Another week, another SEC coaching vacancy.
Happy trails, Hugh Freeze, who in the least surprising news ever, at least if you read Saturday Down South, failed to make it to Year 4 at Auburn.
It was never going to end well for Freeze on the Plains, especially after he opened the 2024 season throwing quarterback Payton Thorne — and not his antiquated scheme — under the bus for early season losses that largely snuffed out the chance Freeze’s second chance at a high profile SEC job would end in a happy marriage. The fact Freeze gaslit everyone who called him out for throwing Thorne under the bus is just… more evidence?
Let’s call Freeze’s termination out for what it truly is. If you aren’t accountable or kind to other people, you can sometimes get away with it as long as you win. Freeze didn’t.
Freeze was 1-11 at Auburn vs. ranked foes and his 6-16 SEC mark was no better than Bryan Harsin’s 4-9 record in league games on the Plains, rendering a hire that was deemed a big “win” back in 2023, when Freeze was hired, a shambolic failure.
After losing its way through the first half of this decade, Auburn, like Florida, needs to get the next hire right. But the Tigers made the right call — and took a huge first step in the right direction — dismissing Freeze.
There were other big stories in Week 9, of course.
Georgia won its 3,451st consecutive Cocktail Party, edging hated Florida 24-20 with what has become a patented fourth quarter rally. Sure, Georgia didn’t fumble away the game and caught (or Florida didn’t catch) a few breaks from the boys in stripes.
But you make your own breaks sometimes, too, and CJ Allen and Raylen Wilson refused to let Georgia lose.
The Gators are 3-5 because they don’t make enough plays to win games at the margins. Georgia is a Playoff contender because it does. It’s really not that complicated.
One thing that is complicated? “The List.” It’s the most wide-open season since we started the most talked about list in the Piggly Wiggly media footprint in 2019. And no, none of the 3 most-discussed quarterbacks of the preseason in the SEC: DJ Lagway, LaNorris Sellers, and Arch Manning — are contenders or even close to the top 10. But hey — at least Arch is starting to look like, well, a Manning on the field.
But there are 2 quarterbacks on “The List,” along with 2 running backs, 2 offensive linemen, and a host of defenders who are aiming to join this prestigious group of players who have earned the right to be called “Best Player in the SEC.”
2019 — Joe Burrow, LSU
2020 — DeVonta Smith, Alabama
2021 — Nakobe Dean, Georgia
2022 — Bryce Young, Alabama
2023 — Jayden Daniels, LSU
2024 — Dylan Sampson, Tennessee
Who’s next? It will come down to November.
As always, we begin each week with Honorable Mentions, limited to 2 per program.
Last Week’s “List” is here, for those scoring at home.
Honorable Mention: Alabama: Deontae Lawson, LB; Kadyn Proctor, OT. Auburn: Xavier Atkins, LB. Arkansas: Mike Washington, RB. Florida: Jadan Baugh, RB; Myles Graham, LB. Georgia: Drew Bobo, C; Gunner Stockton, QB. Kentucky: Alex Afari Jr., LB; Jordan Lovett, DB. LSU: Mansoor Delane, CB; AJ Haulcy, S. Mississippi State: Isaac Smith, S. Missouri: Chris McClellan, DT; Connor Tollison, C. Oklahoma: Febechi Nwaiwu, OG; Tate Sandell, K. Ole Miss: Diego Pounds, OT; Suntarine Perkins, LB. South Carolina: Dylan Stewart, Edge; Vicari Swain, PR/DB. Tennessee: Chris Brazzell II, WR; Wendell Moe Jr., OG. Texas: Colin Simmons, Edge; Malik Muhammad, CB. Texas A&M: Mario Craver, WR; Marcel Reed, QB. Vanderbilt: CJ Heard, S; Eli Stowers, TE.
10. Keagen Trost, OT (Missouri)
Trost grades out as the SEC’s best offensive tackle, per PFF. He anchors a Missouri run game that ranks 10th nationally in rushing offense and first in the SEC. Trost has allowed just 8 pressures in 303 pass snaps this season, and he’s committed only 1 penalty (a Week 2 false start, against Kansas). Trost has been playing college football for an absurdly long time — a COVID year and graduate school year oddity but the Wake Forest by way of Morgan State transfer is precisely the type of story that makes that odyssey worth it.
9. Brenen Thompson, WR (Mississippi State)
The Bulldogs finally vanquished the demons last weekend by rallying to defeat Arkansas, 38-35, giving Jeff Lebby‘s much-improved Mississippi State team its first SEC win since October 2023. At the center of the W was Thompson, who caught 6 passes for 107 yards in the victory, moving him to second in the SEC in receiving yards despite fewer targets than any other receiver in the top 5.
Thompson’s 17.5 yards per catch also ranks second in the league, behind only Texas A&M‘s Mario Craver (17.9). Thompson’s teammate, Anthony Evans (above) deserves all the acclaim he gets as a reliable move the sticks receiver. But it’s Thompson who takes the top off a defense and makes this State team explosive.
8. Ahmad Hardy, RB (Missouri)
Should the SEC’s leading and the nation’s fourth-leading rusher be higher? Perhaps. But Hardy has not been as effective in league play, trailing both Kewan Lacy (below), Florida’s Jadan Baugh, and Mike Washington of Arkansas in yards gained in conference action. After almost a month without a 100-yard rushing performance, a showcase opportunity awaits Saturday afternoon when No. 3 Texas A&M visits Faurot Field.
7. R Mason Thomas, DE (Oklahoma)
The big senior out of Fort Lauderdale rumbled and stumbled his way to 6 in Neyland Stadium on Saturday night, setting the tone for Oklahoma‘s 33-27 win at No. 14 Tennessee.
Thomas also did a tremendous job holding the edge, helping the Sooners limit Tennessee to just 1.8 yards per carry on the ground, a season low.
Oklahoma remains in the College Football Playoff conversation after the win, and it appears increasingly likely Thomas will stay on “The List” for the remainder of the season.
6. Trey Zuhn III, OT (Texas A&M)
Zuhn III anchors the SEC’s last unbeaten team by protecting Marcel Reed’s blindside. He’s been sensational at it, surrendering just 5 pressures on 246 passing snaps for the Aggies this season. Texas A&M ranks 2nd in SP+ offense and 3rd in offensive success rate this season, seemingly well on their way to a College Football Playoff berth.
5. Anthony Hill Jr., LB (Texas)
Texas’s do it-all linebacker posted 4.5 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and a sack in the Longhorns 34-31 win over No. 9 Vanderbilt on Saturday afternoon. On the season, Hill ranks third in the SEC in tackles (63.5) and leads the Longhorns in tackles for loss (6.5). He has 4 sacks and an interception as well, and also leads the SEC in forced fumbles (3).
4. CJ Allen, LB (Georgia)
Allen was phenomenal in Georgia’s Cocktail Party win over Florida, posting a game-high 13 tackles, including one that saved a touchdown on Florida’s second possession and another that prevented Florida from gaining a vital first down while driving with the lead late in the fourth quarter. Allen’s teammate, Raylen Wilson, would blow up the next play — a fourth-and-1 run by Jadan Baugh, to give Georgia the ball. Gunner Stockton did the rest, and Georgia survived. Allen leads the SEC in tackles with 69 to go along with 3 pass breakups and 2 forced fumbles. An All-American year for the leader of an improving Georgia defense.
3. Diego Pavia, QB (Vanderbilt)
Diego Pavia heard your chatter about how he only feasts on lesser defenses.
He would like you to reevaluate.
Pavia nearly willed Vanderbilt to a comeback win for the ages — against one of college football’s best defenses — on Saturday in Austin, throwing for 365 yards and 3 touchdowns and piling up 43 yards on the ground in a 34-31 defeat. Pavia continues to lead the Commodores in both passing and rushing yardage and he’s accounted for an SEC-high 24 touchdowns in 2025 (18 rushing, 6 passing).
2. Ty Simpson, QB (Alabama)
Simpson ranks top 5 in the SEC in yards, completion percentage, touchdown passes, and turnover ratio, guiding a Tide offense that ranks 15th in SP+ efficiency and 14th in success rate offense. As Alabama’s schedule softens down the stretch (only No. 12 Oklahoma on November 15 feels threatening), those numbers should improve, meaning Simpson may be a Heisman finalist.
1. Cashius Howell, Edge (Texas A&M)
Howell ranks third in the country in sacks, fourth in quarterback pressures, and is the primary reason Texas A&M leads the country in third-down conversion defense. The Aggies are allowing opponents to convert at just a 22% rate on third down, and Howell has collected 5 of his 9.5 sacks on third down. This weekend, Howell and the Aggies will face a Missouri team profoundly competent at converting on third down, ranking second in the SEC (Arkansas) with a 50% conversion rate. Whether Howell and Mike Elko‘s defense win that battle may decide the fate of Texas A&M’s perfect record.
Neil Blackmon covers SEC football and basketball for SaturdayDownSouth.com. An attorney, he is also a member of the Football and Basketball Writers Associations of America. He also coaches basketball.
