Say it ain't so! In a couple of weeks, SEC Media Days will take place in Tampa. What has become a media extravaganza began in a Birmingham Holiday Inn in 1985. The 1985 event replaced the SEC Skywriters Tour, which began in 1966 and took SEC reporters on an annual 9-day jaunt that visited every SEC school.
During the 2026 Media Days event, Alabama football fans will find some justification for optimism. They are also likely to be jarred when the SEC Preseason Media Poll is announced. The Alabama Crimson Tide will not be ranked highly in the media poll. If the SEC's media experts are consistent with national preseason rankings, Alabama could be ranked as low as No. 6.
If ranked No. 6, Alabama would be at an all-time low in SEC Media Days predictions. In 1985, before the SEC had divisions, the Crimson Tide was ranked No. 5. In 2007, Alabama was ranked No. 4 in the West Division. Otherwise, Alabama has never been preseason-ranked below No. 3. Since 1986, Alabama has been ranked No. 1 overall or in the West Division 22 times. Ten of the 22 times, Alabama was predicted to become the SEC Champion.
If the expected rankings have the Crimson Tide at No. 5 or No. 6, some Alabama fans might be shocked. Most will be disappointed rather than shocked. There are a couple of reasons why four or five SEC teams ranked above Alabama should not be cause for alarm.
SEC Media Days Prediction Accuracy
One reason is that SEC Media has a poor track record for making predictions. Going back to the 1992 season, when Florida was predicted to become the SEC Champion and lost to Alabama in Birmingham, SEC Media has correctly picked the SEC Champion only 10 times.
The other reason is that even if SEC media is unusually accurate this preseason, a No. 5 (maybe even a No. 6) SEC team is still a Playoff contender. A bonus will likely be that during the four days in Tampa, some media sources will talk up the Crimson Tide as an underrated team. To steal a line from Alexander Pope and apply it to SEC Talking Season, 'hope springs eternal.'
Add us as a preferred source on Google