The mighty SEC has fallen on hard times. And even Paul Finebaum is ready to throw in the towel.

The legendary Alabama radio host and sports media personality has become the national face of the conference. And when it comes to college football tribal warfare, nobody waves the flag for their side quite like Finebaum. There’s a reason why he ranked first in our fall poll of the most biased personalities in college football.

But being the one person left to die on the hill of the SEC’s superiority complex is what Paul Finebaum is supposed to do. But at some point, the brutal truths of reality are strong enough to overcome even the SEC’s fiercest defense of their limitless hypothetical victories.

That date is January 6, 2026.

After the SEC has gone a collective 2-7 this bowl season against non-SEC competition and with Ole Miss their last hope in the College Football Playoff, Paul Finebaum finally threw in the towel on Tuesday’s edition of First Take. He said there was no way left to defend the SEC. It is a historic moment that will rival man walking on the moon and the first time Bear Bryant ever wore a houndstooth fedora.

“There’s no way to defend the SEC. It’s been terrible.” 😳@finebaum on if the SEC’s days of dominance are over in college football 👀 pic.twitter.com/xy0rFiphS6

— First Take (@FirstTake) January 6, 2026

“Amina, I’m under contract to disagree with you,” Finebaum stated. “Yes. I have been on that hill Stephen A. and I am getting destroyed. There’s no way to defend the SEC. It’s been terrible. I’m sure somebody at the SEC offices is whispering ‘don’t forget Ole Miss can win it all.’ And that would salve some of the wounds. But this has been a long year for the SEC.”

One of the main talking points for folks outside the SEC superiority complex is that the conference is artificially boosted by preseason rankings that overrate teams from the league because of the historic performances of teams like Alabama and Georgia. So when ranked SEC teams play each other, they are automatically seen as proof of the league’s strength. But as bowl season proved, it’s little more than a self-fulfilling prophecy whereas teams like this year’s Alabama are propped up on a house of cards that will fall the moment they actually get challenged by a team from elsewhere.

And that’s something that even Paul Finebaum admitted when looking at this year’s Crimson Tide, who got demolished by Indiana in the Rose Bowl. The “gauntlet” that they faced this fall featured two SEC ranked teams in Tennessee and Missouri who both lost their bowl games and failed to beat any team with a winning record this season.

“I kept wrapping my arms around Alabama and saying, ‘Stephen A. remember what they did, they went through that gauntlet in the middle of the year. Well, a lot of those teams they beat really weren’t very good after all. They lost in bowl games and they looked terrible. So it’s a rough year for the SEC. Ole Miss is it, regardless of the Lane Kiffin story which I know we’re going to talk about. But if Ole Miss loses Thursday night and I’m sitting around having to defend this league to you Stephen A. saying ‘no big deal that it’s three years without an SEC team in the national championship game’ there’s no defense. It’s been rough,” Finebaum declared.

The SEC being college football’s final boss has been a great storyline for college football over the years. But with the advent of the NIL era, the balance of power has firmly shifted and the SEC is no longer the dominant force they once were. Of course, ESPN will still push the SEC forward as the conference will still enjoy a tripleheader most Saturdays on ABC that will win the ratings battle. But it will be up to the voters to see if their true place in college football is finally reflected accurately in the weekly rankings for the 2026 season.