Once again the Ohio State football team was left out of the College Football Playoff and even a two loss SEC team was ranked ahead of the Buckeyes.
Now that the 2018 college football season has come to a close, I have a question for the upcoming season. Will the antiquated narrative that the SEC is far and away the best conference finally take a hit?
Georgia and Alabama did not just lose their final games. They were physically outmatched and outcoached.
I rarely put credence into using bowl records to measure conference strength, but SEC fans do and for the last decade so has the national media covering it.
For the last two years, the conference record is 11-12. Maybe you think that is not enough evidence.
For the last five years it is 33-25, aided heavily by a 9-2 record in 2015. Otherwise it is .500 over the College Football Playoff invitational timeframe.
That’s not domination.
Yet here we are. Every year, we have to listen to the experts and insiders fawn over the SEC as though it is the only conference that knows how to play football.
Kirk Herbstreit, who I really like and believe knows the makeup of the teams more than anyone, was adamant that Georgia deserved a playoff shot. How did that work out?
I don’t blame him, at least on the surface. He’s an expert using his best knowledge and an eye test to make an evaluation of which four teams should make the playoff.
The problem is the narrative. It has not adjusted to fit reality.
Here is why it matters.
Get ready for the off-season push by Greg Sankey, the schools, the coaches, the fans, the national media and the locals to promote the SEC even more over the next eight months. They cannot stand that its top two teams were whipped so badly.
They will brand 2018 as a reset season and pull out every marketing ploy to ensure the SEC gets two teams in the playoff next season. We’ll hear about the amazing improvements Jimbo Fisher, Dan Mullen, Jeremy Pruitt and Chad Morris will make in year two.
They will also push down our throats how Nick Saban’s intensity and commitment to making the adjustments means no one else stands a chance. More on that later.
Other storylines that will be used to bolster the strongest conference narrative will include:
- Rich Rodriguez will wave a magic wand making Mississippi a key player in the West.
- Gus Malzahn taking over play calling duties will end Auburn’s ineptitude.
- Mike Stoops’ foundation is cemented at Kentucky.
- Will Muschamp is at long last over the rebuilding hump at South Carolina.
Then there will be subtle jabs at the perceived strength of the other power five conferences.
The whole charade is a coordinated effort to hoard power. The rest of us should respond in kind to counterbalance their efforts.
Under most circumstances, it is not the nature of other power conferences, their schools and the fans to care about the other schools or meddle in the conference strength debate. It is their school versus everyone else. That’s it.
Unfortunately, that won’t work under this system.
It is foolish to expect the Playoff Committee to hold the SEC accountable for the tactics it employs to give their conference an advantage. It is more foolish to expect the conference to adjust to what the other conferences practice. The SEC’s tactics work.
My hope is Jim Delaney changes his demeanor about championing the B1G after his conference was left out of the playoff the last two years. Historically he has been more passive, at least publicly, about promoting the champion of his conference and its worthiness to be included. He focuses on the financials more than the outcomes on the field.
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It appears behind the scenes Delaney is more vocal, but this is a public debate that needs to be waged in public.
The Playoff Committee’s job is to select teams from imperfect and changing criteria. Contrary to their stance of impartiality, the committee members have biases.
That’s not good, but expansion is not coming anytime soon so it is incumbent upon Delaney and the other non-SEC power brokers to ensure the SEC does not get more influence.
Since the SEC wants eight-game conference schedules, imbalanced cross-division scheduling and games against FCS opponents to continue, implement a rule that no conference gets more than one team. Period.
That’s a worthwhile goal for Delaney to pursue. I suspect he’ll have allies.