Paul Finebaum cites key factors in SEC struggling in 2024

Paul Finebaum listed a few reasons why he thinks the Southeastern Conference hasn’t been what it was over the past season or two.

Finebaum did so while on ‘McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning’ on Monday. That started with the simple fact that things change and it just hasn’t been the seasons for the SEC to win, or at least be as successful, over the last few.

“I think some of it is just circumstance. These things happen in sports,” said Finebaum. “You know, you can argue for the rest of the month that the Buffalo Bills were the best team in the NFL but they’re still staying home from the Super Bowl.”

Another was that, over last offseason, the SEC lost the coach that did a whole lot of the winning for them over the past decade and a half.

“Well, I mean, I think you always start with Nick Saban but that’s predictable. And the fact is that we all know, since 2009, Saban has won six of those. So, I mean, that’s a big deal when one person in particular has captured not only six championships but has been in nine title games,” Finebaum said. “If you take that out of the equation, the SEC doesn’t look nearly as dominant.”

Finally, Finebaum also looked at quarterback play in the conference as compared to years past. They’ve still had names, some already known and some who have emerged, but not the ones at the position that they had in previous seasons – although making the case that neither team in the national title game last week had one either.

“I think, you know, it’s easy to say, well, the quarterback was subpar in the SEC this year,” said Finebaum. “But, if you look at the championship game, the two quarterbacks in that game, while they performed well, were certainly not the kind of quarterbacks that usually turn programs around.”

A lot could go into the SEC not even appearing in the national championship the last two years after doing so in sixteen of the last seventeen years, including multiple with two of their programs involved, with thirteen titles won. It’s about what goes into getting back to that, though, for the league by kickoff next fall.