Perception is reality, and the SEC needs to start winning again before it continues to puff out its chest

With SEC Media Days now squarely in the rearview, each of the 16 teams from the Southeastern Conference will prepare for a pivotal year for the league.

It might sound crazy to most fans who don't have a team in the SEC, but it's been three years since the conference has won a national championship, and the natives are getting restless.

So restless, in fact, that they've resorted to all sorts of mental gymnastics about why the SEC is still the dominant conference in college football.

MISSOURI'S ELI DRINKWITZ BECOMES LATEST SEC COACH TO MAKE RIDICULOUS COMPLAINTS ABOUT BIG TEN SCHEDULES

Before I go any further, I have to point out that I am biased towards the SEC as a Florida Gator fan and I have defended the conference on numerous occasions.

But hearing some of the things being said as to why the league is still on top despite the Big Ten winning three straight natties is a bit hard to swallow, and it all culminated in the former Don of the SEC, Nick Saban, dropping this gem at Media Days on Thursday.

I want to make one thing perfectly clear: Saban is right, in a sense.

Top to bottom, the SEC is deeper than the Big Ten.

The SEC also has more talent than the Big Ten, based on both recruiting rankings and NFL Draft numbers.

The gap has closed, especially at the top, but the numbers still favor the SEC as a whole.

LANE KIFFIN MAKES RIDICULOUS EXCUSES FOR SEC'S POOR RECENT PERFORMANCE IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF

All of that may be true, but in college football, perception is reality, and the SEC is doing itself no favors by doing all of this talking without backing it up in the College Football Playoff.

I mentioned an SEC team hasn't won a national championship in three years, but it's even worse than that.

Last year, no team from the SEC had a win over another Power 4 program from outside of the conference in the CFP.

Alabama and Ole Miss beat Oklahoma and Georgia, respectively, but those were obviously intraconference matchups.

Sure, the SEC may still have the deepest conference top to bottom, but all the blustering from within the league just sounds like coping to any of the outsiders.

No one will take these claims seriously until the SEC gets back to the mountain top.

I reject theories like "the SEC is dead" or "The SEC and Big Ten aren't even close anymore," but fans need to acknowledge the fact that the league has some work to do to get back to its pre-2023 run of dominance.

That may never happen again, especially given the proliferation of talent in the NIL and transfer portal era, but in the meantime, the league needs to stop burying its head in the sand.

Talk is cheap. Go out there and start winning Playoff games and knocking the Big Ten from its perch.