On3’s Andy Staples and Jesse Simonton pointed out three SEC teams that could join Alabama and Georgia among serious College Football Playoff contenders.
Speaking at SEC Media Days on Andy Staples On3, Ole Miss, Texas and
were the three from the conference to make noise. While Texas was the obvious choice after making the CFP last year, Ole Miss and Tennessee are in prime position to join the big two in the SEC.
They broke it down Wednesday morning, live on the On3 YouTube channel.
Ole Miss to the playoff?
Staples: “They got the best schedule draw. Even though Texas got a good one. I feel like Ole Miss got the best one. Texas also has to go to Michigan, which I think people are discounting, like Michigan still has some of the best players in the country. Yes, they lost a lot. But like, think about when EA Sports released the top 100 player ranking before the game came out, there’s five Michigan players on that list.”
Texas has some challenges as Staples pointed out, like playing Michigan. Ole Miss might have a clearer path to the playoff.
“So that matters when it comes to the playoffs in pure wins and losses. Now granted, those are hopefully going to be judged accurately by the committee. But I think if you have a 10-2 SEC team and a 9-3 SEC team … let’s say Texas lost to Michigan and lost two SEC games, and Ole Miss won their non conference games and went 6-2 in the SEC, I think Ole Miss gets the nod there.”
Texas returns?
Simonton: “I’m going to take Texas for the next pick … Are we sleeping on Quinn Ewers? I’m gonna be really interested to see what he says … Thursday … I just wonder if he’s been kind of lost in the shuffle. You know, in terms of the conversation. I just don’t feel like he’s been in a ton of headlines this offseason. Aside from him saying that like Texas is gonna be you know, the bullseye of everybody’s team”
Texas is a popular pick to get to the SEC Championship Game in a 16-team league this year. If the Longhorns are there, say against Georgia, you’d be hard pressed to not see them in the playoff.
Tennessee finally makes it?
Staples: “I think I got Tennessee next … That did not happen for me today … So it’s not that this is a new sensation for me. I think they were so limited on offense by Joe Milton last year. Nobody’s going to say that out loud. But that is the truth. The middle of the field was completely barren for them. They couldn’t do anything. The read option game, the RPO game was not something they could mess with …
“I think it’ll run the ball fairly well this year because that’s the thing. Nico is going to enhance their run game by being capable of making better read option decisions. And I don’t mean that to say I think Nico’s going to run for 1,000 yards because I don’t, but I think he will pull the ball when he’s supposed to, which will make the defense play them honestly. Which you have to play the run game honestly, they could probably beat you in the throw game easier.”
Nico Iamaleava is the golden goose at quarterback and the former five-star might be the biggest key to return Tennessee to 2022 heights and beyond, i.e. the playoff.
With these three contenders, it’s not inconceivable to see two or all three join Georgia and Alabama in the playoff this year. Now, that presumes the top two make the bracket, but this looks like a loaded SEC, more so than usual, this fall.
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