3 Teams that will be Overhyped at SEC Media Days

When SEC Media Days was created, the event served to inject energy into the upcoming college football season. College football needed a way to promote itself as most of the sports audience was locked into Major League Baseball. Now the sport is a 365-days-a-year business, slightly altering the dynamics at the preseason party.

Analysts have been cooking up takes, preparing them to serve up to the masses at the unofficial start of Talking Season. Sometimes those takes are a little too overzealous. This year these three teams will generate buzz at SEC Media Days in Nashville, but they don’t have enough bark to match the bite.

Ole Miss

A year ago the Rebels climbed all the way to No. 7 in the AP Poll thanks to a 7-0 start that included a narrow victory at home over No. 7 Kentucky. USC transfer quarterback Jaxson Dart was solid and freshman running back Quinshon Judkins was the biggest surprise in the SEC, ultimately leading the league in rushing with more than 1,500 yards. Then the Rebels hit the meat and potatoes of their schedule and won only one of their final six games, a victory over the SEC West’s worst, Texas A&M.

This year Ole Miss has a win total of 7.5, tied for the third-best in the SEC West. The schedule does not include the same soft tosses they teed off on a year ago. Tulane, the defending Cotton Bowl Champs, come to town in week two. They also travel to Alabama and Georgia. Even though Dart, Judkins and Michael Trigg are back, there’s little to no margin for error if the Rebels want to exceed Vegas’ expectations.

Tennessee

This Tennessee football team is either going to be infuriating or a beautiful disaster. There’s no in-between.

Next week will serve as the early coronation for Joe Milton as the king of college football. Folks will quickly forget how bad he was when he first got to Knoxville and selectively remember the 251 yards and three touchdowns he threw in the Orange Bowl win over Clemson.

This year we are going to learn exactly how much Hendon Hooker‘s downfield accuracy made Josh Heupel‘s offense hum. This blogger believes Hooker was the perfect man for the job and cannot be so easily replaced. Others will disagree. I can’t wait till they’re wrong and we’ve got a quarterback controversy with the Volleyball Player in October.

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South Carolina

South Carolina has never won an SEC Championship but they have won the offseason for a record 17 straight seasons. This year there will be a parade down Broadway to crown the Cocks, led by sunglass-wearing Shane Beamer.

Give credit where credit is due, South Carolina’s special teams consistently delivered in 2022. I expect the same thing this fall. They also deserve a tip of the cap for knocking off Tennessee and ending a long losing streak to Clemson. However, this is a completely different team in 2023 with a roster that has been decimated by early departures.

Spencer Rattler and Juice Wells are back, and that’s about it. There is a new offensive coordinator in town, Dowell Loggains, and a completely rebuilt offensive line. They lost their top running back (MarShawn Lloyd) and versatile tight end (Jaheim Bell). The South Carolina defense was also depleted by transfer portal departures, namely Jordan Burch, a local five-star talent that was the biggest early recruiting win of the Beamer era.

Shane Beamer will certainly bring a gimmick to SEC Media Days. He’ll tout his resume and take shots at detractors. Keep firing missiles my way, Shane. Some will fall for it, while I wait to see the Gamecocks in the SEC gutter this fall.