CRAWFORD | Within an expanding SEC, Kentucky seeks to strengthen football position

ATLANTA (WDRB) -- The Southeastern Conference, league commissioner Greg Sankey said Monday, "is stronger now than at any other time in our history."

Even that may be an understatement. The conference boasts the richest TV deal in college sports, outside of the NCAA’s deal for its men’s basketball tournament. A year ago, it added Texas and Oklahoma, further expanding its footprint and adding value for future negotiations.

That expansion opened the eyes of the Big Ten Conference, which recently added USC and UCLA. The move, which adds value to the Big Ten as a television property, happened as Sankey was arriving for a lake vacation – and sent him back to work as the college sports landscape shifted again.

With the league gathering this week for its annual four-day media kickoff, Sankey said the SEC, regardless of what others do, expects to remain in prime position.

"There's no sense of urgency in our league, no panic and reaction to others' decisions," Sankey said. "We know who we are. We are confident in our collective strength, and we are uniquely positioned to continue to provide remarkable experiences, educationally and athletically, along with world-class support to student-athletes. It is a compliment that people from all across the country and all across the globe want to be a part of the Southeastern Conference. We understand our fan base and our region. We have an outstanding relationship with our media partners effective in the fall of '24, Disney, ABC, and ESPN, with a focus on how we continue to strengthen the SEC Network."

Nobody does media days bigger than the SEC. When the event is held in Atlanta, at the College Football Hall of Fame, it is a grand spectacle. The SEC, by all measures, remains in a forward position, and primed to strike. It is the premier brand in college sports.

But headed into another talking season, the University of Kentucky football program still is seeking to improve its position within the ever-more-competitive landscape.

The Wildcats arrive at media days on Wednesday as contenders in the SEC East. The SEC Network spent time Monday morning discussing quarterback Will Leavis as a possible Heisman Trophy candidate. UK finished second in the East last season, joining Georgia as the only teams in the division with winning records in league games.

That’s the good news. The bad news? UK finished 3 full games behind the eventual national champion Bulldogs.

For a good while, the program has faced the same questions. Mark Stoops has done a fantastic job making Kentucky competitive in the SEC East. Now, can he engineer a breakthrough year? Having gotten the program into striking position, will he be able to get it to strike?

The coming season poses another opportunity for the Wildcats. The schedule lays advantageously before them. A Week 2 game at Florida will be pivotal. They get Georgia at home in a game that, if Kentucky doesn’t stumble against someone it shouldn’t, have major divisional implications.

Once again, in a power conference poised to add more power, Kentucky has a chance to increase its own football footprint. In a league that doesn't sit still (LSU and Florida lost to Kentucky last season, and arrive at media days with new coaches this season), Kentucky again looks to press forward.

There's no denying the next step is a big one and the sledding is some of the toughest in college football.

Today, Stoops and his players will begin to tell the story of how they plan to do it.

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