Overview
- Ole Miss lost 31-27 to Miami in the Fiesta Bowl semifinal, eliminating the SEC’s last remaining College Football Playoff team.
- Five SEC teams made the 12-team CFP field, yet none reached the championship game, marking a third consecutive season without an SEC finalist and the longest such stretch since 2003.
- Across bowl season and the playoff, the SEC went 1-8 against other Power Four opponents and 0-3 in CFP games versus non-SEC P4 teams, including Alabama’s 38-3 Rose Bowl loss to Indiana.
- Through two seasons of the expanded playoff, eight SEC entrants have a combined 5-8 record with no finalists, despite comprising a third of the total field.
- Writers and analysts point to NIL and the transfer portal leveling talent distribution and highlight criticism of the CFP committee’s selection and seeding choices, including the inclusion of three-loss Alabama.