One of the many scams across college football in the ever-changing landscape we find ourselves in is that the bowl games are meaningless. It’s actually a talking point that benefits the SEC tremendously. As they continue to push their bias to jam as many teams into the College Football Playoff as possible, to then in turn create the best odds for a National Championship, they then can downplay all the other bowl games that in turn actually destroys the narrative that the league is head and shoulders above the rest of college football.
It’s a great grift the SEC has, in conjunction with their partner in crime, ESPN.
So as we sit here at about the halfway mark of the college football bowl season, the SEC finds itself with a 2-5 record. The two wins? Well, one is against itself, Alabama beating Oklahoma in the first round of the College Football Playoff. The other? Ole Miss handling Tulane in the CFP.
As for their five losses? There was LSU falling to Houston in the Texas Bowl. Elsewhere, Texas A&M fell to Miami in the CFP. Missouri lost to Virginia in the Gator Bowl. And Tennessee lost to Illinois in the Music City Bowl.
This is why we need to encourage leagues to play more non-conference match ups vs. other Power 4 teams. It will benefit the sport and tell us the real story as to what’s going on between different conferences.
What’s Next for the SEC?
It’s certainly possible the league could win the National Championship this season. They have three of the eight teams left in the College Football Playoff, and two of them, Ole Miss and Georgia, are playing each other this week, so one of them will reach the semifinals.
But, the bowl season is blowing a hole in this continued narrative that the Power 2 continues to break away, led by the SEC. Heck, we just watched TCU led by a back up quarterback who had a handful of snaps the last two years beat the USC Trojans, who were missing players, but had their starting quarterback in place in a game they were favored in by 6.5 points.
The SEC has two non-CFP bowl games on Wednesday, with Iowa playing Vanderbilt in the ReliaQuest Bowl on ESPN, followed by Michigan vs. Texas in the Cheez-It Bowl. And on Friday it’s Mississippi State vs. Wake Forest in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
Playoff aside, if the SEC wants to maintain its perception as head and shoulders above the rest, it can’t just be a top heavy league. Their supposed mid-level teams should be crushing these bowl games.
And as for the notion of opt-outs, everyone has them. Often times, the other leagues have more of them because their top players are waiting to cash in on a big pay day… from the SEC. So spare me that excuse.
Conference Record (Through 12/30)
As for the rest of college football, here’s a look at the records by league through the games on Tuesday, December 30th.
Big 12 3-0
Big Ten 6-1
AAC 4-3
CUSA 4-3
ACC 4-4
MAC 2-3
Sun Belt 3-6
Mountain West 2-5
SEC 2-5
Pac-12 1-0*
Independent 0-1*
*Only 1 bowl team
