Folks, the SEC might just stink right now. Not long ago, the league carried itself like it was two tiers above the rest of college football. These days? The scoreboard is starting to tell a different story.
So far this bowl season, the league is 0-5 against Big 12, Big Ten, and ACC schools, with wins by Houston over LSU, Illinois over Tennessee, Virginia over Missouri, and Miami over Texas A&M. The latest came on Wednesday afternoon when No. 14 Vanderbilt, as the favorite, losing to No. 23 Iowa in the ReliaQuest Bowl 34-27.
That’s five straight losses to teams from conferences the SEC has spent the last decade dunking on, and none of those games were flukes. No last-second Hail Marys. Just better football played by teams from outside the so-called king of the sport.
Now, before someone says “it’s just bowl season,” yeah, sure. These games don’t carry the same weight as playoff matchups, but they do give you a look at where conferences stand. When four teams from one league all line up against other power conferences and none of them come out on top, it’s worth a closer look.
Now this doesn’t mean the SEC is dead or anything. Georgia’s still Georgia. Alabama’s still a problem, but the depth people love to brag about just isn’t showing up in the postseason.
So yeah, the SEC might bounce back. But for now, the numbers are what they are, and the results aren’t backing up the reputation.
