Is SEC bias real?

Jacob- No

The SEC is without question the best conference in college football right now with eight teams currently in the top 25. Seven of them could end up with legitimate arguments for the college football playoff. Will all seven make it? No, because they will eliminate each other.

The strength of schedule in the SEC this season is tougher than the other conferences due to the amount of good teams. This might not be the case in a few years. With multiple teams in the Big Ten having good coaches in transitional periods, they could catch the SEC.

Right now though, the Big Ten is getting the benefit as they have four teams ranked in the top five. Is it wrong? Not necessarily. Is it debatable? Sure.

It is worth acknowledging that there have been situations in the past that have pointed to the possibility of SEC bias, including in the last year. One is Alabama getting in the college football playoff over Florida State. Is it possible that this had to do with SEC bias? Yes. Could the opposite be true? Also yes.

The other example is Kalen DeBoer going to Alabama after going 25-3 at Washington and leading them to a national championship game appearance. There was arguably no better candidate for the job, but there was talk that he wouldn’t succeed in the SEC because he’d never been there and wouldn’t be consistent enough.

For this season though, the SEC is not getting the benefit of the doubt that many people could have expected, and it could hurt one of their team’s chances of making the playoff.

Evan- Yes, SEC bias is real

Looking at the College Football Playoff rankings, it is clear that one conference stands above the rest, that is the SEC.

The conference has eight members in the latest poll, the most of any conference in FBS football.

This year however, there is no clear favorite in the SEC, and 15 of the 16 members have more than one loss, but what is keeping these teams at the top of college football?

I think it’s two things: The SEC’s past success combined with just how deep the conference is this season.

In the CFP era alone, the SEC has taken home the national championship in six out of the 10 seasons it has been around. Even more impressive is the fact that since the year 2000, the SEC has taken home 14 national championships.

For this season, the SEC has been a gauntlet. It is by far the toughest conference in college football, which has given each team solid wins on a week-to-week basis.

For example, take Georgia. The Bulldogs beat Tennessee, who beat Alabama, but Alabama also beat Georgia. The other Georgia loss was to Ole Miss, the Rebels' only loss was to Kentucky, who Georgia has also beaten. Sounds confusing, right?

That is just how the SEC has been this year, a very competitive conference with some of the biggest brands in the sport that have been running college football for the better part of two decades now. That is why the SEC is shown so much favoritism in polls, TV and in the media.

My only complaint is, why in the world is Missouri still ranked?

Tristan- Yes, but may be changing

The SEC bias was real. Every year we see the SEC getting favored in polls and making the playoffs when they may have a worse record than someone from another conference. The SEC is the hardest conference though.

The SEC is the best conference in the nation and the Big Ten is a close second, but we even saw in bowl season that even the mediocre SEC teams are better than the best Big Ten teams.

Last season there were six bowl matchups that featured an SEC team against a Big Ten team, and the SEC went 4-2 with a +35 point margin in those games.

This is one of the most competitive seasons the SEC has seen with eight teams making the latest top 25 poll, but losses of a ranked SEC team to another ranked SEC team has seen questionable falls.

Texas only really has had one test, Georgia, who they lost to, but Georgia has lost to a ranked Alabama and Ole Miss team. Ole Miss and Alabama both have unranked losses, but both remain above Georgia who has only lost to ranked teams.

There could be a scenario where a Penn State team who only has one ranked win gets a home game and Tennessee and Georgia, who both have three ranked wins, have to travel for the first round of the playoffs.

While the SEC bias has been real in the past, the 12-team playoff could do away with that because they can fit more teams into the playoff instead of trying to look at two teams who are similar and putting in the SEC team.

Bronwyn- Yes, but it is warranted

Just like a flock of birds, many college students are fleeing the cold and heading down south to receive the warm weather and change in altitude. This is bringing a rise of attention to many schools and a multitude of topics most notably at schools within the SEC.

From this these schools have seen a mass boost in income with seven of the Top 10 colleges with the highest revenue stemming from the SEC.

A lot of this revenue is coming from sports and being put right back into them for recruiting, gear, amenities and NIL helping to recruit big names and give those athletes wide coverage.

The SEC bias commonly stems from the argument that there is never a bad game on and has been proved with attendance and viewership.

On Sept. 21, Arkansas and Auburn, two unranked SEC teams faced off for a middle-of-the-season conference matchup. This game had no implications and effects other than the team's record yet still posted an attendance of 88,043.

The conference finished the 2023 season with an overall average attendance of 76,667.

The average Big Ten attendance was 67,295 (2022). The average Big 12 attendance is 53,813. The average ACC attendance was 48,714 (2022).

Because of their high viewership and constant production of entertainment, the SEC gains a lot of “weighted” love when it comes to things such as rankings. Many argue this is warranted though because of the depth of talent the teams have, and that almost no SEC game is a bad game warranting biased rankings they may receive.

Luke - Yes

The SEC, although being the best conference in college football, is still levied a bias when it comes to the playoffs.

And it is possible to say that while acknowledging the prestige of the conference.

The Big Ten and the SEC play very different styles of football, and fans of both teams like to shout out that their team would win in the opposing conference. This is a moot point, as I said both conferences play different styles of football.

I am a firm believer in the fact that anyone can win on any given day, NIU defeating Notre Dame earlier this season proved that.

That being said, I hate the fact that two or three loss SEC teams are being even considered for the playoffs this season. The four Big Ten teams have taken care of the bottom-tier teams in their schedule. While SEC schools have suffered losses to teams that are in the low-end of the SEC.

Why should Big Ten teams be punished because the other teams in the conference can’t compete with them? SEC fans claim that these lower-tier SEC teams would be up to the top of the Big Ten, yet the lower SEC teams keep on losing to each other.

Regardless of what happens when the final CFP field is set, the SEC will still receive special treatment because of the committee. Maybe if Penn State and Ohio State want special treatment they should lose to Northwestern.

Jacob Rudy is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jar7371@psu.edu.

Luke Stefanisko is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ljs6415@psu.edu.

Evan Pochas is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ejp5753@psu.edu.

Tristan Kunec is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email tqk5432@psu.edu.

Bronwyn Liber is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, email brl5354@psu.edu.