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Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning answers questions from the media during SEC Media Days at Omni Atlanta Hotel. Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images

Couple of random thoughts on first two days of the SEC Media Daze

Originally posted on Arkansas Razorbacks on SI
By Andy Hodges | Last updated Jul 15, 2025 5:25 PM ET

There haven't been any bombshells dropped at SEC Media Days in Atlanta, but there are some nuggets that Arkansas fans would find interesting.

By the time Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman along with quarterback Taylen Green, linebacker Xavian Sorey Jr. and defensive lineman Cam Ball take the stage Thursday afternoon, a big chunk of the media will be long gone.

In the first couple of days, the Hogs haven't gotten many mentions that made the air. One, though, a lot of folks weren't expecting did. And Razorback fans have noticed.

As nearly every talking head on TV has made predictions for the coming year, one team at the top not what folks around hear have really considered. They've been talking for months that a November game against LSU is one that's "gettable" (with a copyright attribution to Ruscin & Zach on ESPN Arkansas).

Now the Tigers are going to be a team getting a lot of picks to win both the SEC Championship and even the national title. A lot of that is because Brian Kelly has put together what the 247Sports composite transfer ranking lists as the No. 1 team.

Apparently that's getting more respect than many fans think. As if November wasn't already shaping up to be difficult with Arkansas have back-to-back road games in the 10th and 11th slots on the schedule now there are two teams getting mentioned as the best in college football.

That has been a somewhat surprising tidbit. Not that LSU is being mentioned as good, but the number of people putting them at the top.

Razorbacks changing direction may help

On the first day, SEC Now analysts Jordan Rodgers, Roman Harper and Alyssa Lang noted something that has probably been figured out by Pittman.

It probably was the main reason he brought in offensive coordinator and former head coach Bobby Petrino before last season.

After five years of Bret Bielema's approach appearing to be to destroy the explosive offense Petrino has built over the previous four years and a chaotic couple of disastrous years with Chad Morris, Pittman may have figured out he's got to score points to win.

After spending four years of very average results, they simply were not productive on offense after the 2021 season. The best playmakers they had either ran out of eligibility or moved on to the NFL.

Petrino was brought in to fix that and did, to a certain extent. Now if they can figure out how to keep other teams from scoring a little better and they have the pieces around Green they could surprise some people.

Big star circus shapes up with Arch Manning's appearance

As Paul Finebaum noted on the SEC Network telecast, Texas quarterback Arch Manning was the biggest rock-star like showing they'd seen at the media daze in awhile.

You probably have to go back to the Tim Tebow days at Florida for a player to generate that kind of buzz. Nick Saban did it when he was at Alabama, but he's retired and the only buzz around him was whether he'll ever coach again.

Manning will take over for the Longhorns with the Heisman talk starting before practices started back in the spring.

He appeared rather unimpressed by the whole thing. That wasn't surprising, but probably should signal folks around the SEC he's not going to be overwhelmed by the moment. That has de-railed a lot of these stars over the years.