The SEC is no longer the dominant conference in college football. Not only has the Big Ten won the last three national championships, but the SEC has also been soundly beaten in postseason games. But that\u2019s not stopping the league from puffing out its chest once again.<\/p>\n
And it just so happens that their billion-dollar rights partners at ESPN are helping push the narrative yet again.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a cycle that seems to recur every year and makes college football fans feel as if they\u2019re living their own version of Bill Murray\u2019s Groundhog Day.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a cycle that repeats itself continuously. SEC teams often have artificially inflated preseason rankings. Teams that have good early starts are rewarded with astronomical gains. The teams that lose aren\u2019t punished because of the perceived strength of the opposition. Even though the SEC has been\u00a0called out, the conference\u2019s adherents (including\u00a0plenty<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0voices<\/a>\u00a0on ESPN) treat it as definitive proof of superiority, even though it\u2019s based more on\u00a0conjecture and hypothetical wins<\/a> than on\u00a0what happens in reality.<\/p>\n And now the cycle is beginning all over again.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, the ESPN Insights page on X<\/a> posted a list of teams ranked by the top strength of schedule coming into the 2026 college football season. The post touted the SEC expanding to a nine-game conference schedule and that, according to their metrics, every SEC team made the Top 20 of the rankings. Four Big Ten teams made the cut and none from any other conference.<\/p>\n This season, the SEC will start a 9-game conference schedule \ud83d\uddd3\ufe0f<\/p>\n A likely result of the additional conference game is that every SEC team has a strength of schedule in the Top-20, according to ESPN Analytics. pic.twitter.com\/F5o3b9qomt<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) July 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Immediately, social media was filled with comments and complaints that not only accused the network of stumping once again for their rights partner, but also the idea of devising strength-of-schedule metrics before a game has even been played.<\/p>\n \u201cWho has the strongest SOS?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe SEC.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause they play a bunch of SEC teams.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow good are SEC teams?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cReally good, because they play a bunch of SEC teams.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow do you know if SEC teams are better than teams from other conferences?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey are better, because\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/cVUDLJ2Exo<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 CougarStats (@CougarStats) July 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n ESPN owns the SEC Network. \u2014 Miles Shoaf || MSR (@milesashoaf) July 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Rhett Lashlee at ACC media days last week:<\/p>\n \u201cWhenever some of y\u2019all figure out how we can have preseason strength of schedules and power rankings before anybody has played a game, y\u2019all let me know.\u201d https:\/\/t.co\/ZfF3Uw1SQ2<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Steve Helwick (@s_helwick) July 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n You see, the SEC is tough because they play the SEC who plays the SEC which is tough because they play the SEC who is tough because they play the SEC who plays the SEC https:\/\/t.co\/52ZI5NmV1E<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Shaloobys (@shaloobys) July 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n We\u2019ve finally fully realized the SEC Strength of Schedule feedback loop https:\/\/t.co\/qV0w4KShsX<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 CF After Dark (@AfterDarkCF) July 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n ESPN wants you to believe that a conference that went 1-8 in the postseason vs P4 opponents, is much tougher now that they have the same amount of conf games as everyone else. https:\/\/t.co\/HgSS88N1YI<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 B1Gadier General Daniel A. Lanning (@DuckDMB) July 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n
ESPN owns the Playoff broadcast.
ESPN also builds the strength-of-schedule model that decides which SEC teams belong in the Playoff.
That\u2019s not a ranking. That\u2019s manipulation. https:\/\/t.co\/4aXU1Rrbnv<\/a><\/p>\n