Joel Klatt states narrative that the SEC is clearly the best conference 'needs to die'

The 2024 college football season is almost done, with the semifinal games set to take place at the end of this week, following by the national championship game about a week later. But it’s early enough to start making some sweeping statements about conference strength, particularly when it comes to the SEC and the Big Ten.

And at least one analyst has a pretty strong opinion on the former.

“The narrative that the SEC is clearly the best conference needs to die,” said FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt on The Joel Klatt Show. “It needs to die because it’s pretty clear that it’s over. And I think there are some people that are going to sit there and say, ‘Oh, Klatt’s going to try to take a victory lap or relish in this.’ I’m not relishing in this actually at all. It’s just it just needs to die. And it’s over. Because it’s been proven to be over. OK?”

Bowl season provided ample fodder for those looking to cool the jets on the talk of the SEC as the nation’s most dominant conference. There were some bad losses.

Moreover, the Big Ten has a pretty healthy record against the SEC this bowl season.

“The games have played out. So let’s just try to evaluate the games for what they are. And the teams for what they are without all of this spin,” Klatt said. “I’m hoping that that’s the case. Big Ten, 4-1 over the SEC in bowl games this year. Do I think the Big Ten was a really good conference this year? Yeah. Yeah. I cover the Big Ten, by the way. Do I think that the SEC was really good this year? Yeah. They were really deep this year. But the Big Ten-SEC matchups in the bowl season would suggest that the Big Ten has not only held their own but done better than that.

“I mean Michigan totally handled Alabama. Totally handled them. By the way, without their four best defensive players. They didn’t even have Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, Josiah Stewart or Will Johnson on the field and just locked up Alabama. Alabama couldn’t do anything offensively. Nothing. Nothing.”

Some might wonder if that’s cherry-picking time frames just a bit. Is one year enough to decide a longer-term run is over? Clearly for a while few could argue the SEC’s dominance.

But with Nick Saban now in media and a power struggle atop the SEC ongoing, does the SEC remain as dominant as it once was? It’s a fair critique.

“Again, this idea that that conference is clearly the best, it needs to be over, and I believe that it is,” Klatt said. “And the narrative that continues to be pushed I think needs to die. Because that’s really what the narrative was surrounding the first round of the playoffs. There were a lot of folks that were arguing and they want to say, ‘Oh you know, I was just arguing randomly or aimlessly.’ No, no, no. I mean it was pointed. Those were the teams that were left out. ‘Bama more specifically, South Carolina, some of them Ole Miss. And it just, it hasn’t worked out. That’s fine. That’s fine.

“See, here’s the thing. The SEC is a great conference. I think that the Big Ten is a great conference. If I had to rank them I would say the ACC was probably the weakest of the Power Four, Big 12 was probably next, then the SEC, then the Big Ten. But you want to put them in any different order, that’s fine. That’s completely fine.”