New-Look SEC Should Be Fun

By Jim Gazzolo

Texas and Oklahoma were officially introduced into the SEC last week, both getting and taking their shots during Football’s Media Day.

It was a fun-filled four days of give and take as the new kids on the block made themselves right at home, or at least tried to do so.

They were made to feel better by the conference, which held its show-and-tell in Dallas, right in both of the newcomers' backyards. 

Texas was voted second in the preseason media poll while Oklahoma placed eighth. Yet it was the Sooners who said they were ready.

“I really don't know how to answer that,” Venables said, “We're excited for the challenge,” said OU head coach Brent Venables. “As competitors, as a football program, Oklahoma isn't intimidated as a football program. We're running towards the SEC. I think that goes without saying.”

Georgia was picked first while LSU was fifth in the poll. 

What was learned during the long week of press talk was that this is not the same SEC. Not by a long shot.

Nick Saban was there but not as the Alabama head coach. He showed up in his new role as a media member, joining the herd of folks that he used to spar with. 

The conference also no longer is the home of the defending national champs. That goes to the Big Ten, which added its own new members. 

That league is the home of the new title finalists in champ Michigan and runner-up Washington. And likely overall preseason No.1 Ohio State also calls the Big Ten home.

Not even losing the TV contract battle to the Big as it goes by makes SEC members and fans ready to give up college football’s top seat. But others believe a change is near.

All this is a great backstory to a season with an expanded playoff and wild change. 

Hard to tell where LSU stacks up in all this. Some consider the Tigers a sleeper team ready to make a playoff run. Others believe they are a program in decline with head coach Brian Kelly on the hot seat.

One thing is for sure, eyes will be on the Tigers and Kelly from the moment they kickoff in Las Vegas to start the season against USC. That’s USC of the Big now. 

Texas is clearly a team to watch not only in the SEC but for a national title. The Longhorns enter the league a year after beating Alabama on the road and two years after almost beating the Tide. 

They have the look of a team that could win the championship this season and may have the best quarterback and head coach, one who learned from Saban himself. 

Then again, so did Georgia’s Kirby Smart, so St. Nick may be gone, but he won’t be forgotten.

The key to this year’s title race may be in the scheduling. Playing Vanderbilt is a good thing for teams that is for sure.

And if you think this year is going to be wild, the future may be even wilder as other schools are looking to join the power conference. 

The only real long-term question is likely can the old guard of the SEC keep up with Texas and its oil money in college football’s new game of pay them to play them. 

For old-school SEC fans, these might be troubling times, but for fans of chaos, they are perfect.

Enjoy the show.

Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers McNeese athletics. He is the host of Poke Nation on CBS-Lake Charles