The SEC rolled into Atlanta from July 14-17 for its annual media extravaganza, turning the College Football Hall of Fame and Omni Atlanta Hotel at Centennial Park into college football’s version of the Oscars—complete with plenty of drama, overhyped predictions, and coaches trying to look humble while secretly plotting world domination.
The SEC Network went all-out with more than 50 hours of original and live studio programming, because apparently four days wasn’t enough time to cover all the ways the SEC plans to continue being college football’s main character.
Greg Sankey’s State of the Conference
Commissioner Greg Sankey opened the festivities by essentially doing his best impression of a confident CEO addressing shareholders. “If you watch the college football landscape change across the Southeastern Conference, we remain both proud of what we achieved and excited about our future,” Sankey said. “That future is not something we wait for. It is something we seek to shape.” Translation: “We’re winning, we know we’re winning, and we’re not apologizing for it.”
Texas Takes the Crown (At Least on Paper)
The big storyline coming out of Atlanta was the media’s decision to crown Texas as the preseason conference champion, with the media tabbing Texas over Georgia and Alabama as league champion. This marks a significant shift for a conference that’s used to Alabama and Georgia trading the top spot like they’re playing hot potato with a championship trophy.
Texas led the preseason All-SEC selections with 13 players, which either means the Longhorns are loaded with talent or the media has collectively decided to jump on the burnt orange bandwagon.
The Coach Parade
The four-day event featured the usual parade of coaches trying to balance confidence with humility, including notable appearances from LSU’s Brian Kelly, South Carolina’s Shane Beamer, Ole Miss’s Lane Kiffin, Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea, and others who spent their time explaining why their teams are both perfectly positioned for success and complete underdogs at the same time.
Lane Kiffin, as expected, probably provided the most entertaining sound bites, while other coaches stuck to the tried-and-true formula of praising their players, respecting their opponents, and taking things “one game at a time.”
Looking Ahead
The 2025 SEC season promises to be another wild ride in a conference that’s mastered the art of eating its own. With 16 teams now calling the SEC home, there’s more talent, more drama, and more opportunities for chaos than ever before.
Whether Texas can live up to the preseason hype, whether Alabama can reclaim its throne, or whether some dark horse emerges from the pack remains to be seen. But one thing’s for certain: the SEC will continue to be college football’s most entertaining soap opera.
Now if only someone could explain why it takes four days and 50 hours of programming to essentially say “our conference is really good and we’re all going to beat each other up.”
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