NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Quarterback Diego Pavia ran for a first down only to stop at the LSU 1, sacrificing a chance to pad his stats to ensure Vanderbilt could run out the clock for a big Southeastern Conference win.
It's the type of smart decision coach Clark Lea wants as he looks for every possible edge. The moves have never been more crucial than now.
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“I feel like I’m coaching in the NFL now,” Lea said Tuesday. “I feel like every game I’ve got to be dialed into the situations and I’ve got to be on point to make sure we’re putting the team in position to be successful.”
Read between the lines and what Lea is saying is that his team is competitive in far more games than it used to be. Vandy hasn't been this good in years — and the Commodores are not alone. Look at the standings and the rankings and teams like Georgia Tech, Texas Tech, Indiana, SMU and Cincinnati are in the mix for conference titles and playoff berths.
The transfer portal and NIL money have helped level the playing field across college football with talented players able to move around rather than waiting their turns at traditional powers. The result is the type of parity that makes the NFL must-see TV with the competition tighter than ever, especially at Power Four conferences.
Southeastern Conference games currently have an average margin of victory of 10.0 points a game, which is on pace for the slimmest for any power conference since at least 2000 and the SEC's lowest since 11.2 in 2006. The NFL itself has an average margin of victory of 10.1 points per game going into Week 7.
It's a far cry from the SEC average margin of victory between 2010 and 2023, when it was at least 16.7 points for league games.
“A lot of people probably are talking about there’s more parity than it’s ever been,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said. “And I think that’s exciting for the game.”
Not confined to the SEC
The advent of the name, image and likeness era in July 2021 sent money flowing into college sports and the impact has been immense. Combined with loosened transfer rules — players no longer have to sit out a season at their new school — the result has been college free agency, which hundreds of athletes changing schools every season, often lured by lucrative, booster- and sponsor-backed NIL deals.
In that first season of NIL in 2021-22, the margin of victory was 18 points for the Big Ten, 15.7 points for both the SEC and Pac-12, 15.2 for the Big 12 and 14.1 for the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Now the ACC has an average margin of 13 points per victory with the Big 12 at 14.5 points and the Big Ten at 15.5 points.
LSU coach Brian Kelly, whose Tigers lost 31-24 to Vanderbilt last week, pointed toward last week's slate of SEC games: Kentucky took then-No. 16 Texas to overtime before losing. Auburn lost in overtime to Missouri. Arkansas forced Texas A&M, the only undefeated team left in the SEC, to pull out a 45-42 win.
“I wouldn’t stand up here and say, ’Hey, all these teams are good because they got money.' That’s disingenuous,” Kelly said. "But it does play into it. There’s no doubt about it, and I think we see that within the SEC.”
Money matters
Ohio State won the national championship last season and much was made about how much NIL played a role in stacking the roster with talent. Texas Tech's roster is reportedly filled with NIL millionaries to augment the revenue-sharing distributions of up to $20.5 million allowed for each school under the House settlement.
The Red Raiders are 6-1 coming off their first loss, 26-22 at Arizona State, with a path still open to the Big 12 title game and a College Football Playoff berth.
In a terrible year for Wisconsin, athletic director Chris McIntosh sent a letter to season-ticket holders committing to spending more money on infrastructure, staff and, yes, to attract and retain athletes.
“In this new era of collegiate athletics, the clear reality is that high expectations must be matched with an equal level of support,” he wrote.
Don't forget the transfer portal
Georgia coach Kirby Smart said the transfer portal gives teams a chance to add an elite group or find just the right quarterback or dynamic player to finish off a roster. Beyond more competitive games going down to the wire, there also are more new teams in the AP Top 25.
“That’s the life that we’re in, and that’s the world that we’re in,” Smart said. “I don’t know that it’s going to change. I think it’s football. I think it’s more interesting because games that are tighter are more interesting than games that aren’t.”
Lea said the transfer portal and NIL have been “huge” ar Vanderbilt. Going from 5-7 in 2022 to 2-10 in 2023 made clear the need for more resources.
“The minute we did it, this whole thing changed,” Lea said. “And it changed for the better.”
The Commodores are 6-1 and No. 10 in the country, their highest ranking since 1947. Key portal additions include Pavia, who cited his potential NIL earnings when he got a federal injunction to play this season, tight end Eli Stowers and defensive ends Khordae Sydnor and Zaylin Wood.
“That’s why we are where we are,” Lea said.
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AP Sports Writers Josh Dubow, Charles Odum in Georgia, Brett Martel in Louisiana, Cliff Brunt in Oklahoma, Schuyler Dixon and Stephen Hawkins in Dallas and Steve Megargee in Wisconsin contributed to this report.
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