Two SEC teams lost a home Playoff game in the first round. (One of them lost to another SEC team, but you get the point.) Another SEC team went one-and-done in the quarterfinal round for the second consecutive season.
Ole Miss, whose coach decided that he needed to go somewhere else to win a national title, is the only SEC team still alive in the title hunt.
And the only team in the league to win a non-Playoff bowl game thus far was in a different conference 2 years ago.
This postseason has been a disastrous one for Greg Sankey and the SEC’s propaganda machine. The days of dominance over the college football landscape appear to be very much over.
At least, that was Ryan Clark’s take Friday on ESPN’s First Take.
“Today, in 2026, we (the SEC) need to sit our ass down,” Clark said. “Because we ain’t the powerhouse no more. And we’ve just got to go on and respect it.”
Clark pointed to two key factors that have altered the power dynamic in college football, and you can probably guess what those factors are.
Everybody can pay everybody now, Clark said, and it’s above board. A backup at Alabama won’t earn the same as a starter at Indiana. And when Alabama isn’t beating Indiana on the field, why sit and wait when your clock is ticking?
He also pointed to the days when a 5-star recruit could sit for years behind another 5-star recruit, then emerge as a first-round pick and national champion after just 1 season of starting. Nick Saban and Kirby Smart were able to stockpile rosters in a way that just doesn’t happen anymore
“The SEC has to admit that the NIL and the transfer portal have changed who you can beat,” Clark said. “No longer do people feel like, ‘I gotta go play for Kirby, I gotta go play for Nick, because that’s the only way to win a national championship and that’s the only way to get to the league.'”
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
