Gordy: Georgia currently alone in the 'top tier' of SEC powerhouses

SEC Media Days are officially in the rearview as the 2024 season creeps closer. During Tuesday's edition of TexAgs Radio, Chris Gordy of SportsTalk 790 and Locked On SEC discussed his biggest takeaways from Dallas, what makes the SEC tougher than other leagues and more.

Key notes from Chris Gordy interview

• The Oklahoma and Texas fans’ mentalities are coming in a little more... I don’t want to say “full of themselves,” but they’re confident to the point that it’s a little bit cocky and arrogant. It’s more so Texas than Oklahoma. A lot of Oklahoma fans I’ve talked to are a little bit more realistic. Texas is very different. They’re coming off their first playoff appearance, and they’re thinking this is going to happen every year under Steve Sarkisian. I tend to think there’s a little bit of a transition.
   
• The topic of conference expansion always comes up at SEC Media Days, and it sounds like — at least for now — that Greg Sankey & Co. are fine. I like his quotes where he said, “We’re strong with 16. We’ll be 16 today, 16 tomorrow.” Numbers don’t make you great. Quality makes you great.
   
• As far as tiers in the SEC go, I’ve got Georgia at the top and Texas a rung below.
   
• Georgia’s schedule is as tough as it’s been in a while, so they’re going to have to weather that storm. Collectively, I still think their talent and roster is deeper than anybody in the SEC.
   
• The next tier is Texas because of their weak schedule and what they bring back. The roster is good, but they did lose a ton to the draft. I’d put Ole Miss in that group and probably Missouri, but I keep going back and forth on this because Eli Drinkwitz was awesome last year. Can you do it again? The schedule sets up so well for them, and if they go 10-2, I’d still put them in the College Football Playoff.
   
• For tier three, I’d put LSU and Tennessee, and I keep going back and forth if I’d put Texas A&M in that group because all three of these teams have potential and 9-3 is on the table. However, 8-4 or 7-5 is probably more realistic.
   
• I like the hire of Mike Elko. I think it’s a great fit. I think he’s going to do a great job. He’s already recruiting well. The transfer portal group is awesome. I think he’s done all these things well, but here’s the problem: For the last month, everyone I’ve talked to has been telling me their dark horse is A&M and that A&M is the team to watch. Randall Cobb tells me that Conner Weigman is his dark-horse quarterback in the SEC, and I’m going, “At what point are they the dark horse when everyone is telling me they’re the dark horse?” Now it becomes that expectations are raised now.
   
• I feel like anytime you bring in a new coach, it’s going to take some time. There are a lot of new faces for A&M. We’ve seen it year in and year out. Some teams bring in pieces through the portal, and it works out. I allow a little bit of leeway to say you’ve got to give Elko time to get his feet under him and settle back in. What he did at Duke was awesome, but again, this is the SEC. It’s a different animal.
   
• Brian Kelly has won everywhere he has been. I figured he was going to have success at LSU, but LSU is kind of in that category of competing for a championship every three or four years. That’s kind of the standard at LSU. I love the changes he made on the defensive side of the ball, but where are the Jimmys and the Joes? It’s still those guys who stunk on defense last year. I think Harold Perkins is really good, but I still don’t know if they have that elite talent that they typically have on the defensive side of the ball. That’s what it takes to win a championship.