Breaking the SEC into three tiers, Yahoo Sports senior reporter Caroline Fenton joined us on Tuesday's edition of TexAgs Live to share her top QBs to watch and what she expects to see as conversations about the 12-team playoff and eight-game conference schedule continue.
Key notes from Caroline Fenton interview
- Whenever I get to talk to y'all, that always means football season is close. I’m happy to be here!
- All the things are happening. I’ve been at Yahoo for coming up on a year now. It’s been amazing. We have a ton of fun and exciting things coming up, so stay tuned. This past year, I’ve gotten to host one of our college football podcasts. Getting to cover college basketball, women’s basketball, the WNBA, and now we’re getting to football season. I just got engaged, so I’m wedding planning. We just got a house, so the background isn’t as decorated as it usually is. I just got a dog, too, so we’re doing all the life things. Very, very happy and stoked to get started.
- I didn’t make it to Omaha last month. There have been, humble brag as a LSU alum, several opportunities for me to go to Omaha, but something always comes up. It’s expensive, and I tell myself I’ll make it to the next one. Every time I say that, I regret it. This year was no different. We just happened to plan a vacation the week of Omaha. In hindsight, it was not great planning, but we had a blast in Mexico City.
- It was a blast to be able to take in this entire ride of the LSU baseball team. The 2023 championship run felt destined from the beginning. This team wasn’t as star-studded as the guys 2023 had with Paul Skenes, Tommy White and Dylan Crews. What was special about the 2025 team was that they just kept finding a way. That was really fun to watch. I’m so happy for Jay Johnson. Everything I know about him, what his players and coaching staff say about him, he’s a grinder. Nobody cares and works harder than he does. I’m happy he’s seeing so much success in his first four years at LSU.
- My expectation for LSU football coming into 2025 is the College Football Playoff. It’s not playoff or bust because I think that’s dramatic. If they don’t make it, it doesn’t mean Brian Kelly is getting fired. But that is the expectation. It’s year four for Kelly, and the last three LSU coaches have won national championships. That was the expectation when Kelly took over, and that has only gotten more urgent. You get to the SEC championship in year one, Jayden Daniels wins the Heisman in year two, then you take a step down and go 8-4 last year and miss the playoffs.
- This year, with Kelly going into year four and Garrett Nussmeier in his second as a starter, the amount of money and investment LSU made in the transfer portal, all of these things have upped the ante even more. With the amount of talent and time Kelly has had to build this program, it feels like the ingredients for a CFP-caliber team. That’s where this program needs to be for Kelly going into year four.
- The biggest point of optimism for me is Nussmeier. You see what Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels did in their second years. It was seismic leaps and bounds. Both were Heisman winners. I’m not saying Nussmeier has to be a Heisman winner, but fans are expecting that maturity and leap forward from him in year two.
- I will always take an objective look at things. I’m a fan, but I can take my purple and gold glasses off. Nobody is more critical of the Tigers than I am. You’re always hardest on the ones you love the most. But I don’t think there’s any discussion that Nussmeier is not in the top three quarterbacks in the SEC, and there’s a very strong argument that going into the season.
- Nussmeier is the top quarterback in the SEC since there is little QB retention, and what retention there is doesn't have much experience. I’m stoked for DJ Lagway if he can stay healthy. Same thing for Marcel Reed. The bursts of greatness we saw from Reed at times last season, I’m excited to see what he can do in year two. Same thing for LaNorris Sellers. He has a year of starting experience under his belt. What can he do in his sophomore season? All of those guys that have shown a lot and won big games with quality SEC experience are in contention to be in the top five, top three conversation in the SEC. Nussmeier has been around on the bench behind Daniels when he had his Heisman run, learning the offense, coaching staff, roster and team. Just the seniority, I think, has to give him an edge. Where the rankings are on July 8 aren't where they will be on Oct. 30, so keep that in mind.
- I don’t have a crystal ball or know what this year will look like. I think John Mateer could be one of those guys in the Heisman conversation as a top-three SEC quarterback. What about Jackson Arnold at Auburn when he has Hugh Freeze, a quarterback whisperer, a new offense and a fresh start away from the expectations at Oklahoma? I’m keeping my eye on all of those guys. But with the experience factor, I have to give the edge to Nussmeier in the SEC. But things can change since it’s July.
- With Arch Manning, you can’t deny that a lot of the hype is because of his last name, and that’s fair. It’s the royalty of football in general. You have every reason for optimism with one of the greatest offensive minds in football in Steve Sarkisian. You have a Texas team that has reportedly spent $35-40 million on this roster. They've been in the final four of the playoffs in back-to-back years. Now, you have a guy who has been able to largely sit and learn over the last couple of years. You did see Manning start a couple of games, and one of those was UTSA. No disrespect to the Roadrunners, but that’s not an SEC-caliber team. It’s different when you’re taking over week after week as opposed to coming in as the backup in different situations, like we saw him do last year.
- I think Manning can be very good. He has those tools, and he was a five-star recruit for a reason. Not because of his last name, but because he earned it. He got offers from every school in the country because he earned it. He waited for his turn. I just haven’t seen enough.
- One argument that I don’t like that I heard from Steve Spurrier, and I understand he has more knowledge about football than I’ll ever have, is that if Manning couldn’t beat out Quinn Ewers, who was a seventh-round pick, how good can he be? I don’t subscribe to that belief. Ewers got Texas in back-to-back playoffs, and they were a national championship contender two years in a row with him. He was a seventh-round pick because he was always hurt and wasn’t available.
- I am tempering my expectations for Manning because, like a lot of quarterbacks coming in, he is an unknown commodity. But I am so excited to see what he becomes in his first year as a starter.
- I think the top tier in the SEC is Texas and Georgia. I have fair concerns about Georgia. Carson Beck leaves, Gunner Stockton takes over. I’m excited for Stockton, though, because something with the Georgia team clicked when he came in in the SEC championship game in the second half. They played faster and seemed more energized. Clearly, that team rallied around Stockton, another highly rated guy coming out of high school. Maybe it’s the Georgia benefit of the doubt I’m giving them, but I’m willing to give them that coming off one of the hardest SEC schedules we’ve seen in history. Texas obviously has the talent, investment and coaching staff. I feel more confident saying it about Texas.
- The next tier, I put them there because of expectation and our better grasp of their QB situation, I would put LSU there. I don’t know if I can put Florida there yet because their schedule is a gauntlet and because DJ Lagway hasn’t been consistently healthy, but I think they can work their way into it.
- I would put Texas A&M in that second tier with Mike Elko in year two. I think they exceeded expectations at times last year. Obviously, there are areas to improve in, but with Reed coming back and the amount of talent on the roster, I think you can say they are in that tier.
- Alabama is in that second tier for me as well, but it’s still a question mark. Is Ty Simpson going to be the starting QB? What does Kalen DeBoer do in year two? All of these teams have high expectations. Alabama could go 9-3 and lose to Vanderbilt again. The expectations are high for a reason because it’s a program and team expectation.
- In the next tier, I would put teams that have the potential to be good, but I can’t put my money on them. Tennessee, with Joey Aguilar transferring in, is one of those. Is it going to be George MacIntyre, the five-star freshman? They didn’t do a lot in the transfer portal. Their wide receiver room feels depleted. Auburn is another one of those teams with talent and a big-time question mark. Hugh Freeze is on the hot seat going into the season. Oklahoma is in that tier. Ole Miss probably goes into the second tier with a new quarterback, some questions and high expectations.
- To me, two things feel definitive. It’s Texas and Georgia. Everything else from there feels like a giant question mark. It starts with the coaches on the hot seat and the quarterback situations as well. There’s a lot of uncertainty about who will be the starters.
- A nine-game schedule is only coming if and when Greg Sankey says the money they get from ESPN is worth a nine-game schedule. A lot of people say that an eight-game SEC schedule is harder than a nine-game Big Ten schedule. I would agree with that since the SEC is deeper. You can’t dispute that.
- I don’t think any of these coaches want another conference game. If ESPN is willing to put the money up, I think the SEC has to say, “Sorry, since every other conference plays nine, we will too.” I think it’s something that Sankey is trying to push back against because the head coaches have been vocal about keeping eight games and having four non-conference games. You look at teams like Arkansas and Vanderbilt, having those four “cupcake” teams helps get them to bowl eligibility. I think Sankey wants to ensure the health of the “bottom” of the league as well as the top.
- I think 12 teams in the playoffs is good. People ask me what I think the correct format for 16 is. I stop them there. Twelve is good. Let’s perfect it. If we feel like we need more and the 13th team is so jaded about missing the playoffs, maybe we move it to 16. I liked 12. If you look back at a four-team playoff, Ohio State probably misses it. I like opening up the field for teams like Boise State and Indiana, having the opportunity to get in. College football is more fun when more teams can go for a championship. What I didn’t like was the seeding. I thought it was ridiculous for Ohio State to get a first-round bye. Oregon, being the No. 1 overall seed, the only undefeated team and the Big Ten champions, they got rewarded with the winner of Ohio State vs. Tennessee in the second round. That’s not right. I think the way they’re changing it to the top four seeds is the correct decision. I’m excited to see what it looks like in year two.
