For the second straight year, the College Football Championship Game will not feature a team from the SEC as Ohio State takes on Notre Dame. After a dominant stretch of representation in the big game from 2016 to 2023, the SEC has been outshined by the growing parity of college football in back-to-back playoffs.
Despite a fresh change in scenery for the landscape of the sport, many college football fans have fond memories of rooting for – or against – the SEC super teams of the past decade. CFB juggernauts like Alabama and Georgia offered a polarizing product for fans across the country to tune into week in and week out.
At the 11th Annual Allstate Party at the Playoff on January 18, ex-Alabama star and college football analyst Greg McElroy spoke with me about the underrated value of CFB super teams ahead of the championship game.
“I do think that parity is valuable as long as we acknowledge having the ‘Death Star,’ if you will, is still of importance,” McElroy said. “We need that polarizing program that everyone loves or everyone hates, but you better feel something about that team that’s at the end of that run.
“As an Alabama guy, there are a lot of people that support Alabama but there are also a lot of people that really like to see Alabama lose. And I think that is valuable for the long run with where we’re at as a sport.”
McElroy’s proposed “Death Star” squad existed in the form of Nick Saban’s Bama teams that won six national championships in eleven years from 2010 to 2020. McElroy played quarterback for the Crimson Tide for four seasons, leading the 2009-10 Alabama team to an undefeated record and a national championship in his first season as a starter.
Although McElroy believes in the upside of having super teams in the sport, he also recognizes the beauty of how a team like Notre Dame has risen above the talent-heavy SEC and grinded its way to a championship opportunity.
“We just want the teams that are the most consistent to win the championship,” McElroy told me. “I think this system kind of rewards consistency, and we should celebrate that … I don’t think Notre Dame has the most talent right now, but they might be the best team. And that, I think, is celebrated by pretty much everyone that follows the sport.”
