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    • Why Florida’s Billy Napier will be the only SEC coach fired
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    Why Florida’s Billy Napier will be the only SEC coach fired

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    • Florida’s Billy Napier has the hottest seat in the SEC, while Arkansas’ Sam Pittman and Auburn’s Hugh Freeze enjoy the air conditioning.
    • With two more wins, Sam Pittman can move from the hot seat to the contract extension.
    • A 10-2 record will not ensure all SEC teams are safe for CFP selection.

    that of Florida Billy Napier still holds the hottest seat in the SEC.

    The nation’s most hostile conference toward coaches has enjoyed a quiet rotation of the coaching carousel for two months. “Arkansas’ Sam Pittman steps out of the hot seat”. Auburn’s Hugh Freeze bought himself a moment of calm by beating Kentucky.

    Even long-beleaguered Napier continues its third season with the Alligatorsand they’re even getting better, but he’s about to head into the bruising portion of the schedule when they take on Georgia on Saturday.

    On this edition of “SEC Football Unfiltered“, a USA TODAY Network podcast, hosts Blake Toppmeyer And John Adams apply the right-or-false test to the SEC hot seat before evaluating a few College Football Playoff scenarios.

    Let’s go.

    Sam Pittman will be fired

    Verdict: FAKE. Pittman gained a whiff of safety with a 5-3 start. Ole Miss, Texas, Louisiana Tech and Missouri remain on Arkansas’ schedule. If Pittman can split that streak and go 7-5, his contract would automatically trigger a raise and a one-year extension through the 2028 season. And that’s how quickly a coach goes from the hot seat to the extension.

    Hugh Freeze will be fired

    Verdict: false. We’d state this answer with more confidence if Auburn beat Vanderbilt and Louisiana-Monroe to earn at least five wins, but the best thing propping Freeze up is a recruiting class ranked No. 5 nationally in the 247Sports Composite.

    Brent Venables will be fired

    Verdict: false. Oklahoma foolishly gave Venables a contract extension before this season, and those chickens are coming home to roost. Oklahoma is 4-4 and looking at the possibility of a second losing season in Venables’ first three years on the job. But a buyout of nearly $45 million gives him protection. If Oklahoma loses to Missouri in two weeks, the pressure mounts and money will be the only reason to keep Venables.

    Billy Napier will be fired

    Verdict: True. Florida’s improved play of late makes this outcome a little murkier than it once seemed. The Gators finally have a pulse! Too little, too late? Florida is not recruiting well. The remaining schedule is brutal. The Gators look better than they did at the start of the season, but Napier would need to win at least one game in which he is an underdog to avoid what would be a third straight losing season.

    Two SEC teams from Texas will compete in the CFP

    Verdict: True. After Texas A&M beat LSU, the Aggies are in very good shape for the playoffs. Texas’ softer schedule would leave it vulnerable if it suffers a second loss, but we’re leaning towards both going in.

    A 10-2 SEC team will be excluded from the CFP

    Verdict: True. The bubble is too crowded. Not every SEC team with two losses finds themselves in this playoff field.

    Week 10 picks!

    Choice against the spread:

    Ole Miss (-7.5) at Arkansas

    Topmeyer: Arkansas; Adams: Arkansas

    Vanderbilt at Auburn (-6.5)

    Toppmeyer: Vanderbilt; Adams: Vanderbilt

    Texas A&M (-2.5) at South Carolina

    Toppmeyer: Texas A&M; Adams: Texas A&M

    Georgia (-17) vs. Florida

    Toppmeyer: Florida; Adams: Georgia

    Kentucky vs. Tennessee (-15.5)

    Toppmeyer: Tennessee; Adams:Tennessee

    Lock of the week

    Toppmeyer: Duke in Miami (-21.5); Adams: Louisville at Clemson (-11)

    Records: Blake 29-22 (2-4); John 28-23 (2-4)

    Where to Listen to SEC Football Unfiltered

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    Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. John Adams is the senior sports columnist for the Knoxville News Sentinel. Ssubscribe to SEC Football Unfiltered podcast, and check out the Unfiltered SEC Newsletter, Delivered Straight to Your Inbox.

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