For the first time since Jan. 4, 2006, the national title game will be played without a representative from the SEC. The conference’s run of seven straight titles ended a year ago, but this truly marks the end of the old era as a new one takes off in college football.

At this point, no one can deny how great the College Football Playoff is for the sport. The two teams that would have squared off for the title under the BCS system, Florida State and Alabama, were both felled on New Year’s Day. It was the perfect year for the new four-team playoff field to take effect, as it felt all season that no team in the country was truly dominant.

Florida State seemed fraudulent all year, despite its undefeated record. The Seminoles had too many close games against teams that last year’s championship team would have wiped the floor with.

The Crimson Tide, despite being the top team in the country for the latter part of the season, had too many flaws and too much inexperience to overcome an opponent that matched them in the talent department.

Instead of those two teams meeting in the championship, as the BCS would have dictated, we get a matchup between two teams that should give us a thrilling championship game. Oregon shed the ridiculous “soft” label from East Coasters that hadn’t seen enough of them, while Ohio State showed that it has the coaching and talent to hang with anyone, even the big, bad SEC.

What does it mean for the venerable Southeastern Conference, the league that has stood head and shoulders above the country for the better part of the last decade? It’s been a rough bowl season, especially for the West. The conference stands at 5-5 with two East teams left to play as of this post. It sure looks like the rest of the country has caught up and even surpassed what had been the golden standard conference.

A down year for the SEC was coming, and in 2014 it finally hit. The conference lost an inordinate amount of talent at the most vital position, quarterback, after last year. While many of the players that stepped into starting roles were very good, that inexperience showed throughout the year as teams plummeted back to earth. Alabama stands as an example, as Blake Sims — one of the best quarterbacks in the country this season — looked lost on the Sugar Bowl stage.

There’s more shakeup coming next year. Three SEC West contenders graduate their quarterback, and a fourth, Mississippi State, could lose its QB to the NFL. The parity that hit the conference this year may well continue into 2015.

Does that mean the SEC is done for as a national powerhouse? Not in the least. The talent, both coaching and playing, will continue to flow in. Provided the league doesn’t cannibalize itself too badly, the SEC champion will almost certainly be back in the four-team playoff field next year.

For now, SEC fans will have to sit back and watch a national championship go down without one of their teams. It’s not the end of the world. It’s just the start of a new era, one that the SEC will have to adjust to.