Tampa, Florida —
Around the same time Rodri carried the World Cup trophy down the plane steps and onto Spanish soil, Oklahoma’s Brent Venables stepped to the podium inside a conference room at the Tampa Marriott, the first coach scheduled to speak at the SEC’s football media days.
Goodbye fútbol, hello football.
Unintentionally timed, it was nonetheless a well-choreographed calendar flip. The SEC, of course, is the league that bills itself as college football royalty, the one where even the conference room WiFi password exalts its praises: 2026IJMM, as in It Just Means More.
It still means more, evidenced by the logoed fans who gathered outside the SEC Network set to rally for what is essentially just a bunch of press conferences. Actual kickoff is still a good month away but there stood folks in team gear, raring to get things going.
