Today, the SEC media days for college football start. While media days are often hyped up to be more than they are, there are certainly a few storylines to watch out for this year as the SEC officially welcomes in Texas and Oklahoma.
Here are the top three storylines to watch out for:
How Will Texas (and Oklahoma) Be Treated?
Texas is used to being the big mean bully of the conference. They ran the Big 12 however they wanted and complained whenever they didn’t get things their way. In the SEC, they are no longer a huge brand and influence. Now they are in the same league as Alabama and Georgia, which are bigger brands, and teams like LSU, Florida, Texas A&M, and Tennessee, at about the same level as the Longhorns.
It will be very interesting to see how the SEC treats them and how the Longhorns treat the conference. There probably won’t be any negative public statements against each other (except maybe Texas A&M), but rather, watching what is going on when the main cameras are on will be interesting. Will Texas and Oklahoma sit and communicate with each other? Will teams like Alabama and Georgia ignore or engage with the new teams?
Also, because Texas and Oklahoma are bigger brand names, how will that affect the lower-viewed teams such as Arkansas, South Carolina, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt? Will they be ignored even more than before?
What are the expectations with the New 12-Team Playoff?
The SEC likes to claim that they are the best conference in college football. One of the discussions will be about the newly expanded 12-team college football playoff featuring seven at-large teams. At least at this point, several teams seem in a position to be in the playoff discussion. Those teams include:
- Alabama
- LSU
- Texas
- Tennessee
- Ole Miss
- Missouri
- Georiga
Again, these aren’t teams that could make it; these are teams that expect to make it. And I’m not talking about the teams that go 2-10 and return and say, “We’re here to win championships.” These are teams that would actually be very upset if they fall short.
However, not all of them will make it. One of the interesting storylines will be how many teams the SEC expects to get in, as well as what each individual teams expectations are to get there.
Out here at SEC Media Days ready to get this season started! pic.twitter.com/ooxFoDhqlC
— Zachary Yanes (@ZacharyYanes) July 15, 2024
No Divisions in the SEC
- Teams are now playing more variety of opponents. In the past, a team only played one or two cross-divisional games. There were times when Alabama wouldn’t face Georgia in the regular season for over five years. With no divisions, that will no longer be the case. It will be interesting to hear how excited teams are to play more teams they don’t normally play.
- Up to this point, there isn’t a clear tie-breaker. The assumption would be the head-to-head matchup if it exists, but it is anyone’s guess on how it will be determined. Common opponents seem like a good idea, but even that can be tough to gauge because some teams, like Missouri and Florida, only have a couple of common opponents.
- The schedules are crazy. Missouri plays only two of the top seven projected teams, while Florida plays six. Eliminating divisions was supposed to help fix this problem (the SEC West was always stronger), but there are still issues. Could a 6-6 Florida be better than an 8-4 Missouri? Absolutely, but the polls won’t reflect that.
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