Fact or fiction: Georgia football will roll? Jalen Milroe to start? An SEC coach will be fired?
Who will be Alabama's starting quarterback, and how long will he remain the starter? Will this be the first season since 2018 that no SEC coach is fired? And, in the 10th and final season of the four-team College Football Playoff, will the SEC qualify two teams for the third time?
These are questions on our mind as Week 1 approaches kickoff. It's about to get real.
Vanderbilt officially got the SEC season started on Saturday by beating Hawaii, but that was the appetizer. The meal comes this week, starting with Florida's game at Utah on Thursday. South Carolina will clash with North Carolina on Saturday night, while LSU's top-10 showdown with Florida State on Sunday is the game of the week.
On this edition of "SEC Football Unfiltered," a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams discuss their most-anticipated games of Week 1, and they engage with several fact-or-fiction prompts for SEC teams this season. They finish with some Week 1 picks against the spread.
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Here's how they tackled the fact-or-fiction portion of the podcast. (For elaboration on their answers, you can play the audio embedded in this story.)
Jalen Milroe will be Alabama's starting QB for every game in September.
TOPPMEYER: Fact. ADAMS: Fact.
Georgia will beat every opponent before the SEC Championship by double digits.
TOPPMEYER: Fiction. (At least one close win.) ADAMS: Fiction. (At least one close win.)
LSU's Jayden Daniels will be a Heisman Trophy finalist.
TOPPMEYER: Fiction. ADAMS: Fact.
At least one SEC coach will be fired before Nov. 1.
TOPPMEYER: Fiction. ADAMS: Fiction.
At least one SEC coach will be fired this year.
TOPPMEYER: Fact. ADAMS: Fiction.
Zach Arnett will win more games in Year 1 at Mississippi State than Hugh Freeze in Year 1 at Auburn.
TOPPMEYER: Fact. ADAMS: Fiction.
The SEC will qualify at least two teams for the College Football Playoff.
TOPPMEYER: Fiction. ADAMS: Fact.
Alabama will lose at least two games before its bowl game.
TOPPMEYER: Fact. ADAMS: Fact.
Lane Kiffin will be a hot name in the coaching carousel this fall.
TOPPMEYER: Fiction. ADAMS: Fiction.
Ole Miss' Quinshon Judkins will rush for at least 1,800 yards.
TOPPMEYER: Fiction. ADAMS: Fiction.
South Carolina's Spencer Rattler will throw for more yards than Tennessee's Joe Milton.
TOPPMEYER: Fact. ADAMS: Fact.
Later in the episode
Toppmeyer and Adams make their Week 1 picks against the spread:
Florida at Utah (-7) – Toppmeyer: UTAH. Adams: UTAH.
Tennessee (-28.5) vs. Virginia – Toppmeyer: TENNESSEE. Adams: TENNESSEE.
South Carolina vs. North Carolina (-2.5) – Toppmeyer: NORTH CAROLINA. Adams: SOUTH CAROLINA.
LSU (-2.5) vs. Florida State – Toppmeyer: LSU. Adams: LSU.
Lock of the week – Toppmeyer: Northwestern at RUTGERS (-6.5). Adams: Nevada at SOUTHERN CAL (-38.5).
Where to listen to SEC Football Unfiltered
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's SEC Columnist. John Adams is the senior columnist for the Knoxville News Sentinel. You can subscribe to their podcast, SEC Football Unfiltered, or check out the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Georgia football will roll? Jalen Milroe to start? An SEC coach fired?
