Stephen A. Smith: ‘There's some mediocrity within the SEC’ after missing national title game once again

The Southeastern Conference will once again be absent from the national championship stage. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith believes the issue runs far deeper than a single postseason loss.

Following Ole Miss’ defeat to Miami in the College Football Playoff semifinals, Smith delivered a pointed critique of the SEC on First Take, arguing that the conference’s long-held dominance has eroded in the modern NIL and transfer portal era. The loss marked the third consecutive season the SEC will miss the national title game, an unthinkable outcome just a few years ago.

“They ain’t feeling you anymore,” Smith stated. “When you look at the absence of depth, why? Because players are choosing to go elsewhere. It ain’t just the second-stringers anymore. You got some all-world players saying, ‘We don’t have to be in the SEC anymore the way that we used to.’”

Smith pointed to the growing national parity as evidence that the SEC’s grip on elite talent has loosened. With players now empowered by NIL opportunities and immediate eligibility via the transfer portal, Smith argued that the conference no longer holds the same gravitational pull it once did.

“We’ll go to the Big Ten, we’ll go to the Big 12, we’ll go to the ACC,” Smith stated. “You see some of these cats in Miami, how are they looking? Think about that for a second here.”

Beyond roster movement, Smith also questioned whether the SEC still boasts the same sideline advantage it once did. He specifically referenced the transition at Alabama, where Kalen DeBoer replaced Nick Saban, calling the shift a clear inflection point.

“He’s a good coach,” Smith said of DeBoer. “He just ain’t in the same class as Nick Saban. So, there’s a precipitous drop off there.”

Moreover, Smith argued the landscape began changing when Georgia won back-to-back national titles, exposing a widening gap between the league’s elite and the rest of the conference. From there, he rattled off programs he believes no longer resemble their former selves, including Auburn, Arkansas, Florida and LSU.

“This ain’t the days of Urban Meyer,” Smith explained. “They don’t have Tim Tebow in Florida. They don’t look the same.”

While acknowledging that the SEC remains powerful, Smith concluded that its mystique has faded. Where the league once featured five or six national title-caliber programs, he now sees a conference filled with teams that look increasingly beatable.

“There’s some mediocrity within the SEC Conference,” Smith concluded. “The allure is gone. They’re a powerful conference, but the allure that they once had has been eviscerated. Period.”

As the College Football Playoff moves forward without an SEC team competing for the title once again, Smith’s comments underscore a growing national conversation. Whether college football’s most dominant league is still setting the standard, or simply chasing it.