Alabama honors Nick Saban by naming Bryant-Denny field after former coach
Alabama honors Nick Saban by naming Bryant-Denny field after former coach
- Texas football does it up big, and that includes the payroll for its roster.
- Are Arch Manning’s Longhorns the national championship frontrunner? Opinions vary.
- Looking for an alternative to Texas from the SEC that can win national championship? Try LSU.
Did Texas just assemble the best team money can buy? Maybe. Alternatively, it spent big for a playoff-caliber roster that will come up short of the national championship game once again, after two straight years bowing out in the semifinals.
On this edition of “SEC Football Unfiltered,” a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams discuss whether that handsomely paid roster makes Texas the national championship frontrunner.
Here’s how they see it:
Is Texas the national championship frontrunner?
Adams: Texas is a playoff contender. A national championship contender, too. But, the national championship frontrunner? I’m not willing to go that far. I seem to recall Texas A&M making headlines by spending more than a few shekels to build its 2022 roster the first season of the NIL era. How’d that go? Unemployed Jimbo Fisher can tell you all about it. I’m not suggesting an Aggies-esque flop for the Longhorns, only that it takes more than money to win a title. Assuming Arch Manning lives up to the name – I think he will – Texas will pack a punch, much more so than those 2022 Aggies. But, I don’t have Texas listed as my SEC frontrunner – see what LSU did in the transfer portal – let alone for the national championship.
Toppmeyer: I’d have no problem with anyone listing Texas as their national championship frontrunner. The Longhorns have a budding star quarterback. They have a well-rounded roster without apparent weakness. They have a good coach. A rich roster doesn’t guarantee success, but it sure helps. A quarterback like Manning and a coach like Sarkisian help, too. The Longhorns have a shot. So do about six to eight other teams.
Later in the episode
∎ Adams lists his eight teams that enjoy at least a 5% chance of winning the national championship. He also sounds off on USA TODAY’s list of the top 25 coaches, pointing to a few SEC bosses who are underrated.
Where to listen to SEC Football Unfiltered
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. John Adams is the senior sports columnist for the Knoxville News Sentinel. Subscribe to the SEC Football Unfiltered podcast, and check out the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.
