Adams, sign up for the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered free to your email inbox.

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 wayback machine with memories of Archie Manning, Herschel Walker and Barry Sanders. Toppmeyer highlights seasons supplied by Newton, Tim Tebow, Johnny Manziel and Joe Burrow.

With hype for Texas quarterback Arch Manning at a crescendo, can he produce on par with some of those past greats? Adams knows this: He'd rather have Manning starting in Texas' season opener against Ohio State than Quinn Ewers.

Later in the episode, the hosts weigh in on Joey Aguilar winning Tennessee's starting quarterback job and what that means for the Vols.

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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 be a worthwhile consideration for an SEC athletic director?

That debate takes center stage on today's episode, featuring hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams. Their verdict: Neither Gruden nor Fisher would seem particularly appealing within the SEC, although Toppmeyer offers one SEC school that might make some sense, depending on its level of desperation.

Of the two possibilities, the hosts agree Gruden offers more intrigue than Fisher, who received everything a coach could want with the Aggies and couldn't make it work. Gruden would be the ultimate wild card.

Later in the episode, the hosts weigh in on Alabama naming Ty Simpson its starting quarterback and what that means for Kalen DeBoer's second season.

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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 to the SEC's poll blitz and explain why this should be viewed cautiously for the conference's playoff contenders.

They also point to two overrated SEC teams, plus an unranked team that they'd place in the top 25. And they explain why one Big Ten team faces just as much pressure to produce a championship as No. 1 Texas.

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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’s episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams engage in a fact-or-fiction debate regarding several possible scenarios this season, such as whether Alabama will make the playoff, and whether Arch Manning will win the Heisman Trophy.

They also rate the top six games involving SEC teams in Week 1. And they weigh in on the fizzled bromance between the SEC and Big Ten.

For more from Toppmeyer and Adams, sign up for the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered free to your email inbox.

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 each feature the same quintet of coaches, although they differ on the ordering.

At the top of the list, though, they agree on the coach sitting on the SEC's hottest seat. That's Sam Pittman of Arkansas. And the firings realistically could begin as soon as October.