The SEC has produced 10 playoff qualifiers in eight years, and an SEC team claimed the national championship in five of those seasons, including three in a row.

Nonetheless, multiple SEC schools would have benefited if the playoff had expanded to a 12-team format that included six at-large bids.

On this edition of "SEC Football Unfiltered," a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams offer their SEC teams most negatively affected by the playoff remaining at four 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.

Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss and Texas are the frontrunners for the commitment of quarterback Arch Manning, a five-star recruit in the 2023 recruiting class from Isidore Newman in New Orleans. He's the nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning, Archie's grandson and Cooper's son.

But within that quartet, two tiers might be emerging.

On this edition of "SEC Football Unfiltered," a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams examine Manning's recruitment and which schools might be best positioned to land his commitment.

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.

Bryan Harsin remains Auburn's coach, but his future remains in question amid a university review into a coach who hasn't even been on the job for 14 months.

February wouldn't be an ideal time to fire a coach, but that doesn't mean there wouldn't be any interest in the job. Is Auburn a "Prime" opportunity?

On this edition of "SEC Football Unfiltered," a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams suggest that Jackson State coach Deion Sanders would make for an intriguing candidate if Auburn fires Harsin.

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.

SEC football coaches can move from the penthouse to the outhouse at rapid speed.

Just look at the 2021 season: LSU fired Ed Orgeron not even two years after he led the Tigers to a national championship, and Florida fired Dan Mullen one year after the Gators won the SEC East.

That makes 14 SEC coaches fired in the past five seasons. Every school has fired at least one coach during that span except for Alabama, Georgia and Kentucky.

On this edition of "SEC Football Unfiltered," a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams rank the 14 fired SEC coaches from the past five seasons, from best to worst.

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.

Ole Miss football had a relatively quiet December signing period, compared to many of its SEC peers.

The Rebels signed 17 players, 13 of whom are three-star prospects. Their 2022 recruiting class ranks 10th in the SEC.

Other SEC programs highlight 247Sports' transfer top 10, too. LSU is No. 2, South Carolina is No. 5, Arkansas is No. 6 and Florida is No. 10.

On this edition of "SEC Football Unfiltered," a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams debate whether a program is better off signing a full class of high school prospects or reining in its signing class in favor of adding a slew of transfers.

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.

When Georgia beat Alabama 33-18 on Jan. 10, the Bulldogs became the fifth SEC team to win a national championship during this millennium, joining Alabama, Auburn, Florida and LSU.

Georgia had not won a national championship since 1980.

On this edition of "SEC Football Unfiltered," a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams debate which SEC team will be the next to end a national championship drought.

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 has never finished a season outside of the top 10 in the AP poll since the 2007 season, Saban's first year on the job.

Now that Georgia has won its first national championship since the 1980 season with a 33-18 triumph over Alabama on Monday in Indianapolis, we're set to learn whether the Bulldogs have longevity.

On this edition of "SEC Football Unfiltered" a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams outline why Georgia's staying power under Kirby Smart will be more similar to Alabama's under Saban than LSU's under Orgeron. 

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.

Throughout the eight years the College Football Playoff has been in place, 12 of the 16 semifinal games have been decided by more than 14 points.

That included both semifinal games this season. 

No. 1 Alabama defeated No. 4 Cincinnati 27-6 in the Cotton Bowl before No. 3 Georgia thumped No. 2 Michigan 34-11 in the Orange Bowl.

Some pundits think expanding the playoff would create closer games and more varied outcomes.

On this edition of "SEC Football Unfiltered," a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams examine the case for an expanded playoff and whether it would generate more compelling games and create more parity within a sport that has become dominated by a handful of teams, led by Alabama.

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.

No shortage of quality college football jobs came open during this year's coaching carousel.

LSU ranks among the top five jobs in the sport. It came open. So did another marquee SEC job: Florida.

On this edition of "SEC Football Unfiltered," a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams rank the hires for these six high-profile jobs.

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.

College football coaches predicted that loosening transfer restrictions on athletes would yield a free agency-like system, and that's come to fruition after the NCAA changed the rules last spring to grant immediate eligibility to all first-time transfers.

The transfer portal is bursting at the seams, and it's not just full of bums and project players. Already, former Oklahoma starting quarterback Spencer Rattler has transferred to South Carolina.

Also in the portal are former SEC starting quarterbacks Bo Nix of Auburn, Max Johnson of LSU and Zach Calzada of Texas A&M. Each of those three players will be immediately eligible at his next school, whether that's a destination inside or outside the SEC.

On this edition of "SEC Football Unfiltered," a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams suggest SEC landing spots for these transferring quarterbacks. 

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.