For years, with the BCS and now the College Football Playoff, the rallying cry for disgruntled, disillusioned college football fans was "SEC bias!" Everyone who wasn't part of the SEC had the unoriginal thought that the fix was in and that ESPN and the brass of college football were in cahoots to promote the conference.
Even in years when other conferences managed to upstage the SEC, the river of SEC bias tears flowed with all the force of the Mississippi River.
NIL, the transfer portal, and a massive shift in conference alignment over the past few seasons has brought two things (and no, sanity among fans is not one of them) - some parity among the power conferences, and a whole new excuse for fans who feel left out.
With the first College Football Playoff rankings reveal in 2025, it seems that the ACC wasn't quite as powerful as once thought in August and September. Bad losses by teams perched at the top of the conference (looking at you Miami and Georgia Tech) suddenly have the ACC looking up at the Big 12.
Not the view ACC fans expected, apparently, and they let their feelings be known quite garrulously.
"This is tough on the ACC."@CoachNeuheisel thinks the ACC isn't getting the respect it deserves in the latest CFP rankings. pic.twitter.com/UWdzLoTEY1
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) November 5, 2025
You're gonna have a real uphill battle convincing people that the ESPN-beholden CFP Comittee wants to destroy the ESPN-aligned ACC while uplifting NBC-aligned Notre Dame. https://t.co/I61CHfyJ6F
— F. Kyle Fritzsche (@_BurningRiver) November 5, 2025
It's because the eSECpn CFP Committee has drastically devalued the ACC - making it a defacto G5 league. That started with the 2023 Snub of FSU. The ACC will only get one team in the playoffs. #CORRUPTION https://t.co/IwnTpizDbs
— UTAH NOLE 🍢 (@Utah_Nole) November 5, 2025
CFP rankings reaction:
— Brayden Carroll (@braydendcarroll) November 5, 2025
- Indiana is the best team in the country
- ACC is so undervalued by the committee it's insane
- Tennessee with no decent wins and three losses? But no Memphis, no JMU, no San Diego State? Why?
- Texas demolished Oklahoma but they are #11 and #12. Odd
Notre dame is not a playoff team and I think the ACC should have 2-3 teams in the playoffs but what do I know
— Cayden⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@CaydenMcdonald5) November 5, 2025
GO JACkets 🐝#espn #CFP #CollegeFootball
CFP committee gave the Big 12 a lot of love and hated the ACC. Interesting…
— John Leone (@_johnleone) November 5, 2025
Some even blame...well...the ACC?
@ACCFootball & officiating should be ashamed of themselves. They thought by rigging games they would fool people into thinking their conference has many contenders. Poor officiating has screwed a few solid teams out of playoff contention & no ACC team in the top 12. 🤡#cfp #ACC
— Alberto Romero (@ARomero_WX) November 5, 2025
And then, of course, there's plenty of this sentiment, which only fuels the "everyone hates us" mantra that ACC fans now posterize.
I appreciate the CFP committee for recognizing that the ACC is a terrible conference.
— George Stoia III (@GeorgeStoia) November 5, 2025
Texas being the first out because the ACC and a G5 need to have teams in the CFP is disgusting and needs to be changed. I mean, where’s the PAC 12 autobid? The CFP is still broken. Also, BYU and TT are ranked way too high. There is no SoS or SoR. https://t.co/PFdUfIWtMy
— Jeff “Jelly” Stacks (@StacksJelly) November 5, 2025
So is it SEC bias anymore? Or have we now officially moved on to the ACC shuffling their feet in the dirt whining, "nobody likes us"?