The SEC has fallen back to earth.
A .500 record and losses to the B1G and Big 12 in the bowl games will do that.
Losing to TCU, Georgia Tech and Wisconsin on the bowl games' biggest stages humbled the mighty SEC - the SEC West even moreso.
From the SEC West alone:
Ole Miss lost (badly).
Alabama lost.
State lost.
LSU lost.
Auburn lost.
Only Texas A&M and Arkansas managed bowl victories.
Whatever spell the SEC West had on college football, it is now officially broken.
So what now?
The SEC has been humbled, but it hasn't fallen beneath the Big 12 and the B1G. If anything, those conferences demonstrated that they have risen to the SEC's level of competitiveness.
That's not necessarily bad, and it was probably inevitable. The SEC couldn't stay on top unfettered forever. We knew that, right?
But in the eyes of voters and Playoff Committees the SEC lost its edge this bowl season. That is bad, and there will be negative consequences. Don't expect half the SEC West to be in the Top 10 again anytime soon. And don't look for benefits of the doubt to be given to one and two-loss SEC teams next year. The SEC has been proven mortal. Now it'll have to prove itself all over again.