SEC Media Days: 5 burning questions

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SEC Media Days: 5 burning questions for 2022

By Creg Stephenson | cstephenson@al.com

6-7 minutes

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SEC Media Days begins Monday in Atlanta, and there are plenty of important questions that must be answered. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)AP

SEC Media Days, the annual unofficial “kickoff” to the college football season, begins Monday and runs through Thursday at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

As with any year, there is plenty of intrigue across the league in 2022. So what are the most “burning” questions as we head into another SEC football season?

Here are five topics in which we are most interested:

Jimbo Fisher, left, and Nick Saban, in happier times. (AP Photo/Sam Craft)AP

1. Is the Jimbo Fisher vs. Nick Saban feud really over?

Saban and Fisher engaged in a war of words not seen in the SEC in more than a decade back in May, a feud that began when Saban accused Fisher’s Texas A&M program of having “bought every player” in its top-rated 2022 recruiting class through promises of NIL money. Fisher responded by going nuclear at a press conference the following day, not only denying Saban’s allegations, but questioning his former boss’ character and upbringing and casting non-specific aspersions as to the cleanliness of Saban’s Alabama program. Saban publicly apologized shortly thereafter, and Fisher refused to discuss the matter further during the SEC Meetings in Destin, Fla., at the end of the month. But the NIL debate continues to rage on in college football, and those reporters and pundits who haven’t had a chance to engage Fisher and Saban on their very public and very nasty spat likely won’t pass up an opportunity to do so this week in Atlanta.

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The future of SEC scheduling and the potential for more conference expansion are among the topics SEC commissioner Greg Sankey is sure to address when he speaks in front of reporters at the conference's Media Days in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)AP

2. Can we talk about realignment and scheduling?

SEC Media Days always opens with a “state of the conference” speech by commissioner Greg Sankey, and he takes the podium this year during what is a particularly volatile time in college football. Conference realignment talk dominated the offseason conversation, culminating in the bombshell announcement June 30 that USC and UCLA were leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten in 2024. Sankey’s conference began the realignment wave last summer by adding Oklahoma and Texas from the Big 12 by 2025, and he will have to address rumors as to whether or not the SEC is looking to add additional big-name schools. Also germane to the conversation is the future of SEC scheduling. Will the league stick with its long-time format of eight conference games or move to nine as the Big 12, Big Ten and Pac-12 have done in recent years? Will it dump divisions and go with a “3-5-5″ rotation as the ACC plans to do for 2023? Stay tuned …

Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett is back for a shot at a second straight national championship this season. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings) APAP

3. Can Georgia repeat as national champion?

The Bulldogs finally got back to the college football mountaintop after four-plus decades in the wilderness, knocking off nemesis Alabama in the process of winning their first national championship since 1980. But Kirby Smart’s team isn’t necessarily being rubber-stamped for another title run, not with Saban returning a loaded team at Alabama and with Georgia having lost a record 16 players to the NFL draft. The Crimson Tide is likely to be the preseason SEC and national championship favorite this year, but the Bulldogs remain one of the top five teams in the country. A stack of top-flight recruiting classes since Smart’s arrival six years ago means there is still a ton of talent in Athens, and Georgia should be a significant favorite in every regular-season game it plays this season.

Bryan Harsin went 6-7 in his first season at Auburn in 2021, then endured an even more tumultuous offseason. (Grayson Belanger/AU Athletics)Grayson Belanger/AU Athletics

4. Just how hot is Bryan Harsin’s ‘seat’ at Auburn?

In two words, “very hot.” By all accounts, Harsin narrowly survived a booster-led coup attempt in February after going 6-7 in his debut season and turning in a mediocre recruiting class. He’s seen massive staff turnover and widespread player defections during his year-plus with the Tigers, notably the early-season firing of receivers coach Cornelius Williams and the transfer to Oregon of quarterback Bo Nix, an Auburn lifer. The good news is that Auburn has a fairly easy early-season schedule: five straight games at home, at least three in which the Tigers should be double-digit favorites. The bad news is that beginning with the Oct. 8 game at Georgia, Auburn is likely to be an underdog in six of its final seven contests.

LSU's Brian Kelly is one of two new head football coaches in the SEC this season, along with Florida's Billy Napier. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)AP

5. What will the new coaches have to say?

After back-to-back years with four new coaches in the SEC, there are only two in 2022. But those newcomers just happen to be at two of the league’s flagship programs — LSU, where Brian Kelly takes over after his stunning move to leave Notre Dame; and Florida, where Billy Napier moves up from Louisiana and the Group of 5 ranks. Kelly is known as a thoughtful and opinionated speaker, but he’ll almost certainly have to answer a few questions about the mysterious “Southern” accent he displayed during an appearance at an LSU basketball game shortly after he was hired. The highly intense Napier can come off as a bit drier and more buttoned-up, but he’s shown in his short time in Gainesville that he definitely has a detailed plan for getting the Gators back near the top of the SEC.

Creg Stephenson is a sports writer for AL.com. He has covered college football for a variety of publications since 1994. Contact him at cstephenson@al.com or follow him on Twitter at @CregStephenson.