The SEC just means more. Or at least that’s what everyone in The South tells everyone through social media. Their fans think their conference is better than everyone else’s in football. There is reason to believe SEC fans when they say this. Over the last ten years, they’ve won six National Championships, spread over three teams and the SEC added Texas, who was in the CFP last year, and Oklahoma. In the current AP top 25, five of the top six teams are SEC teams.
One would think this is a conference of strong talented teams, not a conference that boasts losses against Cal and Arizona State. LSU, Texas A&M, and Florida lost to non-SEC teams in the opening week despite being at home or a neutral site.
Conferences, especially in football, are always fluctuating in terms of coaching talent, which is ultimately the deciding factor in how good your teams will be.
The SEC Myth
The SEC has been riding off the coattails of Alabama for the entirety of the Nick Saban run. Once Saban starts winning in Tuscaloosa, all of a sudden the SEC is this power conference. Yes, the conference has amazing talent, but there was never a consistent challenge to Saban’s Tide.
Alabama has won seven of the last ten SEC Championship games. Now that Dumbledore, I mean Nick Saban is gone, it should lead to an era of more parity for the SEC.
The conference is especially top-heavy this year and teams that have a lot of pride and tradition haven’t started too hot. Auburn and Florida are both 1-1 and based on their play and schedules, they would be lucky to reach seven wins this year.
The snobbery media members show toward the SEC is unwarranted. If a team wears the “SEC,” logo on their jersey, then they are automatically better than any other team in a conference. Fans of other teams often feed into the SEC domination narrative by celebrating intensely on social media after beating an SEC team.
This year, the SEC will likely have three if not four teams in the playoff, probably most of any conference. The addition of specifically Texas will help them in the long run. After getting a successful NIL operation up and running, the Longhorns are well-equipped for the new age of college football.
This doesn’t mean that the SEC, like every other conference, won’t have its bottom feeders.
Parity in College Football
Due to the expanded playoff, more teams feel they have a chance to win it all. Add in the transfer portal chaos, NIL, and recruits having far more options there are more teams with equal talent. The player movement through the transfer portal has more evenly spread out the talent. Programs can now sell recruits and transfer portal players on the possibility of making the playoff with the expansion.
This has led to teams being closer to each other than in previous seasons, even though we are just two weeks away. As much as fans hype up recruiting rankings, it’s now more about keeping the recruits versus getting them in the building.
SEC programs can no longer stack recruits and have them stay three years, then start their fourth. However, this hasn’t impacted recruiting so far. Texas and Oklahoma are recruiting powerhouses and their addition will only benefit the conference’s recruiting footprint.
Conclusion
Despite the losses in the opening weeks by several SEC teams in what many believe are winnable games, this doesn’t change the fact that it’s still the best conference. Georgia and Texas already seem to be considered locks for the playoffs. While Alabama, Tennessee, and Ole Miss seem to be likely contenders.
The SEC is in a great place and is as powerful as ever. However, the conference will have to deal with the new landscape of recruiting and NIL like the rest of the conferences
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