Today in Atlanta, the Southeastern Conference and ESPN took the lid off of their new joint venture, the SEC Network.  Below are our quick takes and rapid responses to what was learned today:

*  The SEC brought in 32 head coaches for the event.  One by one the coaches (from various sports) were introduced.  Impressive, but slow.  The message: “Our coaches are a big part of why we’re great.”  Gotcha.  Next?

*  ESPN and the SEC announced that they have extended their overall media rights agreement through 2034.  No contract in sports television is longer.  The positive is that the SEC is now locked into a partnership with what’s currently the the biggest name in sports for two decades.  A positive negative?  Markets change.  Just as the SEC’s dual contracts with ESPN and CBS signed in 2008 were eventually passed, this pact will set a new bar for other conferences to take aim at as well.  You can bet the SEC worked automatic escalators — or “look-ins” — into this deal.  Just how strong those escalators are will determine how wise it was to sign such a long-term agreement.

*  Mike Slive: “For the first time a conference will launch a network with its primary media rights partner.”  As we wrote in mid-April, this deal is about much more than just a television channel.  ESPN and the SEC will now be able to bundle inventory for sales purposes which will drive league revenue through the roof.  Slive said the fact that the conference is creating a network with its main media rights partner allows the league to move its properties “across platforms seamlessly.”  As we told you two weeks ago, the network is big… but the overall partnership is even bigger.

*  Content will include 1,000 live events per year split between the channel and the digital network (online).  That includes three SEC football games per week (45 total) and more than 100 men’s basketball games per season.  The key?  Those three football games per week.  As we noted — again in mid-April — the fact that ESPN already own 95% of the SEC’s football content gives the league an opportunity to put more “good” games on its channel at start-up.  That should create greater demand from viewers and in turn put more pressure on cable and satellite providers to carry the channel.  Make no mistake, you will be used for leverage.

*  AT&T U-verse was announced as the SEC’s initial carriage partner.  Not to sneeze at AT&T U-verse, but the fact that a more well-known provider such as DirecTV, Comcast or Time-Warner isn’t onboard already might give you a pretty good idea of what ESPN and the SEC are charging for carriage.  Meaning: A lot.  Asked about other distributors, ESPN’s reps pointed out multiple times that AT&T U-verse is the fastest growing distributor in the country.  Fine.  But you the viewer need to prepare for the carriage battles we’ve warned you about.

*  Slive refused to detail any ownership details regarding the network.  “The actual details we’re just not going to discuss at this time.”  So we’ll have to wait a bit longer to learn if this is a 51/49-type split between the league and the network or if the SEC is simply being paid a healthy per-year sum by ESPN.  (We’ve come to believe that the latter is the model that’s been adopted, just as ESPN pays Texas an annual sum for their Longhorn Network partnership.)  Slive also said he would not reveal financial projections or distribution projections for the network.  ESPN’s reps said that they want complete coverage — like ESPN itself — in the 11-state SEC footprint.  They also pointed out that the SEC Network is a “national network.”  On a national scale, ESPNU’s distribution was mentioned as a goal for the SEC Network on a national scale.  ESPNU gets into about 75 million homes across the country.  Cha-ching.

*  Only two Thursday night football games will be played over the course of a season and there will be no new weeknight package of games.  (Good.)  Each Saturday in the fall, then, the SEC Network will carry three games per day — meaning one at noon, one in mid-afternoon, and one in the evening.  CBS has agreed to allow a game to go head-to-head with its SEC game of the week.  That’s very, very big.  That shows you the strength of the SEC, as you can be sure CBS does not want any competition in the 3:30pm ET time slot.  But the network agreed to it anyway.  CBS will continue to have the first pick on games each week.

*  Slive said he anticipates further discussion of a potential nine-game football schedule.

*  “The network will be priced efficiently and effectively,” according to ESPN’s reps.  Those reps also made sure to point out that they are not asking consumers to pay anything.  Of course, they are asking the carriers to pay for the channel and they know full well that those costs will be passed on to the consumers.  Semantics.

*  As expected, the network will be based in Charlotte at ESPN’s regional hub.  It’s launch date was announced as August of 2014.

*  UPDATE — Buried in the SEC’s Q&A sheet (linked to below) is this nugget: “The Network will televise the SEC Championships for all sports other than football.”  If that’s correct, you’ll need the SEC Network if you want to watch the SEC men’s basketball tournament championship game in March of 2015.  That’s a bit surprising.

*  UPDATE — Also tucked away in the Q&A sheet is the fact that the SEC game of the week that airs on CBS can be re-aired on the SEC Network.

Some additional info can be found below:

*  For information on SEC Network availability, click here.

*  For a full press release from ESPN and the SEC, click here.

*  For easy answers to questions about the network in a simple Q&A format, click here.

And if you’re wondering what 32 coaches, two players, a conference commissioner, an emcee, and two ESPN reps look like on one stage… here ya go:

SEC Football

1. The Egg Bowl, Thanksgiving night, and the difference between ESPNU and ESPN for Ole Miss and Mississippi State.  “The last three years the Egg Bowl has averaged 481,000 viewers on ESPNU, while ESPN’s Thanksgiving games averaged 3.6 million viewers during that same period.”

2. Ole Miss tight end Christian Morgan has a knee injury that will require surgery – expected back for start of practice in August.

3. The Rebels have depth in receiving corps – three of the top 12 returning receivers in the SEC  and the nation’s top wide receiver prospect is coming this fall.

4. Alabama linebacker Trey Depriest was in a cast at Wednesday’s practice – underwent surgery to repair a stress fracture in his foot.

5. Auburn running back Tre Mason didn’t scrimmage Saturday and appeared to be favoring his left leg Wednesday.  Gus Malzahn: “Just want to make sure he’s 100 percent healthy before we put him back in there.”

6. Auburn wide receiver Melvin Ray left baseball for football.  L.A. Dodgers paying the tuition for the Auburn walk-on.

7. Soaring booster fees have some Florida season ticket holders upset.

8. New LSU offensive coordinator Cam Cameron is focused on a quicker pace and quarterback Zach Mettenberger is adapting: “We’re setting the building blocks for what we’re going to go off of in August.”

9. Whoever ends up starting at quarterback for Kentucky will most likely be taking snaps from a redshirt freshman center.

10. Stamina an issue along the Georgia defensive line last year?  New line coach Chris Wilson wants to spread the snaps around.

11. Texas A&M sophomore Donnie Braggs is moving from weakside linebacker to the middle.

12. Arkansas wide receiver Mekale McKay on finding out Jim Chaney was hired as offensive coordinator: “It was a big relief off my shoulders.”

13. “Tennessee’s receivers have a LONG way to go.”

14. Profile of Alabama A.D. Bill Battle recalls his day at Tennessee, cutting edge computer analysis, and coaching against Bear Bryant.

SEC Basketball

15. Louisville fell down early against Michigan and rallied to win a title.  Florida trailed early against Michigan and wilted.  Coach Billy Donovan:  ”I’m not so sure in the Michigan game if we even deserved to win that game.”

16. Kansas coming to Gainesville next season?

17. Missouri guard Phil Pressey declared for the NBA draft yesterday.  But what if he goes undrafted? “You have to be ready for that, but I just think I’m ready. I’ve been working my tail off.”

18. Johnny O’Bryant’s decision to return to LSU helps give the Tigers plenty of options next year.

19. Seth Davis has his early 2013-2014 projections - Kentucky is No. 1. “If John Calipari also adds Andrew Wiggins, it could be the greatest freshman class ever.”

Extras

20. Lindsay Vonn at Augusta to watch boyfriend Tiger Woods.

21. Peyton Manning sends a bill to a teammate.

You either love Marshall Henderson or you hate him.  The junior guard for Mississippi’s basketball team taunts and trash talks.  He riles up fans and then flips them indecent hand gestures.  Then he reconciles it all by telling us, “Hey, it’s just a game.”

Hipster-targeting ESPNU proves that there’s an additional love/hate line for Henderson aside from the obvious “fan of Ole Miss” / “fan of some other team” line.  There’s also a generational component.  The more kids grow up seeing self-congratulating preeners like Terrell Owens become stars, the more likely a new generation of hot dogs — like Henderson — will be accepted.

Thus ESPNU’s video tribute to the guy who never met a shot he didn’t like:

Henderson is not this particular writer’s cup of tea.  I look at his classless displays on the court and think “White Trash.”  Perhaps “White Brash” would be more fitting.

But what if Henderson weren’t white at all?  Deadspin.com dares to ask the question today: What if Henderson were black? 

Greg Howard points out in his article that the same semester Andy Kennedy welcomed Henderson into the Rebel fold, he dismissed Dundrecous Nelson and Jamal Jones from his team after they were busted smoking weed and in the possession of “drug paraphernalia.”  As you surely know by now, Henderson was once busted for trying to buy pot with counterfeit money.  Then he violated the terms of his probation by testing positive for alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine and spent some time in the pokey.

Nelson and Jones are black.  Henderson is white.

Now, in fairness to Kennedy, one of college athletics’ oldest double-standards is the fact that Player X can be arrested somewhere else and turn to State U for a fresh start… while Player Y will be booted from State U for committing the exact same crime as Player X.

“Screw up on another team, we’ll say you learned your lesson.  Screw up on my team, you’re gone.”

Now, while this writer feels there’s probably something to Howard’s argument that Henderson would have been treated differently by coaches and the media had he been black, I believe there’s a bigger issue to discuss.  I wonder if Henderson would have been accepted just the same by Ole Miss fans and white fans everywhere had he been born black.

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One of high school basketball’s most celebrated recruits has made his college decision.  Just moments ago on ESPNU, Julius Randle, a Dallas, Texas area forward, picked up the hat of the University of Kentucky.

Randle’s four finalists were Kentucky, Kansas, Florida and Texas although many believed it was a two-horse race between UK and KU.

John Calipari already had six five-star commitments in his 2013 class. Jerry Meyer of 247Sports.com said before the announcement “If Randle were to choose Kentucky, I think it makes this Kentucky class a no-brainer for best recruiting class in the history of college basketball.”

Randle did and history has apparently been made.

It’s always basketball season in Lexington, but a disappointing first-round NIT exit combined with the anticipation and excitement surrounding this recruiting class, next season can’t get here soon enough for UK fans. Randle, a 6-foot-9 forward and ranked the No. 3 overall prospect by ESPN, only adds to the buzz.

Mississippi State added 21 players from 9 different states on Wednesday and Thursday.  A breakdown of the Bulldogs’ “target zone” is below:

Mississippi = 8 recruits

Alabama = 3

Louisiana = 2

Texas = 2

Virginia = 2

Florida = 1

Georgia = 1

Maryland = 1

Tennessee = 1

In-State Signees = 38.0%

Out-Of-State Signees = 61.9%

Observation:

While Ole Miss was making national headlines with an eye-popping (and eyebrow-raising) signing class, Dan Mullen and crew were putting together what’s become a typical MSU type of class — plenty of in-state recruits with a solid overall ranking after the fact.  But there’s no question The School Up North stole the spotlight this year.  Mullen was even asked about Hugh Freeze’s class during his brief phoner with ESPNU.  Ouch.  But at least State held onto the state of Mississippi’s top-ranked player, Chris Jones.  If the big, five-star defensive end had flipped to the Rebels, a few Dog fans might have flipped their lids.

On Monday, five-star running back Alex Collins committed to Arkansas.  Today, he was supposed to announce his decision and sign his papers in his hometown of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  But this afternoon, he’s canceled that ceremony in order to take more time to think about his future.

But this is where it gets even more interesting (horrible, if you’re a Razorback fan).  ESPNU reported that Collins’ mom actually “confiscated” her son’s letter of intent and left the school with it.  Reportedly, she wants Collins to say closer to home and attend Florida, Florida State or Miami.

You can bet a whole lot of fans — and coaches — are sweating this one from the Ozarks to the Keys.

“Dog eat your homework?”  “Nope, Mom stole my letter of intent.”

Five-star safety Von Bell of Rossville, Georgia has decided to play his college football at Ohio State.  New Tennessee coach Butch Jones worked hard to flip the Chattanooga-area resident who had always been an Buckeye lean.  In the end, Jones couldn’t and that’s a hit for Tennessee.  (Ironically, ESPNU asked Derek Dooley about Bell after the young man’s announcement, but Bell’s high school coach has made it clear his star had not gotten a ton of attention from Dooley and his aides.)

Alabama also made a push to land Bell, but the Crimson Tide can afford a disappointment more easily than the Volunteers can.

Meanwhile Urban Meyer is putting together what could be the nation’s #1 class and he’s successfully coming back to the South to help do it.

Like Carl Lawson earlier, Bell handled himself well and surely won many people over with his demeanor.

The nation’s number one football prospect is headed to Ole Miss. Robert Nkemdiche made the announcement just moments ago on ESPNU.  The defensive end from Loganville, Georgia will join his brother, Denzel, a linebacker for the Rebels. He had also considered LSU and Florida, making a visit to Baton Rouge this past weekend.  We’re off and running on National Signing Day with Hugh Freeze and the Ole Miss Rebels having the first big catch of the day.

1. Here are the announcement times for tomorrow’s ESPNU broadcast.

2. Twitter exploded during Reuben Foster’s announcement on Monday.

3. Look at the jump in attention paid to LSU wide receiver commit Kevin Spears.

4. Robert Nkemdiche is expected to sign with Ole Miss. Here’s a recent interview.

5. QB Tanner McEvoy won’t sign with Florida. He chose Wisconsin instead.

6. Could Georgia sign OL George Adeosun? He’s never visited Georgia.

7.Alabama and Auburn have plenty to watch for on signing day.

8. Tennessee is hoping for a strong finish to the 2013 class.

9. Grantland has a signing day preview to get you ready for tomorrow’s madness.

10. The anticipation is building for Ezekiel Elliott’s announcement. (See video below.)

Texas A&M has received a commitment from wide receiver Ricky Seals-Jones from Sealy (Texas) High School.

The nation’s No. 1 athlete according to ESPNU chose the Aggies over LSU. He previously committed to Texas before he decided to reopen his recruitment.

Seals-Jones is the 34th commitment for Texas A&M’s class of 2013. He’s the latest in an impressive run of commitments for the Aggies.