"The SEC Is Dead" And Other Overreactions From Week One

If there's one thing I've learned from being a college football fan for the majority of my 32 years on this Earth, it's that you should (almost) never overreact to Week 1 results.

But after watching every single team I was rooting against pull out victories this past weekend, I was left committing the very cardinal sin I told myself not to.

Luckily, for the purposes of my sanity, I am not alone.

A quick scroll through my X timeline told me all I needed to know about the overreactions taking place across social media, and I thought it would only be right if I shared them with you and commented on whether they were valid points or complete hysteria.

Buckle up, there will be hot takes ahead!

"The SEC Is Screwed"

It's been a whole lot of fun watching Big Ten fans crow about how overrated the SEC is and how they'll be lucky to get two teams into the playoffs and all, but this is a massive overreaction from everyone praying on the downfall of the best conference in college football for the past two decades (Outkick employees included).

People will point to losses by Texas and Alabama (more on them later) as irrefutable proof that the conference is on its way out to pasture, but a closer look shows us the SEC is still right there near the top as it has been for years.

Texas lost a road game to a preseason top five team by one touchdown while breaking in a new starting quarterback.

Just because Paul Finebaum named his cat after Arch Manning doesn't mean the kid was ready to play big-time competition.

For Christ's sake, the majority of Manning's playing time came against G5 competition and Mississippi State (who many would argue should probably be relegated to G5 status).

Texas still has an incredible defense - highlighted by the fact that they held the nation's best receiving corps largely in check on Saturday - along with a great stable of running backs, so expect them to be right there at the end of the season as Arch continues to grow.

As for the rest of the league, did everyone forget Georgia still exists?

How about LSU going into a hostile environment against a top-five team and going home with a W?

And don't forget about some of the other SEC darkhorses ranked in the top-25 expected to compete for playoff spots, like Oklahoma, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

The SEC is still deep and has just as much of a chance of winning it all as the Big Ten or any other league, so miss me with that "SEC is dead in the water" talk.

"The Transfer Portal Ruined Week 1 Excitement"

I've seen this theory floating around quite a bit after a lackluster week one relative to our expectations, and while it's worth exploring as I feel there is some validity to it, it still feels a little like an overreaction to me.

There is probably a good bit of merit to the idea that teams who went heavy in the transfer portal need a little longer to gel, I don't think that's why we had such a sloppy week one.

Teams playing below their standard is almost to be expected in college football early in the season.

We've seen plenty of teams look completely unrecognizable by the time they reach the end of the season, and that was before the transfer portal became as prevalent as it is today.

It's also worth noting that the two teams who had arguably the most impressive wins of week one (Miami and LSU), relied heavily on the portal to retool their roster and prevailed over teams like Notre Dame and Clemson who are famously portal resistant.

There are plenty of factors that go into teams performing poorly early in the season, but pinning it all on the portal is a little disingenuous.

"The Alabama Dynasty Is DEAD"

I saved this one for last because there might be some validity to these claims.

There is a chance this is a vintage week one overreaction, a la Max Kellerman declaring the Patriots dead during the Brady resurgence of the mid-2010's.

But let's call a spade a spade: Alabama's dynasty might be on life support.

It is entirely possible Florida State made a quantum leap this offseason and are a legitimate program now, but I don't think they would've been able to take down a vintage Bama team as they're presently constructed.

Watching a replay of the game, it's more than clear that the Crimson Tide's defense was poorly coached and woefully under-prepared for Florida State's offense and run-first quarterback.

And this isn't the first time Alabama has shown cracks in the armor since coach Kalen DeBoer arrived.

I didn't want to believe it when they lost to an undermanned Vandy team.

I made excuses when they went on the road and lost to a talented-but-flawed Oklahoma squad.

I even chalked it up to a "meaningless bowl game" when they were out-physicalled by Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl.

I've run out of excuses at this point.

Bama got manhandled by a "good-but-not-great" Seminoles team, and it might be time for the "Gumps" to face the facts.

As a card-carrying defender of the SEC's supremacy, that pains me almost as much as it must pain a Bama fan.