College football anarchy is creating more have nots than haves

It’s always back. Every year, we’re assured by those in Austin that this is the Longhorns team that restores the burnt orange to college football glory. And every season it goes awry. How does losing to Maryland or Kansas feel? Texas has appeared once in the current iteration of the Big 12 Championship game, losing to Oklahoma. And with a coming move to the SEC, which will be much harder to win, the Longhorns trophy case will develop more cobwebs.

Texas couldn’t defeat Arkansas last year. Even bringing in Class of 2022 No. 1 overall recruit Quinn Ewers won’t move that needle too far. How many recent Longhorns’ teams have been better than two from the SEC? That’s probably 2009, when Colt McCoy was the quarterback not too far from Franklin Barbecue. Championship winning brisket is in your future. Championship football? Nope.

One of college football’s loyal fan bases yearns for a winning program like it had for so long. Bestowing beloved alumnus Scott Frost at the helm of the program was going to be the missing link to bring championships back to Lincoln! And shocker, the Cornhusker faithful were delusional. 

Nebraska appeared in three of the first four Big 12 Championship games and three more from 2006-10. The Cornhuskers did appear in one Big Ten Championship game as well, a losing effort in 2012. Despite competing in the easier Big Ten West, Nebraska hasn’t appeared in a conference championship in a decade. Now they have to directly compete against Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan State for one of the two coveted spots? The championship purgatory will continue.

There’s a massive boulder in the way of getting back to gridiron relevance in Boulder. I think I’m funny. What’s humorous are the Buffaloes chances of competing in a division-less Pac-12. Their road may be easier than some on this list, just because of a lack of high-level options, but several conference rivals have a better shot to compete for championships out west.

Colorado appeared in four Big 12 title games in five years to begin the millennium, only winning in 2001. The Buffs only trip to a Pac-12 title game in 2016 ended with a blowout loss to Washington. With USC and Oregon reloading, along with an always-potent Utah, Colorado would’ve had an easier road staying in the Big 12.

Continuing with the trend of former Big 12 teams, my former beat is catching a stray here. I saw first-hand the momentum Eli Drinkwitz is low-key building in Columbia. It’s a whole different level to be top-two in the SEC. Being one of the top pair in the best conference in America means you’re automatically one of the elite teams in the country. Mizzou just has miles to go to reach those heights.

The Tigers are one of the six SEC teams to reach a championship game since they joined the conference, winning the SEC East in 2013 and 2014. Wildly enough, Missouri would’ve qualified for both of those games in a division-less SEC. With Chase Daniel behind center, Mizzou did reach two Big 12 title games in 2007 and 2008, losing to Oklahoma both times. In the soon-to-be 16-team SEC, there will be too many heavy hitters for MU to move around.

Staying in the SEC East, the Gamecocks are in a similar position to Missouri, with too many good teams in the room to make an elite impact. Bringing in Spencer Rattler from Oklahoma and teaming him up with Shane Beamer will draw some attention but will it move the Gamecocks in a direction that puts them in the upper echelon of the SEC? No chance. Honestly, the Steve Spurrier run from 2010-13 in Columbia set unrealistic expectations for what’s possible at South Carolina.

It was in 2010 when the Gamecocks made their only SEC Championship appearance, getting trounced by eventual-national-champion Auburn. Since Spurrier’s departure, only the 2017 South Carolina team got close to a return to a conference title game. It might be the closest the Gamecocks ever get again.

The only appearance from the soon-to-be-disbanded SEC West on this list. After this week’s dust-up between Alabama’s Nick Saban and Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher, alongside the advancements of Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss, and Arkansas, leaves a tremendously tough road for the Bulldogs to ever see a conference championship game again. Dak Prescott couldn’t lead Mississippi State to the helm, and he maximized his time in Starkville more than anyone.

The Bulldogs have made one SEC Championship appearance, a loss in 1998 to Tennessee. Mississippi State has only finished second in its division once since the turn of the century. That’s a long wait for glory with no end in sight.

Gone are the days of Calvin Johnson and Roman Reigns (Joe Anoaʻi). The Yellow Jackets play their home games mere miles from where the SEC Championship Game is played in Atlanta. Yet they can’t replicate any of that championship success. Georgia Tech’s one ACC Championship Game victory in 2009 was vacated due to NCAA violations.

Match that with three championship game losses in 2006, 2012, and 2014 and you have the present state of GT, where a home game against Georgia turned into a road game last season. The Yellow Jackets haven’t put even the slightest dent into the ACC championship picture in years and that’s from the easier division to win, without Clemson or Florida State in their way.

The Blue Devils have only made one ACC Championship Game appearance, getting blown out by eventual-national-champions Florida State in 2013. In the roulette that is the ACC’s Coastal Division, Duke hasn’t broken through and with more competition, that route to a title game becomes much harder.

Even with a new direction for the program with the first season of Mike Elko on the sidelines, his background as Texas A&M’s defensive coordinator won’t be enough to overcome a jam-packed ACC.

I’ll admit this is a weird pick from the start. The Wildcats have made two Big Ten title game appearances over the past four seasons. Northwestern has a solid head coach in Pat Fitzgerald who knows how to maximize his roster despite not having the obvious recruiting and geographical advantages the heavy hitters from the Big Ten have. A large portion of Northwestern’s conference foes haven’t even made it to a title game.

Yet those two losses in 2018 and 2020 to Ohio State, with the rest of the competition from the Big Ten, make a return to a title game that much harder. Once divisions are disbanded, Northwestern’s easier path from the Big Ten West will be gone and the chances the Wildcats make it back plummet.

Coming off a 1-11 season in Jedd Fisch’s first year with the Wildcats, a long road to college football relevance exists in Tucson without the dissolution of the Pac-12’s divisions. Now with those gone, Arizona’s wait for a return to a conference championship game may be permanent. When’s the last time you remember anything special about the Wildcats? It’s been a long time.

Arizona was the No. 8-ranked team in the country heading into the 2014 Pac-12 title game and then got blown out by Oregon in its one previous appearance. That was still a four-loss team, and the Wildcats have lost at least six games in every full season since, not to mention an 0-5 mark in the shortened 2020 season.