Doering: Alabama & Texas Won't Make College Football Playoff

Chris, thank you. You're talking about, in most people's minds, Texas program that's making their debut in the SEC. I'm a little skeptical to believe that they can come into this league and right off the bat win 10 games and make it to Atlanta, but I know a lot of people consider the Longhorns to be amongst the favorites. And then we're talking about some teams that kind of came out of nowhere last year, Ole Miss and Missouri, who both won 11 games including their bowl victories, both returned dynamic quarterbacks, both have really good groups of wide receivers, both have improved on the defensive side. So it's funny to not immediately mention Alabama right in that same class as Georgia, but I'm a little skeptical given the loss of Nick Saban, the greatest ever do it, what goes along with the intimidation factor that he brings.

I do love Kalen the board. I think he's going to be a great replacement, but I don't know if he hits the ground running. And I think the biggest difference probably is the floor whereas with Nick Saban as the head coach, I don't think they were really going to ever lose more than two games and finished 10 and two. I could see this year's Alabama team with the schedule they have finishing at nine and three, or maybe even at eight and four, which would be a bit of a horror show for most Alabama fans. Well, Chris, it sounds like, and it pretty much is, it's the Bulldogs and everybody else, given the expanded playoff this year into 12 teams, who else do you see from the SEC hopping inside, outside of Georgia? Yeah, I believe the SEC is going to get four teams in when it's all said and done. I think that Georgia is my number one team. I have Ole Miss at number two and my power rankings making it to the SEC championship game and then ultimately in that playoff field as well. I have Tennessee as my third best team. I think Tennessee could be this year's Missouri or Ole Miss from last season.

Nico Iemalayeva takes over as the full-time starter now. I think he's a great fit for this Josh Heiple offense, including what he's able to do. Running the football, he put on about 15, 20 pounds of the offseason, so he's a little more durable, but has the size and the arm strength to make every throw in that offense.

I think they're better defensively. The big question that I have is in the secondary, but this is going to be one of the better pass rush units in the conference with James Pierce Jr. coming back. A guy that people are, uh, prognosticating could be a top five selection in the NFL draft next year. So, they're a little bit of my dark horse team there in the third spot and I have Missouri, given their manageability of their schedule, I think they they win another 10 games this year and find themselves in the college football playoff field. Chris Doring is here with us courtesy of the SEC Network, a team that has not been mentioned and not too difficult when you lose a bunch of receivers, you lose a Heisman winner.

What do you expect out of LSU this year? Yeah, I mean, I think you have a great situation in Garrett Nussmeier, who's kind of the exception to the rule. He waited his turn at the quarterback position, uh, has had moments of getting a chance to play over the last couple years and steps in with probably more experience than what most, uh, first-year full-time starting quarterbacks do.

But I'm with you. You lose two first-round receivers. Uh, Kyron Lake, you're kind of the only proven target there at the wide receiver spot. I need to know who those guys are going to be to step up and fill that void of Malik Nabors and Brian Thomas Jr. moving on to the NFL. Uh, and then defensively, they were absolutely miserable last year and they did go out and get one of the best, uh, coaching acquisitions of the off-season and Blake Baker bringing him over from the, uh, the same position at the defensive coordinator spot in Missouri. But, uh, I need to see them be a little more disciplined and a little more talented, particularly in the back end where they were just, uh, brutal last year.

So I, I don't have them in the playoff field, but I think if things kind of bounce their way and they can improve defensively, they're going to have enough offense to, uh, to be in the mix when it's all said. Well, Chris, Brian Kelly, I mean, from the day he showed up in his opening press conference, it seems like people were finding reasons to kind of pick him apart. At what point do people go, okay, we went through one great quarterback and now we have another quarterback.

At what point do people start going, Hey, Brian, where are the results? Yeah. I like, I like Brian Kelly. I mean, I think Brian Kelly exceeded all expectations coming in, in year one, uh, and taking LSU to the, the SEC championship game against Georgia, uh, last year.

Yeah. I think we look at it as a little bit of a down year, but you go back and look, they won nine games, which I was shocked as I was trying to remember how the season went. All I could think about were the, the defensive issues that they had. Um, but, uh, you know, I, that the, the definition of success is now changing with the SEC eliminating divisions. It's going to be even more difficult to get to Atlanta for the SEC championship game. But if you can, if you can, you win 10 games or even in some cases with the more challenging schedules in our league, you, you win nine, you got a chance to be in the conversation. And, um, you know, last year having Missouri would have been in Ole miss would have been in, in, I think that really changes the way that a lot of the teams that have not been in the college football playoff mix in years past, see this as a, a much more viable path to, to competing for a national championship side. I think you're going to see teams like, you know, Tennessee moved back up into that, you know, Kentucky's had a couple of 10 wins seasons in the last six years under Mark Stoops. I think this is, uh, the most anticipated season that I can remember. You know, I've covered, I've been a part of this league as a fan of the kid, as a player, as a, a media member. Now with the SEC network for the last 10 years, this is the most anticipated season that I can remember in the SEC in my lifetime.

Chris Doring is joining us, the JR sport B show on the infinity sports network. You said you don't think the transition is going to be all that good or great for Texas. Now, what the hell does that mean for Oklahoma? Yeah, I, it's funny in my power rankings I put out today, I had, um, I had Texas, I think at six and then I think I had Oklahoma at like 11.

I just, I think it's going to be a very difficult transaction, uh, transition. And the thing that stands out, it's obviously a very physical league. The, the cumulative effect of playing week in and week out in this conference is difficult, but the, the mental grind of it is challenging as well. You look at the way that, that Oklahoma finishes the season. They have one of the, the, the most difficult stretches outside of having to play main in that, that last five games that they have, they've got a brutal run that includes, uh, LSU in that list. I believe Alabama late there as well. It's, uh, it's a tough grind for, for Oklahoma.

And I, I just, I don't know if they are built on the lines of scrimmage yet to be able to compete in this league, uh, the way that you have to be to, uh, sustain the, the grind of the, uh, the FCC demands. Well, Chris, what about your school, man? How about them Gators? Yeah, I'm actually high on Florida. Last year at this time, I was picking Florida to win five games and that's ultimately where they landed. Uh, they did let a few late games get away from them. Probably should have won against, uh, uh, Arkansas at home last year. Let that one get away with a missed field goal late. Probably should have won against Missouri when they had a fourth and 17 to get off the field and feel the deal.

They can't do that. Uh, so this is a team, even though they were at five wins last year, was close to being a seven or eight win team. I do think they made some good, uh, tonight, uh, changes on the, the, the coaching staff on the defensive side, new defensive, uh, line coach, new secondary coach.

Uh, they bring in Ron Roberts to kind of help, uh, with Austin Armstrong overseeing the defense. Uh, and then they added a bunch of veteran guys in the transfer portal, uh, three or four veteran guys that are fourth and fifth year players in the secondary, uh, Paul powered at the linebacker spot comes over from South Carolina. And maybe the biggest, uh, deal of all is getting Graham Mertz back for another year. I know that a lot of people are down on the transfer portal and NIL, but Graham Mertz is what's right about college football. This is his team.

As far as, as he can carry them, they're going to go. And, uh, I think he's one of the guys that should be celebrated about what's good about college football right now. Chris, we got so many changes in college football. What are your thoughts on, on the changes? You talk about this being a highly anticipated season in the SCC. We, we know the big 10 has changed.

There is no pack 10, pack 12, pack nothing. What are your thoughts on the continued evolution? This is very different from even when you play. Yeah.

And that's, what's scary to me. I'm not a guy that loves change necessarily. I do know the change is inevitable and, and that this is a business now more than it's ever been before, but at the same time, what makes college football so great, what makes the SCC so great is the history, the, the rivalries, the traditions, those things are, are, are important, uh, to sustaining, uh, the next generation of college football fans. And so I do think, um, it's going to be important that we're able to retain some of these, these great games that we've come to love in the past. In the SCC case, you do get to have Texas and Texas A&M renewing that rivalry, which is awesome. There's some familiarity with Oklahoma and Missouri having been in the big 12 together before Arkansas and Texas was an old, you know what, uh, Southwest conference rivalry back in the day.

So you get that one renewed. Those are some of the good things, but I, I do think the, the playoff expansion is going to help. It's going to help, uh, have more meaningful games played into the season for more teams. And then the scheduling data conference scheduling. I think that's going to be one of the big benefits that we continue to see more power five teams playing one another outside of their conferences, which, uh, you know, I think creates a lot of excitement when you get an opportunity to see some of the games like we do this week with Notre Dame and Texas A&M playing one another Clemson in Georgia, Florida and Miami. Uh, those are the games that the fans are interested in. And I think, uh, making sure that we remember the fans are the consumer here at the end of the day is important. Yeah. Well, let me tell you something, Chris, as long as we still have a Florida Georgia game in Jacksonville, I think I'll be okay.

That's right. Hey, that's maybe one of the biggest traditions that needs to be maintained. You know, I love the fact that that game has a, uh, a hall of fame, uh, to itself that speaks to the importance of that game. But anybody that's ever been to the cocktail party and has seen the visuals coming over the bridge of orange and blue and red and black and the stadium split 50 50, uh, knows that that's something really special about college football. And certainly the talk of going home and home there is something that I hope is nothing more than just talk.

Hey, I'll be looking forward to it. Hey, I know professional caspature at, uh, at, uh, at Florida, also in the NFL. I got to ask you about a wide receiver, not a wide receiver, a quarterback for the Colts right now, Anthony Richardson. What, what are your thoughts on, on what he can do and what he's done so far? Well, I love Anthony. Obviously he's a, he's a Gainesville boy like myself, born and raised in this area and, uh, we, we cheer for him as, as such. Um, and it was a small sample size of him at Florida as a starting quarterback. He's still a young guy, uh, both in terms of age and in terms of his, his football maturation. So, um, there's going to be some bumps and bruises along the way, but, uh, he's, he's one of the most gifted athletes I've ever seen before, incredible arm, uh, the ability to, uh, elude or break every tackle that, uh, you want to try to attempt, uh, the durability is a bit of a question. So he's got to learn, I think, to have a little bit of more, uh, awareness of when to get down and when to get out of bounds. But, uh, he's got all the tools.

He just needs to get more reps. And I think that's why this preseason has been so important for him. Hey, Chris, I appreciate the time. Where can people follow you and all of your work, the SEC network and elsewhere?

Yeah, well, I think I'm overexposed to some degree. I'm, uh, trying to get things up on the SEC network this, uh, this weekend. We get going with a couple Thursday night games, uh, that we'll be covering.

And then, um, also on Sirius XM on the SEC channel 374 and, uh, on Twitter at Chris Doring and Instagram at C Doring 28. Hey, Chris, I appreciate the time. Maybe I'll see you down in Jacksonville, buddy. Sounds good, man. Thanks for having me, bro. It's always a pleasure.