2023 SEC Football Media Day 4 Preview: Ole Miss, South Carolina and Tennessee

SEC Football Kickoff Media Days are onto their last day at the Grand Hyatt in Nashville, TN. It is the first time the event is held in Nashville and the third time it will be held outside of the Birmingham, AL metro area. It was in Atlanta in 2018 and last year.

No school has won three straight major poll national championships and despite losing 41% of its overall production, according to ESPN’s Bill Connelly, the Georgia Bulldogs seek to become the first to accomplish the feat.

As for winning the SEC Football championship, ESPN Analytics gives Georgia the highest chance of winning the conference title. The Bulldogs are seeking their second straight league crown and third since Kirby Smart took over in 2016 (2017 & 2022).

The ESPN Analytics numbers align fairly closely with Caesars Sportsbook, which has Georgia as the odds-on favorite to win the conference (-115) with Alabama (+240) and LSU (+450) the only other schools with better than 10-1 odds.

The 2023 season will be the final one with divisions for the SEC as the conference will eliminate them in 2024 with the arrival of the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns to the league.

Georgia and Alabama are the ESPN Analytics favorites to win the SEC East and West, respectively, and reach the conference championship game.

Seven SEC Football teams are in the FPI top 25, the most of any conference.  Twelve of the SEC’s 14 teams have a better than a 50% chance of reaching bowl eligibility according to ESPN Analytics.

As for recruiting, Alabama and Georgia have the top-2 ranked signing classes for this season with LSU coming in at No. 6. Oklahoma and Texas, which will join the SEC in 2024, also have top-5 classes.

Monday: LSU, Missouri and Texas A&M
Tuesday: Auburn, Georgia, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt
Wednesday: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida and Kentucky
Thursday: Ole Miss, South Carolina and Tennessee

I will be doing previews all week for every team.  Today I will preview Ole Miss, South Carolina and Tennessee.  More on this later on Shemon and Sheppard.

The Rebels won their first seven games last season and seemed to be well on their way to posting back-to-back 10- win seasons for the second time in program history (1959-60). Then their luck turned and they lost five of their last six games to finish outside the final AP Top 25 with an 8-5 record.

In his first season in Oxford, Southern California transfer Jaxson Dart finished with the sixth-highest Total QBR in the SEC (74.3) and his 21 touchdowns responsible for were tied for 8th-most in the conference.

Ole Miss began last season by winning its first seven games. However, the Rebels lost five of their last six. Over that stretch, they allowed over 35 points per game after giving up just over 17 per game in their first seven games.

In an effort solve the defensive woes, head coach Lane Kiffin turned to former Alabama defensive coordinator Pete Golding to run the Rebels’ unit.

In five seasons under Golding (2018-22), the Crimson Tide defense was one of the most efficient in FBS and ranked in the top 10 in scoring defense. On the other hand, over that same stretch, the Rebels defense was 83rd in FBS in efficiency (46 rating out of 100) and 89th in scoring defense (29.8 PPG allowed).

It’s year 3 of the Shane Beamer Era in Columbia and the first two went well. Beamer joined “The Head Ball Coach” Steve Spurrier (2005-06) as the only head coaches in program history to win at least seven games in each of their first two seasons. After inheriting a team that went 2-8 in 2020, Beamer won seven games in 2021 and eight games in 2022.

South Carolina finished the season on a three-game winning streak where it averaged 44 points and 458 yards per game. In their first 10 games the Gamecocks averaged 29 points and 355 yards.

The key to the turnaround was former four-star recruit Spencer Rattler, who transferred to South Carolina from Oklahoma looking for a new start. It was a tough transition for Rattler until his breakout game against No. 5 Tennessee late in November in which he threw for 438 yards and a school-record 6 TD passes. Rattler’s final 3 games of last season were vastly better than his start in Columbia.

Rattler and the offense will have to perform for a new coordinator as Dowell Loggains replaces Marcus Satterfield, who left for the same position at Nebraska.

Tennessee is coming off an 11-2 campaign, its best since 2001. The Vols have won 11 games in consecutive seasons just once in program history – 1997 and 1998 – culminating in a national title that 1998 season.

Tennessee was carried by its offense in 2022, leading the FBS in yards per game and points per game all while going at the fastest pace in the nation, averaging 27.2 seconds in between snaps.

Josh Heupel will look to continue his reputation as a coach with impressive offensive numbers. Since he became UCF’s head coach in 2018, he’s one of 4 FBS coaches to average at least 40 PPG and 500 YPG in that span (min. 20 games). The other 3 coaches have all made multiple CFP appearances.

The 151st Open Championship takes place at Royal Liverpool for the first time since 2014, when Rory McIlroy claimed his 3rd career major victory.

Field: 156 players (150 professionals, 6 amateurs)
Cut: Top 70 scores & ties
Venue: Royal Liverpool (7,383 yards | Par 71)
Purse: $16.5M | $3M winner’s share
Defending champion: Cameron Smith (-20)

Royal Liverpool, located in the small town of Hoylake in England, is hosting its 13th Open Championship. The first was held in 1897 and the last in 2014.

Tiger Woods, Bobby Jones, and Walter Hagen are the only players representing the United States to win The Open at Royal Liverpool.

Royal Liverpool is one of three courses at which multiple players have earned their 5th major victory, as McIlroy is trying to do. The others are Augusta National (Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson) and Muirfield (Nick Faldo, Phil Mickelson).

You are going to have to get up pretty early for the first two days of this tournament.  Here is a complete list of times and pairings for the first two days.

A 28-year-old Cameron Smith won The Open in 2022, and a 24-year-old Collin Morikawa won in 2021. The last time 3 straight Open Championships were won by players under 30 was from 1975-77, when Tom Watson won twice and Johnny Miller once.

The last time three straight Opens were won by different players under 30 was from 1895-97, when J.H. Taylor, Harry Vardon, and Harold Hilton won, respectively.

The last four Open Champions have represented four different countries: Cameron Smith, Australia | Collin Morikawa, United States | Shane Lowry, Ireland | Francesco Molinari, Italy. A streak of five straight would tie the longest in Open Championship history, last done from 1985-89 (Scotland, Australia, England, Spain, United States).

We will have more on all of this on Shemon and Sheppard the rest of the week.  Below is a list for some of the favorites and a few nuggets.

Won the Open Championship last time it was held at Royal Liverpool. Only four player since World War II have claimed successive wins at a certain Open Championship venue.

McIlroy will look to join Tiger Woods (St Andrews), Tiger Woods (Medinah), Nick Faldo (Muirfield) and Seve Ballesteros (Royal Lytham) as the only golfers to win multiple non-Masters majors at a single venue over the last 50 years.

Owns longest active made cut streaks in major championships (16).

Seeking to become first player since Jack Nicklaus (1975) to bookend a calendar year with major victories. Only four players have accomplished this feat since 1950.

If finishes in the Top 5 at The Open, will join Tiger Woods (2 streaks) as the only player over the last 35 years with 8 straight Top-5 finishes on TOUR.

Scheffler has also posted a Top-12 finish in 18 straight PGA TOUR starts, the longest streak by any player over the last half century. That distinction was previously held by Jack Nicklaus (16 straight in 1977).

Koepka won the U.S. Open and PGA Championship in 2018, and will now look to win a second major in 2023.  If he wins this week, he’ll become the 8th man in golf history to win multiple majors in multiple years.

Last year, Viktor Hovland co-led The Open with Rory McIlroy after 54 holes, but it was Cameron Smith who ended up with the Claret Jug.

Hovland finished tied for 4th last year, and tied for 12th in 2021 in what was his first Open Championship start.  He will look to join Collin Morikawa in 2021 and Ben Curtis in 2003 as the only players since 2000 to win The Open in one of their first three starts at the event (both won in their 1st start).

Shot 64 (-8) in the final round at St. Andrews last year to tie the all-time major championship score to par record (-20). It included birdieing the first 5 holes on his back nine en route to shooting 30 (-6) on the final nine holes for a 1-shot victory. Only 5 players have won back-to-back Open Championships since 1960.

46-under in Open Championship career, best total score to par of any player in tournament history (next: Jodie Mudd, -24).  Only player to shoot under par in all eight rounds of last two Open Championships.

Finished runner-up here at Royal Liverpool in 2014, two shots behind Rory McIlroy.  9 career Top-5s in majors, tied for 2nd-most in the last 80 years by player without a major win (Lee Westwood, 12 | Jay Haas, 9).

Won 2021 Open Championship in first career start at tournament; looking to become 6th player to win The Open in 2 of first 3 starts (Tom Watson, Arnold Palmer, Bobby Jones, J.H. Taylor, Old Tom Morris).

With wins in 1st start at PGA Championship & The Open, Morikawa is looking to join Gene Sarazen and Walter Hagen as the only players to pick up three major victories within their first three starts at the particular event.

Looking to become 2nd player in last 40 years to win U.S. Open and Open Championship in same year (Tiger Woods, 2000); there have been 7 instances of this overall.

Looking to become 4th player to pick up first two major victories in consecutive majors in a calendar year, joining 2015 Jordan Spieth, 1941 Craig Wood, and 1922 Gene Sarazen.