For the second consecutive year, the distribution of college football national titles in the nation stands at zero for the SEC and one for everybody that’s not the SEC.

But for the first time since 2005, the SEC didn’t even have a stake in the national title game. Alabama had its shot but was ousted by the Buckeyes in a game that, looking back now, probably shouldn’t qualify as an upset. And even beyond that, the upper echelon of the SEC had a pretty forgettable bowl season.

Not only was Alabama out-big-boy-football-ed by Ohio State, but Auburn was also out-shootout-ed by Wisconsin. And Mississippi State was out-feel-good-story-ed by Georgia Tech. And LSU was out-Christian-ed by Notre Dame. And, well, I’m not quite sure that Ole Miss was even aware that it was supposed to play a football game against TCU.

No matter what Paul Finebaum and SEC fans will preach to you, know this: The old king is gone.

SEC diehards won’t accept it right away, but then again, they never will (yes, Shawn Tuteja, I’m looking right at you).

“We have the best coach in college football! RAWL TIDE!” Saban got outcoached by Bob Stoops and Urban Meyer on the biggest stages of the nation in two straight years. Try again.

“Your players can’t match up physically against our big Southern boys!” Alabama, Auburn and Mississippi State were physically dominated by Ohio State, Wisconsin and Georgia Tech (!!!). Can you please repeat that with a straight face?

“Teams outside of the SEC play garbage schedules! Y’all wouldn’t stand a chance in an SEC schedule!” Yes, please tell me more about how playing Coastal Carolina and Sam Houston State in place of a ninth conference game puts your schedules on an elevated tier, while Oregon schedules Michigan State and Stanford is still obligated to play Oregon, Washington, USC, UCLA and Notre Dame every season.

The most important thing about the College Football Playoff this season wasn’t just the fantastic football games that it provided; it showed that there is very real, tangible parity among the top conferences in college football. Yes, the SEC won seven titles in a row, but that was already two years ago. College football doesn’t live in history; it lives in the present. In the present, the powerhouse of other conferences proved to be equivalent to the powerhouses of the SEC (or better), and middling teams of the SEC were just about on par with middling teams of other conferences (Arkansas and Georgia notwithstanding).

With the rest of the major conferences seemingly having caught up to the SEC, there’s really no single conference that benefits from this — not even the Big Ten or the Pac-12.

That’s why I always disliked the #BackThePac movement heading into this year’s College Football Playoff. I really don’t believe there’s any substance behind the “if Oregon wins, the Pac-12 looks better” argument that many people cite (and they’re our Pac-12 enemies, no less!).

Ohio State winning the championship cemented the Buckeyes’ status as the best team in the nation. What that victory did not do was cement the Big Ten as the best conference in the nation. One big win does not a strong conference make. (I mean, just look at the ACC, which people still treated as a joke through the season despite FSU’s national title.)

While the Big Ten did end up having a successful bowl season, Ohio State’s title was just the icing on the cake; huge wins by Michigan State and Wisconsin over elite teams from other Power five conferences had already given the Big Ten some bragging rights.

And similarly, Oregon winning the national title wouldn’t have done much to change the perception of the Pac-12 around the nation. Everybody already expects the Pac-12 to be one of the better conferences in the country, year in and year out. The Pac-12 looks strong no matter what.

And that should be good enough, because right now, it’s impossible to crown any one conference as the best in the country. We saw during the playoff that our preconceptions about conference strengths based on the regular season hold little to no sway come the postseason because honestly, there’s no way to objectively compare strengths of schedules in different conferences given the dynamic and almost completely separate natures of those schedules.

The Pac-12 gaining favor would only really matter if a one-loss Pac-12 team were in danger of being left out of the playoff in the future, and that’s almost certainly not happening given where this conference stands right now. The fact that Oregon creamed Florida State and made the title game should be enough to make the case for the Pac-12, and while an added championship certainly wouldn’t have hurt, it definitely wouldn’t have helped all too much, either.

Despite what I said earlier, I firmly believe that the SEC was the best conference in the country from top to bottom in the last several years because it had the sustained success to back up that moniker. But that’s over now. Oregon was good this year, to be sure, but the Pac-12 — and any other conference, including the SEC, for that matter — has a long way to go to be able to firmly call itself the best in the land.

Let’s stop arguing about something that’s impossible to objectively decide in today’s college football landscape and just sit back and enjoy the show. It’s a lot better that way.

Do-Hyoung Park might have woken up to an Auburn Tiger in his dorm room this morning courtesy of Shawn Tuteja to that SEC fans are still nothing to mess with. Give Do your tiger training tips at dpark027 ‘at’ stanford.edu.