Does this mean the SEC era is finally over? Between 2006 and 2023, the SEC won 13 of 17 national titles. The league’s superiority was so self-evident. However, the Big Ten came off as a massive threat to the SEC as they won two times in a row. Forget the scorecard. It looks like the high school football stars are now canceling the SEC conference. The reason? SEC is claimed to be falling to hit the mark for academic standards. At least Georgia safety Josh Moore feels so. 

On October 23, Moore dropped a clip of his own take to clarify for fans over the choice of joining a G5 school, the Florida Atlantic Owls, in his case. The caption of the monologue read, “Why I never committed to an SEC school🤷🏽‍♂️.”

Moore started by exposing the real reason: “I did not join an SEC school because I’m not a fan of academics. And also full transparency, because I know someone’s going to bring it up, I didn’t have that many SEC offers.”

A ranking exists known as the NCAA APR Rankings 2025: Academic Progress Rate Scores By Conference. How does the calculation work? Each student-athlete receiving athletically related financial aid earns one point for staying in school and one point for being academically eligible. The next factor is taking the points they earn, dividing by the total points possible, and multiplying the result by 1,000.

As per the May 6, 2025, findings, the Alabama Crimson Tide football team led the 2023-24 session list with a score of 998. If we take SEC’s competitors like the Big Ten, Ohio State’s latest APR is 1000. Even though SEC in the newest report is ahead of Josh Moore’s G5 school, Florida Atlantic Owls, which stands at 947, maybe things were different when he joined back in 2022. However, we can rest assured when it comes to the academic best, SEC is still not the frontrunner. 

Moore shared, “And for quick reference, this was my top six posts I had in Northwestern, Boston College, Notre Dame, Stanford, Syracuse, and Duke. Obviously, I was also thinking about Georgia Tech and Vandy. The SEC offers I did have were Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt. And honestly, Vanderbilt checked all the boxes. It was close to home, and it was in Nashville, which is a cool city. But at the time, I really just wasn’t sure about Clark Lea yet, and I wanted to try something new.” 

The SEC conference may be lagging in terms of academic success. However, no one, from players to referees, can escape easily when acting against conduct and disciplinary issues.

SEC’s tough love in action

No one knows it better than Mike Elko’s Texas A&M Aggies. They fell prey to the SEC’s strict ruling. The Aggies pulled out a 45-42 victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks. However, the fourth quarter came with the biggest twist no one was ready for. With 12:55 left in the fourth, Arkansas punched a pass for a first down at the Aggies’ 12-yard line. But before the next snap, Tyreek Chappell of Texas A&M abruptly hit the turf, halting the game.

What made the SEC call out foul play in this? Steve Shaw, the national coordinator of football officials, stepped in to review the SEC‑submitted video. He brought up some alarming findings. Just seconds before Chappell went down, an Aggie staffer on the sideline had “signaled demonstratively to the player, pointing to the ground.” 

With this, the SEC concluded that Elko’s player had feigned an injury. The conference handed them a $50,000 fine. In another case, the SEC’s stringency about conduct made a Big Ten program optimistic. On October 22, the Official Ohio State DG confirmed the SEC’s latest bold call: “Ken Williamson was the head ref in the 2019 Fiesta bowl vs Clemson, has now been banned from SEC football games.” Ken Williamson was in charge of officiating for the Auburn vs. Georgia face-off on October 11. 

Referee Williamson drew attention for questionable penalty calls in Georgia’s comeback at Jordan-Hare Stadium. He flagged a targeting penalty on Auburn cornerback Kayin Lee with just over a minute left in the first half, which, after replay review, led to Lee’s ejection. On a crucial third-and-goal play from Georgia, officials ruled Jackson Arnold fumbled before scoring, a call that stood after review, adding to the debate over Williamson’s officiating in the first half. But what made the Ohio State fans celebrate the SEC decision?

December 28, 2019, remains a painful memory for Buckeyes fans, primarily because of referee Ken Williamson’s controversial targeting call. In the CFP semifinal against Clemson, Williamson flagged Ohio State nickelback Shaun Wade for targeting on a hit that had left Trevor Lawrence down for several minutes.

So, the SEC may stumble in the classroom, but they enforce discipline with zero tolerance on the field and off.