NASHVILLE — A year ago, Nick Saban began SEC Media Days with thunder.

No, like literal thunder. In Atlanta, the skies opened up just as Saban addressed the masses and rain smacked the College Football Hall of Fame roof. It would’ve been quite the precursor to an Alabama revenge tour if, you know, Alabama had actually gotten revenge instead of failing to win the West.

This year, however, Saban didn’t bring any sort of thunder to Nashville. Instead, he spoke of carrot cake, expectations being overrated, not getting out of an Italy vacation that he was forced to go on for his 50th wedding anniversary and more.

Honestly? Saban’s appearance didn’t rain on the SEC Media Days parade.

Here were 5 other things I found interesting from Wednesday in Nashville:

1. JC Latham called his shot for Alabama

While Saban might’ve quieted the conversation about expectations and their significance, Latham did not. The Alabama offensive lineman was asked about his thoughts on preseason expectations being lower than they’ve been in years past.

“Disrespectful. I don’t appreciate that at all,” Latham said. “Understanding this group, I know we’re gonna win it all, national championship, undefeated, Joe Moore Award, I want that also.”

That’s bold. Real bold. Even for Alabama.

Only twice have we seen the Tide go unbeaten under Saban. Latham is miffed that the Tide likely won’t be given the benefit of the doubt with preseason expectations following a 2-loss regular season in which they rank No. 125 in percentage of returning production.

I asked Latham about how he’d feel if Alabama wasn’t the preseason media pick to win the SEC for the first time since 2015.

“Fuel to the fire,” Latham said. “I know we’re gonna go out there, compete, dominate and do what we have to do to win, and I know we’re gonna win it all and go undefeated. Whatever anybody outside of our family says essentially isn’t what matters.”

(Never mind the fact that Georgia is the 2-time defending national champs and is plenty worthy of being the preseason SEC pick if that indeed happens.)

There are actually a lot of data points that suggest the preseason conversation about Alabama can let us know what type of season we’re in for. And nationally, 2017 Alabama is the only preseason AP No. 1 to win a national title in the last 18 seasons.

Last year’s overwhelming preseason No. 1 Alabama squad didn’t have that killer instinct. Five games were decided in the final minute. We don’t know if this year’s squad will look like the dominant Alabama groups of old, but Latham is bullish on the new-look Alabama offense under Tommy Rees.

“We’re gonna be physical up front. We’re gonna have receivers who wanna block and we’re gonna have running backs who wanna run through people,” Latham said. “We’re gonna bring that physicality as well because a lot of people say that we aren’t who we once were. We take that as disrespect as a group.”

Point taken.

2. Florida is also clearly embracing the “us against the world” mentality

Florida hears the noise. Or rather, the lack of noise.

The Gators didn’t walk into Nashville with a whole lot of optimism from the outside world. A 6-7 season in Year 1 set the stage for the oddsmakers to put Florida’s win total at 5.5 regular season victories.

But outside narratives? Nah, that won’t factor into Florida’s season.

“One of the things we are not going to do with our team is we are not going to allow outside opinion or create a narrative to define the reality for the 2023 team,” Napier said. “You know, the head Ball coach of Gator legend Steve Spurrier said it best when he said, this is talking season. The games are coming and in the meantime this group will continue to work like it’s been working.”

I, too, would want games to start if I were Florida. Napier is probably eager to move on from the Jaden Rashada mess, and he’d probably like to show that the underwhelming addition of Graham Mertz after Anthony Richardson’s NFL departure wasn’t actually underwhelming.

“I think everyone is fired up just in general for the season to have an opportunity to prove all these naysayers wrong,” Florida offensive lineman Kingsley Eguakun said.

Naysayers? What do you mean by that?

“It’s mainly just everyone outside of our building who doesn’t really know the work we’re putting in, putting this narrative out of who we’re gonna be this season is ridiculous, in my opinion,” Eguakun said. “But at the end of the day, outside noise can’t dictate what you do on your every day grind. It’s definitely fuel to the fire. If anything, they’re just helping us get better because guys want to prove them wrong.”

Well, as one of those naysayers, I want full credit if Florida goes 9-3. Fair?

3. Rocket Sanders is bigger and faster than ever

If a rocket gets bigger and faster, it becomes more explosive. At least that’s what I’d assume. Personally, I’ve never had to perform rocket maintenance.

But as for Arkansas’ rocket, Rocket Sanders, he’s apparently poised to be more explosive than ever. Sam Pittman said that he put on another 10 pounds he’s “running faster than he ever has.”

Sanders confirmed that fresh off an All-SEC season, he’s up to 237 pounds.

He said he’s changed up some things with his diet, mostly about when he eats to make sure he’s putting on quality weight with higher protein intake. He’d like to play a touch lighter at about 235. Still, it makes sense considering that Sanders is now operating in what should be a bit slower of an offensive scheme (relatively to the Kendal Briles offense) under Dan Enos.

Sanders really had never been a featured back before last season. He played more of a hybrid position in high school, and he also played basketball instead of football at one point in middle school. When he got to Arkansas, he was closer to 207 pounds.

Maybe a bigger, faster Rocket help Arkansas’ offense reach new heights in 2023.

4. Don’t forget that KJ Jefferson can still come back for 2024

My guy Brad Crawford asked Pittman about expectations for Jefferson as possibly the SEC’s top returning quarterback. Brad added in “in his final year.” Right after Brad fired off that question, I tapped him on the shoulder and said, “don’t forget that KJ can come back another year.”

Yeah, it’s wild to think about. Jefferson is technically using his 3rd year of eligibility (2019 was a redshirt and 2020 was the COVID year). Yes, it’s his 3rd season as a starter and there might be an expectation that the scheme change could make Jefferson more pro-ready.

But he’s leaving the door open for a possible Year 6 in Fayetteville:

I came up with a list of 10 FBS quarterbacks who have multiple years of eligibility left. Jefferson and Will Rogers both made the cut, as did Dillon Gabriel.

It’s a tricky thing for Arkansas fans because on one hand, Jefferson returning would probably mean he had a disappointing season transitioning to the Enos offense. But on another, having that position figured out is never a bad thing.

Either way, don’t assume Jefferson appeared at his last SEC Media Days.

5. Ray Davis is finally getting some love, as he should

JJ Weaver has a daily conversation with one of his new Kentucky teammates about a game last year. It was a certain game in which a certain Vanderbilt running back went off for 129 rushing yards in a stunning Vandy upset in Lexington.

That running back, of course, is Ray Davis. Quietly, the 1,000-yard rusher transferred across enemy lines within the division. Not so quietly, he has since spent the entire time talking trash to Weaver, saying “y’all can’t tackle me this year even after last year.”

But make no mistake. After Weaver hosted Davis on a visit and he transferred to Kentucky, he became a fan.

“He’s a dog,” Weaver said. “I’m glad he’s on our side of the field this year.”

Mark Stoops was given the frustrating reminder of Davis’ brilliance against Kentucky last year in the form of a 2-part Bob Holt question. “That is exactly why we recruited him,” Stoops said. It didn’t hurt that UK had a major vacancy to fill with Chris Rodriguez’s NFL departure. Weaver said that he actually reminds him of a smaller version of Rodriguez because it takes “5 or 6 people to bring him down.”

“Great respect for Ray,” Stoops said. “When he got in the portal and we had an opportunity to visit with him, it didn’t take you five, ten minutes to spend with a young man like that that you knew he was the type of player you wanted on your team, both as a football player and with the character and being a graduate of Vanderbilt and just a great young man and very talented player. And very tough. I felt like he fit our mold.”

Davis had an atypical upbringing with 14 siblings, and he spent time in the foster care system because he had parents who were incarcerated. He had a pair of legal guardians who helped guide him through high school. He went to boarding school, he spent 2 years in the running back rotation at Temple and then the last 2 years were at Vanderbilt.

Now at Kentucky, is Davis a sneaky candidate to have an All-SEC season behind what should be an improved offensive line? It’s certainly possible.

At the very least, he won’t run for 129 yards against Kentucky this year.