Brian Kelly sees a level playing field across the SEC with the second half of the season ahead.
“There’s as much parity in this league than maybe it’s been in many, many years,” Kelly said on “The Paul Finebaum Show” on Monday. “Certainly Georgia and Alabama have been the two schools that have consistently been there. LSU, obviously, in ‘19, but clearly there is a clearer, deeper SEC in terms of the ability to compete at the top.”
.@CoachBrianKelly on the SEC this season:
"There's as much parity in this league than maybe it's been in many, many years." pic.twitter.com/sz9mWsXBIt
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) October 16, 2023
The defending national champions, Georgia (7-0), remains No. 1 in the AP poll, and Alabama (6-1) sits behind at No. 11 followed by No. 13 Ole Miss (5-1), No. 17 Tennessee (5-1), No. 19 LSU (5-2), and No. 20 Missouri (6-1). Kentucky (5-2) turned heads early in the season, Florida (5-2) has a strong defense, and Texas A&M (4-3) gave Alabama a tough game on Oct. 7.
“So I think it’s cyclical. Right? Each year [in] college football, the transfer portal has shown there’s a little bit more parity,” Kelly said. “Again, free agency in the NFL is what brings parity. I think there’s a little bit more of that balance in the SEC this year, but who knows what happens next year. We bring in Oklahoma. We bring in Texas. That’s a pretty deep SEC when you bring in 2 more top 10 teams.”
