The unofficial kickoff to the 2024 SEC football season took place last week at the Omni Hotel in Dallas, TX. Here are five takeaways from the week that was in The Lone Star State.

1. Texas 

There has been a lot of talk about Texas moving into the SEC and how they will compete vs SEC competition. Coach Sarkisian spoke at SEC Media Day and he crushed his speech. A speech does not win football games but it gives me confidence and reaffirms to me that Texas is ready for the SEC. I learned that Texas will be one of the best teams in the country and will make the college football playoff this season.

2. Oklahoma

Brent Venables spoke at SEC Media Day and his speech went extremely well. He talked about the challenges of moving to the SEC and how difficult playing away games will be. Oklahoma is unknown to me; they could end up having a really good season or they could struggle in the SEC in their first season. Coach Venables still has to prove he is the guy for Oklahoma for the long term. There have been good signs with him but Oklahoma is going to have to play better consistently. Oklahoma will be very good in the SEC in the long term but this year could be a learning adjustment for them. 

3. Florida 

Florida has been talked about a lot because of how they have struggled the past 2 seasons and how difficult their schedule is this season, it is the most difficult schedule in the country and maybe the hardest schedule of all time. Coach Napier is also on the hot seat and is under a lot of pressure this season. After listening to Coach Napier at SEC Media Day I think Florida will have a disappointing season and Coach Napier will be let go. Florida has some good pieces on their team but not enough to win a lot of games on that difficult schedule.

4. South Carolina 

South Carolina Shane Beamer took the podium at SEC Media Day and as always he crushed the speech and had a lot to say. He called out the media for picking South Carolina to finish at the bottom of the SEC and said he loves this year's team. Coach Beamer is always one of the best speakers at SEC Media Day and does a really good job of giving hope to the Gamecock fanbase. We will have to see if he can prove it on the field this fall. Coach Beamer has a high energy level and South Carolina will need to feed off their coach's high energy level and prove some people wrong this season. South Carolina will be better this season, their roster is better overall they just need to stay healthy. 

5. Auburn

I am most excited to see what Auburn will look like this season, I think they are a fascinating program and I want to see what Coach Freeze will do in year two at Auburn. I think Coach Freeze is a great coach and the Tigers will be one of the surprises this season. They are going to be tough to win against. The biggest question we still have after SEC Media day is how well is Payton Thorne going to play the quarterback is the unknown spot for Auburn.