10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 2 in the SEC
By Chris Wright
Published:
Well, it finally happened.
No, not the fact that Alabama won a football game Saturday. The Tide have done that a time or two over the years.
What was rare was the fact that, for the first time since Week 1 of the 2008 season, the Tide were not part of the AP Top 20. Yes, the Tide extended their active AP Top-25 streak to 280 weeks, the 2nd-longest in the sport’s history. Congratulations. But for the first time since opening the 2008 season at No. 24, the Tide won a game without being in the Top 20.
And y’all doubted Kalen DeBoer …
There’s no need to doubt Texas A&M’s retooled offense … Mizzou’s hatred of all things Kansas … or Billy Napier’s ability to snatch defeat from victory.
Those are just some of the 10 things I’m overreacting to after Week 2 in and around the SEC.
10. Kalen DeBoer will always have U-LM …
Last week, Kalen DeBoer’s $70 million buyout was trending. Losing 4 games to unranked teams in 13 months will do that to a guy.
All is well in T-Town on this Sunday morning.
As referenced, DeBoer did something that Nick Saban couldn’t do: Beat ULM in his first try.
Noted. Still not overly impressed. But noted.
Wisconsin awaits, and now it’s time to do something Saban routinely did: Beat the brakes off Big Ten teams.
9. Gators fans, don’t blame me … I fired Billy Napier last season
I made a preseason oath that I was gonna lay off Billy Napier, primarily because, at this point, I’m merely choosing different words to fire the guy.
And then came Saturday …
Every single problem that has existed since he took over Steve Spurrier’s football program was on display in what has to be a tenure-ending loss to USF. Play-calling? Check. Poor clock management? Good grief. Inexplicable lack-of-discipline penalties at the most inopportune time? Spitting on guys? Two days after the entire world watched an NFL lineman get ejected for spitting on somebody? Seriously?
I’d say it’s over for Napier, but it’s been over.
His postgame press conference all but confirmed he knows it, too. He sounded like a politician conceding after losing an election.
Nice guy. Admirable character. Obviously cares. Overmatched in this setting. It happens.
8. Can Texas A&M blow up the SEC pecking order?
Everybody is sleeping on the Aggies.
Eleven teams garnered at least 1 media vote to win the SEC Championship — but nobody picked Texas A&M. The media predicted the Aggies would finish 8th in the division-less SEC.
ESPNBet listed the Aggies odds at +4000 to win the national championship.
After 2 weeks of actual games, it might be time to adjust some ceilings.
LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier is the SEC’s top gunslinger and most likely to crack the 3,000-yard passing mark again this season. Last week I raved about Tennessee transfer Joey Aguilar, and Week 2 only reinforced all of that positive mojo; he’s a lock to throw for 3,000.
After that? It’s very much TBD. But don’t be surprised if Marcel Reed tops 3,000 yards, too. Aggies coach Mike Elko brought in a pair of playmakers in Mario Craver (Mississippi State) and KC Concepcion (NC State) to upgrade one of the SEC’s least threatening passing offenses. So far, so good. The duo combined for 11 catches, 187 yards and 3 TD catches Saturday. Through 2 games, the transfers have combined for 6 TD catches.
A&M’s reimagined and suddenly potent passing game will only help keep heat off Le’Veon Moss, the only Aggie named to the preseason first-team all-SEC.
Bottom line: There aren’t 8 teams in America, much less the SEC, that have a more dangerous QB-RB-WR quartet than the Aggies.
Which means, these Aggies have a chance to be the biggest spoiler in college football, starting in Week 3 at Notre Dame, which can’t suffer another loss and expect to return to the Playoff.
CFP hopefuls LSU, South Carolina and Texas await, as well. Plus Florida.
It’s unfair to expect the Aggies to go 10-2 or maybe even 9-3 against that type of schedule, but they have the firepower to outscore any of those contenders and end their Playoff dreams.
7. S-E-C! S-E-C!
Admit it: Fans from 48 states wanted Michigan to beat Oklahoma, to send yet another message that the SEC is dead and that we’re all living in a B1G, bad world.
Didn’t happen. I’d be much more optimistic about Oklahoma’s Playoff chances if the Sooners had the schedule of, oh, about 6 other SEC teams. I’d be much higher about John Mateer’s Heisman chances, too. He’s an absolute playmaker, a throwback to the Lincoln Riley OU QB mold.
OU’s schedule just won’t allow a serious Playoff run or Heisman bid. The Sooners still have 6 games against currently-ranked SEC squads, and that doesn’t even include Mizzou, which soon will be ranked.
OU could finish 4-4, maybe 5-3 in the SEC — and that’s kind of the point.
A mid-level SEC team took out a B1G Playoff hopeful on a night the Sooners weren’t anywhere close to their best.
That was the headliner on the SEC’s big day, but it wasn’t the only haymaker the league landed.
- Mississippi State, thought to be the worst team in the SEC, shocked Playoff-hopeful Arizona State on a 58-yard TD strike from Blake Shapen to Brenen Thompson in the final minute.
- Vanderbilt, always doubted, dominated Virginia Tech.
- Mizzou outlasted Kansas (more in a minute).
We get it: It’s fun to write off the SEC, but days like Saturday remind us all of how silly it is to do so.
6. There’s only 1 man who can save Bill Belichick …
(UNC opened last Monday, so we didn’t get to overreact to the debacle … until now.)
No, it’s not Tom Brady, though he does look good in Carolina blue. No matter how many lawsuits the NCAA has lost, or will lose, I’m fairly confident the window on Tom Brady’s college career has closed. Probably.
No, the only man capable of saving the disaster that was Bill Belichick’s defense in Week 1 is … noted television personality and commercial star Nick Saban. All jokes aside about Belichick’s debut, the real tragedy about UNC’s already-doomed 2025 season is that the ACC gift-wrapped him a path to the Playoff with the easiest schedule of any Power 4 team.
It’s so easy, 2024 Indiana thinks it’s easy.
Things got a bit better Saturday: Belichick picked up his first win as a college coach, a 20-3 victory over the Charlotte 49ers. Like Belichick, we’re on to whatever cupcake is next.
5. Illinois is this year’s Indiana … with 1 major exception …
The exception? Everybody loves Illinois head coach Bret Bielema, and how could you not?
His press conferences are legendary, his boisterous personality unstoppable.
Here’s the best part: His 2025 Illinois football team is set up to make a run at the Playoff.
Four Big Ten teams (at least) are going to make the Playoff. Ohio State is a lock. The Penn State-Oregon winner is next. (They play in Week 5, and the loser isn’t necessarily done, either, though Penn State still has to travel to Ohio State in Week 10.)
Illinois is among a group of 4 other B1G programs in the mix — and its schedule is set up to finish 10-2 at worst, potentially 11-1.
The No. 11-ranked Illini destroyed Duke on Saturday and could jump into the Top 10 of the AP Poll on Sunday. The last time Illinois cracked the top 10? Try 2001.
Interestingly, the Illini’s first major roadblock arrives Week 4 at Indiana — which capitalized on its cushy schedule in 2024 all the way to the Playoff. Indiana and Illinois don’t have much of a football rivalry — the stakes haven’t been high enough to interrupt their hatred on the hardwood — but, thanks to basketball, there is absolutely no love lost between the border rivals.
The coaches will take center state during the buildup, and the dichotomy in their personalities will be on full display.
Bielema, as he always does, will destroy curmudgeon Curt Cignetti in the press conferences.
If “Bert” wins the game, look out. The Illini only face 1 other team currently ranked — Ohio State.
4. 4 more teams that didn’t make the Playoff in 2024 but will in 2025
No, Alabama, you’re not part of this list. Let’s just get that out of the way. Last week, I overreacted by naming 4 Playoff teams in 2024 that won’t make it back in 2025. Today, we’ll go the other direction.
1. LSU: It’s not 2019, but it’s not 2020-2024, either. Brian Kelly came to Baton Rouge to win championships, just like Nick Saban, Les Miles and Coach O did. I’m not ready to say the Tigers are ready to do that, but I’m not ready to say they can’t, either.
2. Miami: Part of it, maybe the biggest part of it, is the fact that Miami is the class of the ACC. (Of course, we said the same thing for most of 2024, too, right up until the Canes misplayed their way out of the ACC Championship Game.) Miami will find a way to lose a game it shouldn’t, but only after sweeping Florida and FSU in back-to-back games while breaking hype meters in South Florida.
3. USF or UNLV: The highest-ranked Group of 5 champion makes the Playoff. Saturday, USF announced itself as the front-runner by beating a Top 25 team for the second consecutive week. The Bulls blew out Boise State in Week 1, then rallied, on the road at the famed Swamp to take down No. 13 Florida on Saturday. USF has the best resume in the country. (Maybe now they’ll actually be ranked?) Up next? A date at No. 5 Miami. The Bulls don’t have to win that game, by the way. But they do have to run the table after that and win the American. Finish 11-1 with 2 signature wins? No G5 champ will have a better resume.
And if they slip up? Imagine if Dan Mullen leads UNLV to the Playoff before Florida makes the Playoff? It could happen as soon as 2025. If it does? Please let the Runnin’ Rebs face Georgia in the opening round.
4. Michigan: An early loss, with a freshman quarterback, at a ranked SEC team isn’t going to keep Michigan out of the Playoff. Neither will the rest of Michigan’s schedule. The Wolverines won’t face another currently ranked team until their annual season-ender against Ohio State. Good luck keeping a 10-2 Michigan team out of a 12-team Playoff — and that’s assuming Bryce Underwood doesn’t go go all Cam Newton against the Buckeyes.
3. 3 dark-horse Heisman candidates worth considering
Heisman odds are famously volatile early in the season. That also means shrewd bettors can find value before an obvious Heisman leader emerges.
Two weeks in, here are 3 quarterbacks outside the top 6 worth considering:
Marcel Reed, Texas A&M ESPNBet listed Reed’s Heisman odds at +6000 entering Week 2. That seems wildly high considering the weaponry the Aggies added on the outside to supplement Reed’s proven dual-threat qualities. Reed is capable of making highlight reel throws and runs, and the Aggies’ schedule is challenging while also offering an argument-proof Playoff resume should they finish 10-2. He added 4 more total TDs Saturday. (He had to be helped off the field and left the game early, but Elko told reporters afterward that Reed was fine.) Next week’s showdown at Notre Dame will go a long way to measuring reality for his and the Aggies’ goals.
Arch Manning, Texas: There is no real value in betting on the preseason Heisman favorite, which Manning was. But entering Week 2, Manning no longer was among the top 5 betting favorites, which meant there is plenty of value if you still believe in his talent. Jump on it fast, though. The Manning Hype train gained some passengers Saturday after he threw for 295 yards and tied a career-high with 4 TD passes.
Tommy Castellanos, FSU: He’s not a threat to throw for 4,000 yards or 40 TD passes, but he’s an exciting, playmaking dual-threat QB for a team that very well could run the table in the ACC. ESPNBet listed Castellanos’ odds at +3500 ahead of Saturday’s play date with something called East Texas A&M.
2. Speaking of East Texas A&M … Why?
Why are we still doing this?
FSU reportedly paid East Texas A&M $450,000, but as my son quickly and comically noted: “That might not even cover their medical bills after the game.”
It wasn’t just FSU, of course.
The SEC might as well have played a Sun Belt/FCS Challenge. Farther north, Ohio State pounded Grambling, which is a noble gesture, I guess, giving those kids the experience to play at The Horseshoe. Minnesota beat up on Northwestern State — which clearly isn’t the same without Ed Orgeron manning the middle. Indiana beat Kennesaw State, but that’s on brand. So forth, and so on.
We all know why these games are played, and those rea$on$ used to make sense.
College football is moving in the right direction. It’s actually holding a legitimate postseason tournament to crown a champion. It’s time to start punishing teams — via rankings — that continue to schedule these kinds of games and reward teams that schedule aggressively.
Take a cue from Mizzou: Restore an old rivalry, even better if it’s one of the oldest in college football history.
And, then, when you take one 63 yards to the house against the team you hate most, like Jamal Roberts did to KO KU, that lives forever. (Even if it wasn’t the most memorable event from the game!)
1. Mizzou’s SEC moment arrives … and it just means everything
It’s been more than a decade, but some of y’all still aren’t all that wild about outsider Mizzou being part of the SEC.
Maybe after seeing this interaction during the renewed Mizzou-Kansas rivalry game, you’ll be a bit more welcoming, maybe even reluctantly admit Mizzou fans have more in common with other SEC fans than you might think.
Here’s video evidence — or the play of the day.
That’s Iron Bowl, Egg Bowl level hate, a’ight?
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.
