Thoughts of the Day: July 12, 2026

A few thoughts to jump start your Sunday morning:

The talking season is upon us and will be in full gear in another week when SEC Media Days kicks off in Tampa. Nobody will be surprised when media gathered from all over the nation predicts a 1-2 SEC finish with Texas and Georgia occupying the top two spots. The real questions will be teams three through 12, all of whom are capable of finding the consistency it will take to win anywhere from eight to ten games.

Here is early prediction of the SEC from top to bottom:

1. Texas: Arch Manning has new shiny weapons in wide receiver Cam Coleman and running back Hollywood Smothers, but what will put the Longhorns on top is new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp. Toughest games: Ohio State; Oklahoma (Dallas), Ole Miss; at LSU.

2. Georgia: Georgia’s depth chart isn’t nearly as scary as it used to be but if the Bulldogs avoid injuries, the first team on both sides of the ball is good enough to be a top five team nationally. Toughest games: Oklahoma, at Alabama, Florida (Atlanta), at Ole Miss.

3. Oklahoma: Brent Venables is one of the truly elite defensive play callers in the country. If QB John Mateer stays healthy, the Sooners will challenge for the SEC championship game. Toughest games: at Michigan, at Georgia, at Florida, Ole Miss, Texas A&M.

4. Ole Miss: Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacey are back on offense and Suntarise Perkins is back on defense. What’s missing is Charlie Weis Jr. calling the plays, but Ole Miss will still make the College Football Playoff. Toughest games: LSU, at Florida, at Texas, Georgia, at Oklahoma.

5. Texas A&M: If the Aggies have successfully rebuilt the offensive line they will be very, very good. If the line is inconsistent the Aggies could finish much farther down the pack. Toughest games: at LSU, at Alabama, at Oklahoma, Texas.

6. LSU: The focus on recruiting the portal worked for Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss but will the same formula work at LSU? If everything meshes the Tigers could challenge but figure at least two or three winnable games will go the other way. Toughest games: at Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Alabama, Texas

7. Alabama: Kalen DeBoer is a very good football coach but is he the right fit at Alabama? Can the Tide run the football? Who’s going to be the quarterback? Toughest games: Georgia, Texas A&M, at LSU, Auburn.

8. FLORIDA: If Jon Sumrall finds a way to compensate for a lack of depth on the D-line and new OC Buster Faulkner can maximize Jadan Baugh’s enormous talents, then the Gators have a shot to be the surprise team of the Southeastern Conference. Toughest games: at Auburn, Ole Miss, at Texas, Georgia (Atlanta), Oklahoma.

9. Missouri: Ahmad Hardy might be the best running back in the country. If Eli Drinkwitz can convince Austin Simmons of the futility of throwing into double coverage Mizzou will be good for an 8-10-win season. Toughest games: Florida, Texas A&M, at Ole Miss, Texas, at Georgia, Oklahoma.

10. Tennessee: Last year’s 8-5 was a signal of things to come. Josh Heupel doesn’t have an experienced quarterback and whoever wins the job might be running for his life behind a below average O-line. Toughest games: Texas, Auburn, Alabama, at Texas A&M, LSU.

11. Auburn: Byrum Brown will rank among the elite quarterbacks in the SEC if Alex Golesh can find some people who can hang onto the football. Too much inexperience in the front seven defensively. A seven-win or better season will require the Tigers to win shootouts. Toughest games: Florida, at Georgia, LSU, at Ole Miss, at Alabama.

12. South Carolina: The offense can’t be as bad as it was last year when Mike Shula was calling the plays. New OC Kendal Briles has a stud to work with in LaNorris Sellers but can he find five O-linemen capable of keeping the QB upright and healthy? Toughest games: at Alabama, at Florida, at Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Georgia.

13. Vanderbilt: There is no Diego Pavia to rally the troops to wins from fourth quarter deficits. There are a lot of holes for Clark Lea to fill, but Vanderbilt has recruited well and the slide from last year’s 10-win season won’t be so dramatic. Toughest games: at Auburn, at Georgia, Ole Miss, Alabama, at Florida.

14. Mississippi State: Jeff Lebby has the Bulldogs trending upward. If he somehow gets the Bulldogs to seven wins this season he will be somebody’s hot ticket item for another HBC job in a setting with more to offer than you’ll find in scenic Starkville. Toughest games: Alabama, at LSU, Oklahoma, at Texas, Auburn, at Ole Miss.

15. Kentucky: New HBC Will Stein has taken over a program that lacks talent on both sides of the football. Winning four games will be viewed as a serious accomplishment. Toughest games: Alabama, at Texas A&M, LSU, at Oklahoma, Florida, at Missouri.

16. Arkansas: Any way you slice it the Razorbacks are in deepest and darkest. It is going to be a rocky road for first-year coach Ryan Silverfield because talent and experience are in very short supply. Toughest games: All nine SEC games.

GATORS NO. 18 IN ESPN PRESEASON POWER RANKINGS

For a league that has supposedly been left behind by the Big Ten, the SEC should be very, very good if you go by ESPN’s preseason power rankings (FPI). Twelve SEC teams rank in the top 25 and that includes the Gators at No. 18. The Big Ten placed seven in the top 25, the ACC three and the Big 12 two.

Top 25 FPI (SEC teams bold face): 1. Ohio State; 2. Texas; 3. Notre Dame; 4. Oregon; 5. Georgia; 6. Indiana; 7. Miami; 8. Alabama; 9. LSU; 10. Texas Tech; 11. Texas A&M; 12. Oklahoma; 13. Southern California; 14. Ole Miss; 15. Michigan; 16. Tennessee; 17. Penn State; 18. FLORIDA; 19. Clemson; 20. BYU; 21. Missouri; 22. Auburn; 23. South Carolina; 24. SMU; 25. Iowa

ALL 16 SEC TEAMS RANK TOP 20 IN SCHEDULE DIFFICULTY PER ESPN

ESPN has offered one of the best ways to determine who has the strongest conference – the SEC or the Big Ten – with its recent strength of schedule rankings. Using strength of schedule as an indicator, there are no weak links in any SEC schedule this year. The SEC boasts the seven toughest schedules, 14 of the top 15 and 16 of the top 20.

Florida has the No. 7 toughest schedule.

Ohio State is the only Big Ten school to crack the top 10 (No. 8). Seven Big Ten teams have schedules ranked in the top 25 while there are two from the ACC.

Top 25 toughest schedules: 1. Arkansas; 2. Oklahoma; 3. Texas; 4. Kentucky; 5. Ole Miss; 6. Mississippi State; 7. FLORIDA; 8. Ohio State; 9. Texas A&M; 10. South Carolina; 11. LSU; 12. Missouri; 13. Auburn; 14. Tennessee; 15. Alabama; 16. Michigan; 17. Northwestern; 18. Vanderbilt; 19. Southern California; 20. Georgia; 21. Nebraska; 22. Florida State; 23. Purdue; 24. Boston College; 25. Washington

FOUR GATORS TAKEN FIRST FOUR ROUNDS OF MLB DRAFT

Headlined by the Cleveland Guardians taking right handed pitcher Liam Peterson with the 19^th pick of the first round, four Gators were selected in the first four rounds of the Major League Baseball Draft Saturday. Also selected were center fielder Kyle Jones (pick No. 102 overall, third round, Milwaukee Brewers), signee/outfielder Kevin Roberts (pick No. 110 overall, fourth round, Baltimore Orioles) and right handed pitcher Russel Sandefer (pick No. 132 overall, fourth round, Los Angeles Dodgers).

The draft will conclude with rounds five through 20 today.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: File this under you learn something new every single day. Saturday night in a World Cup quarter-final game in Kansas City, Swiss striker Breel Embolo got one yellow card too many and was booted from the game with Argentina under something called the “mistaken identity law.” On the play in question, Embolo flopped, falling face forward intentionally in an attempt to draw a foul on Argentina’s Larendo Paredes. The referee assumed that Paredes was guilty of a foul so he issued a yellow card but video review showed Embolo flopped. With visual proof of a flop, the referee cleared Paredes and used the mistaken identity law to swap the yellow card to Embolo. Because Embolo already was playing with a yellow card, he was banished from the game. This is where soccer rules get tricky because Switzerland was not allowed to play someone in Embolo’s place. Apparently two yellow cards in a game is the equivalent of one red card, the result of which is banishment and your team has to go the rest of the game one man down. Switzerland was forced to play the remainder of the second half and both halves of overtime with only 10 players to Argentina’s 11.

The score was 1-1 at the time and Switzerland was putting enormous pressure on the Argentine defense. Regulation ended with the score still 1-1, but in the second half of the 30-minutes of overtime play, Argentina struck for a pair of goals. Would they have scored if the Swiss had been playing at full strength? That is a question that will be debated for years to come, particularly if Argentina goes on to win the World Cup.

In a 61-game drama-filled month of the World Cup on North American soil there have been far too many flops to count. Most of the time it’s a slight nudge that sends someone to the turf where he clings to the allegedly injured body part as if a transplant might be the only way to end the pain. Some of the time it’s a complete whiff but a lack of contact doesn’t prevent a dive complete with an acting job worthy of an Academy Award nomination.

It turns out that there were two other instances during the World Cup that the mistaken identity law has resulted in a referee’s call of a foul has been overturned but none of them had the long range implications of the Embolo flop. By reversing the call Saturday night, the Swiss had their aggression severely curtailed. Maybe if they play 11-on-11 they score and win the match in regulation but that’s something we’ll never know for sure.

What we do know is Breel Embolo got caught and punished. The severity of the punishment is being called controversial but was it? The first yellow card should have served as a warning to Embolo and he should have been smart enough to know a second would result in his banishment. He should have also realized that everything that happens on the field is caught on camera and subject to review. Either he was too dumb or simply too ignorant but no matter which one it was, he cost his team.  

Now wouldn’t it be nice if there was not only a video review of flops on the basketball court but a reversal of a bad call?