The narrative of the SEC being far and away the best conference from top to bottom is one of the greatest lies ESPN(who's in bed with the SEC with a large TV contract) has told over the past decade.
Many media members literally mention "SEC" in the same breath as some mediocre team, as if it makes them a better mediocre team.
The point I'm referencing is a 6-6 Oklahoma team losing to Navy in their bowl game. The commentary was ludicrous, like Navy had done something impossible because Oklahoma was an SEC team.
Heck, the ACC had a winning record against the SEC in 2023 when FSU got snubbed from the College Football Playoffs. It didn't matter that that was a fact, and FSU was undefeated and had beaten two SEC teams that year.
The CFB Playoff Committee and ESPN wanted to get an SEC team in the top four, and the only way they could do it was put Texas and Alabama in over FSU, because Texas had already beaten Alabama.
The ESPN media tried their best to advocate for the SEC to get even more teams in the expanded 12-team playoff in 2024. They got three teams in, and many wanted a three-loss Alabama, South Carolina, or Ole Miss as a fifth SEC team. However, Ole Miss was the only team that won their bowl game, and it was against a Duke team that had three losses in the ACC.
If the ACC is an inferior conference, I don't think that win should hold much weight, and Duke didn't have their starting quarterback. I mean, that's one of the many excuses we're hearing from Georgia fans after their loss against Notre Dame.
The SEC teams in the 12-team playoff lost all their games, and only Texas(a Big 12 transplant) remains. Fox analyst Joel Klatt spoke a lot of truth here:
The SEC is a great conference...the narrative that they are CLEARLY the best and deserve every benefit of the doubt needs to die
— Joel Klatt (@joelklatt) January 2, 2025
I remain incredibly frustrated and disappointed in the commentary regarding the CFP from this past weekend...Games like that happen all the time...Even in the NFLpic.twitter.com/CMd5pf2nNT
— Joel Klatt (@joelklatt) December 23, 2024
To be clear, Klatt is a Big 10 guy, but he's right. All we want is the opportunity for teams who earned their shot to get the chance to play the games. Arizona State is a prime example. They took Texas to double OT as +13.5 betting underdogs and were ONE play away from winning that game. BYU was a +4 betting underdog against Colorado and dominated the Buffs. Alabama was a -13.5 betting favorite against Michigan and got dominated. It's why we play the games. It's why FSU should have gotten the chance to play in the four-team CFB Playoff last year.