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Paul Finebaum says SEC country would ‘hang our heads’ if all-Big Ten national title unfolds
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Paul Finebaum and the talking heads at ESPN are starting to come around on what appears to be a new age of college football, one that is marked by rapid flattening.
Penn State plays Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl. Ohio State plays Texas in the Cotton Bowl. The last representative from the SEC still standing in the College Football Playoff wasn’t part of the conference 12 months ago. The prospect of an all-Big Ten national championship is very real.
“We’re talking about an all-Big Ten final. We’ve had 3 all-SEC finals since 2011 — Alabama playing a big role in those. This would completely change the paradigm of college football that has been all about the SEC,” Finebaum said Friday during a hit on SportsCenter. “Imagine if it’s 2 Big Ten teams and the Big Ten is ruling the world. I’m not sure what we’re going to do down here in SEC country but hang our heads.”
It was also a proxy all-Big Ten final a year ago, when Washington met Michigan in the national championship. If Penn State and Ohio State meet in this year’s title, it would ensure consecutive titles for the Big Ten for the first time since 1994 and 1995 when Nebraska won back-to-back under Tom Osborne. And the Huskers weren’t even a Big Ten team then.
To find outright legacy Big Ten titles in consecutive years, you’d have to go back to the 1940s, when Minnesota won back-to-back in 1940-41 and Ohio State won in 1942. When Michigan State split titles in 1965 and 1966, Alabama shared one of those titles.
The SEC has claimed 18 national championships since those Nebraska titles in the 90s. Prior to Michigan’s win last season, the SEC had won 4 straight national championships.
But 2 of the league’s 3 Playoff participants this season lost in their debut games. Texas is a 6-point underdog against Ohio State (ESPN Bet). The league is also 8-6 in bowl games this season. Wins have come from Vanderbilt, Texas, Florida, and Arkansas. Losses have come from Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina.
As NIL money spreads out and the transfer portal has essentially been deregulated, the gap between the top has shrunk. The SEC did not have a truly dominant force this season. Its champion beat Texas twice and now it’ll depend on Texas to prevent the Big Ten from holding the crown.
If we do get an all-Big Ten final, the tone and tenor of ESPN around that game will be something to pay attention to. The SEC is their cash cow; the network has invested considerable resources to ensure that the league remains the premier one in sports. If the power has shifted, what will be done to try and shift it back?
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
