10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 10 in the SEC
By Chris Wright
Published:
Curt Cignetti, you sly dog.
Another week, another coach fired. Who’s next? When will the madness end? I mean, LSU fired a coach whose only crime this year was losing to teams currently ranked No. 3, No. 7 and No. 9. What?
The entire college football universe has gone mad chasing what you’ve created in Bloomington, Basketball, Indiana.
Well, not quite everybody. Jeremiah Smith and Ole Miss looked pretty darned good again. Texas and Georgia looked good enough. Hugh Freeze, Vanderbilt’s mojo, Miami and Scott Woodward’s reputation? Not so much.
Those are just some of the 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 10 in and around the SEC.
10. Will the real Georgia please show up?
One week, the Dawgs are done.
The next week, Gunner Stockton looks like he’ll become the first SEC QB to sweep the Heisman, SEC title and national title.
Saturday in the Cocktail Party?
Eh, … they won? Considering 3 top-10 teams lost Saturday, that’s something, but I give up trying to figure out who Georgia is, exactly. Other than the most resilient team in America.
Down again, the Dawgs rallied again — winning their 4th game this season in which they trailed in the second half.
Only Alabama has been able to cage them and keep them down.
Tennessee couldn’t. Auburn couldn’t. Ole Miss couldn’t. And Florida couldn’t Saturday, despite an inspired effort and improved play-calling in the wake of Billy Napier‘s firing.
Stockton didn’t do a lot Saturday, but he did enough. He threw 2 TD passes, but his best play might have been the late adjustment he made that set up Chauncy Bowens’ go-ahead 36-yard touchdown run in the final minutes.
The Dawgs still have to play Texas in Week 12 and Georgia Tech in the regular-season finale.
They’re good enough to win both, but inconsistent enough to slip up at least once and put their Playoff fate in the committee’s hands.
It’s never wise to doubt the Dawgs, but I’m betting on the latter.
9. The SEC replay system is broken. The fix is obvious
This was a catch — potentially a game-changing catch, which means potentially a season-changing catch … and that’s not even the point.
The point is: We have no idea — only conspiracy theories — about how the SEC replay booth came to this decision that this wasn’t a catch.
Why are we still doing this?
There were 3 potentially game-changing reviews in the Cocktail Party and we’re just yelling at the TV hoping that everything is on the up and up.
Greg Sankey, please: With 1 email, you could erase every pretense that anything could be awry and make the replay review process public already.
It’s not like you’d be setting precedent. The ACC already does this. And they barely play football!
The SEC has to follow the ACC’s lead and let everybody in on the review, every word, every angle, every decision.
Half of the folks still will disagree with the decision, because, fandom, but at least we’ll all know why those dang refs still can’t get it right.
8. Well, Vandy, it was a great run …
Vanderbilt has 3 wins this season over teams ranked No. 10, No. 11 and No. 15 at kickoff.
There won’t be 7 at-large Playoff teams with more wins over ranked teams. Heck, there won’t be any at-large teams from the Big Ten … or ACC … or Big 12 that have 3 regular-season wins over ranked teams. Playoff hopeful Notre Dame will end the regular season 1-2 vs. the Top 25.
The ‘Dores have a Playoff-worthy resume.
None of that will matter now.
Not after the Commodores suffered their second loss Saturday — albeit at another ranked team. Vandy trailed Texas 34-10 but finished with a furious, 21-point 4th quarter to pull within 34-31. The ‘Dores nearly capped the comeback with an onside kick recovery that would have given them a chance to force OT. Unfortunately, those details won’t matter.
That’s too bad.
Give Vandy Indiana’s schedule, and we’re not having this conversation. The ‘Dores would have rolled to an 11-1 regular season and be considered a Playoff lock.
The expanded Playoff has enabled contenders stay in the race, but it hasn’t completely solved the unbalanced schedule situation. I think 16 teams is a fair, responsible number that we’ll eventually get to, but that won’t help Diego Pavia and this Vandy team unless the Playoff committee actually does select 5 SEC teams this season.
The SEC was always going to eat its own, and Saturday, Vanderbilt paid the price.
The grind is real. It was a heck of a run. Thanks for the memories, Vandy.
Long live King Pavia.
You’re a Playoff team in my book.
7. Y’all know what Curt Cignetti is doing can’t be replicated, right?
By the time you read this Sunday (and thank you for reading, by the way), another Power 4 conference coach might have lost his job. (Hugh Freeze is next. What was that? The only thing you are “close” to is a buyout. UPDATE! Auburn did, in fact, fire Freeze on Sunday. Don’t blame me. I didn’t go 6-16 in the SEC. Shane Beamer is on stand-by. And if you’re a Michigan Man, there is no way you’re excited about Sherrone Moore returning in 2026.)
The 2025 cycle has been absolutely insane and recklessly expensive.
After Indiana started 6-0 last year, I started writing that Curt Cignetti was going to get a lot of coaches fired because boosters were going to start asking their athletic director: How can this guy walk into a program that was 200 games under .500 and have them in the Playoff mix in 6 months … and we can’t?
I never anticipated this, though.
This surpassed fiscally irresponsible 5 coaches ago. This is unsustainable and nonsensical.
In the past 12 months alone — Halloween to Halloween — 15 Power 4 coaches have been fired. Last Sunday, Brian Kelly became the 3rd SEC coach fired during the 2025 season. The buyout total for those 3 SEC coaches alone is nearly $80 million. Overall, the buyout total is approximately $160 million — and yet schools want to eliminate Olympic sports because of funding.
It’s time to pump the brakes, take a step back and understand, while, yes, it’s absolutely amusing that Curt Cignetti has replaced Nick Saban as the ultimate coach killer, what Cignetti has accomplished in 18 months at Indiana isn’t a plug-and-play model that can be replicated everywhere else. Maybe not anywhere else.
This was the perfect storm of a coach walking into a program with zero expectations, next-to-no national media noise, being given carte blanche to build it however he wants through new rules and then reaping the benefits against one of the softest schedules in the country.
I’m not discrediting anything Cignetti has done, but I’m also not interested in listening to folks try to explain that he would have the same record if he played Florida’s schedule, or Oklahoma’s schedule or LSU’s schedule. Or that B1G football, top to bottom, is on the same level as SEC football. All of that is nonsense.
I am no Brian Kelly apologist, but in the past 2 1/2 seasons, the man’s only losses were to teams ranked at kickoff: No. 8, No. 20, No. 8, No. 23, No. 14, No. 11, unranked, No. 13, No. 17 and, finally, No. 3. (Those final 3 teams are now ranked No. 3, No. 7 and No. 9.) He also beat teams ranked No. 4, No. 9, No. 21. In Year 1, he beat teams ranked No. 7 and No. 6.
To date, in 2 seasons, Cignetti’s Hoosiers have played just 4 games against ranked opponents — they were 0-2 against those teams last year. They are 2-0 this year, with 1 of those wins coming against an overrated and now-unranked Illinois team that just lost for the 3rd time.
Indiana blew out hapless Maryland on Saturday to move to 9-0. With nothing but pastry items left before the Big Ten Championship Game, Cignetti will end the regular season with just 1 win in 2 years against a ranked team.
That’s not a gauntlet. That’s a gimme.
Cignetti absolutely has made the most of an amazing opportunity — but let’s stop pretending like that opportunity exists anywhere in the SEC.
In the Big 12? ACC? Maybe.
6. Let’s talk about Eli Drinkwitz …
We’ve all seen the wish-lists and the top-5 candidates for this opening or that opening.
Mizzou coach Eli Drinkwitz has been mentioned in the Florida and LSU search.
Why?
Nothing against Drinkwitz, either: He’s a perfectly fine SEC football coach, but the reality is, after 4 1/2 years at Mizzou, he’s 24-22 in the league without the hint of a Playoff appearance.
Is he a better coach than Billy Napier? I mean, who isn’t? Interim Billy Gonzales had never coached a game at any level and he almost beat Georgia on Saturday. That’s not the point.
If Florida really think it’s a top-tier job (and I don’t), it has to hire somebody better than a guy who is 24-22 in the SEC. The funny thing is, Mizzou fans already think its program is better than the Gators. In their current state, they might be right.
LSU? Brian Kelly is a better coach than Eli Drinkwitz. Even if you disagree, there’s no way you spend close to $60 million to replace a coaching staff and end up with Drinkwitz — a modest upgrade, at best.
LSU has to land a proven winner, not just another guy who occasionally wins a big game.
If there’s a school and situation that could pull Lane Kiffin out of Oxford, it’s LSU, not Florida.
5. The SEC’s 5 Playoff teams are …
The first Playoff ranking will be revealed Tuesday night. Don’t be fooled into wishful thinking when 5 SEC teams are ranked among the top 11 teams.
It’s all part of the show. I’m not going to get worked up about the possibility of 5 SEC teams actually making the field, even though it becomes more obvious every week they should.
But Tuesday night, here are the 5 SEC teams that will be included among the top 11 teams. (Remember, the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion ultimately will grab 1 of the 12 spots, so being ranked No. 12 is of no use.)
1. Texas A&M: The Aggies were idle in Week 10 ahead of next week’s trip to Missouri.
2. Alabama: The Tide were idle in Week 10 ahead of next week’s visit from LSU.
3. Georgia: The Dawgs are the most inconsistent Playoff team in America, but that’s better than being the most consistent bowl team in America. Florida had the Dawgs on the ropes Saturday, but Georgia escaped again.
4. Ole Miss: The Rebels did what you’d expect a Playoff team to do against a team that should be looking for a new coach in December.
5. Texas: You can thank Oklahoma for eliminating Tennessee and putting you back in the Playoff hunt. Texas’ remaining schedule is far too difficult, however, so its inclusion is short-lived.
Next out: Vanderbilt and Oklahoma. A 2-loss SEC team deserves to make the Playoff over any other at-large. The problem is: There will be too many 2-loss SEC teams. Several are gonna get left out.
4. Arch ain’t done just yet …
We all buried Arch Manning and Texas. I’ve done it several times, but I’m paid to overreact.
A funny thing happened in Week 10.
Arch Manning played the best ball of his college life (328 yards, 3 TD throws, 0 turnovers), Texas all but ended Vanderbilt’s Cinderella story and … most important … the Longhorns got all the help they needed to get back in the Playoff hunt courtesy of a hated rival.
Oklahoma eliminated Tennessee. And even though Oklahoma has been ranked ahead of Texas in the unimportant AP poll, we all remember that the Longhorns blasted the Sooners in the Red River Showdown.
Do I think Texas will make the Playoff? Not a chance. The Longhorns still travel to Georgia and host Texas A&M. They have to sweep to survive. Not happening.
But if Manning plays like he did Saturday, he might spoil one of those team’s dreams as a consolation prize.
3. Heisman ballot after Week 10
Quarterbacks continue to lead the Heisman race. I’m not sure why, especially given how relatively mediocre this collection of college QBs is. But scan the latest Heisman odds, and you have to keep scrolling to find the best football player in America. (Also, invest today.)
Here’s how I’d vote after Week 10, a week that Ohio State star Jeremiah Smith clearly distanced himself from the competition.
1. Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State: He’s the only cheat code in college football. And now Ohio State is lining him up in the slot? Smith caught 2 more TD passes in Ohio State’s cruise-control victory over Penn State. Smith has 9 TD catches in 8 games, 24 TD catches in 23 career games.
2. Julian Sayin, Ohio State: Sayin is making the most of having the most advantageous situation in the country. When Smith isn’t beating double-coverages, he’s creating easy 1-on-1s for Ohio State’s other NFL-ready receivers. Credit Sayin for playin’ catch at an 81% clip. Bo Nix holds the NCAA record, by the say, completing 77.5% of his passes in 2023 for Oregon (sorry for the reminder, Auburn fans). Sayin added 4 more TD passes Saturday, giving him 23 for the season.
3. Ty Simpson, Alabama: Simpson has thrown 20 TD passes against just 1 INT — in the SEC. He’s engineered comebacks and already defeated 4 ranked teams. He’s trying to become the first QB since Joe Burrow in 2019 to win the Heisman while also sweeping the SEC championship and national championship.
2. Miami puts The U in Underachieving … again
The droUght continues.
Miami, which joined the ACC in 2004, still hasn’t won the ACC Championship — and it won’t this year, either.
Saturday, the No. 10-ranked Canes coughed up another golden opportunity, blowing a 4th-quarter lead at SMU before losing in overtime. Of course a personal foul on 4th-and-9 played a huge role in SMU’s tying drive, but Carson Beck’s 2 interceptions didn’t help, either. SMU scored TDs after both interceptions, including the final one in overtime.
Miami dropped to 2-2 in the ACC, and there is such a logjam at the top, it would require 3 sheets of college-ruled paper to figure out a possible path to Charlotte. And none of those would be plausible.
Two Sundays ago, the Canes were No. 2 in the country, 5-0 after beating Florida State and Beck had some of the best Heisman odds in the country.
All too predictably, The Unraveling began.
This will be the 6th consecutive year that Miami rose into the top 20 but failed to reach the Playoff. It will be the 6th time in the past 10 seasons that they reached the top 10 — and still didn’t make the Playoff. Yes, I’m fully aware the Playoff was 4 teams from 2014-2023. I’m also aware that, even if you wanted to expand to 12 teams, Miami has only finished in the top 10 of the final Playoff poll 1 time.
I take back everything I wrote about the Canes in Week 6. Fool me once, shame on The U. Fool me every time? Well, turns out Nick Saban isn’t the only dumb—.
What is Mario Cristobal’s buyout?
Speaking of buyouts …
1. Please, let this signal the beginning of the end of the Buyout Era …
I can’t promise you that Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry saw my tweet about $10+ million buyouts being the worst development in college sports history, but I can say I’ve never heard anybody in power say enough is enough as emphatically as he did Wednesday, when he benched AD Scott Woodward from participating in LSU’s hiring process. (Woodward and LSU then parted ways Thursday.)
“We are not going down a failed path. … This is a pattern. The guy that’s here now that wrote that contract, He cost Texas A&M $70-something million. We’ve got a $53 million liability. We are not doing that again. … I’m tired of rewarding failure.”
Wow. Finally, somebody publicly admonished these outrageous buyouts and placed the blame where it belongs: on the athletic director who allowed this to happen.
The only thing missing was the Governor suggesting that Woodward should pay the buyout.
Managing Editor
A 30-time APSE award-winning editor with previous stints at the Miami Herald, The Indianapolis Star and News & Observer, Executive Editor Chris Wright oversees editorial operations for Saturday Down South.
