Looking back, looking ahead to SEC football before media days:
Never a dull moment when it comes to reporting SEC football:
GDW Analysis:
In using an old cliche that certainly describes Southeastern Conference football, "There's never a dull moment."
In a week, the passion of SEC football will soar like the current temperature when media days are held at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.
Gameday Weekly presents a look back to the 2024 season and what's ahead in 2025.
One year ago:
With the addition of Texas and Oklahoma into the SEC, division play was dropped as 16 schools now fight it out to see who gets to be in Atlanta in early December for the championship game.
Texas proved it was worthy of the move. The Longhorns earned a berth to the title game before they fell in OT to the Georgia Bulldogs.
Over half of the conference enjoyed victory in league play. Texas was 7 & 1 in SEC games, Georgia and Tennessee 6 & 2, Alabama, Ole Miss, Missouri, LSU, South Carolina went 5 & 3.
Florida had two big victories against LSU and Ole Miss to get the Gators even in the conference at 4 & 4.
Twelve teams would endure a winning season. Vanderbilt made it as the Commodores got victories in 2024 against Alabama and Auburn, a rare feat for this team out of Nashville.
Auburn stayed home during the bowl season for the Tigers were 5 & 7, 2 & 6 in the SEC and a lackluster 4 & 4 in games from Jordan Hare Stadium.
SEC's frontrunners bowed out in bowl games, two in the newly formed college football playoff with Georgia losing to Notre Dame, Tennessee to Ohio State and Texas to Ohio State.
Ending the season by winning in their bowl game were Missouri, Ole Miss, LSU, Florida, Arkansas and Vanderbilt.
Looking ahead:
SEC media days will have so much to look at from one storyline to the next.
One well known publication has put Texas on top in the 2025 preseason poll, ahead of Ohio State and Penn State.
Georgia is a No. 4 preseason team, LSU 7th, Alabama 8th.
Outside the Top 10, Florida is rated 11th, South Carolina 12th, Ole Miss 18th, Texas A&M 19th and Oklahoma 20th.
That means at least half of the league is among the Top 20 according to this publication.
Texas took away the limelight Alabama had enjoyed for a long period of time.
At 9 & 4 last season, not bad for Kalen DeBoer's first time with Alabama, but very much unacceptable by the so called media experts and the over passionate Crimson Tide fans.
Auburn has nowhere to go but up.
The Tigers have not achieved more wins than losses since 6 &5 in 2020, the final year for Gus Malzahn.
Bryan Harsin went 6 & 7 and 5 & 7 in 2021 and 2022.
Freeze has been 6 & 7 and 5 & 7 for his two years.
Patience is for sure running thin with the Tigers' fan base.
Based on last season, SEC teams that were moving up included South Carolina, Missouri, Vanderbilt, Florida and Texas A&M.
Those who went down slightly were Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky and Mississippi State dead last at 2 & 10, 0 wins in 8 conference games.
Media days is certainly a time where so many questions get asked. But does each question get answered the correct way?
Only time will tell on the latest adventure of SEC football.
Photo of Huge Freeze and the Auburn Tigers in a 2024 game from Jordan Hare Stadium.
Photo courtesy of Auburn University.
