Joel Klatt roasts SEC: Nick Saban isn't there 'with his big old coattails for you to ride as a conference'

But as hard as it is to believe, 2020 is now six years ago, and the times have changed. Dramatically. The Big Ten has won three consecutive National Championships, starting, coincidentally, when name, image and likeness rules were changed allowing college football players to get paid by outside collectives. Not only has the Big Ten won three in a row, but the SEC hasn't reached the championship game since 2022.

SEC teams were 1-8 during the 2025-2026 bowl season against teams from other conferences, and 0-3 in the playoff against other Power 4 programs. Despite those obvious realities, along with plenty of other unflattering statistics, at the conference's recent spring meetings, Commissioner Greg Sankey and other prominent figures were adamant that they remain, by far, the country's best conference.

There are some who agree with that sentiment, and others who don't, and based on some comments made by FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt, he's squarely in the latter category. Why? Because Nick Saban's retired, and the conference can't ride his "big old coattails" anymore.

"What did we get? Propaganda. Awesome," he continued. "Let's start with what Greg Sankey said, and it was basically, 'hey, we're the best.' That is false. They are not by far the best conference in college football. And candidly, I don't even know if you can call them the best conference in college football."

Klatt added that the "data" shows that the Big Ten has passed the SEC, and those who doubt that are predisposed to support the SEC or its schools.

"Why don't we just go to the data, why don't we call balls and strikes, because here's the thing: at a meeting like that, Greg is saying this to a group of writers who largely want that to be true. If you believe what he said, deep down in your heart, it's because you want to believe what he said. You don't want to see the data, you don't want to see the truth.

"And that's fine, and that makes college football great. If you're a fan and you're mad right now because you sense what I'm about to talk about, and you're thinking to yourself like, 'no way, here he goes,' that's fine, because the passion in our sport is what makes our sport great. What the data suggests is that what Greg said, is absolutely false. The Big Ten is 4-0 over the SEC over the last three playoffs. 4-0 is not a small thing now."

It's Sankey's job to ignore these results and point to metrics he prefers. But it's the job of those on the outside to be honest about where the SEC currently sits. Because activism from Sankey and other coaches has already impacted the selection committee. Alabama's inclusion in the 2025-2026 field proves it. And it's why Klatt's right to call it out for what it is, propaganda.