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.

After a banner year for LSU athletics, is Brian Kelly's football program next in line for a national championship? Hang on just a second.

Kelly, in a recent interview with the USA TODAY Network, identified 2024 as the season his Tigers should be expected to seriously contend for a national championship. Nonetheless, hype builds for Kelly's second season after the Tigers won the SEC West in his debut.

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams dissect Kelly's comments and what they might mean.

Kelly might simply be trying to downplay expectations and pressures facing his team this season. However, there's reason to think LSU is, in fact, still a year away from national championship contention, and LSU's history suggests Year 3 is a realistic timeline.

Later in the episode, a preview of the coaches who might stand out at SEC Media Days; plus, why the media is likely to pick Alabama to win the SEC West.

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 SEC is one year away from hosting something of a Big 12 reunion, but don’t expect Missouri and Texas A&M to offer any welcoming hugs for their old conference rivals, Oklahoma and Texas.

The Longhorns were a polarizing presence in the Big 12, and their actions more than a decade ago (along with Oklahoma's maneuvers, to a lesser extent), contributed to Missouri and A&M leaving the conference in favor of the SEC.

On today's episode, host Blake Toppmeyer is joined by PowerMizzou.com’s Gabe DeArmond to assess what OU and Texas’ SEC arrival will mean for Texas A&M and Missouri. DeArmond explains why feelings from the Missouri and Aggies side of the aisle remain frosty toward Texas and Oklahoma.

Later in the episode, the Clarion Ledger's Stefan Krajisnik joins to assess what he saw from SEC quarterbacks at the Manning Passing Academy. Two quarterbacks, in particular, caught his eye, both from SEC East teams.

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.

This season marks the 10th and final year of the four-team College Football Playoff, a format the SEC has dominated.

Alabama, Georgia and LSU combined for six national championships during the past nine years. But those three teams are also the only three SEC teams to qualify for the playoff. Although Tennessee, Florida and Auburn won at least one BCS national championship, they’ve been shut out of the CFP.

Insert the 12-team playoff, which will debut in 2024 and will offer a broader playoff opening for many programs.
On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams debate how the larger playoff will affect the postseason prospects for programs that never made the four-team format.

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.

After the SEC went to a division structure in 1992, it made efforts to preserve longtime rivalries like Alabama-Tennessee and Auburn-Georgia on an annual basis via interdivision pairings.

But this season is the final year for divisions, and eliminating divisions makes certain secondary and tertiary rivalries more of a challenge to preserve – especially if the SEC sticks with an eight-game conference schedule beyond 2024.

Would it be some travesty if the Third Saturday in October or the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry were played only twice in a four-year span, rather than every fall?

Depends who you ask.

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams address the potential pluses and minuses from the elimination of divisions.

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 SEC endured criticism after sticking with an eight-game conference schedule for 2024, even after the conference grows to 16 teams. Other conferences like the Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 play nine conference games.

Dissent from the peanut gallery can be ignored, but blowback from the College Football Playoff selection committee would be a stinging rebuke with real consequences.

The CFP will expand to 12 teams in 2024, and the playoff selection committee will determine six at-large bids. While it’s not apparent how much strength of schedule will factor into those debates, the SEC would seem to be leaving itself vulnerable to rejection in instances of similar resumes, because its members will play a fewer conference games than many Power Five peers.

On today’s episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams discuss why the SEC decided to stick with an eight-game conference schedule and the ramifications of that decision.

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.

Certain ACC members are unsatisfied with the conference’s third-fiddle media rights distribution and have examined the conference’s media rights agreement to explore available options.

With schools like Clemson and Florida State exhibiting a wandering eye, there can be only two conferences on their dream destination list: the SEC or the Big Ten.

On today’s episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams highlight four ACC schools that should interest the SEC for further expansion, if those ACC schools somehow find a way out of the conference’s media rights deal that runs through 2036.

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.

Two-time defending national champion Georgia is ranked No. 1 in USA TODAY's post-spring preseason Top 25. No surprise there, right?

But, where's the love for LSU? The Tigers don't appear in these rankings until No. 15. That's too low for a team with College Football Playoff potential.

Four SEC teams are ranked in USA TODAY's rankings.

On today's episode, Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams react to their colleagues' latest rankings.

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.

Alabama’s newest addition to its quarterback competition threw for just 44 yards in Notre Dame’s spring game, so who says the grass is greener from the Irish side?

The Crimson Tide increased the candidates in its hotly debated starting quarterback battle by adding Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner last week, but that shouldn’t eliminate Jalen Milroe’s candidacy or even catapult Buchner to the top of the heap.

On today's episode, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams re-examine Alabama’s quarterback competition and explain why they still favor Milroe to win the job over Buchner or Ty Simpson.

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.