The Shocking Twist That Even the Experts Didn’t See Coming in This SEC Football Season

This college football season? Oh, it’s been one wild roller coaster ride, hasn’t it? Coaching changes left and right have fans and pundits alike scratching their heads, while teams like Alabama and LSU have seen their trajectories flip-flop in the blink of an eye. It’s the kind of chaos that makes every Saturday feel like a cliffhanger you can’t shut off—teams look solid one weekend and suddenly find themselves on the chopping block the next. The stakes? Higher than ever. One misstep could dash playoff dreams into thin air. As someone who’s seen seasons come and go, I can tell you this one’s keeping everyone on their toes, eagerly searching for who will rise and who will fall in these final weeks of the regular slate. Ready to dive into the madness? LEARN MORE

This college football season has been marked by unpredictability and numerous mid-season coaching changes.
The fortunes of teams like Alabama and LSU have shifted dramatically since the start of the season.
Several teams with playoff hopes could see their chances end with a single loss in the coming weeks.

If you view sports as entertainment – and most people do – you must be enthralled with this college football season.

If it were a paperback novel, you would call it a page turner. If it were a Netflix series, you would deem it binge worthy.

Every Saturday offers a new adventure. Teams look like playoff material one week and a coach killer a week later.

Up-tempo offenses have been replaced with up-tempo firings. You can’t help but wonder if football programs are striking oil beneath their practice field the way they dish out buyouts to failed coaches.

Four SEC coaches already have been fired. Three of them − Arkansas’ Sam Pittman, Florida’s Billy Napier, and LSU’s Brian Kelly – didn’t make it to November. Auburn was more patient with Hugh Freeze. It let him coach one day into November before telling him to pack his bags and severance pay.

Only the Kelly firing surprised me. I didn’t realize my home state had prospered so much since I left that it could come up with $53 million almost as fast as Texas A&M scored 49 points at Tiger Stadium.

The good news: We’ve still got four weeks left in the regular season. Imagine how much fun this could be.

Some teams with playoff aspirations will fall from prominence to irrelevance (i.e., a bowl that can’t keep the same sponsor for more than two years). And they could take the plunge because of one play.

Vanderbilt 27, Auburn 20: One of this season’s greatest mysteries: How did the Tigers manage to score only three points against Kentucky?

Full disclosure: I thought Freeze would be successful at Auburn. I also thought Oklahoma transfer quarterback Jackson Arnold would be successful at Auburn.

But let’s not get bogged down reviewing my misses. Life is too short.

Alabama 31, LSU 20: The Tigers have an interim president, an interim athletic director, and an interim coach. I won’t bother mentioning their names since Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry might replace them with interim upgrades before kickoff.

This matchup reflects how volatile this SEC football season has been.

Alabama fans were ready to cancel the Kalen DeBoer era after the Tide lost their opener to Florida State by 14 points, and LSU looked like a championship contender in winning on the road against Clemson on the same Saturday.

Two months later, the Tide look playoff bound, and the Tigers are playing interim football.

Florida 24, Kentucky 20: Miraculously, Mark Stoops remains the dean of SEC football coaches. I can give 38 million reasons why.

Since the Gators have higher football standards, they didn’t mind paying Napier big bucks to go away. Their new version of “Billy Ball” is in the hands of interim coach Billy Gonzales.

His name isn’t as prominent in Florida circles as that of his offensive analyst, Steve Spurrier – but not the Steve Spurrier, whose Gators scored 73 points on Kentucky in 1994.

Texas A&M 27, Missouri 20: The unbeaten Aggies aren’t just beating everybody. They’re helping beat coaches out of the business.

Four of Texas A&M’s five SEC victories have come against schools who have fired their coaches this season.

Missouri’s Eliah Drinkwitz doesn’t have to worry about that, though. He’s 27-7 in the last two-plus seasons with the Tigers.

Georgia 30, Mississippi State 22: Don’t bet against Georgia in a close game. But don’t bet on it to cover, either.

Georgia was inches away from the Florida goal line – and a chance to cover the betting line – when quarterback Gunner Stockton took a knee to kill the clock.

Ole Miss 45, The Citadel 13: Surely, Lane Kiffin wouldn’t make fun of The Citadel coach after a victory. Would he?

Record: 80-14 (.857), 56-31 (.645) against the spread.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or [email protected].