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SEC Football: Media Days mark the start of the 2018 CFB season

By Ronald Evans

ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 02: An Georgia Bulldogs fan look on during the first half against the Auburn Tigers in the SEC Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 2, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 02: An Georgia Bulldogs fan look on during the first half against the Auburn Tigers in the SEC Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 2, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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For football fans, SEC Media Days mark the start of another SEC football season. Check out changes for this year’s event and the schedule for Alabama football and other teams.

SEC football fans love the annual July Media Days event. For most fans, the event marks the start of another college football season. The format has not changed much in 2018 but the location is a big change.

SEC Media Days has been held in Birmingham since 1985. The new location is Atlanta and the event site is the College Football Hall of Fame. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey will open the schedule with the annual State of the SEC comments on July 16.

The other big addition this year is SEC Summerfest on July 15. The new activity is centered around the first SEC Nation broadcast of the season. The Regions Bank sponsored event will also have live music, food trucks and the favorite word of the SEC, “more” ways for fans to engage their SEC football passions.

Laura Rutledge, Paul Finebaum, Lauren Sisler and Marcus Spears will be there along with other SEC Network analysts, not including Tim Tebow. The league office media release made it clear Tebow is not available due to his baseball career.

There was no additional note that Paul Finebaum’s involvement is contingent upon he and ESPN coming to terms on a new contract. There have been reports ESPN is being balky while Fox Sports is attempting to lure Finebaum away. An SEC Network without Paul is almost unimaginable.

Team Schedule

  • July 16 – Texas A&M; Kentucky; LSU
  • July 17 – Georgia; Ole Miss; Arkansas; Florida
  • July 18 – Mississippi State; Tennessee, Alabama; Missouri
  • July 19 – Auburn, Vanderbilt; South Carolina

The Alabama football segment on Wednesday is in the afternoon.

Alabama football has not released the names of the three players who will join Nick Saban to represent the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Other scheduled program components include representatives from the Football Bowl Association, the Football Writers Association of America and National Football Foundation.

SEC Coordinator of officials, Steve Shaw will make his annual comments on Tuesday morning. Bill Hancock, Executive Director of the College Football Playoff, will speak on Wednesday morning.

Another component of the event is the annual prediction by media members of the SEC Champions and ranking of all 14 teams. Historically, the media prediction of the eventual SEC football champion has been correct less than 25 percent of the time.

Next: Ranking the SEC Football Coaching Hot-Seats

As carefully as every team prepares players for the event, some glaring comment always pops up. It will be interesting if anyone can match what Derrius Guice said last year. When asked at Media Days about an earlier comment, he repeated the Alabama defense was “scared” of LSU runners. In three LSU seasons, Guice ran for 79 yards against scared Alabama defenses.

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