In my 32 years on this planet, I have come across some interesting combinations. Chips and queso, peanut butter and jelly, whiskey and Coke- you name it, I have tried it. But one combination that makes me want to vomit is ESPN and SEC.
When it comes to those two, it’s hard not to mention them in the same breath. After all, the SEC has their own network on ESPN and has exclusive rights to air all their games. Alabama at Georgia? On ESPN. Texas at Vanderbilt? ESPN. Cupcake November weekend? Yep, on ESPN.
The network that was once great has now been reduced to endless shows with talking heads, fewer highlights, and a sole purpose: to shove the SEC and LeBron James down our throats.
As bad as that is, what’s even worse is that they hold the keys to the sport we all love, college football. Not only do they have exclusive rights to the SEC, but they also have the media rights to the College Football Playoff and the selection show through 2031.
With ESPN paying to air games for the playoff and the SEC, it’s easy to see why they want as many teams from the conference in the playoff as humanly possible. That’s why they will use any metric to help the conference get teams in.
Even if it means making up stats from generators they create, they will do it. Why? Because they have no shame, no credibility, and nobody to hold them accountable. That’s why SEC commissioner Greg Sankey uses ESPN metrics to explain to everyone why a three-loss team from his conference should be in the playoff over a one-loss team from another conference.
Is ESPN Rigging the System?
With the SEC moving to a nine-game schedule, we are seeing future Power Four non-conference games get canceled. Both Alabama and LSU have already canceled home-and-home series with Big 12 teams. And don’t be surprised to see more of that down the road.
In fact, if you look at the strength of schedule on ESPN right now, you will see that all 16 teams from the SEC are inside the top 20. Meanwhile, there are no ACC or Big 12 teams and just four Big Ten teams.
I find that kind of odd because the national champion has come out of the Big Ten the past three seasons and the Pac-12 has put a team in the national championship game more recently than the almighty SEC. Yet that means nothing, because as long as there’s an SEC patch on the jersey, it doesn’t matter how bad they are; they are considered a “quality” team to play.
When the SEC already has a leg up on the strength-of-schedule advantage by simply playing each other, why do they need to play anyone else?
To them, there’s no value in playing teams from the Big 12. Because when ESPN statistics say that it’s better for a team like Georgia to play a cellar dweller in their own conference rather than a top three team from the Big 12 or ACC, then why even bother? They have nothing to gain and everything to lose.
Not playing teams from the Big 12 gives the SEC an even bigger advantage in the playoff. It eliminates any head-to-head comparison, and with no common opponent, they are going to argue that a two– or three-loss SEC team is better than a one-loss Big 12 or ACC team, simply based on strength of schedule.
That’s what the SEC wants. To box everyone out, and use the strength of schedule as their main data point to get in. And as the playoff expands, it’s going to give them even more access to it.
When ESPN throws over half the SEC inside the preseason top 25, it gives them an advantage before a snap of football has even been played. Because average teams can stay inside the top 25 all season long, barely fall when they lose, all while keeping their precious strength of schedule.
Don’t tell me that ESPN’s preseason rankings and strength of schedule don’t matter because they do. It gives the selection committee a starting point, so when you start high, your chances of finishing there are much greater than a team outside the top 25. And it’s crazy that they still do that, given how much turnover these rosters have each year; nobody truly knows which teams are good until we start playing games.
As you can see, given ESPN’s ties to the SEC, its playoff coverage, and its use of data points they created, it feels more like a fix than a fair way to judge teams fighting for those same playoff spots. I just hope that more people start waking up and smelling the coffee. Or in this case, smelling the hot garbage that ESPN and the SEC are trying to sell us on.
