SEC Media Days is back, and this year the SEC’s annual summer stage show is heading somewhere it has never been before.
The 2026 edition runs Monday, July 20 through Thursday, July 23 in Tampa, Florida, with the league splitting the event between the Tampa Marriott Water Street and the JW Marriott. SEC Network will carry continuous live coverage from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET each day, with streaming available on ESPN+, fubo and the ESPN app.
For college football fans, this is the unofficial opening act of the season - the ballroom version, where coaches, players and TV voices spend four days trying to shape the conversation before a single game is played. Tampa takes over after three straight years in Dallas, Nashville and Atlanta, while Hoover, Alabama, hosted the event for two decades before the roadshow era began.
Monday sets the tone with commissioner Greg Sankey’s state-of-the-conference address, and there’s no shortage of issues waiting for him. The SEC’s first move to a nine-game conference schedule, NIL, the transfer portal and a title drought now at three seasons are all in the mix. Georgia remains the league’s last national champion, winning it all in 2022.
The coaching carousel is a major part of the week’s draw, too. Six first-year head coaches will be in the spotlight, and the biggest name change belongs to Lane Kiffin, who left Ole Miss for LSU in the middle of a College Football Playoff run. He’ll speak Thursday, now in LSU colors.
The rest of the new-coach group includes Kentucky’s Will Stein, Auburn’s Alex Golesh, Florida’s Jon Sumrall, Arkansas’ Ryan Silverfield and Ole Miss’ Pete Golding.
The player side brings its own buzz. Texas quarterback Arch Manning enters his second full season as the undisputed starter and arrives with a preseason Heisman spotlight already on him. The Longhorns will close out the week Thursday afternoon.
Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and Oklahoma’s John Mateer are also expected to draw plenty of attention in the Heisman conversation.
Every session across the four days will air on SEC Network.
In Other News...
Why Mark Pope Saw Las Vegas As A Big Kentucky Step
Mark Pope came away from Kentuckys recent trip to Las Vegas viewing it as more than just a change of scenery. The Wildcats used the visit to connect with recruits, spend time around former players now in the NBA and get in some work in a setting that carried a little extra buzz. Pope also pointed to the value of the off-court time, with the group taking part in bonding activities and a few events around town that helped the roster keep building chemistry.
Pope said the trip gave Kentucky a chance to see familiar faces and strengthen ties across the program, while also putting the team in front of an audience that matters beyond college basketball. The practice setting itself had a different feel because of who was watching, and the Wildcats were able to mix basketball with the kind of shared experiences that can matter over the long haul. For a team trying to grow together quickly, Las Vegas offered a useful step in that process, even if the bigger takeaway still has room to develop. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky May Have A New Backcourt Priority After Huge Summer Rise
Kentuckys recruiting board in the 2027 class got a fresh jolt this summer, and Cayden Daughtry is a big reason why. After a strong run at the Nike EYBL Peach Jam, the guard climbed seven spots to No. 3 in 247 Sports updated rankings, a rise that fits the kind of momentum Kentucky tends to track closely when it starts shaping its future backcourt. The Wildcats have already shown interest, and assistant coach Cody Fueger was among the observers at Peach Jam as Daughtry kept building his profile against elite competition.
The appeal is easy to see from Kentuckys side: Daughtry has looked like one of the class fastest risers, and performances like his 43-point outing in a double-overtime game only sharpen the attention around him. With Kentucky also working through a crowded backcourt board that includes Beckham Black, King Gibson, Nasir Anderson and Reese Alston, the next step will be watching which recruits start lining up visits and which names move from interest to something more concrete. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Fans Suddenly Have A Real Scoring Debate On Their Hands
Alex Wilkins arrives in Lexington with the kind of rsum that naturally changes the conversation around a lineup. The Furman transfer averaged 17.8 points and 4.7 assists as a freshman last season, and Kentucky is already treating him as one of the main engines of the offense. With his ability to create shots and set up teammates, there is a real sense that he can be more than just a useful addition - he can be a focal point.
Milan Momcilovic is part of that same discussion, which is what makes this such an interesting early-season debate for Kentucky fans. Both players are expected to carry major scoring responsibility, and Wilkins' next step as a three-point shooter could determine just how high his ceiling goes in blue and white. If he makes that jump, the Wildcats may not have to wait long to find out whether he can become the teams top scorer. [Read more 🡒]