Bret Bielema Takes Massive Swing At SEC For Strength Of Schedule Data, Trolls Ole Miss Fan With Facts
The Illinois coach took to social media with facts, and playful trolling.
The ongoing debate over what the college football playoff format should look like following the 2025 season has led to a number of people taking shots at the SEC over the past few days. This comes after the conference decided to release documents about their strength of scheduling, which were really just a waste of paper.
On the final day of SEC Spring Meetings in Florida, Commissioner Greg Sankey concluded his press conference by having a seven-page document passed out to media members in attendance.
What was included in the documents? A number of different data points that the SEC was hoping to show how hard its strength of schedule has been over the last number of years, as commissioners across college football work to come to an agreement on what the playoff format should be moving forward.
At the center of this discussion is the new format of the week, which is the 5+11 model. This would see five automatic bids handed out, with eleven at-large spots up for grabs. I think it's safe to say that some coaches are finding this to be an easy way to attack the SEC, and rightfully so.
The latest comments came from Illinois head coach Bret Bielema, who took to social media on Friday to poke fun at the SEC, while also making a few points in the process.
"Great work," Bielema started his social media post with. "Headed into the weekend maybe have this EXTREMELY talented working group look at running the numbers on: 1- the last 2-3 years where legal NIL and portal transfer rules have balanced rosters like never before 2- look at head to head in the same time frame head to head with Power 4. Especially with a possible B1G vs SEC challenge that is being discussed.
"3- and there is no better reality than recent history for reality. Maybe 2025 season, playoffs and bowl matchups head to head."
And when an Ole Miss fan decided to go after the Illinois coach for his record in the SEC at Arkansas, Bielema decided to choose social media violence against ‘Rebelman98’, which even garnered a laugh from current Rebels coach Lane Kiffin.
How can you not be entertained by this banter?
Coming off back-to-back national championships, the Big Ten conference is currently at the forefront of these CFP discussions, even though you aren’t hearing much from commissioner Tony Petitti. While some college football pundits want to make light of the Big Ten's overall strength of schedule, they have the hardware to back up their talk.
If Others Want This 5+11 CFP Format, The SEC And Big Ten Should Welcome This 16-Team Model With Arms Wide Open
As for what comes next in this ongoing debate over the college football playoff, a meeting with conference commissioners and CFP leaders in June will see all of them in the same room to discuss the future. Maybe we will get some type of clarity coming out of that meeting, with the clock ticking.
For Bret Bielema, he's looking forward to the next time the SEC decides to prove how tough their conference is.
"Can't wait for that press release…. #ILL"
Let me know what you think about this CFP debate. Email me at Trey.Wallace@OutKick.com