On Mondays in Indianapolis, in the heart of the Big Ten, Two SEC schools played in the national championship.

Georgia defeated Alabama to give the Securities and Exchange Commission its third consecutive title. What must be more disturbing for the rest of the sport is that this was the third different team in those three years (Alabama and LSU The others are). It is also the twelfth title of five different SEC schools (Add in Auburn And Florida) since the 2006 season.

You can talk about Nick Saban’s tyrannical power in Tuscaloosa as you like, but it’s the league as a whole that continues to bring out the champs. yay Texas A&M University just signed a recruiting class It could be greater than ever.

This is the sport that the SEC is playing at the moment, and it’s a rarity Clemson or Ohio State unexpected appearance. And that’s before the league begins enjoying the fruits of a $3 billion television deal with ESPN that begins in 2024 and is supposed to further enrich the wealthy.

Very strong is the SEC which universities were last year Oklahoma And Texas They bailed out their longtime home in the Big 12 to join, although the path to successful seasons and contention for the championship will be exponentially more difficult. If you can’t beat them, join them.

This should set off alarms throughout the sport. You must create a holistic approach to the deck to make the game important everywhere again. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is not only stronger, it is getting stronger. The SEC is not only the largest, it is getting bigger.

To the victors go to the future.

The SEC’s dominance of recruitment is laughable

The only way to change that is to spread talent, stop getting tight ends from Napa Valley, head to Georgia or quarterbacks from Los Angeles, go to Alabama or Texas A&M stars from Pennsylvania, Washington and so on.

Talent is the main variable. The entire programs and tournaments are as good as the players. This is why professional sports have drafts and salary limits. However, none of this is suitable for college athletics, where students should be free to choose their school.

The story continues

Currently, for a generation of top recruits, the SEC is seen as almost the only place to win a national championship. This is where they go. When, say, Pac-12 hasn’t had a single participant in the tragically flawed four-team playoff since 2016, how do you blame the West Coast kids for leaving?

The four-team playoff was so small, that it stifled interest in most places while it raised it in others.

In the Class 2022, 37 of Rivals.com’s 101 best players head to just three schools – Alabama, Georgia, and A&M. (This number may rise). Georgia is signed to 10 of the top 48 recruits in the country, yet the A&M class ranks higher.

This is beyond unbalanced. This is unhealthy. And when the Aggies come up against the Bulldogs for the national title in January 2024, well, it won’t be surprising.

The name, image, and similarity should help eliminate the dominance of SEC recruiting. Yes, SEC teams are going to spend big on talent, but there is money everywhere. Compensation is an economic tool to overcome prestige, prestige and stability in every job market. It’s what draws workers to the oil fields of North Dakota, fishing boats in the Bering Sea, and garages in Silicon Valley.

It won’t solve the problem, but until this year only, the top five local recruits signed with Jackson State, North Carolina And Missouri. It may be the beginning of a trend. If, in a few years, three schools score “only” 25 of the top 100 players, it pays off.

None of the above is a secret for those in college football. They are all staring into the orifice of the huge gap emerging between the SEC and all but two or three other schools.

They also all agree that one of the best options to combat this — again, just impacting talent acquisition margins is an important improvement — is to expand the College Football game.

Why CFP Expansion Gives Others a Fighting Chance vs. SEC

It won’t necessarily change who will win the title right away, or maybe even in the long run, but it will change the model for schools and conferences that are currently swarming and falling further behind.

It will generate more excitement in more places. More attention. More paths to compete for the championship that could help spur ticket sales, boost donations, and perhaps most importantly, convince more recruits that staying home, or even heading somewhere other than the SEC summit, doesn’t stop them from competing for the championship.

Playoff matches, especially those played on campus, will be a boon to college football. Exhibitions. Excitement points.

Games like this year Michigan State against. House The bowl game was huge local events and major national television recordings in the playoffs. He would celebrate and showcase two great seasons with two often overlooked shows. Instead, under the current playoff, it was an afterthought with moderate ratings and star players.

A playoff would not directly weaken the SEC (in fact, a league would do well under almost any system). However, it will make other places stronger. Had the 12-team format been in place instead of the four-team field, the Big Ten would have gotten the most bids and places like Wisconsin The games were hosted three different times. That would help.

The Big Ten, Pac-12, and ACC commissioners acknowledge this. What do they do by suggesting an accessory of 12 teams sitting on their doorstep as an unwrapped gift?

screwing up.

Pac-12 wants to protect the Rose Bowl TV slot. The Big Ten has commented on whether the six automatic bids should go to the conference’s six top-ranked champions or so-called Power 5 tournaments, as well as the best of the rest (a distinction with practically no difference). The ACC is trying to bully Notre Dame into becoming a full-time member so she can renegotiate her horrific long-term TV contract.

In other words, rig while the sport is burning.

Big 12 Commissioner Bob Paulsby, who is pushing hard for a 12-team format, decrying the “narrow-mindedness” of other leagues that are “more concerned with their silos”.

Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is ready to go to 12, but continues to show up in Champagne and sign the best players with the status quo. “I don’t know if anyone has noticed that, but we are doing a pretty good job with the current system,” Commissioner Greg Sankey said sarcastically.

Sankey continues to shake his head while watching conferences that desperately need an expansion block for small and often insignificant reasons. This is crap. This is ridiculous. In each year of the four-team playoffs, the SEC has moved away from the package. The SEC is 12-3 in play-off matches that face a non-SEC competitionAnd Including six consecutive wins with an average of 23.5 points.

But you don’t want to do everything possible to tackle it?

What about 2026, when the four-team agreement expires? Why would anyone think — especially after the Oklahoma and Texas additions — that the SEC would still be willing to play ball as it is now? Perhaps the Conference is untouchable by then, it splits into its own playoff, or even leaves the NCAA entirely, or takes on a few select schools here or there?

Is this the risk to protect a sunset at the Rose Bowl or to die on a 5+1 hill?

“Don’t assume if we are at a tipping point,” Sankey warned, “that we will re-engage.”

These are perilous times for those who want a true national sport, where there is some measure of parity. For many, the diversity of the sport is what makes it so fun, so rich, and so worth the time. College football is a game, but it’s also the lives of millions. The idea of ​​kicking off more than 60 every Saturday, or even tradition in money-losing shows. From MACtion, Blue Turf, Paul Bunyan’s Ax, and pre-roaring buffalo across a field in Boulder.

Give more teams a chance to compete for the title, give more recruits more options to play in the big playoffs and even compete for national championships, and make more conference races and more post-season competitions important.

Or watching sports wither from stubbornness, tribalism and mismanagement.

It’s not just SEC vs SEC that’s confusing college football now, but even more so in the future.

It is the alliance against common sense.