Winners and Losers from Day 3 of SEC Media Days

Alabama head coach Nick Saban
Chris Graythen/Getty Images

The final day of SEC Media Days is in the books, and it's time to call the winners and losers of Day 3.

Alabama head coach Nick Saban stole the show, Tennessee head coach Derek Dooley talked about his hot seat, the Ole Miss Rebels tried to get some pub and Georgia's Mark Richt defended his team.

Who were the winners and losers of Day 3? SEC lead blogger Barrett Sallee examines in this slideshow.

SEC Lead Blogger Barrett Sallee Recaps Day 3

SEC lead blogger Barrett Sallee was in attendance for Day 3 of SEC Media Days.

He recaps the day's events in this video.

Winner: Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban

Alabama head coach Nick Saban
Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images

Nick Saban was the star of the show on Thursday. 

Saban took playful shots at Steve Spurrier, railed against people that think that the four-team playoff should only be comprised of conference champions and proposed a tax on Penn State athletics that would go towards helping victims of child abuse.

All good ideas.

While Saban's sound bites made Media Days headlines, his appearance alone made the event entertaining.

Wherever he went, there was a wave of television cameras following him around. When he walked down escalators, cheers erupted from the hundreds of fans waiting for a glimpse of him in the lobby. And when he walked down radio row, he stopped foot traffic altogether.

Loser: Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban

Alabama head coach Nick Saban
Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Nick Saban joins Missouri wide receiver T.J. Moe in the prestigious category of being listed as a winner and loser of the 2012 edition of SEC Media Days.

Saban used the players as part of his reason for pushing for a nine-game SEC schedule. 

That's simply wrong.

Players may enjoy playing SEC games, but there's no doubt that playing an extra game in this conference would produce more wear and tear on young men than it would benefit them.

The SEC is going to play nine conference games at some point, but it won't be because of the players.

It will be because the SEC's television partners will demand it.

Winner: Tennessee QB Tyler Bray

Tennessee QB Tyler Bray
Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

Tennessee quarterback Tyler Bray is one of the most overlooked quarterbacks in the SEC.

The rising junior has perhaps the most upside of any signal-caller in the SEC, but was absent of the SEC's preseason All-SEC team.

As a team, the Vols are being overlooked; the media in Hoover picked them to finish fifth in the SEC East in 2012.

That hasn't shaken his confidence, though.

Bray told ESPNU that his team can win the SEC East this season.

Tyler Bray on ESPNU #SECMediaDays: "I believe we have a team that can come back and win the SEC" #Tennessee

— Eric Bowman (@E_ROCK12) July 19, 2012

Good for Bray. 

The Vols have the weapons on offense, provided they find a running game and stay healthy. The talent is there, and an early-season test against NC State at Game 1 of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game could catapult the Vols to a successful season.

Winner: Georgia Head Coach Mark Richt

Georgia head coach Mark Richt
Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Richt isn't going to give you much at these events.

The laid-back head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs knew that questions surrounding the discipline of his players would be asked, and he addressed them about as straightforward as he could.

"I think this team was coming together no matter what happened with Isaiah [Crowell]," Richt said.

That sounds an awful lot like Richt is counting on Crowell's dismissal to be more of "addition by subtraction." 

He's right.

Crowell is a good running back, but true freshman Keith Marshall has as much upside as Crowell had coming out of high school, minus the flakiness.

Loser: The Ole Miss Rebels

Ole Miss LB Mike Marry
Grant Halverson/Getty Images

Poor Ole Miss.

South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier took shots at the Rebels on Day 1, and the SEC schedule-makers put them at the end of the last day on Day 3.

When nobody was here.

Ole Miss needs publicity following last season's debacle, but it didn't get much on the SEC's biggest offseason stage. 

Nick Saban came and went, media members rushed out of town and Hugh Freeze and Co. were left to talk to tens of reporters rather than the 1,000-plus that were in attendance for everyone else.

Give Freeze credit; he called Spurrier out for his Day 1 comments...but nobody was here to see it.