SDS Mailbag: Breakout SEC quarterbacks, top SEC/ACC Challenge games and SEC coach hot dog eating contest

What a 2022-23 college athletics season it was! The SEC, as usual, was dominant, with LSU winning titles in women’s basketball and baseball and Georgia taking home the football crown. Numerous other titles from Florida, Arkansas and Vanderbilt highlighted a heck of a year across the SEC.

Now we enter a long couple of months with no NCAA sports, but fortunately, football will be back before we know it!

So what sort of questions will we get for the Mailbag over the next few weeks? We shall see!

Here are the questions for this week’s SDS Mailbag:

@SChinni12:

Which SEC quarterback that isn’t getting a ton of buzz is poised for the biggest breakout season?

You hear a lot of buzz about guys like LSU’s Jayden Daniels, Tennessee’s Joe Milton, all of Alabama’s quarterbacks, all of Georgia’s quarterbacks, the Ole Miss QB battle and some others. And certainly, there are plenty of big names to choose from.

But on a national level – heck, even on an SEC-wide level – I’m not hearing a ton of talk about Texas A&M’s Conner Weigman.

No, the Aggies didn’t have the 2022 season they wanted, but that should have no impact on the 2023 season. This is Weigman’s job now, and he has some talent around him to work with, including WRs Evan Stewart, Moose Muhammad III and Ainias Smith.

In 5 games last year, he threw for 896 yards and completed 55.6% of his passes. But, most impressively, he had 8 touchdown passes and 0 interceptions. Obviously, he’ll throw a handful of interceptions this fall, but if he can continue limiting turnovers, he should have a big 2023 season.

Michael:

Rank the 5 best games in next year’s ACC/SEC Challenge.

First of all, I’m pumped for this event. I loved the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, but it’s nice to get some new matchups on the schedule. It’ll also be great to see Georgia, Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Texas A&M involved after being left out against Big 12 opponents.

As for this year’s matchups, here are the 5 I can’t wait to watch:

1. Duke at Arkansas – The Blue Devils knocked the Hogs out of the 2022 NCAA Tournament en route to the Final Four. You know Eric Musselman and the Razorbacks will be eager to give Duke a bit of payback.
2. Tennessee at North Carolina – These are 2 big-time programs and 2 strong coaches. The atmosphere in Chapel Hill should be intense for this game.
3. Miami at Kentucky – While many might have expected a Kentucky-North Carolina matchup, the Wildcats instead get a Hurricanes team that just made a run to the Final Four in 2023.
4. Florida at Wake Forest – I am very intrigued by this game. The Gators will be in Year 2 of the Todd Golden era. Can they score a win over a team that always seems to cause trouble in the ACC?
5. Clemson at Alabama – While this seems more like an elite football matchup than a big-time men’s hoops game, it is also a game that shouldn’t be slept on. Clemson and Alabama are both strong basketball programs, too!

Which new rivalries will develop? Which conference will win this inaugural challenge? I can’t wait to watch it this November!

Dave:

Michigan has instituted a “Beat Georgia” portion of practice. Do the Wolverines actually have a shot at doing that this fall?

I just don’t see it. Michigan couldn’t beat TCU last year and we all saw what Georgia did to the Horned Frogs.

Now, to Michigan’s credit, the Wolverines did beat Ohio State, and the Buckeyes almost took down the Dawgs in the College Football Playoff semifinals this past season.

Still, it just seems like the SEC is miles ahead of Michigan at the moment. Yes, it’s a good sign that Jim Harbaugh has acknowledged that he needs to think bigger than the Big Ten if he wants to win a title, but I don’t think this is the Michigan roster to do that.

I’m not sure the Wolverines will even make the Playoff this season. Ohio State looks like a potential juggernaut if it gets even halfway decent play from its new quarterback.

@Dobbe8:

With July 4 coming up, which SEC football coach would win a hot dog eating contest?

It’s too bad Ed Orgeron is no longer at LSU, because he’d obviously be the odds-on favorite. Even with him out of the mix, though, there are still some quality candidates around the league!

Sam Pittman and Mark Stoops come to mind right away. Pittman looks like a guy who could polish off 30 hot dogs in 10 minutes and then drink a couple of beers. I’d go with him as my favorite in an SEC-wide competition.

My darkhorse would be Shane Beamer. If you look at a lot of the competitive eaters who will be at Coney Island for the Nathan’s hot dog contest, you won’t see a lot of really big guys. Many of them are built similar to Beamer’s stature.

I could see the South Carolina coach getting in a groove and giving Stoops, Pittman, Josh Heupel and others a real run for their money.

An SEC coach hot dog eating contest is a great idea, though. Seems like something that should be done at Media Days every year.

Have a question for next week’s Mailbag? Tweet at us using #SDSMailbag or email me at Adam.Spencer@XLMedia.com.

Adam Spencer

Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.