NIL was supposed to level college football, but now it’s just twisting conversation beyond reason. And Paul Finebaum did just that on ESPN First Take, downplaying Alabama’s 38-3 loss against Indiana while hammering Ohio State’s loss to Miami just because they spend $35 million on their roster. That selective logic didn’t sit well with the former LSU safety player, who didn’t hesitate to call out the SEC bias head-on.

“The two people that call for the most SEC bias in hell ever to now be like Alabama getting their face stumped in isn’t embarrassing?”

LSU former safety Ryan Clark said on ESPN First Take to Finebaum and Cam Newton. “That that isn’t the thing you’re most disappointed in? That Alabama is getting Alabamaed by hoop schools isn’t something that you look at and say, “That’s more disappointing than losing in a very close game to a really good team who also spent a ton of money in NIL.”

Sure, the Bucks spent $35 million on their roster and lost miserably against Indiana and Miami, but it was a close game where they fought back in the second half, finishing with a 14-24, whereas Alabama went three quarters without scoring a single point and ended up with just three points. And Finebaum’s ignorance of that fact just intensified Clark’s anger.

The SEC dominance is clearly fading with the NIL and transfer portal era taking over. Since 2023, no SEC team has won the national title, and even players are now making moves to teams that are paying them big amounts rather than making moves looking at head coaches or the SEC’s past records. Even Nick Saban pointed out the same thing, making it clear that “kids are not growing up wanting to go to Alabama.” That’s exactly what Clark is trying to get at.

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“The SEC has to admit that the NIL and the transfer portal have changed who you can beat,” Clark said. “No longer do people feel like, ‘I gotta go play for Kirby, I gotta go play for Nick, because that’s the only way to win a national championship and that’s the only way to get to the league.”

Now, Paul Finebaum has clearly defended the SEC many times. Back in August, when asked about who’s going to win this season’s national title, he didn’t think twice before putting out the Texas Longhorns’ name, putting shade on the Big Ten. But what’s ironic is Texas didn’t even make it to the playoffs this season. He constantly pushed for the SEC’s tough schedule even when Alabama got the first-round stop despite losing against Georgia, but Notre Dame was sitting out of the race.

Well, knowing their dominance, we can’t blame Finebaum. Alabama alone has 13 national championships, and the SEC overall has 28; 14 have come since 2000. But historically, the Big Ten has 32 titles, which is more than the SEC because it’s way older, founded in 1896, whereas the SEC was founded in 1933.

But now, the game has elevated more from the SEC and Big Ten; even G5 teams are making an impact. In season two, Tulane and James Madison entered the playoffs, showing that NIL and heavy investment can push any team’s luck and create chaos at the same time.

The transfer portal is bringing massive chaos to college football

The winter portal, which opened from January 2nd to January 16th, was made to slow things down and limit players’ movement and pay. But their momentum just intensified. Things got worse when, on December 30, the head of a power conference school’s NIL collective was already getting calls for roster changes.

“I’m on the phone almost every minute of the day and into the midnight hour of the night—abandoning our families and friends,” the collective’s head said.

Another collective head was getting close to 100 texts by 11 am last week. Agents are now sending a grocery list of players planning to enter the portal. And more than a dozen quarterbacks are expected to move, including teams that are competing in the playoffs.

This is creating even more chaos. Dan Lanning has been trying to address this for a while. On top of that, coaching changes made it even worse. With numerous firings and moves this season, players and staff members followed their head coaches, creating more problems for the program.

Adding more to the misery, okayers can now transfer as many times as they want, and now many arrive at new schools in the middle of the semester, creating academic and logistical problems. And above all, even with the House settlement’s $20.5 million share to athletes, the school is still adding third-party NIL deals like cars and luxury apartments.

Players like quarterbacks demand around $4 to $5 million alone, and that sometimes makes the roster cap go up to $35 million. So, even with all the rules, the transfer portal is just intensifying programs’ concerns.