It was a good run in the states Paul while it lasted. Safe travels abroad https://t.co/X5EiVfP4GM

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) January 9, 2026

boognish_bear said:

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It was a good run in the states Paul while it lasted. Safe travels abroad https://t.co/X5EiVfP4GM

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) January 9, 2026

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I thought I might have been AI but there is actually a video of him admitting that the SEC has lost a step and isn't in a class above everyone else anymore.

It might even have been in this thread earlier, like 10 pages back.

"If you think about it, Miami is really an SEC team which proves how great that conference is."

~ ESPN https://t.co/BTBngtKbkt pic.twitter.com/n88CWfsGW8

— TJ Pittinger (@TJ_Pittinger) January 9, 2026

No dominant teams in college football anymore. Don't think there's a big difference between any of the top 8 teams. Most programs are losing a third of their team and reloading each year. Probably does boil down to chemistry and coaching and who's hot/unlucky on a given day.

I wonder when ESPN will start calling for player caps since their SEC darling is fading away...

LIB,MR BEARS said:

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It just means more 👀 pic.twitter.com/x4sojQjDXx

— Bachmeier_for_heisman (@mvp30_curry) January 9, 2026

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The last part of that clip, where Pavia belittles Iowa, is gold!

Jacques Strap said:

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It is also the worst thing for ESPN as well. They can only control the narrative so much now with 12 teams. And with the crazy mess of the ACC this year allowing two G5 teams in they lost even more control simply by the rules in place. Rules meant to allow for a way to exclude all but one G5 team.

They can push the narrative all off season and all season that the SEC is all mighty and angle for as many SEC teams in the playoffs as they can get but then their narrative falls apart as those teams are beaten time and time again.

Their narrative also falls apart when you look at all their "experts" and their NC game picks before the season starts. Maybe one had Miami there. The rest had SEC teams or at least blue bloods.

Even their 12 team playoff field preseason picks were off and their preseason rankings….. which are even more useless in the NIL/portal era and no rankings should be released until week 5 or 6. But that is probably a different thread discussion…..

cowboycwr said:

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Jacques Strap said:

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It is also the worst thing for ESPN as well. They can only control the narrative so much now with 12 teams. And with the crazy mess of the ACC this year allowing two G5 teams in they lost even more control simply by the rules in place. Rules meant to allow for a way to exclude all but one G5 team.

They can push the narrative all off season and all season that the SEC is all mighty and angle for as many SEC teams in the playoffs as they can get but then their narrative falls apart as those teams are beaten time and time again.

Their narrative also falls apart when you look at all their "experts" and their NC game picks before the season starts. Maybe one had Miami there. The rest had SEC teams or at least blue bloods.

Even their 12 team playoff field preseason picks were off and their preseason rankings….. which are even more useless in the NIL/portal era and no rankings should be released until week 5 or 6. But that is probably a different thread discussion…..

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We just needed Tech to not a lay a freaking goose egg for this to be a near perfect outcome for the sport overall (Tulane putting up a serious fight would have also helped). As it is, still a good outcome for CFB as a whole.

cowboycwr said:

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There have been several years that it would have been fun to watch some of the really good G5 teams in an expanded playoff.

Like Boise the year they beat OU in the bowl game. And a few other years.

UCF like above. Or the other year they went undefeated right after.

This pains me to say…. But some of the TCU teams.

Cincy the year they got destroyed in the 4 team playoff.

And I'm sure a few I'm forgetting.

They probably all would have lost in the second round but I think several of them could have actually won their first round game.

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The TCU team that won the Rose bowl for sure...

The problem with NIL is that it's going to create discrepancies similar to pro sports that we see with large market and small market teams. The Pirates and Royals have to blow up their teams from year to year in hopes of contending every once in a while. Large market teams like the Dodgers just reload every year by spending more than anyone else.

SEC teams are mostly in smaller markets/states with less economic resources. I can see both UTs, A&M, Georgia, and Florida doing OK. Hard to imagine Alabama, Auburn, and Ole miss competing like they used to. South Carolina, Arkansas, Mississippi State and Missouri can probably just hang it up.

Chuckroast said:

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The problem with NIL is that it's going to create discrepancies similar to pro sports that we see with large market and small market teams. The Pirates and Royals have to blow up their teams from year to year in hopes of contending every once in a while. Large market teams like the Dodgers just reload every year by spending more than anyone else.

SEC teams are mostly in smaller markets/states with less economic resources. I can see both UTs, A&M, Georgia, and Florida doing OK. Hard to imagine Alabama, Auburn, and Ole miss competing like they used to. South Carolina, Arkansas, Mississippi State and Missouri can probably just hang it up.

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the key to this is The NIL Clearinghouse. If they're biased towards the bluebloods, then CFB will indeed be just like the MLB...if they are nitpicky with everyone, then there will be much more parity because there will be a fuzzy salary cap.

I don't think there really is an NIL clearinghouse from a practical perspective - the clearinghouse can't keep up and universities are signing players without concern for clearinghouse approval. And the first time the clearinghouse rejects an NIL contract with a player with means to hire an attorney will be the last time the clearinghouse does so - because the rejection of such a contract seems like a legal violation.

bossbowman said:

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cowboycwr said:

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There have been several years that it would have been fun to watch some of the really good G5 teams in an expanded playoff.

Like Boise the year they beat OU in the bowl game. And a few other years.

UCF like above. Or the other year they went undefeated right after.

This pains me to say…. But some of the TCU teams.

Cincy the year they got destroyed in the 4 team playoff.

And I'm sure a few I'm forgetting.

They probably all would have lost in the second round but I think several of them could have actually won their first round game.

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The TCU team that won the Rose bowl for sure...

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It also would have been nice to see what we could have done the couple of years we finished towards the top but outside the top 4.

cowboycwr said:

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bossbowman said:

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cowboycwr said:

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There have been several years that it would have been fun to watch some of the really good G5 teams in an expanded playoff.

Like Boise the year they beat OU in the bowl game. And a few other years.

UCF like above. Or the other year they went undefeated right after.

This pains me to say…. But some of the TCU teams.

Cincy the year they got destroyed in the 4 team playoff.

And I'm sure a few I'm forgetting.

They probably all would have lost in the second round but I think several of them could have actually won their first round game.

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The TCU team that won the Rose bowl for sure...

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It also would have been nice to see what we could have done the couple of years we finished towards the top but outside the top 4.

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The year Saban cried about the hurry up/no huddle prior to adopting it himself.

baylorrific said:

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I don't think there really is an NIL clearinghouse from a practical perspective - the clearinghouse can't keep up and universities are signing players without concern for clearinghouse approval. And the first time the clearinghouse rejects an NIL contract with a player with means to hire an attorney will be the last time the clearinghouse does so - because the rejection of such a contract seems like a legal violation.

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Yeah that's the thing - either this offseason tons of deals get struck down even though the timing is painful for those programs and players, and we get parity…OR they just rubber stamp all those deals and we're just in a New Old School era of blueblood feudalism.