I think we've reached this conclusion, but BFW sums it up well

Dawgzilla2

All-Conference
Oct 9, 2022
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I'm not buying this. The SEC wasn't going to have a strangle hold on college football forever even if the rules stayed the same. A couple years of BIG dominance doesn't mean the SEC is done.

NIL, unlimited transfers, and now questions about extended eligibility have certainly shaken up college sports, but the SEC will adapt.

BTW, have any of these Chicken Littles looked at the basketball rankings for the SEC???
 

greenbean.sixpack

All-American
Oct 6, 2012
8,817
8,099
113
BFW reads the pack.

I think he posts here as well.
 

patdog

Heisman
May 28, 2007
56,852
26,252
113
I don't think anyone believes the SEC is done. The SEC's dominance over CFB is done, the SEC will now essentially be equal to the BIG 10.
Over time, Big 10 will always be #2. SEC just has more legitimate big time power football programs.
 

85Bears

All-Conference
Aug 31, 2019
4,700
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Over time, Big 10 will always be #2. SEC just has more legitimate big time power football programs.
I think parity has been reached. What are the big time sec programs after georgia alabama and texas ?
 

greenbean.sixpack

All-American
Oct 6, 2012
8,817
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Over time, Big 10 will always be #2. SEC just has more legitimate big time power football programs.
Oregon, OSU, PSU, USC (eventually they will get their act together), Michigan, their top 5, are likely as good as our top five.

I'm counting Indiana as a one off, but their mid tier is pretty good too.
 

patdog

Heisman
May 28, 2007
56,852
26,252
113
I think parity has been reached. What are the big time sec programs after georgia alabama and texas ?
Parity is a myth. We’ve got 4 of the 8 winningest programs all time in the semi finals. With Georgia & Oregon losing in quarters (along with 2 that had no business getting a top 4 seed). There are 7-9 SEC teams you could legitimately win a national championship at. Maybe 4-5 Big 10 teams are at that level.
 

patdog

Heisman
May 28, 2007
56,852
26,252
113
Oregon, OSU, PSU, USC (eventually they will get their act together), Michigan, their top 5, are likely as good as our top five.

I'm counting Indiana as a one off, but their mid tier is pretty good too.
No doubt it’ll be closer between the 2 conferences than the Saban era was. But SEC still has more strength & depth. As for USC, with the cultural issues in California, I’m not sure they’ll ever get back to what they once were.
 

Dawgg

Heisman
Sep 9, 2012
10,535
10,793
113
BTW, have any of these Chicken Littles looked at the basketball rankings for the SEC???
Basketball, The Rock’s аss.

Might as well discuss the stranglehold the ACC has on soccer or the Big Ten’s lock on wrestling. The revenue gap between football and basketball is bigger than the gap between basketball and either of those sports.
 

85Bears

All-Conference
Aug 31, 2019
4,700
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Parity is a myth. We’ve got 4 of the 8 winningest programs all time in the semi finals. With Georgia & Oregon losing in quarters (along with 2 that had no business getting a top 4 seed). There are 7-9 SEC teams you could legitimately win a national championship at. Maybe 4-5 Big 10 teams are at that level.
What are the four programs ? I dont think all time records guarantee anything with the current rule changes. If you look at the top 25 programs ranked in terms of wealth and revenue there is definitely parity with the sec and the BIG
 

greenbean.sixpack

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Oct 6, 2012
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As for USC, with the cultural issues in California, I’m not sure they’ll ever get back to what they once were.
Yes, i agree, but all it takes us a few celebrity backers to get it rolling. If folks like George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Jeanie Buss, etc., ever decided they wanted to get serious about USC football, they could build a contender overnight. What if Lebron got active recruiting portal players? They could become a playoff team in a year.
 
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onewoof

Heisman
Mar 4, 2008
14,986
13,099
113
This is a dogsh!t narrative, sorry.

Playoffs needed to show "parity" amongst all areas of the country to start off. You saw it last year and this year. Next year the SEC will be allowed to b!tch slap again.
 

patdog

Heisman
May 28, 2007
56,852
26,252
113
Yes, i agree, but all it takes us a few celebrity backers to get it rolling. If folks like George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Jeanie Buss, etc., ever decided they wanted to get serious about USC football, they could build a contender overnight. What if Lebron got active recruiting portal players? They could become a playoff team in a year.
That’s pretty much how it used to be for USC in the glory days. They had a lot of the stars involved in the program. They were bigger than the NFL & ran 3 NFL teams out of Los Angeles. But those days are over. NFL rules Los Angeles & whatever stars do want to be football fans are NFL fans now.
 

L4Dawg

All-American
Oct 27, 2016
10,291
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No doubt it’ll be closer between the 2 conferences than the Saban era was. But SEC still has more strength & depth. As for USC, with the cultural issues in California, I’m not sure they’ll ever get back to what they once were.
That has been said about USC before. They will be back. The only cultural issues affecting that team is that they have abandoned what always worked for them.
 

Dawgzilla2

All-Conference
Oct 9, 2022
2,055
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Basketball, The Rock’s аss.

Might as well discuss the stranglehold the ACC has on soccer or the Big Ten’s lock on wrestling. The revenue gap between football and basketball is bigger than the gap between basketball and either of those sports.
That's not the point at all.

The current NCAA landscape does not hold the SEC back in basketball, and there is no reason to fear it will in football. The slight downturn is more a timing issue than a direct result of being out spent.
 
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UpTheMiddlex3Punt

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May 28, 2007
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The biggest problem facing college football is that the growth rate is unsustainable and the business model cannot support having more than 5 to 10 really good teams in the long run. The fact that NIL deals cannot bind players to specific schools means that you cannot lock down an undervalued player for their entire college career coupled with the fact that careers in college are relatively short means that any kind of binding contract would screw over a player who puts in the work to get better (it's not like the NFL where the 49ers are getting a great deal on Brock Purdy right now but he'll get a much bigger contract after his rookie deal expires).

Under the current rules (and actual law too) it looks like you cannot institute any kind of team cap as it would deprive individual athletes from seeking further NIL money (imagine you are a low paid player on a team that had hit its cap and you want to get an influencer deal for your Instagram account but told you can't). Since you can't bind players to schools for multiple years and there's no penalty for transferring, schools that pay out more will get the better players. It will end up worse than even professional leagues because at least those leagues can bind their rising star players to multiple year deals. You can compete against a team with twice the salary only if the team with twice the salary is not allowed to immediately buy all the players you're getting a bargain for. If it costs, say, $30 million to field a championship contending football team but you only have $25 million, you might as well scale it down to $15 million for a few years so you can stockpile it for a run later or use it in a different sport.
 

Chile

Freshman
Oct 30, 2023
56
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TX and OU have been paying for decades also.
Ohio State , USC(Pete Carroll) did it.
 

IBleedMaroonDawg

All-American
Nov 12, 2007
25,552
9,758
113
I don't believe it. Just a few years ago, Harbaugh, then the Michigan coach, was crying cause he said he couldn't recruit with Alabama and the SEC. Then he won the NC. The Big Ten is ahead in a cycle that goes through college football every decade. I still remember when Miami seemed invincible. Then, it was Oklahoma. Then, it was Alabama. It seems to roll on no matter how much hand-wringing that goes on.

All you see now is parity with the NIL, and the SEC will always be in the mix, and so will the Big 10 and the Big 12.
 

HRMSU

All-Conference
Apr 26, 2022
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Money is the answer....what's the question?

In the long run as current model stands the SEC will be equal at best. We will still have top heavy dominant teams but they won't be up to par with the resources of Notre Dame, Michigan and Ohio State except for TX and maybe aTm if they ever get their s together.

Recruiting and portal transfers will be leading indicators as well as high profile coaches and salaries. Saban knew when to get out he knows what resources have been unlocked up North and out West.
 

57stratdawg

Heisman
Dec 1, 2004
148,409
24,186
113
I feel like the transfer portal is more of an issue than NIL. SEC still pays more than everyone.

The problem is that it’s hard to keep your depth at UGA, Bama and LSU.
 
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Perd Hapley

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Sep 30, 2022
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It is the reason Saban didn't stick in the NFL. He doesn't want to compete without an advantage control and accountability. Look at what Pete Carroll did at USC then went and made Seattle a good to great team in the NFL. Carroll > Saban.

FIFY. Saban not sticking in the NFL had nothing to do with not having an advantage. He hated it because he couldn’t motivate and enforce discipline like he could in college. It’s a 53 man roster, and he didn’t have exclusive control over who was on it. Some franchise WR goes out and runs a garbage route, he couldn’t just pull him off the field and chew his *** out, had to keep him out there.

Those same things started obviously creeping into the college game towards the end of his tenure. You take away the ability of coaches to hold players accountable, you take away everything from a traditional hard-asś like Saban.
 

greenbean.sixpack

All-American
Oct 6, 2012
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Under the current rules (and actual law too) it looks like you cannot institute any kind of team cap as it would deprive individual athletes from seeking further NIL money (imagine you are a low paid player on a team that had hit its cap and you want to get an influencer deal for your Instagram account but told you can't). Since you can't bind players to schools for multiple years and there's no penalty for transferring, schools that pay out more will get the better players. It will end up worse than even professional leagues because at least those leagues can bind their rising star players to multiple year deals. You can compete against a team with twice the salary only if the team with twice the salary is not allowed to immediately buy all the players you're getting a bargain for. If it costs, say, $30 million to field a championship contending football team but you only have $25 million, you might as well scale it down to $15 million for a few years so you can stockpile it for a run later or use it in a different sport.

From what i read, very few players get meaningful NIL deals. Most players have "collective" deals. I don't know if anything is preventing a gub'mint body (NCAA) from instituting a salary cap on collectives.
 

johnson86-1

All-Conference
Aug 22, 2012
14,340
4,843
113
I'm not buying this. The SEC wasn't going to have a strangle hold on college football forever even if the rules stayed the same. A couple years of BIG dominance doesn't mean the SEC is done.

NIL, unlimited transfers, and now questions about extended eligibility have certainly shaken up college sports, but the SEC will adapt.

BTW, have any of these Chicken Littles looked at the basketball rankings for the SEC???
This. I do think the gap is going to shrink and maybe even to the point that you won't beable to call it SEC dominance going forward, but I'm not going to bet on that based on one year just like I don't think the SEC is going to be the strongest basketball conference going forward. It's going to ebb and flow.
 
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