I think what’s happening in the SEC is with all the millions being pumped into the NIL and Recruiting, the talent level has evened out, especially with Texas and Oklahoma coming into the league, heck even Vanderbilt is not a pushover anymore, they are buying players and spending money on their stadium.
If you look at the rosters of a lot of teams in the SEC, you will see key players who were recruited via the portal making big statements at SEC schools.
One of UF’s better pass rushers is from Northern Illinois.
If you are a stud player a lower-level school or conference and want to play in a top-level conference like the SEC, why not use the portal to get some nice NIL money while getting seen more often because of TV and play in front of packed stadiums every week.
Plus if you were a 5-star recruit and went to Georgia or Alabama and are sharing time with other 5-star recruits, you are tempted to leave and play somewhere else for NIL money and get more playing time.
Add all that up and the talent level has evened out a lot, making for much closer games where anything can happen.
Excellent point and it does make it much more exciting.
While I agree with your premise, I wouldn’t call Gumbs one of UF’s better pass rushers. Banks yes....though he was from Louisville. Sapp yes though he was one UF signed out of high school. Gumbs is a good player and very athletic....IMO still has some development ahead of him given how recent his switch to Defense was.
But yeah, guys who were overlooked in recruiting and become stars at small schools now get found and have huge amounts of NIL money thrown at them by the bigtime programs.
It’s basically now like the NFL, on any given Saturday. Get used to seeing Natties for teams with 2 or even 3 losses.