Why Tennessee football, Alabama, Georgia headline overrated SEC teams for 2025

The SEC endured a rough showing this season. Short-term problem? USA TODAY’s too-early preseason top 25 suggests as much.

The rankings are loaded with SEC teams, but is it too much love for a conference that failed to advance a team to the national championshp game for a second consecutive season? Several of the SEC’s top brands (think Alabama, Georgia and Texas) undergo a quarterback transition this offseason.

On this edition of “SEC Football Unfiltered,” a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams react to the rankings and offer verdicts of overrated, underrated or just right for each SEC team.

Mostly, the hosts think SEC teams are being overrated, including two of the SEC’s three playoff qualifiers from this season. But, they’re especially bullish on a couple of SEC teams, and they identify two SEC teams that the rankings snubbed.

Here’s how they see it:

TOPPMEYER: D’s and an F outnumber the A’s in my SEC football coaching grades

ADAMS: A sports columnist’s heroic march up 50 stairs to his media seat

Texas

USA TODAY too-early ranking: No. 2

Toppmeyer: Just right.

Adams: Just right.

Consider: Every indicator suggests Arch Manning is the real deal. The Longhorns bid farewell to a lot of starters, but they return defensive linchpins Anthony Hill and Michael Taaffe, and talent keeps flowing into Austin, courtesy of a No. 1-ranked recruiting class.

Alabama

USA TODAY too-early ranking: No. 3

Toppmeyer: Overrated.

Adams: Way overrated.

Consider: A No. 3 ranking awards too much belief in Alabama’s unproven collection of quarterbacks flourishing against a tough schedule.

Georgia

USA TODAY too-early ranking: No. 5

Toppmeyer: Overrated.

Adams: Overrated.

Consider: Georgia’s heir at starting quarterback, Gunner Stockton, will work behind a new offensive line, and the defense undergoes a massive personnel…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/why-tennessee-football-alabama-georgia-171729088.html

Author : Knox News | The Knoxville News-Sentinel

Publish date : 2025-01-30 17:17:00

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