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As the first 12-team College Football Playoff rapidly approaches, debate over the committee’s ranking has predictably intensified. And one of the most common arguments revolves around how to handle the multitude of two and three loss teams, particularly in the SEC.

The SEC likes to think of itself as the preeminent conference, where there’s an assumption of inherent difficulty in getting through a grueling schedule. In the 2024 season, that’s manifested in speculation that the league could put five teams in the 12-team field.

But one college football analyst doesn’t exactly agree with the hype.

Danny Kanell, who infamously disparages the SEC, posted a graphic on X Monday afternoon showing some SEC out of conference performances from throughout the early part of the season and, well, it ain’t pretty.

Miami dominated Florida, 41-17. Cal had a road win over Auburn, 21-14. ASU beat Mississippi State, Vanderbilt lost to Georgia State, USC beat LSU in Las Vegas, Notre Dame beat Texas A&M in College Station, and Oklahoma State handled Arkansas.

Many of those losses now look even worse in hindsight.

Alabama Columnist Is Livid Kalen DeBoer Wore A T-Shirt During Loss To Vanderbilt

NASHVILLE – Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer looks for Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Clark Lea following a game between the Vanderbilt Commodores and Alabama Crimson Tide, October 5, 2024 at FirstBank Stadium. (Photo by Matthew Maxey/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

SEC Is Tough, But Could Be Tougher

Miami, while they have just one loss, hasn’t exactly been impressive for much of the season, escaping with several miraculous, referee-assisted wins. USC has completely collapsed, needing a last-second win over Nebraska just to improve to 5-5. 

Cal is just 1-5 in the ACC and 5-5 overall, and Oklahoma State’s turned out to be one of the worst teams in Power Four football this season, losing seven games in a row to fall to 3-7 overall.

Jacob Hester responded to Kanell by saying it’s the “week in and week out grind” that gets SEC teams, sharing a list of out-of-conference wins to counter…except most of those wins aren’t great either.

UCLA is not good, and LSU struggled at home against the Bruins until late in the second half. Houston is 4-6, hardly a meaningful win for OU, Virginia Tech is 5-5, Boston College is 5-5, NC State is 5-5 and 2-4 in the ACC, Michigan is 5-5, Wake Forest is 4-6, Wisconsin is 5-5 and has lost three in a row, and Colorado State is a Mountain West program. The Georgia win over Clemson is impressive, but if that’s the strongest out-of-conference resume you can offer, it’s not exactly disproving Kanell’s point.

Kanell shot back by referencing some of the teams on the SEC schedule the past few weeks: “UMass, UTEP, Wofford, La Tech, Mercer, New Mexico State, Murray State and UL Monroe.”

And therein lies the problem with the SEC “week in and week out grind” argument. The SEC plays just eight conference games, providing several opportunities for teams to schedule in effective bye weeks. Ole Miss scheduled three bye weeks against Middle Tennessee State, Georgia Southern and Furman. With a 4-6 Wake Forest mixed in. 

Yes, they have the big win over Georgia, but they’re 3-2 against the more difficult teams on the schedule. Pending games against Florida and Mississippi State.

Those bye weeks to start the year allowed Ole Miss to stay healthy, thanks to resting first stringers in blowout wins, heading into the tougher part of the schedule, an important and meaningful advantage. 

As we’ve learned in 2024, the gap between elite teams and good teams has never been smaller. That makes any playoff discussion difficult and fraught with different priorities. The SEC likely is the best conference overall, but there are plenty of weaknesses to point to. Kanell did.