The SEC is going through a rough stretch right now.
Even Paul Finebaum seems ready to admit it. Defending the conference at all costs has long been his role. He’s been the guy willing to stand alone and sell the idea of SEC dominance no matter what.
But reality has a way of breaking through even the strongest arguments. This bowl season has been ugly for the league. The SEC sits at 2‑7 against teams outside the conference, and Ole Miss is the last program still alive in the College Football Playoff.
That context finally caught up with Finebaum. On Tuesday’s episode of First Take, he admitted there was no longer a case to make.
“There’s no way to defend the SEC. It’s been terrible. I’m sure somebody at the SEC offices is whispering ‘don’t forget Ole Miss can win it all.’ And that would salve some of the wounds. But this has been a long year for the SEC,” Finebaum said.
One of the biggest criticisms from outside the SEC bubble is how much the league benefits from preseason rankings. Teams often start high because of what Alabama and Georgia did years ago, not what the current roster shows.
When ranked SEC teams face each other, those games get treated as automatic proof of dominance. Bowl season pushed back on that idea hard. It looked more like a loop feeding itself than actual evidence.
This year’s Alabama Crimson Tide were a clear example of that problem. The team was built on expectations that didn’t hold up once real resistance showed up. Finebaum even acknowledged that reality after the Crimson Tide got blown out by the Indiana Hoosiers in the Rose Bowl.
The so‑called gauntlet Alabama ran included ranked SEC matchups against the Tennessee Volunteers and Missouri Tigers. Both teams lost their bowl games and didn’t beat a single opponent with a winning record all season.
“I kept wrapping my arms around Alabama and saying, ‘Stephen A. remember what they did, they went through that gauntlet in the middle of the year.’ Well, a lot of those teams they beat really weren’t very good after all. They lost in bowl games and they looked terrible. So it’s a rough year for the SEC,” Finebaum added.
For years, the SEC being college football’s final boss made for an easy storyline. Beat the SEC, and you beat the sport. But the NIL era has changed that equation completely. The money spread out, the talent followed, and the gap closed fast.
The conference still carries weight, but it no longer towers over everyone else the way it used to. What once basically felt inevitable now feels contested.
