7-15-24 McElroy & Cubelic in the Morning Hour 3: SEC Media Days - Day 1: Future of the SEC, Greg Sankey, Gary Stokan
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Greg Sankey to the podium in a few moments. We will take you live to that when he begins. We've had Clark Lee, Paul Feinbaum, Richard Cross.

We'll be right back.

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Not sure how much he's going to get into some of college football's big picture topics, GMAC, and share his opinion on those. But I did think it was interesting, like Paul said this morning, he moves the market. He moves the needle on some of these topics and some of these subjects. And he's obviously not afraid to let people know what he thinks about certain things and where they should go in the future. But I also think we're kind of approaching a point where...

There's a lot of lawyers involved in everything. So there's just, there's only so much you can say. I mean, there was a point when, I'm not going to say it was the wild, wild west of college athletics, but with all the lawsuits and litigation and the possible realignment, and even dating back to 2021 when there was accusatory tortious interference, things like that, it's like, you can't say anything anymore. So I hope we get something. I'm sure he'll pull back the curtain on a few. I

but I think most of what

his comments have entailed in the last couple years is really kind of a victory lap so to speak for the league and to highlight the positives that the league has experienced in the last calendar year so that's what I would anticipate today and I'll be curious to see if anything changes. Well there have been plenty of those and obviously will be plenty more of those to come and I know Oklahoma and Texas joining the league going to be a big part of his discussion today and some of the things that comes with that and

I think we've already heard a little bit just being here in Dallas, Greg, and seeing, like you mentioned, different media entities that are now interested. And, I mean, listen, we had a former host on one of our shows here on JOX just walked by a few minutes ago and

I mean, they're going to be here all week. And he said, yeah, media days has Texas and Oklahoma now, so we have to talk about it a little bit more. So Matt McLaren even kind of solidifying what you said earlier, that that might not have been a massive topic of conversation for them very often, but now obviously it is. Yeah, and at the same time, that's really important for the SEC to establish and plant their flag in Dallas. I mean, it's really important. Now,

at the end of the day, they're always going to be second to the Dallas Cowboys. But on Saturday, you can carve out a decent little niche in this community, the fourth biggest media market in the country. So between that and Houston, and those are ever-expanding markets...

Really, really valuable. So we'll see how it all unfolds. But I think being here in this community is really important. Granted, I'm from here, so I maybe see it through a slightly different lens. But this has always been Big 12 territory. But to basically day one say, nope, this is now SEC territory is going to be really valuable. Yeah, absolutely. Commissioner Greg Sankey.

We'll take the podium here shortly. And his inaugural address at SEC Media Days, day one. We'll let you hear that and then be back to react to it. Maybe another guest or two to stop by the rest of the show. Gary Stokin from the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, 945. He'll spend the last few minutes of the show with us here today. Already heard from Clark Lee, Paul Feinbaum, Richard Cross. Anybody that you missed, by the way, joxfm.com. You can grab your podcast there, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Vimeo.

Please like, rate, review, subscribe to those. We've talked some LSU. We've talked some Ole Miss. A little bit of South Carolina. Probably need to get a little bit more South Carolina over the course of the show today and kind of just discuss what Shane Beamer is going to want to discuss, what he's going to talk about with his football team. Vanderbilt here as well today. Tomorrow.

We have Georgia, Tennessee, Missouri, and Oklahoma. So obviously a lot of interest there with a lot of different coaches. Kirby Smart going to stop by the show tomorrow morning. So he'll be live with us right here on Radio Row. Wednesday, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi State, and Texas. And then Thursday, Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky, and Texas A&M.

Dallas SEC Media Days is underway. Radio Row is full. I was a little concerned about the Radio Row attendance. Like I said earlier, some of the markets on the eastern portion of the SEC footprint, if they were going to show up and be here. But it doesn't feel any lighter, if anything, a little bit heavier than Radio Row's in the past. In fairness, when I came down this morning, it was pretty early morning.

And it was empty, so I had comparable concerns. But now it's looking like I haven't walked all the way down there. It's filled out pretty nicely. Full disclosure, I don't really ever count how many radio people are here. I'm not really checking the box. Oh, well, there's Gainesville. Oh, there's South Carolina Upstate. All that stuff. But it does feel like it's pretty well represented.

I want a lot of people to come in today and they'll sort of start doing their shows tomorrow as well. So, like Jacksonville's next to us. They're empty. They're not there. But it's, you know, it's... They might have afternoon. Yeah, I think it's going to be full. It's going to be well represented and...

We will go to Greg Sankey in a few moments once he takes to the podium. Let him know, hear what he has to say about sort of the SEC there. And I've got a note now coming in from Pat Smith. 44 stations are here. Nine are from Texas. I would like to know how many stations from Texas have – what was the high from Texas stations at any other media days? Probably two or three, you think, when A&M came into the league maybe? Yeah.

I mean, outside of Tex-Ex, I can't remember a lot of other Texas-based stations being at media days. Yeah, I can't say I've ever really thought about it, but I feel like A&M's always had one.

I don't recall Houston having one. I can't really recall. Should have been keeping score years ago. What are we doing? Six Alabama stations here would be the next highest after those Texas stations. And, of course, geography does have something to do with it. I mean, this is getting on a plane, getting people here, hotel rooms, places to stay.

It's not in the budget for a lot of stations. It's just not able to pull it off when it's this far away. You can cover it from a distance now, too. That's the other thing. So the fact that it's become more accessible because of technology, and yet we still have the same amount of people that are actually boots on the ground is pretty impressive. Yep. All right, so before Greg Sankey takes to the podium, we'll take a quick break. Come back, and you will hear him live right here on JOX 94.5.

Catch up with all things McElroy and Kublik in the morning by subscribing to the podcast. Mythically, he's grown. He's almost like a little bit bigger than a player, right? Like the myth of Bo Jackson. Like, rate, and download the show from the Jock Tap or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, welcome back in. SEC Media Days, day one, live from Radio Row. Cole Kublik, Greg McElroy, Jocks94.5 going to the podium. Commissioner Greg Sankey there now live.

So we teach those lessons quickly. It's great for us, though, to be here in Dallas, Texas, for the SEC's 2024 version of Football Media Days. We're thrilled to be in a city where Dak is the quarterback.

where the Dallas Mavericks made a run to the NBA Finals with a number of players from the SEC, including Kentucky's P.J. Washington's, Arkansas's Daniel Gafford, and South Carolina's A.J. Lawson, where our 2019 Women's Basketball Player of the Year in Mississippi State alum, Tiara McCown, is part of the Dallas Wings, where over in Arlington...

Florida's Wyatt Langford is having an impact in his rookie season for the Texas Rangers. And tomorrow night in Globe Life Field, Paul Skeens from LSU, now a Pittsburgh Pirate, will take the mound as the starting pitcher for the National League in the All-Star Game. To build my local credibility, back in 1991, I was here in Dallas for a set of meetings.

I was with Bobby Williams, who's now the athletics director at Sam Houston State University, and we said, hey, you want to go out to Arlington Stadium? Those of you who are locals will remember Arlington Stadium before the ballpark and before Globe Life Field.

Nolan Ryan was pitching that night against the Toronto Blue Jays, and I brought, just to prove my credibility, the ticket from his seventh no-hitter that I attended while I lived here in Dallas, because I spent 11 great years of my career here. Our two daughters were born just north in McKinney, Texas.

I occupied offices along North Central Expressway when I worked for the Southland Conference. And it's great to be back in Texas representing the 16 universities of the Southeastern Conference. And following a video that began with words like "Billy Cannon running," "Manning rolling," "Manning looking." It was Archie Manning back in 1969 in Legion Field.

On a game, the first televised Saturday night game we had on ABC. It's Larry Munson yelling for Lindsey Scott. It's a statement that here, history runs deep. And then you saw Pat, as in Pat Summitt, and Perry, as in Perry Wallace, and Goose Gibbons shooting over Duke in the 1978 Final Four. And you heard three words. Passion. Rivalry.

You saw confettis, you saw trophies, you saw champions, you saw celebrations, you saw a quarterback leading the marching band, and you saw Olympic medalists after Olympic medalists. That's the imagery to which we're accustomed in the SEC. And then you saw something new. You saw Bevo, and you saw the Sooner Schooner, and you heard from 14 deep to 16 strong.

16 is our today and 16 is our tomorrow. Those 16 universities represent a currently enrolled student body of right at a half million. A global network of 5 million living alums and former students. Direct local economic and state impact exceeding $100 billion annually, a number that will continue to grow.

And the innovative nature of these universities has caused us in the Southeastern Conference through the collective campus work to be the first collegiate athletic conference to convene an artificial intelligence consortium. That's already creating research.

collaboration and programming partnerships including a faculty education program about how you manage artificial intelligence in the university learning environment we've already engaged over a thousand of our faculty and education around that important topic a new topic an emerging topic in which we intend to lead as campuses we also gather Thursday here at football media days and

to hear from a panel labeled Artificial Intelligence in Sports Panel that takes place. And I encourage you to join in that opportunity. And staying in the technology sector with the changes taking place in college football, I'm pleased to acknowledge that as we explore new ways to use technology...

In our competitive experiences and to advance the sport of football, we're proud to work with Apple to introduce iPads for sideline use during the upcoming football season to elevate the performance of our student athletes. You know the college football rule change that's gone into effect this fall permits teams to use this video resource.

And the large multi-touch display of an iPad combined with its amazing performance and incredible portability I know has benefited me on a daily basis and it makes it the ideal solution for our coaches and student athletes to use in-game video efficiently. The now 16 athletic programs in the SEC last year earned 11 total national championships.

The SEC is the only conference to participate in every one of the 14 college football playoffs. For the 18th consecutive year, we led all leagues with the most NFL players drafted at 59. We're excited about this year's College Football Hall of Fame inductees.

that include Kentucky's Tim Couch, Arkansas's Dan Hampton, Alabama's Antonio Langham, and Texas A&M's Kevin Smith. And we're pleased to celebrate with new member, University of Oklahoma, the induction of Dewey Selman, who's both an Oklahoma legend and the father of Mississippi State University Athletic Director Zach Selman. In the NBA playoffs that I mentioned a moment ago,

Players who had played on SEC teams were represented in a greater number than any other conference with 49. One third of this year's WNBA All-Star roster are from the SEC. For the 2024 Major League Baseball season, we had 88 players on opening day rosters. And yesterday saw 20 players taken in this year's Major League Baseball draft. You're probably tired of hearing me say it.

but those numbers are the most of any conference. For the 25th straight year, we led the nation in football attendance. For the 28th consecutive year, we led the nation in college baseball attendance, having eight of the top 10 attendance leaders in 2024. Our softball already led the nation in attendance, nearly doubling the next closest conference. The same is true in women's gymnastics.

And one of the growth sports for us, women's soccer, led in both average and total attendance during the 2023 season across the country. We're also proud to have finished yet again with another SEC vs. SEC College World Series Championship Final this year. It was Tennessee and Texas A&M, the sixth overall SEC vs. SEC Baseball Final.

the third in the past four years, but if you adjust our membership, and remember it was Oklahoma and Ole Miss a few years ago, SEC teams have been consistently filling the national championship series. There's a total of 21 times across all sports where a national championship, like women's tennis this year between Georgia and Texas A&M, involved two SEC teams. When we look ahead to the Paris Olympic Games, there are a total of 270 Olympians.

with SEC ties. 85 will populate the Team USA roster. 42 of those U.S. Olympians are returning Olympic competitors and 43 will be first-time Olympians. And we will have every one of our 16 universities represented on the U.S. Olympic roster. And that roster in U.S. track and field

includes 35% of that roster being comprised of representatives from SEC universities in swimming and diving. It's 37% of that roster. And we will have representatives on all four of the U.S. Olympic basketball teams, the men's basketball five-on-five team, the women's basketball five-on-five team, and the same in both the men's and women's three-on-three teams.

But let's go back for a moment to our opening video. And while I'd rather talk about all-stars and champions and Olympians, I want to focus on some words you probably missed. We said in that video that was used to celebrate the additions of Oklahoma and Texas as new members just a few weeks ago, that it's time to update. It's time to update your expectations for what college athletics can be.

And many of you have written or opined about this being a unique time for college athletics. Time for movement, obviously, and a time of change. And we as leaders are responsible for navigating what really are for us in college sports uncharted waters of change. And we're doing so at a time when the pressures to recruit, to win, to draw people in,

are just as high as they've ever been. But we've added a set of external factors. The litigation that presses in, state-level legislation, conversations with Congress, and the emergence of the next great idea that is sold or pitched as something that will quickly and fully resolve the issues currently faced in college sports. But the reality is there is no easy button we can just go push to resolve.

the issues we face and there's no magic pill. And anytime you go through a reset, it is difficult. This past Saturday evening, we were reminded of the stress and divisiveness that's present in our nation, well beyond any playing field. We know that elections are fundamental in these United States of America and none of us are expected to all agree on how votes should be cast. In fact, probably most of us try to avoid those conversations at family gatherings.

We'd rather talk about the weather, talk about how the kids or the grandkids are doing in school, where somebody's going on vacation, or maybe who's going to win the game on the upcoming Saturday. When you attend one of those games on Saturday and you look around, you see Democrats and you see Republicans.

You see liberals and conservatives. You see those who work in a white-collar setting and those who work in a blue-collar setting. You see young and old families and individuals, people from every religious background, every demographic range in this nation. And this sidebar is not about politics. It's actually about what we do on Saturday, that comfortable point of conversation at those family gatherings.

These remarks are about the ability of people to come together even when there are differences. But on Saturdays in this country, for decade after decade, people come together. We actually need more of what we do in college sports. And in college sports and in college football in particular, we know, you know what, there's an opponent on the field and spread across a stadium. There's a peril from the opposing teams, one dominant, one in the minority.

But in those stadiums, I've stood with sometimes 100,000 or more to sing the national anthem, sometimes thinking that the entire stadium has actually participated. I've joined in those stadiums as you watch maybe a Chinook helicopter fly over a B-2 bomber or an F-22. Just amazed. And then celebrated a little bit later in the game when during a break we stop and we bring the flight crew onto the field and celebrate them for their service.

I've heard the absolute silence in a crowd of thousands of thousands of people revved up and ready to go who stand for a moment to honor someone we've lost. We actually need more of those unifying moments in this country. And that's why I say again, we need more of what college football does in this nation, not less.

We need more of what college sports does because that unity I talked about and those variances that exist within a crowd aren't just in a football stadium. You see them at baseball games and basketball games and along all of those sports that I cited just a moment ago. In fact, if you drove in on a morning to Hoover, Alabama to our baseball tournament, you would see tents pitched with university logos and colors of a particular fan base.

And it's not long before somebody else starts to trickle in, and I can recall this year seeing a South Carolina tent pitched right as I drove in, and underneath, there are Vanderbilt fans and Tennessee fans gathered, having a conversation. They're actually smiling, despite being dressed differently. Under an Auburn tent, Florida fans and Georgia fans gather for those same conversations.

That's the reality that we need and the lessons that we can learn through college sports. We need more of those unifying moments. And again, I'll say we need more of what college football and college sports does and can do because we're at a time filled with uncertainty. And that exists in our culture and a big picture, and it exists in college sports. 23rd, the plaintiffs.

A set of lawsuits along with the NCAA, the ACC, the Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Pac-12 announced agreement on terms of a settlement related to a set of lawsuits. And while that agreement does not resolve every issue and it is not a finish line, it does provide an opportunity for us to move forward in modernizing important elements of college sports.

There's a lot of work still to be done. There's work to settle, or excuse me, to finalize the full terms of the settlement agreement. Beyond just terms is the hard work of implementing the outcome of that agreement. We are literally working to make what would normally be a decade's worth of change in a matter of months.

We're not in a world either where we're allowed to focus on just one issue or even one small set of issues at any particular time. As you know, there are other lawsuits. We have state attorneys general that have engaged in lawsuits against the NCAA. We have state legislatures continuing to enact or change laws that govern how we conduct college athletics. There are outside ideas.

that come from those apparently associated with private equity firms, professional leagues, search firms, former executives from leading media companies who want to insert their thinking. We have new wave entrepreneurs who want to be in on the so-called end, or excuse me, the so-called front end of a new paradigm for college athletics. But it's our leadership responsibility to figure this out.

And in a moment, I'm going to repeat some things I've repeated in past years. And you could rightly potentially say, well, there he goes again. But you know what? Change doesn't happen in an instant.

And we are dealing with an incredibly complex set of issues that when I sit down with some of those leaders in the areas that I mentioned, and I describe the various challenges we face, it is universal. Whether it's a professional league commissioner, a member of Congress, a high-level attorney, at some point they'll look at me and say, that's the most complicated situation I've ever heard. That's why there's no easy button.

But we have the responsibility on our university campuses to constantly be evaluating and exploring the best partnerships and innovations that protect the collective interests of our universities while also tackling new legal and political realities. But you know what? We also have to do that in a way that continues to engage with our fans, that continues to honor the traditions that are important to our campuses.

in our communities. And yes, we're going to seek to capitalize on new revenue opportunities that support our athletics programs and our student athlete participants. We've been incredibly successful and I understand why so many outside of the campus and conference realm are interested in coming in and being a part of it. But that responsibility lies with us to bring people into the solution, not to cede authority.

to external actors. We know who we are. In the Southeastern Conference, we're the one conference at this level where the name still means something. The Southeastern part of the United States, where when we expanded, we actually restored historic rivalries while adding only 100 miles to the longest campus-to-campus trip our student athletes will experience.

We're a conference where in survey after survey we have the most avid fans by comparison. Not just the most draft picks, not just the most teams in a championship, but to people around our programs who want us to lead. Again, not give authority away. They're passionate about their team and the competition among their team and their rivals in the Southeastern Conference. We have dates that have meaning, that we understand in this culture.

They're passionate about those long-time rivalries, passionate about the opportunity to spend a Saturday in their favorite football stadium. Maybe visit a new place or maybe from time to time tour all the stadiums in the SEC. We in the SEC, we know the importance of education. What it can mean in the life of a young person. You know what? There's more money involved.

We also know that there's more graduation success involved, and there's more opportunities to bring people back who may have left after their playing experience was complete without finishing their degree. As you can hear, Greg Sankey with some very pointed comments, not only about the success of the Southeastern Conference, but...

where we're at in America, where we're at in college sports, the importance of college sports, and the leadership that needs to be on display with not just his leadership in the SEC and taking ownership of where the sport is going. So just tremendous stuff, and we'll continue to clip that up.

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Put a little bit of a bow on some of the things that Greg Sankey just talked about in his State of the Union SEC address. And then set the table for Gary Stokin, who will help us.

kind of break down the Clemson-Georgia matchup that will kick off the season there in Atlanta for the Peach Bowl kickoff game. That's all that. Plenty more coming from SEC Media Days in Dallas right here on McElroy and Kubrick Morning, Jocs, 24-5. The capital of the sports talk nation. This is Jocs, 94-5 and joxfm.com. Hurry and... All right, welcome back in. McElroy and Kubrick in the morning, 9.36 a.m., Monday, July 15th, right here on Jocs, 94-5.

Right back to the podium and Commissioner Greg Sankey in just a moment. We are live on Radio Row in Dallas, Texas. McElroy and I be here live on Radio Row every morning the entire week. If you have a lack of energy, getting poor sleep, feeling on edge, it could be the effects of low testosterone. A lot of guys are experiencing this and other issues with their testosterone. Good news is Game Day Men's Health can help. They want to help you feel better. A no-charge consult is what they're offering that includes a free testosterone and testosterone

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The Omni Dallas and Guadalupe Ruta, Courtney Roy and the entire team here. Also, Anthony Travel and John Anthony for actually securing us a location. I'm also going to announce a little bit of news. It's a little bit of news. We've moved around from Birmingham to Atlanta to Nashville and now Dallas. And in 2025, we're going to return to Atlanta and the College Football Hall of Fame with our football media days.

I also want to say thank you to Regions Bank, who is a year-long sponsor, but the sponsor of our media days. They also played a key role in something called SEC Startup. I promise you, I'm almost at the end, so I'll catch you on this one. This is a competitive business pitch competition among our student-athletes who are the future entrepreneurs. They make a presentation at a pitch competition with their business concepts presented and reviewed by a panel of judges.

It will be shown on a program tonight on the SEC Network at 7 Eastern, SEC Startups Debut. It includes student-athlete entrepreneurs from Auburn, Florida, Missouri, and Oklahoma, 7 p.m. Eastern time on the SEC Network. We're about to jump into questions.

I'm going to go back and say there's a lot that's happening. There's a lot that could cause us to say, wow, where's the hope in this? Where's the finish line? I actually sometimes think finish lines are too much of a focus because we have to look to the future. And as much as there may be that's viewed as problematic, those successes I mentioned just scratch the surface.

We haven't told a lot of individual stories, but they're there. And I'm optimistic about our future because I get to spend time with the leaders in the Southeastern Conference, the leaders today and the young people who will be leaders tomorrow, which is why through all of this change, I'm convinced our best days are still ahead. So thank you for being here.

If you're in Dallas and Kevin Trainor's here, you know it's a big event. And so Kevin is going to help guide us through our question and answer period. Thank you, Commissioner. All right, as you can hear, getting ready to start the Q&A in just a moment here with Greg Sankey as he addresses the media questions.

to kick things off for media days. Coming up, about 25 minutes from now, Brian Kelly will be the first coach on the podium in LSU, fresh off back-to-back 10-win seasons. Shane Beamer will follow him, and then you'll have Lane Kiffin and Clark Lee from Ole Miss and Vanderbilt, respectively. Let's get back to Greg Sankey as he addresses the media with some Q&A. Fisher, we'll go over to your right. Dennis, along the aisle.

Greg Dennis, CBS Sports. Certainly the House settlement as proposed for the next 10 years limits some legal liability. But USA Today recently reported in the last 10 years the NCAA has incurred $433 million in legal expenses alone. Anybody can sue anybody for anything. But how do you lower the temperature on that?

Part of the current settlement effort is to resolve to the extent we can resolve as much as possible to do just that. We're not alone in college athletics at being pursued from a litigation front. You saw what happened in the NFL's Sunday ticket decision. You look at Major League Soccer just doing research on Law 360. You can see the existing open lawsuits there.

We clearly have had to think differently and you can see that happening as decisions are made on policy. An element of the question is how much authority can be managed at a national level through the NCAA. That's clearly what's under full scrutiny. What can be managed at the conference level? If it's less nationally, how do you actually have Final Fours in college football playoffs if everybody's to have a different set of rules?

I also would observe that when you look at litigation that exists at the professional level, it's not an indication that that model solves all litigation threats. The simple observation is we live in a litigious society, and we have to continue to make wise decisions informed by legal counsel and be prepared to defend those decisions that are made.

Lastly, we're dealing with historic change. And again, people have written over time they should have changed sooner. The reality is, whether you take that opinion or not, the change is happening now. Okay, we'll go all the way in the far back left. Hey, Greg. Bruce Marshall from WHBQ in Memphis. Maybe I should give this to Jim Phillips that we see next week. But how closely are you following...

and Clemson's challenge to the ACLU.

And if they succeed, what sort of ramifications do you see for the entire college sports landscape? Could you repeat that real question? We had you breaking up for just a bit. Yeah, I think I got it. So the question is, how closely do I monitor what's happening in the ACC? Yes, yes. And what are the implications? I pay attention. As I said, we're focused on our 16th.

I've said before at Media Days, I'm not a recruiter. My job is to make sure we meet the standard of excellence that we have for ourselves on a daily basis. That attracts interest. It's done that with the two universities that we've added this year. They're not the only phone calls I've ever had, but I'm not involved in recruitment. Our presidents have been clear that I am not going to entangle us in litigation around expansion.

And so I pay attention, but I'm not engaged in those conversations. In fact, as I understand, the issue is agreements have been signed, the decisions have been made among a conference, and the question is, are those going to be honored as they were established? And apparently that's for a court to decide now.

All right, that's Commissioner Greg Sankey live at the podium, day one, SEC Media Days. We'll hit a quick break, come back, react to a little bit of what the commissioner had to say. First, G-Mac, tell our folks just how Iconic Carts can help them out. Well, if you've been thinking about buying a new golf cart for the neighborhood, the beach, the lake, Iconic Carts has the largest selection. They also have the new 2024 Street Legal Evolution and the 2024 Denago Carts. They come with tons of options like touchscreen controls, killer sound system, lithium power, you name it.

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A player, right? Like the myth of Bo Jackson. Like, rate, and download the show from the Jock Cup or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, welcome back in. McElroy and Kubelik in the morning, Monday, July 15th, 948 a.m. Right here on jocks94.5.

Day one, SEC Media Days, live on Radio Row. McElroy and I will be here through Thursday, each and every morning, bringing you live coverage from Radio Row at SEC Media Days in Dallas. Ox Foundation's most reputable foundation and repair waterproofing company in Alabama, over 25 years experience with an A-plus BBB rating.

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currently serving over 350 of Alabama's cities, guaranteed to keep your foundation healthy and strong. How strong? OxStrong. 205-236-9500 or OxStrong.com. All right, SEC Media Day is back to Atlanta next year, GMAC. We heard that from the commissioner. He was asked about Florida State and Clemson. Not going to go into it, but you kind of thought that that was going to be a place that some folks tried to go and at least try to get an answer from him. Yeah, but I also think he handled it perfectly. I mean, yeah, he's keeping...

an eye on what transpires because it could mean a pretty tectonic shift.

and how the grant of rights deals are negotiated in the future. But at the same time, just because he's keeping an eye on what's going on doesn't mean he plans on taking advantage of the possible fallout. I think it's been documented. I have a hard time envisioning a scenario where Florida State and Clemson are members of the SEC. I just don't see it happening. Paul referenced it earlier. There's nothing I've heard that would lead me to believe otherwise. But...

But it's still obviously a huge point of contention as far as how these things are monitored and how these things are kind of followed. Gary Stokin, going to join us now, talk a little bit of Chick-fil-A kickoff game, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Gary, how are you doing? There's been some talk, like McElroy Kublik, T-Bob, A-Bear, and...

Nobody knows him. Jacob Hester. Jacob Hester's name. Like, who has the most powerful radio station? Oh, station, it's not even close. Yeah? Yeah. Personality-wise, that's what I was talking about. I think they're combined a little bit younger, so they might have a little bit of an edge there. Okay. But you guys have maturity. You have experience, right? We don't usually look over our shoulder. No.

I know you have... We focus on what's in front of us. After talking to T-Bob, telling me that he graduated in general studies, I'm sure the Auburn and Alabama programs... He graduated, though? That's what I asked him. I said, are you sure you graduated? He said, yeah, in general studies. That's a win. Great to be with you guys. Great to be with you. Great matchup coming up this year. Yeah, thank you. To kick things off. Clemson, Georgia, I know you have to be excited about that one. Yeah, it's going to be the kickoff of a great season. Yeah.

Looking at two top 15 teams in Georgia and Clemson, four of the last eight national coaches with Dabo and Kirby. Here's a little trivia for you. In the BCSCFP era, there's been one other active coach that's won a national championship. Can you name them?

That's currently coaching? Mack Brown. Yeah. There's only three. Where are the notes? You must have read the notes. Alabama guy. I know he's a quarterback. He studied. With Jimbo, his exit, and Nick Saban's exit, that made that trivia question a little bit more manageable. It's hard to believe. It is wild. Looking at these non-conference games,

and the neutral site non-conference games. We've seen a bit of a shift for some programs moving more to a home-and-home model. Doesn't mean that things can't coexist because I envision a scenario in which you play non-conference games amongst Power 5 teams exclusively in the future. But how much more challenging is it to get people to say, hey, come play in Atlanta as compared to, say, 15 years ago?

Yeah, we've been very blessed through 2025. Next year we've got Tennessee, Syracuse, and Virginia Tech, South Carolina. So I think in 2000 and I guess it was 22 when the 12-team playoff came about and the Alliance got started and so they pushed it back until this year. Right. A lot of ADs started to see that and started to schedule out big home-and-home games, right? Yeah.

Now with some of the transition, the realignment, some of those games have gone away. You just saw Georgia-UCLA go away. I think Auburn-UCLA has gone away. Yes.

And then there was a... There's been a bunch of them. Yeah, there's been a bunch of them. Ole Miss-USC canceled also. So, you know, I think some of that is related to the potential of SEC going to nine conference games next year if ESPN puts the money up, which that inventory will shrink the availability of playing these neutral site games because as an AD, if you have eight conference games, you've got four non-conference games to schedule.

Four conference games at home and four away. To make your budget, you have to schedule seven home games. So the four games left in an eight-game conference schedule, you can schedule three at home and you still have one left. You can go play with us, like George and Clemson are going to make $5 million this year. And as I talked to Nick way back when in creating these games, I said, Nick, you're better off going neutral-neutral

Because you're going to make $5 million with us and $5 million in Dallas, let's say, the next year. You made $10 million over two years. You're doing a home-and-home. You may net, Alabama may net, let's say, $3 million in a home game net. You go away, you make zero.

So $10 million versus $3 million, to me, pretty good math, right? And especially when you have a fan base like Alabama, you're probably going to have an advantage in the stands. And we always give them the amount of tickets they need, right? Now, not everybody can get in like an Alabama game, but if not, they can see a great game on TV versus watching a non-directional school in the first game, right? Yeah.

So, but back to your question, to go to nine conference games now as an AD, particularly in the SEC, you've got four games at home, you've got four away.

You've got that fifth game in certain years is going to be away. If you only have four conference games, you've got three games left, you've got to schedule those three at home to make your money. So that's why the inventory is going to shrink and make it much more difficult. We have about a minute left, Gary, but I'm interested. Would you ever consider a conference game in this game?

Oh, for sure. We did a conference game with the ACC last year with Georgia Tech, Alabama. Georgia Tech, Louisville. Georgia Tech, Louisville. And then we did Clemson-Georgia Tech the year before. So, yeah, most definitely. And we're just blessed in Atlanta. We have the demographics of the number one and number two alumni bases of most, if not all, the ACC and SEC schools. You're unfair.

And an easy drive. That's why the CFP, we're going to be so successful in the CFP now with the playoff. Well, a lot of good things coming for you guys. We're excited about the games this year. Thanks for stopping by and spending a little time with us. Well, yeah, having four games, like SEC Championship, the National Championship, the Clemson-Georgia game, and then our quarterfinal game. We're going to have four games in top 15 teams in the country with four games. Absolutely. Not bad.

Great run. At least you got a decent stadium to do it in. Capital College football. Yeah. Yeah. It's still a legion field for me, though, football capital of the South. It always will be. It's never going to change. Even though that upper deck's not there anymore, it's always going to be that. Thanks, guys. Thanks, Gary. Gary Stokin joining us also. Paul Feinbaum was with us today. Richard Cross, Sophie Hudson, Melanie Schenkel. If you missed any of those, go check out the podcast at joxfm.com. Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Three Man Front coming to you next. This is McElroy and Cubelik in the Morning.

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