Down South, we’re often reluctant to change things.
More than any other section of the country, we southerners still live off the land. We hunt and fish for food, not just sport. We have miles and miles of fertile farmland where we grow cotton we do not wear and raise tobacco we do not smoke. We grow timber and mold furniture we do not use. It’s not the most forgiving place economically, but it’s the economy we know.
Change comes slowly, often with bitter, violent resistance. Sometimes that resistance makes no sense and has no moral defense.
But the South is also beautiful, brimming with hard-working people who fill houses of worship on Sundays and live with compassion and decency Monday through Friday. Southerners are rarely hesitant to share a meal or help a neighbor in need.
Despite compulsive and constant upheaval, change and the slow fight for it has also resulted in triumph.
The South has delivered a city, Atlanta, with more new wealth (mostly Black) than any other city in the country. The South is the birthplace of some of the country’s greatest art and much of the country’s best music.
The South is also home to the best football.
This isn’t up for debate, no matter what the heathens from the B1G say thanks to their 2-consecutive national championships, which I am told somehow makes them experts on winning, even though the SEC has won more than half the college football titles since 2005.
No matter how slow we talk down South, we all agree — across racial, political, religious, and class lines — that the best football happens in the SEC. We’ve had that belief since Paul Finebaum played in our living rooms while we were infants, and if you disagree well, you are welcome to explain to us how Michigan, Ohio State, Miami, Clemson, or Oregon would fare over the rigors of an 8-game SEC schedule.
We might feel a little twinge of cringe when someone calls the Finebaum show or tweets at the SDS Pod and argues that it’s tougher to win a SEC Championship than a national championship, but what we don’t say, at least out loud, is that there’s a part of us that agrees with that caller.
We’re a little whack-a-doodle down here in the SEC, and we know it.
And the one change we’ll always make quickly is football coach.
Despite Tim Brando’s protestations, Florida’s fanbase was hardly toxic in wanting their administration to dismiss Billy Napier, who was finally fired earlier this month after going 22-23 in just over 3 seasons at Florida, the worst mark for a Gators coach since World War II.
LSU?
Well, outsiders might view their fanbase as crazy for dismissing a coach who went 34-14 and coached the program’s third Heisman winner just 2 seasons ago. But when you know it isn’t working, you just know, okay?
The fans were about to fire Kalen DeBoer again last weekend, at least on Finebaum on Monday. Then Deontae Lawson made the play of the season for the Crimson Tide and Alabama left Columbia, South Carolina, with a 29-22 win. DeBoer is back to being the frontrunner for SEC Coach of the Year.
Basketball season starts November 3.
Steve Sarkisian’s offense isn’t working, Arch Manning is in concussion protocol, and a season that began at No. 1 feels on the brink. Naturally, Sarkisian may be seeking a parachute to the NFL.
Hugh Freeze staved off the executioner with a narrow win over Arkansas.
But in a world where Vanderbilt is a power and College GameDay was in Nashville for a Vandy-Mizzou game in October, is any coach not named Kirby Smart, Lane Kiffin, Clark Lea, or Eli Drinkwitz truly safe?
The season of perpetual discontent in the conference of constant coaching turnover has produced the closest “List” race since we started the Greatest List in College Football way back in the year of Burrow, 2019.
With 3 quarterbacks on this week’s list (the most since Week 1), it’s increasingly possible that a player at the most important position in sports will top the list for the 4th time.
It’s also possible that a defender joins Georgia’s Nakobe Dean (2021) as “List” Champion, or that Tennessee’s Dylan Sampson has a short-lived reign as the only running back to conquer the rankings.
What’s clear is nothing is decided, and we’re about to play November football. Talk about turmoil!
Last week’s “List” is here.
As always, we start with Honorable Mentions, limited to 2 per program.
Honorable Mention: Alabama: Deontae Lawson, LB; Kadyn Proctor, OT. Auburn: Xavier Atkins, LB; Alex McPherson, K. Arkansas: Mike Washington, RB. Florida: Jadan Baugh, RB; Myles Graham, LB. Georgia: Drew Bobo, C; Ellis Robinson IV, DB. Kentucky: Alex Afari Jr., LB. LSU: Mansoor Delane, CB; AJ Haulcy, S. Mississippi State: Brenen Thompson, WR; Brylan Lanier, DB. Missouri: Chris McClellan, DT; Keagan Trost, OT. Oklahoma: Kip Lewis, LB; R Mason Thomas, DE. Ole Miss: Kewan Lacy, RB; Diego Pounds, OT. South Carolina: Dylan Stewart, Edge; Vicari Swain, PR/DB. Tennessee: Joey Aguilar, QB; Lance Heard, OT. Texas: Colin Simmons, Edge; Michael Taaffe, S. Texas A&M: Mario Craver, WR; Marcel Reed, QB. Vanderbilt: Langston Patterson, LB; Eli Stowers, TE.
10. CJ Allen, LB (Georgia)
Kirby Smart’s best player is Allen, who ranks 8th in the SEC in tackles with 56, has 3 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, and the SEC’s best tackle rate (94%) of players who have played over 200 snaps this season. This isn’t Georgia’s best defense in the Smart era — far from it — but Allen has provided leadership and stability to the group as Gunner Stockton continues to improve. A deserved spot on “The List” as the Dawgs head to the Cocktail Party.
9. CJ Heard, S (Vanderbilt)
Heard made the play of the season for Vanderbilt, forcing and recovering this fumble with Mizzou driving in a tie game late in the fourth quarter on Saturday.
The Commodores scored on the next possession and held on to win, 17-10. On the year, Heard has 43 tackles, a sack, an interception, and a fumble recovery. A freshman All-American at FAU, Heard is now making good on his promise at Vanderbilt, leading what is quietly one of the nation’s best secondaries with big plays and excellent coverage (Heard has allowed just 2 explosive pass plays in coverage this season).
8. Chris Brazzell II, WR (Tennessee)
Welcome back to “The List”, Chris Brazzell II. The Volunteers wide receiver went nuts against Kentucky, posting 138 yards receiving and a touchdown in Tennessee’s 56-34 rivalry game win.
Brazzell II leads the SEC in receiving yards (740) and touchdowns (8) while ranking 5th in receptions (43). His explosiveness is a huge reason the Volunteers lead the SEC in total offense and success rate offensively.
7. Ahmad Hardy, RB (Missouri)
The SEC’s leading rusher ran for 97 yards against Vanderbilt, leaving open the question of why Eli Drinkwitz didn’t feed the big fellow more in Missouri’s 17-10 loss on Saturday afternoon. Hardy has 937 yards rushing this season — good for second nationally — but he’s eclipsed 100 yards just once in SEC play and failed to score a touchdown for the second time in 3 games. With freshman quarterback Matt Zollers now the starter in CoMo, it may get worse before it gets better for the Tigers’ star.
6. Trey Zuhn III, OT (Texas A&M)
Zuhn III continues to have a stellar season protecting Marcel Reed’s blind side. Zuhn III graded out at 87.2 as a pass blocker in Texas A&M’s Brian Kelly tenure-ending rout of LSU, surrendering 0 pressures against what had been one of the nation’s best defenses entering the evening. On the season, Zuhn III has allowed just 4 pressures, second-fewest among SEC linemen (Missouri’s Keagan Trost). That’s been vital for the unbeaten Aggies, who rank 21st nationally in total offense and 20th in success rate.
5. Diego Pavia, QB (Vanderbilt)
It wasn’t Pavia’s best day on Saturday against Missouri, but when the Commodores needed a drive to keep their College Football Playoff dreams alive, Pavia answered the bell, capping a 12-play game-winning touchdown drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to keep Vanderbilt in the top 10 and win the biggest game played at FirstBank Stadium this century. Pavia is the only player in the SEC who leads his team in both passing yards and rushing yards and he’s accounted for 20 touchdowns this season.
4. Trinidad Chambliss, QB (Ole Miss)
One of the stories of the year in college football, Chambliss, who transferred from tiny Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan, was sensational in the Rebels’ thrilling 34-26 win at Oklahoma last weekend. Chambliss threw for 315 yards and a touchdown and ran for 53 more yards, helping the Rebels carve up one of the nation’s best defenses to the tune of 431 total yards at nearly 5 yards per play (a season high against Oklahoma in 2025).
Chambliss has now thrown for 250 yards or more in all 6 games he’s started this season. That’s the longest streak in the SEC this year.
3. Anthony Hill Jr., LB (Texas)
Hill earned SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors for the third time in his career, collecting 4 tackles for loss, 4 pressures, and 2.5 sacks in Texas’s rally at Mississippi State. Hill’s best came in the fourth quarter. With Texas trailing 38-28 and needing a stop, Hill came up with a sack to force a quick 3-and-out with 9 minutes remaining in the game. Then, with the game tied and 2 minutes to play, Hill generated a pressure to force an incompletion on first down and caused a fumble on a sack on third down, all but assuring the game would go to overtime. Texas won the game — which it trailed by 17 points on 2 occasions — in the added session.
2. Ty Simpson, QB (Alabama)
Simpson wasn’t great at South Carolina, losing another fumble and averaging under 6 yards per attempt for the first time since Alabama’s season-opening loss at FSU. But even on an “off night” against relentless South Carolina pressure, Simpson tossed 2 touchdown passes and orchestrated a 14-play, 79-yard drive in the fourth quarter that helped Alabama tie the game at 22. Great players find a way to win, and Simpson is a great player.
1. Cashius Howell, Edge (Texas A&M)
The best player on the last undefeated team in the SEC, Howell was productive against LSU, registering 2 more sacks and another pair of pressures and hurries to add to his SEC highs of 34 pressures and 23 hurries this season.
Howell’s 10 sacks rank second nationally for a defense that leads the nation in quarterback pressures, hurries, and sacks.
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.
