People keep wanting to crown the Big Ten or act like the SEC is slipping because Indiana won a title. That narrative is lazy. Look at the SP+ conference averages from last season. The SEC still placed six teams in the top 20 of overall SP+. The Big Ten had four. The gap between the top and bottom of the SEC is shrinking, sure, but the middle of the conference is still deeper than anywhere else.
Florida Gators finished 2025 ranked 42nd in SP+ and that was considered a down year for the program. That puts them firmly in the second tier of the SEC. The real story this summer is how the middle of the pack in this league has gotten violent. Kentucky, Auburn, Texas A&M, Ole Miss all finished within a few spots of each other in overall efficiency. The days of just showing up and winning eight games are over for everyone not named Georgia.
The conference hierarchy is shifting. Texas is legit at the top. Georgia is still Georgia. But the tier below them is a bloodbath. Florida has the talent to climb back into that top group if the new QB situation stabilizes. The SEC is not dead. It is just more competitive from top to bottom than it has ever been. That makes every conference game a war.