Into the Fire: SEC Media Days 2017

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Next week it is finally here! One of the biggest most anticipated events of the calendar year finally takes place and 103.7 The Game is going to be all over it like Coach O on a case of Monster Energy Drinks. Sports, news, and entertainment are so interwoven now, that some of the biggest sporting events of the year are not even games featuring athletic competition. I would argue that the biggest and best sporting events that provide the most quality entertainment and information are press conferences and interviews. This is why the Conor McGregor versus Floyd Mayweather press tour is more anticipated than the actual fight and this is why all of us down in here where it just means more, hold SEC Football Media Days so near and dear to our hearts.

The football conference with the most pride and the most pressure to be great kicks off the College Football hype season this Monday in Hoover, Alabama. The usual questions will be asked of course. Questions like, “which team can contend with Alabama” and “which coaches are on the hot seat” will be asked and analyzed over and over and over again. Are we sick of asking them? Some of us. I for one enjoy the villainy Alabama provides the SEC and to be honest, that is really all the SEC has going for it right now on a national scale.

The usual questions are always important as we get to know this year’s players and get into the mindset of coaches who will fight to keep their jobs and coaches who will make their triumphant return to the conference with the message of “one team, one heartbeat.” But the most interesting question this year is one that most in the SEC media have rarely asked over the last decade and that is, “how can the SEC get back to being the best conference in College Football?” Because make no mistake about it, when the newspaper men, radio hosts, and T.V. talking heads flock to Hoover, they will be flocking to cover a once great conference that has been surpassed by the ACC.

Now I could sit here and crunch the numbers for you and explain why the SEC is no longer as great as you think it is, but that is why the great Phil Steele puts out his magazine every year. Go read his amazing rag if you want the data. All I should have to tell you, especially down here in Louisiana, is look at who won the National Title last season. And hell, look at your own team the LSU Tigers. With the Tigers underachieving, among other teams (SEC West especially) the SEC has taken a back seat to a deeper and more competitive conference in the ACC. Alabama’s dominance has a lot to do with it, but the reason for the fall from grace is the lack of depth in terms of quality teams that are capable of beating Power 5 and Top 25 competition.

SEC Media Days are always fun and you can always find something interesting during this great week of press conference action. Whether it is the usual stuff like who will step up to Bama or the hypotheticals, like divisional realignment, this week will provide us with great information and entertainment. Nothing will be as pertinent though, as when these coaches, players, and the commissioner himself answer the question, “what happened to the SEC?”