Before NIL, most top players gravitated toward the SEC because the conference had more lenient admission pathways for athletes and offered the strongest pipeline to the NFL. If you wanted the best chance to go pro, the SEC was simply where you went.
Now, take a program like Indiana. They invested roughly $60 million into football and, after going nearly six decades without a Big Ten title, they were suddenly able to transform their roster in essentially a single cycle through NIL.
Yes, SEC schools can spend money too and have a ton of it — but basic market economics have changed. Now instead of having all the top recruits there is a lot more competition. With NIL, the landscape is driven by market size, donor pools, and bidding power, not just NFL exposure. There is now enormous financial opportunity outside the SEC, and players are increasingly choosing schools based on who pays the most, not where the traditional football prestige lies. Also other schools have money to spend and some like Indiana may see it as an investment to attract Donors & sponsorship deals etc.
I am a stats man, so here's some
stats. Numbers are down with recruiting for the SEC since NIL came to be and I think it will only get worse as a school like Indiana is going to profit from NIL and that can incentivize other schools to break the bank to lure talent from the SEC.
