What was actually accomplished at SEC Media Days? Not much at all

Jadan Baugh (13) was conspicuously absent from All-SEC mention (Photo by Chris Spears)

SEC Media Days has come and gone. Did anyone learn anything earth shattering or remotely different than what you thought before the official kickoff event of the 2025 football season began?

No? That’s what I thought.

Let’s start with the obvious. All the usual suspects were picked to finish one through four – 1. Texas, 2. Georgia, 3. Alabama, 4. LSU. No surprises there although once you get past Texas, there are some serious questions about Georgia, Alabama and LSU. Texas will be starting Arch Manning at QB and it is going to be hard for him to live up to all the hype, but Texas has so much talent he doesn’t have to be great. He just has to avoid making critical mistakes and Texas will win 10-12 games.

Georgia? Do you believe Gunner Stockton is the second coming of Stetson Bennett? Kirby Smart and Georgia are hyping him as a Stetson Bennett clone but so far no one has seen any indication that teammates would run through a brick wall for him. They would have done that for Stetson Bennett. There are other issues with Georgia beside quarterback. Last year, for example, when Trevor Etienne was supposed to be the answer to the running game, Georgia finished 15^th in the league in rushing and that was with a better O-line than the Poodles have this year. Georgia finished eighth in the SEC in run defense a year ago and that was with five guys who have departed the program. Only two of the front seven return.

Alabama? There is a brand new offensive coordinator (Ryan Grubb), whom they are trying to pitch as the guy who turned Michael Penix into a first round draft pick. Yes, but Michael Penix had already thrown for more than 4,000 yards and 28 TDPs before he ever landed at Washington. Ty Simpson has thrown 50 (count ‘em) and has yet to throw a TDP. Now he will have Ryan Williams to throw to, which is significant but a lot of Tider insider types seem to think that by midyear Bama will have a freshman QB. Alabama does have 13 starters returning (6 offense, 7 defense) so the Tide will be able to hang with anyone but can Ty Simpson take them over the top?

LSU? Don’t get me started. Garrett Nussmeier has an NFL quality arm but as we saw against Florida he’s not going to wow anyone with his escapability. Florida sacked him six times and that was against an O-line that had four guys drafted in the NFL. This year’s line is picked 14^th in the league by Lindy’s. LSU finished dead last in rushing a year ago with that O-line which Brian Kelly called the best in the country. Uh-huh. One returning starter in the front seven of the defense. LSU was 12^th in the SEC in run defense. Will Corey Raymond end up doing to the LSU pass defense what he did to Florida’s? All these transfers who have never played with each other. The media is selling LSU hard. I’m not buying. That opener with Clemson is followed two weeks later by the Gators.

Okay South Carolina is picked fifth but that’s because everyone thinks LaNorris Sellers is going to be as good or better than last year. They thought the same thing about KJ Jefferson after the 2022 season. As Arkansas fans discovered in 2023, a year older doesn’t necessarily make you a year better, particularly when you’re minus four offensive linemen and you don’t really have any studs who can stretch a defense on the outside. Oh, and the defense was gutted. If you’ve got money on the Gamecocks, you’re living life on a (chicken) wing and a prayer.

The media did pick Florida sixth, but that’s about where the preseason mags have the Gators. If you’ve got Florida on your list of teams that could bust out of the pack and shock the world, then you’ve done your homework. Florida is absolutely loaded offensively. As the SEC Network crew pointed out the Gators might have the best collection of skill people in the SEC plus a triggerman in DJ Lagway to go with the best O-line in the conference led by first team All-American Jake Slaughter. If the defense plays like it did after they got used to Ron Roberts making the calls instead of Austin Armstrong, the Gators will be good. Really good.

Ole Miss seventh? That’s actually not a bad place to put the Rebels. Lane Kiffin is the only one who seems to know how to lose half his team to the portal, bring in 30 new faces and make it all work. If the defense is as good as advertised Ole Miss will win eight or more games.

I’m more sold on Texas A&M finishing eighth than Tennessee finishing ninth. The Aggies do have some talent, but they also have this nasty habit of getting off to a good start then crashing and burning at the end. I was never sold on Nico Iamaleava at quarterback but he was definitely better than his replacement, Joey Aguilar, who threw 14 picks last year against Sun Belt defenses at App State.

The next three should be ranked ahead of the Aggies and Vols – 10. Oklahoma, 11. Auburn and 12. Missouri. Oklahoma has John Mateer at QB. By season’s end, Mateer and DJ Lagway will be the two best quarterbacks in the SEC. Count on it. If the Oklahoma defense can hold its own, the Sooners will win some games nobody thinks they should. Michigan in Norman game two, for example. Auburn has a defense that can play but needs QB Jackson Arnold to remember it’s legal to complete passes. Missouri? I think Eli Drinkwitz enjoys it when the media ranks the Tigers as a bottom tier team. The defense is going to be nasty. Some Penn State people seem to think Beau Pribula should have been their starting QB. If he’s good, Mizzou will beat people.

After that, it’s the usual collection of bottom feeders.

The media picked LaNorris Sellers over Garrett Nussmeier as the first team All-SEC QB. Arch Manning was picked third team. Lagway and Mateer will be the two best in the league but if Texas goes 11-1 or maybe even 12-0, the All-SEC QB will be Arch Manning. Book it. Doesn’t necessarily mean he’s the best but the hype machine will be cranking.

All-SEC running backs. How did Caden Durham of LSU and Jaydn Ott of Oklahoma make second team? And Nate Frazier (Georgia) and Jam Miller (Alabama) third team? Well, it’s called their from Georgia and Alabama. Doesn’t mean either one of them is better than Jadan Baugh or Ja’Kobi Jackson.    

I understand why Florida doesn’t have a first, second or third team wide receiver, but wait until the end of the year. Florida’s receivers will be among the best in the league. Eli Stowers of Vandy is the best TE in the league, but there aren’t two other tight ends in the league better than Hayden Hansen.

Florida did get Jake Slaughter and Austin Barber on the first team O-line. They deserve it. Four Aggie O-linemen on the first three teams? Oh please.

Over on defense, Caleb Banks should have made first team but there are a lot of good D-linemen. Making second team isn’t bad and Tyreak Sapp on third team is a nice place to put him. He will use it as motivation.

Beau Gardner of Georgia first team All-SEC long snapper? Since when. Rocco Underwood made second team, should have been first. Barion Brown of LSU returned five kickoffs for TDs in his career when he was at Kentucky. The media picked Georgia’s Zachariah Branch, the Southern Cal transfer, as the first team kick returner. Shaking my head over that one.

One last thing. Greg Sankey made it clear he’s in favor of a 9-game schedule and it has nothing to do with Big Ten commissioner Toni Petiti saying it’s not fair that his league plays nine league games while those meanies in the SEC play only eight. Eight SEC games are a whole lot tougher than nine in the Big Ten. But that doesn’t have anything to do with Sankey wanting nine.

Sankey wants nine because SEC fans would much rather see another league game than one against a paycheck opponent, most likely from D1AA. ESPN wasn’t in favor of a 9-game schedule a year ago, but that was because it hadn’t lined up the television crews and schedule that it will take for the extra conference game. ESPN has the crews now and wants the extra game. Sankey can demand more money from ESPN and ESPN will fork it over. Count on it.

A 9-game SEC schedule means more rivalry games which means more viewers and higher ratings. Do you think for even a second SEC fans on the East coast are going to stay up late to watch UCLA-Washington or Minnesota-Oregon? But they will stay up late to watch Tennessee-South Carolina or Ole Miss-Arkansas. Those aren’t marquee games but SEC fans will burn their midnight candles to watch them.

The only reason some SEC schools aren’t in favor of a 9-game schedule has to do with bowl eligibility. As long as that paycheck win over a D1AA team counts toward bowl eligibility, there is a faction in the SEC that will steadfastly refuse to vote for a ninth conference game. When – not if – the SEC goes to a 9-game schedule, the game that will be discarded will be the paycheck game. Personally, I would like to see the SEC ban regular season games against D1AA teams and instead, lead the charge to allow for a spring game against the likes of Florida A&M or Bethune-Cookman.

So, there, you have the basics of what was accomplished at SEC Media Days. It was boring and needs an infusion of new ideas to make it exciting again. Four days is too long. Make the coaches bring two – not three – players who are real studs, not two who are being given lifetime achievement awards. Have the commish have serious discussions with the media about new ideas. Those, just for starters.

Once again, nothing was really accomplished this year but then again, nothing was accomplished last year or the year before. It’s time for something better to rouse the rabbles who make up the SEC fan bases.