ESPN’s Paul Finebaum has offered a rebuttal to Bret Bielema and the Illinois head coach’s nonchalant yet noteworthy comments about the SEC wanting to live in the past. Finebaum brought out the receipts, too, which don’t exactly put Bielema in the best light.
While speaking at Big Ten media days on Tuesday, Bielema elected to take a not-so-subtle shot at the Southeastern Conference.
“[SEC commissioner] (Greg) Sankey, I know he’s gotta protect the SEC, and they kinda wanna live in 2005 forever,” Bielema said while at the podium. “But, I think the forward thinking of where we are in college football is an awesome thing.”
Head coach Bret Bielema of the Illinois Fighting Illini speaks to the media during the 2026 Big Ten Football Media Days at Hilton Chicago on July 28, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
There is absolutely no valid argument to be had against the fact that the Big Ten sits on the throne of college football at the moment with programs from the conference winning three straight national championships. Sure, the SEC won the four before the Big Ten built its recent run, but in today’s reality, the Big Ten reigns supreme.
That, however, isn’t what Bielema said, he elected to take a jab at the SEC as a whole, which includes some of the most rabid fan bases in all of sports, for being stuck looking into the rearview mirror.
Head coach Bret Bielema of the Illinois Fighting Illini speaks to the media during the 2026 Big Ten Football Media Days at Hilton Chicago on July 28, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
The exact comments from Bielema are rather rich given the fact that he has a history of coaching in the SEC, which Finebaum was quick to remind people of in his response to the head coach.
“He never fails to be the village idiot at Big Ten Media Days,” Finebaum said during ESPN’s ‘Get Up’ on Wednesday. “I have no earthly idea where that came from, why he said it. First of all, 2005, since that moment in time, the SEC has only won 13 national championships.
“Let’s go back to Bret Bielema in the SEC at Arkansas. He didn’t make it. His last year, he was 1-8 in the SEC. His overall record in the SEC is 11-29. He was a complete and total disaster. But he always shows up there and gives us something to laugh about, but mostly to laugh at him.”
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ESPN/SEC Network Analyst Paul Finebaum is on set prior to the college football Playoff Semifinal game at the Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Ohio State Buckeyes on Dec. 31, 2022 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. (Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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Finebaum did make an error during his rebuttal.
Bielema wasn’t 1-8 in the SEC during his final season with the Razorbacks. He was actually 1-7, for whatever that is worth. His final campaign with the Hogs at 4-8 in 2017 did come on the heels of three straight winning seasons, but Bielema never came close to meeting expectations in Fayetteville during his five-year tenure, winning just 11 conference games.