Deep breaths, everyone. There are three SEC teams in the latest editions of the AP and Coaches polls. But it is Week 8. That does not necessarily mean the SEC is receiving three golden tickets to the College Football Playoff. (Nebraska, 6-1 on the year, is ranked 16th in both polls.)
It hasn't stopped the media from asking about it, though, and it hasn't stopped coaches from answering those loaded questions.
"I don't think that kind of relationship is good for college football. That's just my opinion," Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini said Monday. "Anytime you have a relationship with somebody, you have a partnership, you are supposed to be neutral. It's pretty hard to stay neutral in that situation."
The relationship Pelini describes is ESPN's partnership with the SEC in the SEC Network. But ESPN also has a relationship with Pelini's own Big Ten. And the ACC. And the Big 12. And the Pac-12. And every other FBS conference.
ESPN is the cartel that's proverbially pays off the police department, but they're also in business with the sheriff's office, the fire department, the mayor's office, the DEA, the public library and everyone on down to the local PTA.
"They play good football, and I know there is some good football played in some other conferences, too," Pelini said. "It's hard to say because you just don't see, unfortunately, in this day and age, a lot of crossovers. So you don't get a lot to make that decision on, to be able to compare and contrast. You have to go off what the media says to a certain extent and what some people say."
The good news for Pelini and the rest of the non-SEC loving world? There are seven weeks of football between now and Selection Sunday, and just because the writers and coaches have the SEC filling 75 percent of their hypothetical bracket doesn't mean the selection committee agrees.
We'll begin to find out a week from tomorrow when the committee reveals its first Top 25.