Is the grind real in the SEC or have the mighty finally fallen? For decades, the Southeastern Conference has dominated college football like none other. But if the last two years are any lesson, they no longer have a tight grip over the sport. In the last two years, no SEC team made it to the CFP Finals, still, the stomping march that only sings a unison chorus of SEC superiority continues. Remember back in November last year when Lane Kiffin joined the club? In a zoom meeting, the Ole Miss head coach “jokingly” sent a message to an unnamed head coach of another conference asking them to play Georgia and then weigh the scales again. Beating the drums further, he specified, “It’s hard to go on the road in this conference, which always has the most NFL players, and win. It’s very much like the NFL, playing in the SEC.”

Then just a couple of days later, the former Bama head coach Nick Saban defended the SEC despite four of the top five teams in the league were from Big Ten. The college football legend made an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show and stressed, “Ohio State and Oregon are as good as the SEC’s top teams. But the SEC is so much deeper, with 8 or 9 teams making the top 25 and playing against each other.” Surely, top 25 teams locking horns every week does hurt the team’s overall record. But what about them losing to non-SEC squads?

Georgia fell to Notre Dame 23-10 in the Sugar Bowl, indeed leaving a sweet taste for the Fighting Irish fans who waited over three decades for the win. Then Alabama lost to Michigan, South Carolina fell to Illinois, leaving only Ole Miss and Kiffin in the winning charts who left Duke wondering. And still, SEC seems too proud to just accept the reality. In the latest headlines is Shane Beamer who certainly has turned many heads in the last couple of seasons. But this is not what the USA Today’s SEC Coach of the Year is in spotlight for. This time, it is for Beamer’s emphasis on SEC that has left the analysts and insiders of the sport agitated.

In an interview with On3, the Gamecocks head coach spoke about how the SEC is somewhat superior to other conferences. “Look I’ve got great respect for other conferences. I’ve been to other conferences. I’ve been part of the ACC, I’ve been part of the Big 12. There’s no question that there’s good football everywhere.

“But when you just talk about the teams in this league and the teams you play week in and week out, it’s different. And you look at the NFL draft every single year, it’s 20 straight years that the SEC has led the nation in draft picks. People can say, ‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’ Well, yeah, it does. We’re playing the best players in the country.”

In the 2024 NFL draft, every school from SEC, except Vanderbilt, had one player selected in the draft’s seven rounds. This marked 18th straight year where the Southeastern Conference ruled over the drafts. Not just the NFL drafts, SEC has been dominating in the transfer portal and recruitment as well. This year, over 66% of the top five-star recruits joined 9 SEC programs. Last year, it was over 67% divided between 10 SEC schools. This is a big bump from, say 2021, when only about 45% five-star recruits joined SEC programs. Still, you would expect the man to stop here. But Beamer had more to say.

“I’ve been a part of other leagues where you go into a stadium, and there are 20,000 people in the stands, and you’re in a Power Four conference. Not at this conference. Every road venue you go in[to], you’re playing in front of 70,000, 80,000, 90,000, 100,000 people every single Saturday,” Beamer added.

Indeed, in the SEC attendance has been mind boggling. In 2023, the average attendance was 101,915. In the 2024 SEC Tournament, the conference set a record for most attendance with a whopping 180,004 fans present in Hoover, Alabama. However, Drake C Troll, the ‘Locked on Big 12′ podcast host joins the ‘Locked on College Football’ host Spencer McLaughlin to share some of his insights head-on.

“Anyone who tells you they’re number one, probably isn’t number one. Anybody you ask to go in there and say ‘Hey, we’re the best ever,’ everybody who has continued to tout themselves in the resume is doing it because one reason: That’s because they have a deficiency somewhere they want you to ignore.“ 

Indeed, the grass has not been green for SEC teams this past season with many falling to opponents who did not even stand a chance to win against them at some point. If we look at the Georgia Bulldogs vs the Notre Dame Fighting Irish matchup, the Bulldogs win in theory, but on the field, Notre Dame showed them the doors. Then there was LSU throwing the game to a subpar USC Trojans. In fact, USC has a 2-0 win over SEC this year by winning over Texas A&M. And of course, there was South Carolina losing to Illinois in Citrus Bowl.

“Everything Shane Beamer in that little blurb you gave me, the SEC is good, no doubt. No one’s trying to take it away from you. The SEC is the best conference in college football. Guess what? We’re actually giving it to you in the form of money. We’re giving you more money. But now you have to come to a podium and tell me that we’re so good. You know who does this: Head coach whose teams won’t make the NCAA tournament. That’s who does this!” 

And that’s something for a fact too. Although his team might have missed the playoff by a margin. Still, there was no playoff for them. So, going on a ranting tour is less than ideal for Beamer even though he has turned the tides to some extent for a college football legacy in South Carolina that has been a set of hits and misses. 

What does Beamer really need to watch out for in 2025?

First and foremost, Gamecocks’ season may have been a declared success for the team. 2024 marked a significant improvement from Beamer’s previous season when South Carolina finished at 5-7. No wonder their 9-4 finish this season is looking quite appealing. But still, there were deficiencies, like their turnover problems early in the season. But their cons aren’t just limited to turnovers.

Their penalty yards per game were also quite high relative to other SEC programs, as they ranked as low as 9th in the SEC. They did, however, improve on that, but still, they finished in 10th position in penalties given away. Add to that their Sack totals were something of a concern, too, as they finished 13th in sacks executed.

The verdict?

Well, no one is denying the successful season Beamer had in various aspects. But, there are some relatively minor deficiencies that are still visible though. That is something Gamecocks and Beamer have to work on. However, if he still continues to make headlines. People will really start to take out stats from his previous seasons and certainly rub on him a bit.