How big did ESPN crash with its unfettered bias in promoting the SEC for postseason play?

Well, it’s hovering around a face plant.

The network’s favorite horses for college football’s greatest prize have mostly faltered.

Only one SEC team is left in the playoffs.

And what this all means is the SEC has been caught by the rest of college football. It is no longer, in a competitive sense, light years or even a bright blinking stop light, ahead of the rest of the Power Four conferences.

If the ACC’s Miami beats the SEC’s Mississippi Thursday night, ESPN and the CFP committee greasing of the SEC pathway was felonious piracy of playoff money.

When the SEC loses one of its biggest foghorns in Paul Finebaum, you know that storied, propped-up league is in the doldrums and exposed in the era of NIL, where everybody else can pay their players.

Finebaum, a longtime Alabama radio host and national TV personality, went on ESPN’s “First Take” on Tuesday and admitted, even he, voted by Awful Announcing.com as the most biased personality in college football, could not defend the SEC this season and its limitless hypothetical victories.

The CFP committee gave the SEC five of the 12 playoff berths. The SEC is 2-7 in bowl games this postseason.

No. 9 Alabama, gifted a berth after almost losing to two-win (SEC) Auburn got annihilated by No. 1 seed Indiana. No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 3 Georgia have all been eliminated. Only No. 6 Mississippi remains and plays No. 10 Miami Thursday night.

Here’s Finebaum’s admission.

“There’s no way to defend the SEC,” Finebaum told “First Take” with Stephen A Smith. “It’s been terrible.”

“I kept wrapping my arms around Alabama and saying, ‘Stephen A. remember what they did, they went through that gauntlet in the middle of the year,” said Finebaum.

“Well, a lot of those teams they beat really weren’t very good after all. They lost in bowl games, and they looked terrible. So it’s a rough year for the SEC. Ole Miss is it, regardless of the Lane Kiffin story, which I know we’re going to talk about. But if Ole Miss loses Thursday night and I’m sitting around having to defend this league to you, Stephen A. saying ‘No big deal that it’s three years without an SEC team in the national championship game’ there’s no defense. It’s been rough,” Finebaum admitted.

Writing for ESPN, longtime college football pundit Dan Wetzel put it this way:

“It’s not that the SEC isn’t still “good” or even capable of winning a national championship — Ole Miss might very well do it. Top to bottom, it might still be the best league, with the majority of schools all-in on football.

“That said, the days of complete domination, all-SEC national title games or deep, juggernaut teams are clearly gone, perhaps forever. This isn’t the same.”

What’s happened is both good and bad.

Good because college football television viewership is skyrocketing. It’s never been so popular to follow, watch and get involved in what’s going on between the sidelines.

It’s bad because of all the chaos, movement, gaudy money numbers and purchase of talent.

For the SEC, revenue sharing, NIL and the transfer portal has spread around talent to other programs and hurt the depth of their own teams.

Alabama used to be the king of talent. So was Georgia.

Now we’re seeing those storied programs get pushed around, ran past and chased down and tackled.

Illinois coach Bret Bielema told ESPN this week, “This is the most fun I’ve ever had in coaching because you know you’re on a more equal playing field. The introduction of the portal, NIL, and revenue sharing is the most game-changing development in my 32 years of coaching.

“It’s hard when you would do what you have to do as long as you possibly could and in the end, sometimes it just didn’t matter,” Bielema explained about recruiting back when he was at Arkansas and Wisconsin.

“Now you just come to work every day knowing that blue blood, red blood, orange blood, whatever, everybody’s got a chance, man.”

Before Texas Tech’s tires blew out against Oregon, we saw the Red Raiders purchase themselves a Big 12 championship and berth in the CFP.

We’ve seen Indiana, check that, Indiana, become the nation’s darling and No. 1 team in the country and favorite to win it all.

Ohio State is home. Oklahoma is home. Texas is watching from home with Georgia and Alabama and Penn State.

The door is open.

Yes, it’s all kind of a mess.

But recent chaos has become the game’s equalizer.

It has also exposed the raw brand worship and advancement of SEC teams by the media, especially ESPN, the owner of CFP television rights for all the games.

ESPN’s interest? Is it really determining a fair field? Or advancing its ratings by picking brands for increased revenue?

The fact the SEC gets an unfair advantage in preseason polls, then rides that with questionable scheduling and far too much credit for intra-conference wins, has been exposed.

It is a mess that’s taken the SEC off its high saddle ride and made the rest of the cowboys eligible to enjoy the roundup rodeo.

ATLANTA — Ahead of the College Football Playoff semifinal matchup between No. 5 Oregon football and No. 1 Indiana, the sometimes prickly and often witty and snappy personalities of head coaches Dan Lanning and Curt Cignetti shined Jan 8 at the College Football Hall of Fame down the road from Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The coaches traded barbs about friendly competitions throughout the week, like signing footballs before the press conference, and discussed the transfer portal, affairs surrounding collegiate athletics and the upcoming Peach Bowl Jan. 9 in Atlanta.

The college football transfer portal opened on Jan. 2, and things have already gone wild.

In fact, on the very first day of the transfer portal being open, over 4,500 Division I football players entered their names. This portal window will close by Jan. 16, so we’re not yet halfway home. 

There have absolutely been winners and losers, though. Let’s start with the winners and go from there. 

Winners so far in the college football transfer portal

Indiana Hoosiers

There’s a trend happening in college football among the programs that have seemingly figured out the NIL and transfer portal era: bringing in established quarterbacks for a one-year run. 

That’s what the Indiana Hoosiers did with Fernando Mendoza, and now they’re doing the same thing with TCU transfer quarterback Josh Hoover, who threw for 3,472 yards and 29 touchdowns compared to 13 interceptions this season.

Michigan State’s top wide receiver, Nick Marsh, also transferred to Indiana, as did Turbo Richard, who was Boston College’s leading rusher this past season. 

Curt Cignetti may be building a powerhouse for years to come.

Texas Tech Red Raiders

The Texas Tech Red Raiders are another college program that has embraced the NIL and transfer portal era, and they’re building yet another transfer class that could be considered among the best in the nation. 

The top quarterback target this cycle was Cincinnati’s Brendan Sorsby, and the Red Raiders threw the bag at him to bring him in via the portal. 

Sorsby threw for 2,800 yards and 27 touchdowns compared to five interceptions this past season for the Bearcats. The Red Raiders are hoping he can be the quarterback that puts them over the top.

Penn State Nittany Lions

The Penn State Nittany Lions have a new head coach in Matt Campbell, and it’s no surprise that the former Iowa State Cyclones head coach is bringing a ton of his old players with him to Happy Valley.

In fact, Penn State has already landed 23 players in the portal, 20 of whom have come from Iowa State.

That includes quarterback Rocco Becht, who threw for 2,584 yards and 16 touchdowns compared to nine interceptions. 

Losers so far in the college football transfer portal

Iowa State Cyclones

If Penn State is a winner in the portal because the Nittany Lions poached a ton of players from Iowa State, then it stands to reason that the Cyclones are one of the losers worth mentioning

Again, 20 players followed Campbell out the door, but in all, new Iowa State head coach Jimmy Rogers is going to have to replace 50-plus players (and perhaps counting) who have bolted into the transfer portal.

North Texas Mean Green

The North Texas Mean Green finished 12-2 this season and played in the American Conference title game.  

It was a banner year for North Texas, but the new reality for Group of Five schools is that good years will lead to a ton of poaching.

Head coach Eric Morris was tabbed as Mike Gundy’s replacement at Oklahoma State. Following him were star quarterback Drew Mestemaker, star running back Caleb Hawkins and star wide receiver Wyatt Young.

Mestemaker led college football with 4,379 passing yards this season, and he was tied for second place with 34 passing touchdowns. Hawkins rushed 231 times for 1,434 yards and 25 touchdowns. Young caught 70 passes for 1,264 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Losing those three players, in particular, will cripple North Texas in 2026.

Auburn Tigers

The Auburn Tigers have had a tough go of things, even after hiring Alex Golesh from USF to be the new head coach.

Many felt that freshman quarterback and former five-star Deuce Knight was the future of the program, but he entered the transfer portal and is now one of the top quarterbacks available.

The Tigers also lost sophomore wide receiver Cam Coleman to Texas, who caught 56 passes for 708 yards and five touchdowns this season. 

College football’s version of the Final Four is here and there are no signs of Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, Michigan, LSU, Texas, Penn State, Notre Dame or Oklahoma. Instead, the last group still standing consists of Ole Miss, Indiana, Oregon and Miami and three of the four teams didn’t even qualify for their conference championship games.

What’s going on here?

As it turns out, NIL and the transfer portal, that some contend are destroying the game, have only created more contenders. There is more parity than ever before. Programs without much of a football history are on the brink of making some.

Indiana is a renowned basketball school, but with access to the transfer portal and the ability to invest in players, the Hoosiers are winning in football. No. 1 Indiana not only beat No. 2 Ohio State to win its first outright Big Ten championship since 1945, but they also routed No. 9 Alabama in the Rose Bowl for their first bowl victory in 34 years. Quarterback Fernando Mendoza also became the first Hoosier in history to win the Heisman Trophy.

When have you ever heard of a top football target saying ‘No’ to Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State and ‘Yes’ to Indiana? It’s happening right before our eyes.

Ole Miss is still without an SEC title since 1963, but empowered by today’s new rules, the Rebels amassed enough talent to eliminate league heavyweight Georgia from the playoffs — even while their former head coach Lane Kiffin watched from his new job at LSU.

Oregon, with its rich banker — Phil Knight, founder of Nike, has never won a football national championship. Miami has won five national titles, but none since 2001 and they haven’t won a conference championship since 2003.

With rosters constructed around NIL and the transfer portal, all four programs are not only playing for a shot to be No. 1 this month, but they are fortified to hang around for a while. The blue bloods no longer have a monopoly on the nation’s best players.

For other examples of how the rule changes have leveled the playing field, just look at No. 4 Texas Tech, No. 14 Vanderbilt and No. 12 BYU. The Red Raiders may have bought their way out of obscurity, but in short time and with an excellent head coach, Texas Tech is likely to finish the season ranked higher than No. 13 Texas and No. 7 Texas A&M and begin next year the same way.

Vanderbilt lost its bowl game to Iowa, but before that, the Commodores (10-2) went to Knoxville and blew out Tennessee 45-24. They beat the Vols with better players — something unseen around the Volunteer State before NIL and the transfer portal. It’s not just football. Vandy is the only program in the nation that is still undefeated in both men’s and women’s basketball.

BYU was playing as a football independent when both the transfer portal (2018) and NIL (2021) were approved by the NCAA. At the time, the fear was whether the Cougars could or would even try to survive.

Two major developments followed. First, BYU was invited to join the Big 12 beginning in the 2023 season. Second, school leaders and its fan base committed to do what was necessary to be competitive, and the Board of Trustees concurred so long as athletics remained self-funded and true to the university’s core values.

How is that working out?

Men’s basketball is currently 13-1, ranked No. 9 in the country and showcasing freshman AJ Dybantsa — the projected top pick in next year’s NBA draft. Last season, BYU reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011. To keep it going, the Cougars quickly extended head coach Kevin Young’s contract.

Football is a combined 22-4 over the last two seasons with victories over ranked P4 opponents in both the Alamo Bowl and Pop-Tarts Bowl. More people watched the Cougars on television in those two games than any previous BYU broadcast in the modern era.

The Cougars extended head coach Kalani Sitake’s contract to 10 years and the following day, Sitake signed the program’s highest-rated recruiting class in history.

Truth be told, NIL and the transfer portal aren’t stumbling blocks for BYU at all. In fact, they are just the opposite — more like fertilizer for what the Cougars are growing. The ability to attract talent to the embedded culture, with the resources to support them, gives every team on campus a chance to succeed.

BYU doesn’t get or keep every player or coach, but they get enough and their all-important investor — Cougar Nation is all-in. Wherever BYU goes, the loyal crowds follow.

NIL and the transfer portal don’t function perfectly and still need some national oversight, but when it comes to the Cougars, they are tailor-made to keep them competitive just as they have helped Indiana, Miami, Oregon and Ole Miss, who are about to give college football a refreshingly new national champion.

Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com

As the transfer portal and NIL continue to lead the way in daily college football news and fan conversation, I will raise the unpopular opinion that both have elevated the game we love to a new level. There is a certain excitement every day since the portal officially opened, with big names jumping into the portal and finding new opportunities.

The days of only non-starters jumping to other schools are a thing of the past, and the financial opportunities offered by schools have given star players reason to leave schools they normally never would have ever left. You see, starting quarterbacks finding new opportunities when they clearly would be the starter at the school they left had they stayed.

We are way past the days of boosters handing out bags of cash to possible recruits or transfers under the table, and it has made the game better for all. I am still not sure why players making legal money is looked upon in a worse light by so many than players getting cash in brown paper sacks that could lead to long bowl bans.

For those who say players getting paid and being able to transfer freely has ruined the game, I will just point to the final four teams left in the college football playoff. Three of the four teams left are looking to win their first national championship in school history, and the fourth is becoming relevant again for the first time in nearly two decades.

The transfer portal and money being able to be spent on a more even basis have allowed the rise of Indiana and Ole Miss. It allowed Texas Tech to win its first conference championship in school history and a bye in this year’s playoff. Honestly, without the new systems in place, none of these schools would realistically have a chance to sniff a football national championship.

The Hurricanes have started making noise again on the gridiron after falling on hard times, and their return to being within two games of their sixth national championship is due to NIL and the portal. And honestly, even Oregon has been a contender for a while; they are in a better position than they ever have been.

Yes, there are some issues that need to be looked at, especially with the portal dates or maybe how many times a player can transfer, but right now, college football seems to have gained more of a national appeal. As teams that have never been good before, like the Hoosiers, it gives more programs hope if they can get some financial backing. Sure, the normal blue bloods will still have a leg up, like Alabama or Ohio State, but the gap between them and others has decreased greatly.

NIL and the portal have made it harder for blue-blood programs to stockpile players for multiple seasons before they see the field. Today’s players seem to care less about the name on the jersey and pick schools more based on possible financial gain and playing immediately. Also, certain star players being able to make big money in college, like Cam Ward last year or his successor Carson Beck, have the ability to stay in college for another year instead of for sure going to the NFL before being out of eligibility. It is a much different world compared to when many of us became college football fans, but the sport is in a good place, no matter what some will say.

Ain’t no fun when the rabbit’s got the gun.

PublishedJanuary 8, 2026 10:50 AM EST•UpdatedJanuary 8, 2026 10:48 AM EST

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Mark the date down on your calendars, ladies and gentlemen: January 8, 2026. Also known as the day Hell froze over.

No, it has nothing to do with the Rapture or dogs and cats living together. It’s actually something far more unlikely.

It seems that Texas Longhorns fans (yes, THOSE Texas Longhorns) are not down with the NIL “pay for play” era of college football.

READ: Washington, Demond Williams Saga Set To Get Ugly

And honestly, in a vacuum, I would say I can’t blame them.

I haven’t exactly minced words when it comes to how I feel about the modern era of my favorite sport, but the fact that Texas fans are now NIL haters is laughable.

Oh, man! It ain’t no fun when the rabbit’s got the gun now, is it?

Of all the schools in this great country and this great sport, Texas being the one to cry poor and want a change to the rules is hysterical.

This is the same program that started the season number one in the AP Poll and had one of the most expensive rosters in the country… and bragged about it, too.

This is the same team that just a few years ago was flexing its armada of Lamborghinis on recruiting trips, basically thumbing their nose at anyone who didn’t have six-figure sports cars sitting in their stadiums for high school prospects to sit in.

You can’t hide money, that’s for sure.

Oil money is a different kind of rich, as many college fans are learning thanks to Texas Tech’s recent run of dominance on the field and in the transfer portal.

Hell, even Houston is starting to make a run at some high-priced prospects in the portal.

Texas has unlimited funds, so they shouldn’t be hating the game nor the player.

As one of the Texas fans posted on X, this might be a GM or even a Sarkisian problem.

I don’t think the money at The University of Texas all of a sudden dried up. This definitely reeks of something different.

Whatever the problem is, the Longhorns better get it figured out fast, because they are getting lapped by teams in their conference and in their state.

And no amount of changes to the current landscape of college football will help with whatever they have going on in Austin.