Welcome to SEC Unfiltered , the USA TODAY NETWORK’s newsletter on SEC sports. Today, Knoxville News Sentinel columnist John Adams takes over:
The SEC is dominating the top 25 polls like never before. Georgia is No. 1 in the coaches poll, Texas is second, and three other conference teams are ranked among the top six.
Outside the top 10, the SEC also has a strong presence. Missouri is No. 11, LSU is 13th, Oklahoma is 18th and Texas A&M is 24th.
Those rankings reflect more than how much stronger the conference has become with the addition of Texas and Oklahoma. They also tell us how valuable good quarterbacks have become.
The SEC is loaded with talented quarterbacks. And each of its seventh-highest ranked teams has one. In fact, Texas has two with starter Quinn Ewers and backup Arch Manning, who subbed for an injured Ewers in Texas’ 51-3 victory over UL Monroe on Saturday.
But once you get past those top seven teams, not everybody is reveling in their quarterback play.
Texas A&M opened the season with Connor Weigman. That seemed like a good idea until the season opener against Notre Dame. Weigman was later sidelined by injury but should have been sidelined by incompetence against Notre Dame. Marcel Reed is now starting for the Aggies .