D3Fan

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NIL began in July 2021.

From the 2022 draft to present the SEC (with less teams mind you) has had 265 players drafted vs B10 222 and the ACC 126.

My main point is supported by the evidence - the NIL has not neutered the SEC in its overall talent depth vs the other conferences. The SEC still has the most talent, their lack of success is primarily coach related in the big 2.

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So many flaws in this. Clearly NIL in 2024-26 is different from NIL in 2021. You have to look at the most recent NFL draft data. The Big Ten will crush the SEC in high draft picks this year. So you can't argue the talent is the same.

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I am not saying it did not happen. But I don’t believe with absolute certainty it did like many of you. I am simply a skeptic.

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Serious question. Do you think the earth is flat?

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The SEC will still lap the field in the NFL draft.

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The latest ESPN first round projection has Ohio State alone with only one less first round pick than the entire 16 teams of the SEC. Is this your idea of the SEC "lapping the field"?

Here's the bottom line. You want to cling to some fantasy that the SEC wasn't cheating more with illegal payments. I'll never convince you otherwise. Fine. So all we have is data from when NIL became legal plus of course, the expanded playoff. Until the SEC can outperform the Big Ten, it will be hard to dispute my allegations. But people want to believe what they want to believe. Someone on this board actually thinks SEC teams have as much financial resources for athletics as Big Ten teams. That's seriously on par with Greg McElroy's assertion that we faked the moon landing. I'm all for NIL caps for the sake of parity. But let's not pretend the SEC has equal financial resources to the Big Ten. Iowa is a lower tier school in the Big Ten financially and they are far wealthier than LSU, Auburn, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Alabama. That should put it in perspective.

Here is just one source. There are others. The SEC has had the most recruiting infractions.
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Iowa twice as wealthy as Auburn?? GTFOH!!! As much as I dislike those barners, that’s just stupid. Auburn has plenty of billionaires like Tim Cook CEO of Apple, the Yella Fella guy who’s a billionaire are.:: and not to mention the Gorrie family, who one of the largest construction companies on the planet. It would take nothing for them to give a hundred million. All schools have billionaires, it’s just how they spend their money. Maybe the SEC schools aren’t willing to sell their souls for a good player that they know will screw them in the end.

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So much to unpack here. First, there's no need to guess. Why don't we look up the endowments of both schools. Iowa's $3.77 billion. Auburn's is $1.4 billion. Does that sound like double to you? There are no perfect measures of "school wealth" but endowment is usually considered the best proxy. \

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Second, you are implying that SEC schools won't overpay for athletes like they are somehow being more responsible with their money? HA HA HA. The Big Ten will blow the SEC out as far as legal spending so now the SEC is the responsible one?

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So it’s just an assertion with no proof. Nice. I should definitely take message board guy D3Fan’s word for it. The modern NIL era shows that pretty much any player will chase the bigger bag. How do you think OSU, Oregon, Penn State et al were getting big time players from the south during the earlier era, my man?

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This must be what it is like to try and "prove" to Greg McElroy that we did indeed go to the moon. Let's look at some data points shall we?

1. How many SEC teams have been busted for infractions in the last 50 years? Look it up - the SEC has been busted the most and that's of course just for when they were caught.

2. Let's look at the culture. The SEC cares about winning only . The Big Ten actually requires that all of their schools are members of the AAU indicating a certain level of academics. See point 1.

3. Finally, who has been winning since NIL made paying players legal?

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In detail, tell how it was “unequal cheating” before. We’re all those big brains up north incapable of coming up with paying under the table? Or are you suggesting that they were all pure as the snow? You keep making the claim. Back it up, big boy.

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If you think the SEC was not cheating more than other power conferences, you must get your same news from wherever Greg McElroy gets his news.

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And yet the SEC had more players drafted last year for the 19th straight year and the most in the first round. Crazy that the SEC still has more talent.

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Have you seen the NFL draft projections this year? Barely any SEC in the first round, especially the top 15 picks. This is the NIL era with above board payments to players. Everyone can equally cheat now.

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Now the Big 10 can outspend others.

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Your argument is working off the assumption that the SEC wasn't outpaying others in the past. I think we know that is not true (among many exhibits of evidence, see LSU's "strong arse offers" made by Will Wade).

Now schools can openly spend. The SEC thought they wanted to compete toe to toe with other conferences as far as resources because they thought they had more willingness to spend. I guess they found out the hard way that is not true.

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Yep.
Those Rhodes Scholarship finalists are all a bunch of dumbasses.

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McElroy was a Rhodes finalist off the strength of being a top athlete plus a very good GPA at Alabama's business school. In terms of raw brain power, he's not at the level of your average Georgia Tech engineering major. But his overall package is undoubtedly enough to interview for a Rhodes because they love the scholar-athlete package.

So to say that he can't be dumb about this moon landing thing because he interviewed for the Rhodes is a pretty idiotic take. You do not have to be a genius to get a 3.85 at Alabama in any major much less a business major.