Question: How Good Was the SEC in 2024???

The Ols

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Dart had the best season by far statistically but even he had some rough games and moments.

But yeah there wasn’t a Heisman Caliber QB this year in the SEC.

I guess going into next year Lagway and the Sellers kid have shown they could be problems for teams going forward.

Arch Manning might be really good too.
I know Arch will be good…but I still don’t consider Texas SEC…I can’t stand the thought of a Texas guy as the face of The SEC!!!
 
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Bamabuzzard

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While Saban retiring caused ripples, I believe we're seeing exactly what TPTB wanted via the combination of the xfer portal and the faux NIL - a gutting of the elites to even out the overall landscape. Yes, the bluebloods will remain bluebloods, but when your second-string recruits leave for a payout rather than staying to learn the system and develop relationships (both on and off the field) with the team, you end up with what we saw this year.

Reminder: the NCAA is empowered and decisions are made by the ~1,100 schools that are participants. The bluebloods make up a tiny fraction of the membership. The have-nots want a piece of the pie and that's one of the main reasons that:
1- nothing has been done to address the xfer portal and rampant cheating via NIL, and
2- the premier athletic programs need to create their own league. I've been banging this drum for about two decades as it's obvious that the leadership of the NCAA doesn't make decisions based on what's good for the sport, but rather what's good for the average school (~80% of which are not DI (FBS/FCS) but rather DII or DIII).

We're seeing the beginning of the 'NFL-ification' of FBS football because, whether planned or 'happy accident', TPTB are seeing the elite teams knocked down a few notches while the mediocre teams are rising up.

I don't think we'll see an elite team by the standards of say, 2022 (and before) in the near future, or maybe ever again. Every year one or two teams will rise up and do well - that will perhaps last a few seasons, then they will slink back into the upper-echelon.

My last two kids were "happy accidents".....and expensive ones to boot! 😁
 
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BamaMoon

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I know Arch will be good…but I still don’t consider Texas SEC…I can’t stand the thought of a Texas guy as the face of The SEC!!!
What little I saw of AM, I think he's got the DNA and probably will be a great QB.

I wonder if Sark went with him early that UT may have developed into an unstoppable machine by post season time.

Who knows? But we'll find out next year cause he'll be THE GUY!
 

Bpilktree

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NIL has allowed teams to pay there good but not great players more money then they may get as a mid to late round pick. The top prospects will still leave to get 1st and 2nd round money but others will stay in college. The two teams still left in the playoffs are very veteran teams with lots of experience many of which playing together just look at their rosters.
Ohio State
QB Will Howard 5th year senior
Rb Henderson senior
RB Judkins junior NIL transfer
WR Egbuka Senior
WR Smith freshman
TE Scottt senior
There line was mostly upper class man as well
Defense top players by
LB Simon 5th year senior
S Styles Junior
S Downs Sophmore Nil deal
S Ransom 5th year senior
DE Sawyer senior
DE Tuimoloau senior
DT Hamilton senior
CB Hancock senior
CB Burke senior
DT Williams Senior
So besides Smith and Downs most everyone else is a senior.
Notre Dame is the same way especially on defense. There 3 man guys have plays 185 college games. The safety is playing game number 70(that isn’t a misprint).
 

BamaMoon

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NIL has allowed teams to pay there good but not great players more money then they may get as a mid to late round pick. The top prospects will still leave to get 1st and 2nd round money but others will stay in college. The two teams still left in the playoffs are very veteran teams with lots of experience many of which playing together just look at their rosters.
Ohio State
QB Will Howard 5th year senior
Rb Henderson senior
RB Judkins junior NIL transfer
WR Egbuka Senior
WR Smith freshman
TE Scottt senior
There line was mostly upper class man as well
Defense top players by
LB Simon 5th year senior
S Styles Junior
S Downs Sophmore Nil deal
S Ransom 5th year senior
DE Sawyer senior
DE Tuimoloau senior
DT Hamilton senior
CB Hancock senior
CB Burke senior
DT Williams Senior
So besides Smith and Downs most everyone else is a senior.
Notre Dame is the same way especially on defense. There 3 man guys have plays 185 college games. The safety is playing game number 70(that isn’t a misprint).
Wow...good research. So they are the "UM" from '23 that was upper-class laden.

With NIL, I wonder if this was somewhat of a happy coincidence and we won't see this happen with teams too much going forward???
 
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BamaNation

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NIL has allowed teams to pay there good but not great players more money then they may get as a mid to late round pick. The top prospects will still leave to get 1st and 2nd round money but others will stay in college. The two teams still left in the playoffs are very veteran teams with lots of experience many of which playing together just look at their rosters.
Ohio State
QB Will Howard 5th year senior
Rb Henderson senior
RB Judkins junior NIL transfer
WR Egbuka Senior
WR Smith freshman
TE Scottt senior
There line was mostly upper class man as well
Defense top players by
LB Simon 5th year senior
S Styles Junior
S Downs Sophmore Nil deal
S Ransom 5th year senior
DE Sawyer senior
DE Tuimoloau senior
DT Hamilton senior
CB Hancock senior
CB Burke senior
DT Williams Senior
So besides Smith and Downs most everyone else is a senior.
Notre Dame is the same way especially on defense. There 3 man guys have plays 185 college games. The safety is playing game number 70(that isn’t a misprint).

There could be a happy result from NIL if the transfer nonsense is corrected. Guys who would have gone pro to take a shot at getting a few hundred thousand $$ could stay in college and play for the equivalent. It's the jumping around from team to team to team each year that destroys any consistency.

I now think the "you can transfer if your coach leaves" is one of the dumbest allowances. So, not only is the coach leaving, but a ton of guys leave in the process. There have to be 4-yr contracts signed for players ... with buyouts on both sides, provisions for unethical / bad behavior, etc. Until and unless this is put in place, 24/7/365 recruiting of your own players has to happen. It has to be exhausting for coaches.
 

tusks_n_raider

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What little I saw of AM, I think he's got the DNA and probably will be a great QB.

I wonder if Sark went with him early that UT may have developed into an unstoppable machine by post season time.

Who knows? But we'll find out next year cause he'll be THE GUY!
From what little I saw of him he looked really good.

He has really good mechanics which is not a surprise but he looks to also have inherited his Grandfather's mobility which was skipped over with both Eli and Peyton.

I'm sure he has a great understanding of Sark's concepts by now too.

It would not be shocking to me for him to have a Mac Jones type season with Sark's Play Calling.

It would also not be a surprise for him to be better than Ewers who has been one of the most overrated QBs in CFB.

He was good at times and mediocre at time and bad at times. He also has bad mechanics imo and his 3/4s or sidearm delivery affected his accuracy and he was also prone to floating passes.

But anyways.. I think Arch will live up to his last name for sure.
 

bamaslammer

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After years of dominance the SEC has backed itself in a corner. The SEC is still the deepest conference by far, but unfortunately schools in more financially wealthy states bleed off talent from the top teams leaving the entire conference at a good but not great level. They then proceed to cannibalize each other both in losses and injuries while Ohio State can play backups half the time and stumble in the playoffs with a great record. All they got to do is be able to turn it on when they need to and this year it looks like they have.

The only exception SEC wise was Texas which has the $$$ to keep up with the Ohio States of the world. It's possible T&AM has the cash as well but so far it just hasn't translated for them. Under the current system there is simply no way for Alabama to compete consistently at the top. The only thing that might change that dynamic would be a real game changer at QB and then convince him Roll Tide means more than $$$

The SEC got where it was depth wise mostly due to Saban and he's gone now so with him gone and Schools elsewhere having more billionaires to support them I see the SEC coaching ranks being raided in the coming years by schools with cash to spend and not many trophy's in the case. Schools like Illinois (23 billionaires to Alabama's 1) or UCLA (186 billionaires to Alabama's 1). Eventually I think the SEC coaching depth will suffer and the top end teams will do a little better record wise and hopefully let more of them make the playoffs.

I realize number of billionaires may not directly translate to NIL money but it's just the law of averages. Our AD is sending out emails begging plumbers and butchers to donate money while UCLA's AD probably has a list of more financially capable people (assuming they survived the fire)
 

Power Eye

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NIL has allowed teams to pay there good but not great players more money then they may get as a mid to late round pick. The top prospects will still leave to get 1st and 2nd round money but others will stay in college. The two teams still left in the playoffs are very veteran teams with lots of experience many of which playing together just look at their rosters.
Ohio State
QB Will Howard 5th year senior
Rb Henderson senior
RB Judkins junior NIL transfer
WR Egbuka Senior
WR Smith freshman
TE Scottt senior
There line was mostly upper class man as well
Defense top players by
LB Simon 5th year senior
S Styles Junior
S Downs Sophmore Nil deal
S Ransom 5th year senior
DE Sawyer senior
DE Tuimoloau senior
DT Hamilton senior
CB Hancock senior
CB Burke senior
DT Williams Senior
So besides Smith and Downs most everyone else is a senior.
Notre Dame is the same way especially on defense. There 3 man guys have plays 185 college games. The safety is playing game number 70(that isn’t a misprint).
With the seniors we have that elected to stay and come back for one more year, I'm hoping that we get a similar result. Michigan was senior heavy in 2023 as was Georgia in 2022.
 

BamaMoon

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From what little I saw of him he looked really good.

He has really good mechanics which is not a surprise but he looks to also have inherited his Grandfather's mobility which was skipped over with both Eli and Peyton.

I'm sure he has a great understanding of Sark's concepts by now too.

It would not be shocking to me for him to have a Mac Jones type season with Sark's Play Calling.

It would also not be a surprise for him to be better than Ewers who has been one of the most overrated QBs in CFB.

He was good at times and mediocre at time and bad at times. He also has bad mechanics imo and his 3/4s or sidearm delivery affected his accuracy and he was also prone to floating passes.

But anyways.. I think Arch will live up to his last name for sure.
Remember Arch is Cooper's son and IRRC he was a WR and better athlete (like Archie) but got hurt and never got to show it on the college/pro level.

With Ewers I never understood many of his throws. As you mention, he would float so many of them and while it might have worked some at the college level that will never work in the NFL. He'll get receivers killed by safeties. When he threw the ball over the middle with velocity he threw way too many INTs.

Again, think they might have done better with Arch this season.
 

BamaMoon

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After years of dominance the SEC has backed itself in a corner. The SEC is still the deepest conference by far, but unfortunately schools in more financially wealthy states bleed off talent from the top teams leaving the entire conference at a good but not great level. They then proceed to cannibalize each other both in losses and injuries while Ohio State can play backups half the time and stumble in the playoffs with a great record. All they got to do is be able to turn it on when they need to and this year it looks like they have.

The only exception SEC wise was Texas which has the $$$ to keep up with the Ohio States of the world. It's possible T&AM has the cash as well but so far it just hasn't translated for them. Under the current system there is simply no way for Alabama to compete consistently at the top. The only thing that might change that dynamic would be a real game changer at QB and then convince him Roll Tide means more than $$$

The SEC got where it was depth wise mostly due to Saban and he's gone now so with him gone and Schools elsewhere having more billionaires to support them I see the SEC coaching ranks being raided in the coming years by schools with cash to spend and not many trophy's in the case. Schools like Illinois (23 billionaires to Alabama's 1) or UCLA (186 billionaires to Alabama's 1). Eventually I think the SEC coaching depth will suffer and the top end teams will do a little better record wise and hopefully let more of them make the playoffs.

I realize number of billionaires may not directly translate to NIL money but it's just the law of averages. Our AD is sending out emails begging plumbers and butchers to donate money while UCLA's AD probably has a list of more financially capable people (assuming they survived the fire)
The $$$ is important, but also remember just because a state has a ton of billionaires it doesn't mean those people care that much about college football. And most billionaires got that way from not waisting their money on investments with no guarantee return! Just what return does a rich person get on an NIL investment??? Other than an ego boost, not much IMO.
 

crimsonaudio

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There could be a happy result from NIL if the transfer nonsense is corrected. Guys who would have gone pro to take a shot at getting a few hundred thousand $$ could stay in college and play for the equivalent. It's the jumping around from team to team to team each year that destroys any consistency.
But don't you see? The NCAA isn't some faceless group working in a smoke-filled room somewhere - they're a group elected by the university presidents / chancellors, a VAST majority of which still view the players as student-athletes, with a focus on the word student. Most of them don't care about fixing the portal as it doesn't affect their teams, and in fact neither does NIL. These problems are largely the problems of the 'wealthy' athletic departments and that's not them. There are maybe 25 ADs in the country that operate in the black - out of over 1,100. A vast supermajority of these university leaders view athletics as an add-on expense, so they don't really care about how these rules affect 'football schools'. It's a pure democracy where teams like Bama, OSU, and UGA are vastly under-represented.

Unless / until the football schools leave the current NCAA structure nothing significant will change.
 

denver

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The $$$ is important, but also remember just because a state has a ton of billionaires it doesn't mean those people care that much about college football. And most billionaires got that way from not waisting their money on investments with no guarantee return! Just what return does a rich person get on an NIL investment??? Other than an ego boost, not much IMO.
Mrs Larry Ellison doesnt live in Michigan but has been given a war chest by her husband for her favorite play thing...the UM football program...hopefully not a trend! lol
 
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BamaMoon

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Mrs Larry Ellison doesnt live in Michigan but has been given a war chest by her husband for her favorite play thing...the UM football program...hopefully not a trend! lol
I'm sure those types of people/situations exist in isolation.

And the good news is the Bama Nation is all over so hopefully we've got a decent amount of folks who consider Bama their "play thing."
 

BamaMoon

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Since this thread has wandered into the Mannings, have y'all seen the commercial of Peyton and Eli where Eli is dreaming about being a FG kicker? Peyton mocks him and says, "You'll always be a QB like me and dad."

It's great. They are really good in the various commercials they do. Debatin' Peyton is awesome too!
 
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Joefus

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Did we just cannibalize each other (every team was pretty good, even Vandy)?

Did the league suddenly fall into mediocrity, and there were no great teams, so Vandy won 6 games and competed against top teams Texas and Georgia?

I thought it was #1 all year, but I'm leaning toward nobody was really elite this year.
I was thinking about this this morning. I think this was an off year for everyone not named Ohio st. Just generally a mediocre year throughout. I heard somebody on espn say there’s a lot more parity in the sec and across football bc everyone needing a starter is poaching bigger school’s depth and hoping for the best. Probs best for the sport but bums me out as I doubt there will be multiple dominant teams a year. Lotsa pretty good teams peaking at the right time is still compelling I guess. I do think this was an absolutely terrible year for sec offenses. Not an elite one in the bunch

I also think this is just another step in turning cfb into cbb on grass. If you don’t have great depth it’s hard to be elite or dominant as iron sharpens iron and one thing all great programs have in common is very competitive practices
 
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BamaNation

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But don't you see? The NCAA isn't some faceless group working in a smoke-filled room somewhere - they're a group elected by the university presidents / chancellors, a VAST majority of which still view the players as student-athletes, with a focus on the word student. Most of them don't care about fixing the portal as it doesn't affect their teams, and in fact neither does NIL. These problems are largely the problems of the 'wealthy' athletic departments and that's not them. There are maybe 25 ADs in the country that operate in the black - out of over 1,100. A vast supermajority of these university leaders view athletics as an add-on expense, so they don't really care about how these rules affect 'football schools'. It's a pure democracy where teams like Bama, OSU, and UGA are vastly under-represented.

Unless / until the football schools leave the current NCAA structure nothing significant will change.
Oh, I see, alright! You're 100% correct in your assessment of the why's.
 

Bpilktree

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With the seniors we have that elected to stay and come back for one more year, I'm hoping that we get a similar result. Michigan was senior heavy in 2023 as was Georgia in 2022.
The one issue we have compared to those last few teams is they had veteran quarterbacks. Georgia had Stenson Bennett. Michigan had J.J Mcarthy. Ohio State has Will Howard. Those guys had 2 seasons as a starter already as a starting quarterback. Right now we have a huge question mark and no experience at that position. I thought they may look for a guy with experience actually but doesn’t look like it.
 

BamaMoon

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The one issue we have compared to those last few teams is they had veteran quarterbacks. Georgia had Stenson Bennett. Michigan had J.J Mcarthy. Ohio State has Will Howard. Those guys had 2 seasons as a starter already as a starting quarterback. Right now we have a huge question mark and no experience at that position. I thought they may look for a guy with experience actually but doesn’t look like it.
It's hard to argue with the facts. Older QB make a difference, even if they are just game manager types, as those.

The wildcard is what if you have a young super star, who is beyond his years and not a game manager??? KR could be that type of QB, but he'd come with growing pains as he learned.

But, if we bring in a transfer (who I don't even know) TS, who could be a star himself, is likely gone and that loves us with the true freshman as the only legit QB on the roster.
 
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