Has gone 3 consecutive years without a national title. Last time was 1999-2002. LSU's split national title in 2003 was the saving grace in what would have been a 6-year non-SEC stretch.
It's been a quarter century since the SEC
- Thread starter 18IsTheMan
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I won't say it's over, but the SEC isn't what it used to be with the powerhouses Bama, UGA, Florida, and LSU on top. The rest of the teams are afterthoughts historically.
I didn't actually think it would happen, but I was wrong. The portal and NIL have robbed the SEC elites of much of their power.
Now you have someone like that QB Sorsby, choosing Texas Tech over LSU. Texas Tech has a 0% chance of winning a national title, but TTU offered $5 million to LSU's $3.5 million.
I don't know that I'd say Texas Tech has a 0% chance. We would've said that about Indiana 3 years ago as well.
Agree, they did make the CFP this year after going big in the NIL last year, so they are building something there.
Clearly Texas Tech doesn't have a 0% chance of winning a national title. They were just in the CFP quarterfinals. What chance would you have given Indiana to win a national title just last year? Now they're the favorite of the 3 left standing.
Yeah, they made the quarters and promptly demonstrated that they didn't belong there.
Nobody here would put money on TTU winning a title in the next 5 years.
Would you have put money on Indiana last year? They got pretty much dominated by Notre Dame in their first playoff game.
The one thing that we can be sure of in this new college football world is that anyone can get really good really fast. What happened on January 1 has zero bearing on what Texas Tech can do in fall 2026.
With they way teams are rebuilt through NIL, I'm not comfortable putting money in two years from now, much less 5.
But the point remains, players are choosing teams with less traditional routes to the title, and doing it for more money.
But the point remains, players are choosing teams with less traditional routes to the title, and doing it for more money.
No, I would not have. That goes to further strengthen my point.
Even with IU's example, still nobody here would put money on TTU.
Not sure how that strengthens your point. Indiana went from a nice story who got shown up by the blue blood to being the undefeated favorite to win it all. That could easily be Texas Tech in 2026, especially with the amount of money they're pouring into their roster.
Yes, this is the point.
School brand name no longer means diddly.
I will also say, if there was someone in the SEC, that's a huge sway factor. You take a discount to go play for a coach with 7 titles (or however many he won). The SEC doesn't currently have that. Closest would be UGA, but they are obviously diminished from what they were. In the absence of that, combined with the portal and NIL, players are no longer enamored with the SEC so much.
You keep making my point. Even with all of that argumentation, nobody here would bet on TTU.
No doubt you are going to see more non-traditional teams in the top 10-15. At this point, though, IU is still a distinct outlier.
No - the original point you said was that Texas Tech had a 0% chance to win it all next year. That's clearly wrong. If you had said nobody would bet on Texas Tech, then I'd not be going back and forth with you.
Well, I said 0% b/c I knew it would make people argue with me. My main point is that TTU ain't winning the title.
As a thought exercise, could they win? Sure. Will they? No.
Point is, players are no longer making their transfer decisions based primarily on where they have the best chance at winning a title.
Well, you can probably blame Lane Kiffin for this year's SEC drought, or at least the championship game appearance. It's hard to imagine Ole Miss losing last night's game if he and his staff were still in place.
I'm not sure. I think Ole Miss actually played over their heads a bit in beating UGA...maybe motivated by everyone writing them off without Lane.