re: if you go smart tv and drop cox cable...

Movies and TV Shows -> Netflix and HBOGO (HBOGO will be offered stand alone without cable sometime this year) Plus free broadcast. I don't think Hulu Plus is worth it, but if they happen to have the broadcast shows you like, you might consider it, because it could save you the headache of setting up a DIY DVR system to record broadcast tv shows.

Sports -> Well, you can get the Sunday NFL games free over the air with an antenna. As for ESPN, Dish Network is offering something called Sling TV that costs a good bit less than normal cable/satellite. It gives you access to a small number of channels over the internet. Some of the channels you probably won't want, but soon it will include all of the ESPN networks including the SEC network. You're still paying for some channels you probably have no interest in, but probably not as many as you would be otherwise.