Per usual, a set of SEC-heavy rankings drew out a strong reaction from non-SEC college football fans. Many who took to social media accused ESPN of bias due to its broadcasting rights with the SEC.<\/p>\n
Fan reactions to ESPN’s strength of schedule rankings<\/p>\n
“I understand the SEC is tough, but I find it hard to believe that’s not the hardest schedule in football.”<\/p>\n
Ohio State plays
@ Texas
@ Indiana
Oregon <\/p>\n
I understand the SEC is tough, but I find it hard to believe that’s not the hardest schedule in football.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Ohio Sports Talk (@OH_SportTalk) July 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n “Echo Chamber achievement unlocked.”<\/p>\n Echo Chamber achievement unlocked.<\/p>\n \u2014 CougarStats (@CougarStats) July 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n “ESPN should not have a hand in ranking teams, in any manner (not even strength of schedule) if they have a financial interest in the broadcast rights of certain team.”<\/p>\n ESPN should not have a hand in ranking teams, in any manner (not even strength of schedule) if they have a financial interest in the broadcast rights for certain teams.<\/p>\n \u2014 John Buechele (@swflskier18) July 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n “The SEC’s schedule is so strong, because our preseason rankings say so. And what are they based upon! Nothing on the field, that’s for sure!”<\/p>\n \u201cThe SEC\u2019s schedule is so strong, because our preseason rankings say so. And what are they based upon? Nothing on the field, that\u2019s for sure!\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Paul S (@pstudeba8) July 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n “Hilarious. And here ladies and gentlemen, is why FPI is a worthless model.”<\/p>\n Hilarious. And here ladies and gentleman is why FPI is a worthless model.<\/p>\n \u2014 Vic Vinegar (@VicVinegarNerds) July 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n “Interesting. Hey ESPN, can you tell me who owns the broadcasting rights for the SEC?”<\/p>\n Interesting. Hey ESPN can you tell me who owns the broadcasting rights for the SEC?<\/p>\n \u2014 Zac Ukleya (@olebac032216) July 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n “Yet no team from the SEC have made a national championship in three years.”<\/p>\n Yet no teams from the SEC have made a national championship in 3 years<\/p>\n \u2014 ! (@he14man) July 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n “ESPN broadcasts SEC hence this ranking. Absolute fraudulence at the highest degree.”<\/p>\n ESPN broadcasts SEC hence this ranking. Absolutely fraudulent at the highest degree.<\/p>\n \u2014 Kenny Smith (@Getatme0905) July 29, 2026<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\"){kind=icon}
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the most discussed changes entering the 2026 college football season is the SEC’s movement from eight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":390751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-390750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=390750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=390750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=390750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=390750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}