Prominent Analyst Marcus Spears Explains Why SEC Hasn't Dominated College Football

Marcus Spears had plenty to say about the SEC and the impact the conference has taken due to the portal and NIL.

Nov 25, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Marcus Spears on the ESPN Monday Night Football Countdown set before the game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

NIL and the transfer portal have started to heavily impact conferences.

While the SEC and Big Ten are still head and shoulders above every other conference, the SEC might not be what it once was.

That isn't to say there's not a strong argument that they're not the best conference in college football, but it isn't as dominant as it once was.

That's been confirmed in the 12-team playoff bracket.

Georgia was beaten in the first round, Alabama has started to struggle for its standards and didn't even make the CFP this season, and the best team in the conference looks like Texas, who was in the Big 12 just a year ago.

The transfer portal now allows student-athletes at SEC programs and every other conference to transfer whenever they want, which is impacting Power 4 schools more than ever.

For highly recruited student-athletes who don't play immediately, the days of waiting are over.

Most athletes don't want to wait to play, leading to them transferring the first chance they get.

Marcus Spears, a former NFL player and current ESPN analyst, knows that better than anyone after playing at LSU.

He believes the SEC isn't what it once was because of NIL and the transfer portal, highlighting the kids who want to leave when they don't play.

"This is how I explain the SEC to people: Your second- and third-(team) guys can win Heismans and be first-round draft picks. That no longer exists. Those guys are going to other schools, starting early and playing," Spears said on "First Take." "RC knows this, guys on LSU's roster when we were there that didn't play, were first-round picks in waiting ... That's what has changed in the SEC. And I don’t want to hear nobody talk about the SEC and how people hate that they weren't dominant. The conference won 13 out of (the last) 15 national championships, that's the reality of where they were. The NIL and the transfer portal have changed that."

Spears' assessment is spot on.

From a national standpoint, the SEC is still the king until someone changes that, but the tides are starting to turn a bit.

There isn't much of a way to change this, either, unless they alter the transfer portal and NIL rules.

Regardless, the SEC and the teams in the conference have to figure out how to stop getting student-athletes to leave their programs, despite how impossible that challenge might be.