Kirk Herbstreit claims the SEC is 'reeling' as a conference

To this point, it’s been a difficult bowl season and College Football Playoff for the SEC. Now, there’s a growing concern nationally that the SEC has slipped behind the Big Ten.

One analyst who recently shared that worry is Kirk Herbstreit. On his show Nonstop, Herbstreit explained that the SEC is actually reeling as a conference in the modern era, which was exemplified by this season’s struggles in bowls and the CFP.

“Bama’s got to go back to the drawing board, obviously,” Herbstreit said. “A lot of these SEC schools have got to go back to the drawing board and just kind of figure out, whether it’s culture, or X-Os, or whatever it is in this new world of portal and NIL and 12-game Playoff, as a conference, the Big Ten, top to bottom, has figured it out and they’ve taken over kind of that stranglehold of, if we ask your average college football fan in the last couple years who’s the dominant conference in college football, I think as a collective we would all say the Big Ten has become that.”

The SEC is now 1-5 in bowl games this year. Only Texas was able to get a win, beating Michigan. Still, the SEC had five teams in the 12-team College Football Playoff field, the most of any conference. That number is now down to one. By comparison, after the Big Ten has won back-to-back national championships, the Big Ten is in a position where it will have another team playing for a championship this season.

“They have figured out the new landscape, and the SEC is, right now, reeling. So, we’ll see,” Herbstreit said. “Those two always seem to be kind of bragging about who plays the best brand of football. Right now, there’s really no discussion. The Big Ten has the upper hand.”

There are those who would, of course, argue that bowls aren’t a perfect way of judging a conference. That very well might be true. Herbstreit acknowledged that. At the same time, it does have an impact on the public discourse around conference success.

“A lot of times, non-conference games and bowl games, whether it’s fair or unfair, that’s all you really have to go by when it comes to bragging rights. Right now, the Big Ten should feel good about what they’re doing these last few years,” Herbstreit said. “Not to mention back-to-back national titles. Indiana, we’ll see if they can keep it going. Them or Oregon will win and represent the Big Ten.”

The SEC does, of course, still have a way to salvage the postseason. That’s Ole Miss. The lone standing SEC team in the College Football Playoff is ready to take on Miami. A win there would put the Rebels head-to-head with one of those Big Ten teams, playing for a national championship.