The SEC today kicks off its football media days at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham, following a "one-year hiatus" while the '18 event was held in Atlanta. This marks the "unofficial start of the college football season," with "hundreds of media and dozens of excitable superfans" set to attend (MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER, 7/15). SEC Network will televise the event starting at 12:30pm ET with Commissioner Greg Sankey's session (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 7/15). One area of concern is that basketball corruption stories could "overshadow everything at the SEC's marquee football event" (AL.com, 7/14).
Also today, the AAC begins its two-day media days in Newport, R.I., with reps from "all 12 schools" to gather at Gurney's Newport Resort & Marina. A major topic on the agenda will be "moving forward without UConn" as the school gets set to return to the Big East. A source said that the AAC "has a 'very small list' -- which is believed to include BYU and Army -- of possible expansion candidates and the league plans to be very selective moving forward" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 7/15).
