Is the SEC's Dominance in College Ended?

[16thBBall Fan]

I thought I would see how the college football guys on here thought of this statement. 

I personally think it has, and I feel it has for these two reasons:

1) NIL money

2) The transfer portal

To expand on these with NIL money more schools with wealthy donors can get shots at the best players in the nation have many options to where they want to play.

The transfer portal I feel is the biggest reason in the past before this schools like Bama, Georgia, LSU, Auburn, Florida, Texas, Ohio State, Michigan and others would get most all of the 4 & 5 Star players they would set the bench or red shirt for 1-2 years and then replace the 4 or 5 Stars that were older and playing in front of them. Now with the transfer portal they can go to other schools and walk right in and play right away. To me it is like having one high school in a county or district and the kids had to just sit and wait their turn then a 2nd high school opens, and those younger kids can decide I can sit at the old HS or I can go to the new HS and play right away.

While this has been a very down year for the SEC as whole and especially the Big Dogs like Georgia and Bama, but I think if people is honest with themselves the SEC conference from top to bottom in 2024 was far and away the strongest conference in college football, but they are other schools that due to the above 2 points have improved and really narrowed the gap.

I would love to hear others on here and their thoughts on the reasons. I do think the SEC will still win some CFP Titles I just don't think it will like it has been for the past 14-20 years, and I think it is due mainly to the two reasons stated above.

[theguru]

I think the portal/NIL opens up a lot of possibilities for an even playing field.  Also, if you go back through some old threads I think we said as much on BGP. I do think playing in the SEC gives teams a better chance of being battle tested and that may help some teams on occasion but to your larger point I agree, why sit on the bench at Bama or Georgia when you can play somewhere else.   And some of those "somewhere elses" will have a run. 

[sportsfan41]

Maybe. With Saban gone, it's too early to tell how far Alabama falls.

With that said, perhaps SEC dominance is shifting, they're looking pretty good at basketball this year. SEC conference play is going to be brutal. 

[REALSPORT]

For those curious about the numbers.

Championships in the 16 years of the BCS era

SEC - 8;   ACC - 3;   Big 12 - 2;   Big 10 - 1;   Pac 10 - 1   plus a tie in 2003 with LSU and USC

Championships in the 10 years of the CFP era

SEC - 6;   Big 10 - 2;   ACC - 2

In the Big 10 and ACC the championships were won by 2 teams in each conference.

In the SEC a total of 6 teams won over the past 16 years.

 

[Tranquility Base]

Let's not forget that Texas is still in this thing.  Granted they are going against a seemingly unstoppable (right now) Ohio State, but OSU also lost to a Michigan team they probably should have hammered.

Georgia played without their starting QB.  Maybe ND still wins, but maybe a Georgia team with all it's weapons, wins.

The SEC isn't quite dead yet.

[Big East Zebra]

Great question and I like how you have phrased this question. With that said, I don't think the dominance is over, but I do think the playing field is becoming more level than ever before. I do believe that NIL and the portal has certainly leveled the playing field, but I also think that losing a coach like Saban will go a long way in leveling things out as well.

I want to see if there are any regulations that someone (NCAA, CFP or some entity) comes up with to help bring the NIL and portal into some guidelines. I think we all will agree that the portal opening is at the wrong time of the year. Secondly, there has to be something in place that will protect the brand. Currently, there is nothing in place to protect the brand. 

 

[theguru]

36 minutes ago, Big East Zebra said:

I want to see if there are any regulations that someone (NCAA, CFP or some entity) comes up with to help bring the NIL and portal into some guidelines. I think we all will agree that the portal opening is at the wrong time of the year. Secondly, there has to be something in place that will protect the brand. Currently, there is nothing in place to protect the brand. 

I think any attempt to "regulate" NIL will break college athletics.  I think the horse is out of the barn and there is no going back.

On the portal, technically these are student-athletes so the first responsibility of the portal should be to give the student-athletes the ability to transfer schools and not interrupt their education.  

Ultimately trying to marry a professional sports league with higher education is next to impossible.

[rjs4470]

While I think the portal has evened things up some, I disagree with your statement about guys sitting and waiting a couple of years and then replace the older guys. Waiting your turn generally doesn't exist at the college level as coaches are always in win now mode and are constantly trying to get better at every position. If you're not currently playing, you can pretty much count on your coach is out there looking for somebody better than you. What the portal has done is  make it even easier for coaches to find somebody that's better than you. Even if you were a 4 or 5 star guy coming into college.

 

[bugatti]

3 hours ago, REALSPORT said:

For those curious about the numbers.

Championships in the 16 years of the BCS era

SEC - 8;   ACC - 3;   Big 12 - 2;   Big 10 - 1;   Pac 10 - 1   plus a tie in 2003 with LSU and USC

Championships in the 10 years of the CFP era

SEC - 6;   Big 10 - 2;   ACC - 2

In the Big 10 and ACC the championships were won by 2 teams in each conference.

In the SEC a total of 6 teams won over the past 16 years.

 

These numbers are insane.

[bugatti]

For the question at hand, I don’t believe evaluating the demise or rise of a conference can be evaluated by a blip (meaning a 1-2 year window). Last season, a weakish Bama team gave UM all they could handle in the semis and should have won. Texas, now being part of the equation, is still alive. Is it fair to hold off on pouring dirt over the SEC’s grave?

[REALSPORT]

Just saw this meme.  Interesting.  

[theguru]

I am not saying this is true but it fits the narrative of this thread.

[TheDeuce]

We’ll see. 

Everybody is now paying players like the SEC has for decades, so it’s definitely evened the playing field. The SEC’s dominance was always overblown because of the success of 1-2 teams at the top anyway. 

[hrcarrier]

In terms of what the SEC was previously, absolutely. The SEC hasn’t by any means seen its last championship, but they aren’t going to come nearly as easily as they used to. And I’m in full agreement about the portal and NIL. The cream of the crop will be far more accessible to a lot of schools that they wouldn’t have or gotten remotely close to. 
 

A team that I think will continue benefiting greatly, especially with the expansion of the playoff will be Notre Dame. 

[Jumper_Dad]

SEC isn't dead. 

The strength of the conference has always been the teams in the middle of the standings. You match up the SEC's 3rd through 8th teams against those exact same teams in another conference and it's not been close over the past decade or so. 

The SEC has had an unprecedented run of titles the last 15 years or so. I think it will take more than a season or two to write them off. 

As to the initial question, the dominance we've seen likely won't be repeated going forward. So to that end, their "Dominance" may be over...but I expect SEC teams to be right in the middle of title chases for years to come.