BY MIKE SZVETITZ AND ANDREW GRIBBLE
STAFF WRITERS

Editor’s Note: Sports Editor Mike Szvetitz and Auburn University beat writer Andrew Gribble will be in Hoover all week for SEC Media Days. Each day, they will give five things they’d like to tell you about.

1. The casual nature in which Georgia coach Mark Richt talks about his starting quarterback Joe Cox, who has taken minimal snaps in his first three years with the Bulldogs, should be a combination of soothing and alarming to Bulldog fans. Yes, Cox may look great in practice, which he described as the most game-like you’ll ever see, but there’s no way to tell if that will translate to success when Georgia opens up with Oklahoma State. If Cox falters, Georgia is in for a long season and Richt could very well be on his way out.

2. When he wrapped up his 40-minute lecture … I mean press conference … Nick Saban thanked the media for all it does and how much it helps promote college football. It was a nice gesture, yes, but it likely didn’t resonate with many folks. It’s tough to forget the tirade he went on a couple years ago, when he yelled at reporters inquiring about his interest in the Alabama job.

3. It’s tough not to root for Houston Nutt and Ole Miss this season. And who wouldn’t want to see an SEC title game matchup of Ole Miss and Florida, which would mark their first meeting since the Rebels shocked the Gators midway through last season?

4. The Heisman Trophy was on display Thursday at the Wynfrey Hotel. No word if it made a formal apology to Tim Tebow.

5. If it weren’t for the Tebow-snub witch hunt, these SEC Media Days would be partly boring with a chance of dull. How many days until the season actually starts?

-Andrew Gribble

1. The number of Alabama fans waiting to catch a glimpse of Nick Saban isn’t what shocked me. After all, this is my sixth SEC Media Days. I’ve seen it before. Even for Mike Shula. As hard as that might be to believe.
What did catch me off guard, however, is the number of Florida fans in the lobby. There were double digit Gators decked out in their orange and blue making their presence felt. There was one guy who was so excited to be there, you could hear him yelling “Gator Nation” all the way up to the second floor. You could also hear the boos by the Alabama fans shortly after.

2. Tim Tebow is the genuine article. He believes in everything he does and says. He is a champion for his faith and his football team. You’ve got to respect him for that. And, you can’t help but like him. For the second consecutive year, the SEC gave Tebow the main podium at media days, while the rest of the athletes get the back-table treatment.
But Tebow demands it. All eyes are on him. I think he even was asked more questions than Vanderbilt head coach Bobby Johnson.

3. Saban didn’t shy away from the question. Yes, he voted for Tim Tebow for first-team SEC quarterback in the coaches’ preseason poll. But, he doesn’t think we should be asking.
“… Everybody should have the right to vote for whoever they want, and I don’t think they should be criticized for that,” Saban said. “It’s what a lot of people have fought for in this country for a long time. So I don’t understand why anybody would even be interested. But I guess it’s somebody trying to create news. I wouldn’t point any fingers about that, but ...”
Oh, he was talking about us. Sorry.

4. Note to self, for next year’s SEC Media Days remember to bring a parka. The print media room at the Wynfrey Hotel could double as a meat locker. It’s freezing in there. I could see my breath. Seriously.
But, it does beat the alternative. I’d rather it be cold than hot. Plus, with a room full of “healthy” sports writers, you want to err on the south side of 70 degrees. You don’t want that group to start sweating. Trust me.

5. Took a walk down radio row this morning and marveled over how many different shows had the same guests on, one after another. Guys like Pat Forde from ESPN were just going down the line from one set of headphones to another. I wonder how many times they get asked the same questions.
They should just have a piece of paper with a list of 20 questions that a host can ask. And every time one is asked it gets crossed off, taking it out of play. Could you imagine the last show that gets a guest like this? With all the good questions taken it would leave this poor guy with “So, if you were a mascot, which one would you be?”

-Mike Szvetitz