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Dan Wetzel
Before the Rose Bowl, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti was asked about preparing his players to face Alabama and its considerable “mystery”.
“Our guys know what they see on tape,” Cignetti said.
Translation: This Alabama team isn’t that good.
Indiana would dominate the Tide 38–3. The win not only advanced the Hoosiers to the national semifinals to play Oregon, but also left college football wondering what had happened not only to the once mighty Crimson Tide, but to the entire SEC.
After decades of clearly establishing itself as the best conference in the country, both the top-tier excellence and depth of the league have declined. SEC hopes now rest on Ole Miss, which is still going through a coaching shake-up and distractions for its semifinal showdown with Miami.
It’s not that the SEC isn’t still “good” or even capable of winning a national championship – Ole Miss could very well do it. From top to bottom, this may still be the best league, with the majority of schools based in football.
That said, the days of absolute dominance, All-SEC national title games or deep, juggernaut teams are clearly gone, perhaps forever. it’s not the same.
The SEC ruled the bygone era of college football, when rosters were built through high school recruiting that prioritized proximity first, then lavish facilities and fanatical fan bases.
This was a perfect fit for the SEC because the Southeast was rich in talent and the league schools had invested heavily in infrastructure while playing in front of huge crowds (some of whom may have been willing to offer some sweeteners under the table).
The new era of direct revenue sharing, transfer portals and zero prospects has left talent scattered, leaving depth vulnerable as athletes look for playing time, opportunities and open money.
Suddenly the great teams aren’t that great, and the other teams are better.
“This is the most fun experience I’ve ever had in coaching because you know you’re on a more level playing field,” Illinois coach Bret Bielema told ESPN on Tuesday. “The introduction of the portal, zero and revenue sharing is the biggest transformational development in my 32 years of coaching.”
Bielema takes over at Illinois in 2021 after previous stops at Arkansas (2013-17) in the SEC and Wisconsin (2006-12) in the Big Ten. They have won 19 games over the last two seasons.
“It’s hard when you do what you have to do as long as you can and in the end, sometimes it doesn’t matter,” Bielema said about trying to recruit back in the day. “Now you come to work every day knowing that blue blood, red blood, orange blood, whatever, everybody gets a chance, man.”
That’s why Bielema says that while he understands why so much attention is being paid to the SEC’s recent retreat, it really applies to everyone.
He noted that he has signed the best recruiting class in his entire career, which includes a time leading Wisconsin to three league titles. He even ran back from Alabama on signing day. “I could never do that,” he said.
Where power programs – and the SEC had more than any other league – once could hoard talent, both improving their rosters and starving others, the gap is now smaller. Almost anyone can pick up a high school recruit or two. Then the transfer portal steps in. The days of Alabama having four final first-round wide receivers, as it did in 2019, are over. Kirby Smart and Georgia may not have a two-deep defense full of future NFL stars, as was the case during the Bulldogs’ back-to-back titles.
“Second[-string] The guard doesn’t want to be the No. 2 on the varsity anymore,” Bielema said. “He wants to be a starter, so he’ll leave. This is unprecedented.”
During the BCS era (1998–2013), the SEC won nine of 16 championships, including seven consecutive championships from 2006–12. In 10 years of the four-team playoff, the SEC went 16–6, with two of those losses coming in the SEC vs. SEC title game. Alabama, Georgia, and LSU combined to win six championships.
However, the last two national champions (Michigan and Ohio State) are from the Big Ten. With Oregon and Indiana meeting in a semifinal, that league is guaranteed a berth in its third consecutive title game. Penn State, meanwhile, reached the semifinals last season.
The SEC is only 4-9 this postseason (including other bowls) and only 2-7 against teams from other conferences. The Big Ten is 9-4. The ACC is 8-4. While bowl results only mean so much these days, the clarity of the numbers is remarkable.
After all, the SEC has built much of its brand on being better than everyone else — commissioner Greg Sankey was lobbying for seven SEC schools to join this year’s playoff (five joined). Postseason losses showed that perception was not reality – mid-tier SEC teams like Vanderbilt, Missouri, and Tennessee lost.
The SEC has benefited from circular logic (when the top SEC teams win league games, it is a sign of strength at the top; when they lose league games, it is a sign of the conference’s unmatched depth). But the most underrated stretch of the game may have been the middle of the Big Ten and ACC, especially Big Ten teams Iowa (which beat Vanderbilt) and Illinois (which beat Tennessee).
No one would dare say that the SEC is doomed. If anything, it’s merely doubling, even in unlikely places.
For example, ex-partner Vanderbilt is now fully committed to winning. Kentucky, which once viewed football as a means to pass the time before basketball, spent $37 million to fire its coach and is investing heavily in Portal, including flipping the Notre Dame quarterback. kenny minchey From nebraska.
The SEC remains the most popular league and the most watched league on television. The passion is there. The investment is there.
It’s just that the new rules provide more opportunities in more places. The competition is fierce, both inside and outside the league, which means the days of dominance are over.
“Anybody can beat anybody these days,” Bielema said.
Even SEC.
