SEC Media Days Retrospective: SEC Media Days returned with all the pomp and circumstance. Check that. There really wasn't all that much pomp or circumstance.

The number for credentialed media in attendance was down - considerably. Fans at the event were subjected to standing outside the Wynfrey Hotel. I counted 15 during my stay.

And as for the highlights - there were few at the event itself.

Most of headlines came from the outside. Over in downtown Birmingham at the SWAC Media Day Deion Sanders trended on Twitter over a disagreement on how coaches should be addressed - by "Coach" not a first-name basis. I agree with him, but how about "Prime Time?"

You don't call Nick Saban "Nick" do you? Actually they do. They shouldn't.

Saban was making waves before he stepped in front of the podium with a statement he made prior to the Hoover event that returned in 2021 after a COVID hiatus last year.

Saban said that Bryce Young was approaching seven figures in NIL deals. And we thought a couple of Texas A&M players receiving $10K each for exclusive interviews was big.

The news of Young's earnings when revealed to Lane Kiffin made him do a double take. Oh, how the college football landscape has changed.

News hit about Oklahoma and Texas planning their exodus from the Big 12 Conference. It's likely they're on their way to the SEC. That would make it a 16-team league.

It's intriguing, even more than Bryan Harsin's 16-minute opening monologue. This is more of a splash than Arkansas, South Carolina, Missouri or even Texas A&M joining the league in the most recent expansions.

The SEC would become a Super Conference just in time for College Football Playoff expansion.

Think of the matchups like Oklahoma vs. Alabama or the renewal of the Texas/Texas A&M rivalry.

The media put the curse on Alabama in picking them to beat Georgia for the SEC Championship. Eight times since 1992, the media has been right - that does include last year. It's a little bit like the "SI Jinx."

Bo Nix said he's not scared of the Tide. Bo was a freshman when Auburn beat Alabama at Jordan-Hare. The game is back there this season - with full capacity (we expect).

Nix did say last year was lopsided but "it was close at the beginning." I suppose he's right about that. All games are close at kickoff.

Speaking of kickoff, that's what SEC Media Days is - the kickoff of the season. It's almost here. Let the games begin.