Don't look now, but first-year Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops is turning some heads.

After 50,831 fans packed Commonwealth Stadium in April to take in the spring game, the Wildcats find themselves in the top 25 of the current ESPN.com class of 2014 recruiting rankings. That's a good place to be, but it's still the ninth-best class in the SEC.

Still, for a program that's coming off a 2-10 campaign, a winless SEC season and is largely overlooked in the landscape of the SEC, it's certainly something for Stoops and the rest of Big Blue Nation to hang its hat on.

The centerpiece of Kentucky's 2013 class is 4-star quarterback and ESPN 150 member Drew Barker. The 6'4", 205-pound pro-style prospect chose the Wildcats over SEC East foes South Carolina and Tennessee. 

Read More »2

With three straight 247Sports.com composite recruiting titles under his belt, Alabama head coach Nick Saban has established himself as not only the best coach in the country, but also the nation's unquestioned king of recruiting.

Just how good is it these days for Saban?

According to Mike Herndon of AL.com, Saban told fans at a Crimson Caravan event in Orange Beach, Ala., that all of Alabama's offers to quarterbacks in the class of 2014 are non-committable until Saban sees them work out personally at Alabama's camp.

Sure, the words "non-committable" and "offer" contradict each other, but semantics aren't exactly important in the recruiting game. After all, a commitment isn't a commitment until national signing day.

Read More »148

Every Thursday on The SEC Blog, we will feature questions from the Bleacher Report inbox, Twitter and email at bsallee@bleacherreport.com. 

You have SEC questions, and I have SEC answers. Thank you for your questions this week. If I didn't get to them, they will be saved and used in the future.

And we're off:

The perception is out there that Texas A&M is all "sizzle" and no "steak," but I'm firmly in the A&M camp this season.

Read More »55

First-year head coach Gus Malzahn's motto heading into the 2013 season is that it's "a new day" at Auburn.

That new day features two returning quarterbacks—Kiehl Frazier and Jonathan Wallace—who didn't do an awful lot to inspire confidence last year and didn't separate from each other this spring. Because of that, Nick Marshall will have a shot to win the starting job once he enrolls in June.

Marshall, a 6'2", 190-pound dual-threat quarterback who played defensive back at Georgia in 2011, was dismissed from the program in February 2012 for a violation of team rules.

According to ESPN.com, Marshall and another teammate were involved in the theft of money.

Read More »54

Election season is typically the time where campaigning reaches an all-time high. But for SEC head coaches, the time to campaign for the future of the SEC's scheduling format is now.

The conference is expected to adopt a long-term scheduling format next week during the annual SEC spring meetings in Destin, Fla. That format could include the addition of a ninth conference game and/or the elimination of permanent cross-division rivalries.

LSU head coach Les Miles made waves after spring practice, when he voiced his displeasure for permanent cross-division rivalries within the SEC's 6-1-1 scheduling format. But he wasn't done.

Miles appeared on the Tim Brando Show on Sirius/XM radio and CBS Sports Network on Wednesday, where he made his case for the future scheduling format of the SEC.

Read More »116

You don't want to get on Florida head coach Will Muschamp's bad side.

The man with the ultra-terrifying stare first became an Internet celebrity when microphones caught him cursing while he was the defensive coordinator for Auburn in 2007, and his intense demeanor hasn't diminished now that he's the head coach at Florida.

During his first two seasons in Gainesville, Muschamp has lost it quite a few times, including after a fumbled punt in 2011 against Auburn, in the 2012 World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party when he stared down tight end Clay Burton and in Florida's 2013 Sugar Bowl loss to Louisville.

Florida is capitalizing on Muschamp's intensity.

Read More »12

"Johnny Manziel is out of control."

That's the cry coming from Manziel's critics after the reigning Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback for the Texas A&M Aggies has gone on a world tour this offseason that has taken him to NBA games, the Super Bowl, Mardis Gras, Cabo San Lucas, Pebble Beach and San Diego—all while taking online classes.

Not only is that alarmist hyperbole, it's also factually inaccurate.

We learned on Monday that Manziel is very much in control.

Read More »115

You can't coach experience, but that won't be an issue at quarterback in the SEC this season, as 11 of the 14 teams return a quarterback or quarterbacks who started the majority of the 2012 season.

That group is headlined by reigning Heisman Trophy-winner Johnny Manziel at Texas A&M, Aaron Murray at Georgia and two-time BCS National Champion AJ McCarron at Alabama.

Manziel has the sizzle. He was a permanent fixture on highlight reels last season thanks to his 1,410 rushing yards; but he was also marvelously efficient, completing 68 percent of his passes for 3,706 yards and 26 touchdowns. 

Murray set the single-season Georgia record with 35 touchdowns passes in 2011, and then broke his own record with 36 last season. Not only has he performed like an All-SEC player in each of the last two seasons, he has virtually his entire supporting cast back in 2013. Not only can he draw on his own experience, but he can draw on it with the same pieces in place.

Read More »23