Web Video / SEC Shorts

SEC Shorts is a web video series created and produced by Robert Clay and Josh Snead. Based in Birmingham, Alabama, they release skits that parody events in the world of college football, revolving around the exploits of the 14 teams in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), as well as providing witty commentary on the state of certain teams (usually SEC, but other teams may be brought in as a Butt-Monkey if they get embarrassed by an SEC team).

Videos are released weekly during the college football season from August to December and frequently cover the most prominent events from the previous weekend. Videos are released less regularly during the offseason and frequently tackle larger-scale topics.

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SEC Shorts' videos contain examples of:

• A Cappella: The "Smack Talk-A-Pella Grams" allow football fans to send a barbershop quartet to the homes of rival teams and make fun of them via song parody.
• Allegorical Character: Most SEC Shorts videos involve the actors representing a specific football program as a whole, or bowl games and championships. The actors have never attempted to impersonate a real player or coach; the only notable person to have been impersonated is Matthew McConaughey in "Mcconaughey hijacks stadium speaker after LSU game", but all we get of him is a voice behind a door.
• Amputation Stops Spread: Played for Laughs in "Auburn infiltrates Alabama's medical tent" as Auburn pretends to be a team doctor and recommends amputating Tua's lower leg to treat his swollen knee before the Iron Bowl.
• An Arm and a Leg: Played for Laughs in "Alabama fan set to donate ankle to Tua", where an Alabama fan intends to have his foot amputated and donate it to Tua to keep the injury bug away from him.
• And I Must Scream: When Alabama is hospitalized after losing to Clemson in the 2019 Championship.
  LSU: "So what you're saying is that he can hear and comprehend me, but with his jaw wired shut, he's lost the ability to retort."
• As Long as There Is One Man: A guest at the funeral for Florida's SEC East hopes tries to invoke this, pointing out Auburn and Texas A&M could beat Georgia and allow Florida to still win the division. Auburn immediately dismisses the idea.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Throughout the entire 2021 NCAAF season, Georgia bickers with Hope over her tendency to get him excited for a chance to win a national championship only to have him blow the opportunity in painful fashion. However, after Georgia actually wins a national championship against Alabama, Hope says she's leaving to a team more in need of hope, leaving Georgia genuinely devastated.
• Barbershop Quartets Are Funny: The Smack Talking Barbershop Quartet is one of the funniest iterations of this trope in recent years.
• Brutal Honesty: The LSU talking tiger is very candid about LSU's poor performance against Alabama in 2018, to its owner's ire.
• Butt-Monkey: Every SEC team is bound to receive this treatment upon having a poor performance or embarrassing incident happen to them. Teams that are in the basement of the conference (like Vanderbilt and Arkansas) and teams that have had a hard fall from grace (like Tennessee) tend to receive the worst of this.
  • Although if one of the top teams loses, expect SEC Shorts to immediately make a skit at their expense (especially Alabama).
  • Non-SEC teams almost always get this treatment if they are portrayed in a video, particularly Notre Dame. If an SEC team loses to a nonconference opponent, expect a lot of jokes to be made at the SEC school's expense with only a mention at most of the other team.
  • The University of Texas is also a massive source of humor, especially following the news in July 2021 that they would be coming to the SEC along with the University of Oklahoma. In "Texas wants out of the SEC", the title school tries to shred their application to join the SEC after being blown out by Arkansas, who was thought as one of the weakest SEC schools.
• The Calls Are Coming from Inside the House: In "LSU calls up Alabama in horror film style", LSU is hiding in Alabama's kitchen when first calling them. LSU then sneaks out of the house after telling Alabama to look outside their window. They later tell Alabama to look outside it again, where they appear.
• Call-Back: In 2016, after LSU had lost to Alabama 10-0 in what was their sixth straight loss to the Crimson Tide, two depressed LSU fans try & fail to order a "Beat Bama Burger" from a local restaurant, being told it is only available when LSU actually beats Alabama. In 2022, following a stunning victory over Alabama, LSU arrives at Bama's home, seemingly being a graceful winner, to bring him lunch to show no hard feelings exist. Bama is thankful...until he sees it's none other than a Beat Bama Burger.
• Courtroom Episode: "Texas A&M cross-examines that 'touchback' pylon"
  • Another one is "Tennessee sues to never play Alabama in football again", which ends unsuccessfully for the former.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: The 2023 national championship between Georgia and TCU, a Big XII school, is an absolute slaughter, with Georgia winning by a 65-7 margin. In Georgia and TCU go through Playoff exit interview, TCU, wrapped in bandages and unable to move, makes passive-aggressive comments about implementing a mercy rule and how he will be seeing a licensed grief-and-PTSD counselor for the severe beatdown he suffered. He even compares it to being a graphic murder on prime TV, though at the very least Georgia is far from a sore winner, being Innocently Insensitive at worst and even making sure not to reaggravate TCU's injuries while fist-bumping him (he instead shakes TCU's finger that isn't in a bandage).
• Cut the Juice: Georgia cuts the TV cable before the College Football Playoff can see the recap broadcast of their loss to South Carolina. It ultimately doesn't stop them from finding out anyways.
• Enemy Mine: In "Georgia begs for help from teams that beat Alabama", Georgia, facing Alabama in the 2022 national championship, brings together all the teams which have beaten Alabama even once since Nick Saban became their head coach (Clemson, LSU, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, South Carolina, and Auburn) in the hopes of getting advice to defeat the seemingly unstoppable Crimson Tide. This is especially notable since Auburn is one of Georgia's most hated rivals, having played them 127 times in what is called the "Deep South's Oldest Rivalry". Then again, Auburn hates Alabama even more due to their status as in-state rivals who play each other every year in what is called the Iron Bowl
• Evil Phone: LSU calls Alabama for the purpose of tormenting them over their weak schedule, and makes their threat known by having them see their poll position fall behind and then showing up outside their window. LSU reacts angrily whenever Alabama hangs up, and calls repeatedly, with Alabama ultimately taking the call each time despite the distress.
• Faux Horrific: In the 2022 Halloween episode, two Tennessee fans go into a haunted house meant to terrify any fan of the Volunteers. But since they are undefeated and had finally beaten their hated foe Alabama after a 15-year losing streak, they're unfazed by any of the attractions. But just when they are about to go back to ask for a refund, they suddenly run into their worst nightmare...a midwestern reporter who will cast his Heisman vote for a Big 10 player rather than Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker. They both scream in horror at the thought of an SEC player being robbed of such an award, which designates the best college football player in the entire country.^note  The Heisman trophy ultimately went to Caleb Williams, QB at the University of Southern California.
• Formula-Breaking Episode: After Tua Tagovailoa went down with a season-ending injury in the 2019 season, SEC Shorts released a completely serious video legitimately thanking him for his great career.
  • Also the tribute to Mike Leach to end the 2022 season recap.
• Get It Over With: Alabama initially resists LSU trying to bury them, but eventually lies down and accepts their fate after realizing their remaining schedule will get them into the Sugar Bowl at best.
• Have We Met?: The Playoff asks Tennessee if she knows him when he approaches her at a restaurant, given that Tennessee has never been within sniffing distance of it.
• Mood Whiplash: The tribute to Mike Leach at the end of the recap episode for the 2022 season brings the viewer from laughter to tears in seconds.
• Last Disrespects: Georgia doesn't hold back in the funeral for Florida's SEC East hopes.
  "You really hate to see it. Is there gonna be a 21-rushing yard salute or something?"
• Lesser of Two Evils: South Carolina is the only SEC team to root for either Alabama or Georgia in the 2017 Playoff, but they're only rooting for Alabama because they hate their opponent, Clemson, more.
  South Carolina: I mean, I hate [Alabama], but I hate Clemson more. Does that make sense?
  Alabama: Thanks for clarifying that.
• Literal Genie: In the SEC Fairy Godmother episode, Texas A&M wishes for a schedule that'll impress the Playoff selection committee. They get a schedule so difficult they consider it to be a guaranteed path to the Liberty Bowl.
• Make the Dog Testify: Texas A&M tries to prove that a touchback turnover in their game against Clemson was actually a fumble out of bounds by cross-examining the end zone pylon. Downplayed as the pylon is able to speak.
• Men Act, Women Are: Seen in a lot of videos, as teams are typically personified by male actors while females represent bowl games or the Playoff, although several videos still have women playing active roles.
• Oh, Crap!: Georgia's reaction when the SEC Championship arrives to mourn their loss to South Carolina in 2019, which they had tried to keep a secret from the Playoff.
  • Georgia has this reaction again in 2021 when Hope, who used to date him, comes to give him and his friends false hopes of a national championship after more than a decade of being stopped just short of one.
• One True Love: Parodied with Alabama and the National Championship in a Nicholas Sparks-esque trailer at the end of the 2017 season.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Alabama disguising themselves as Utah in order to get into the Playoff Club.
• Parody Commercial: Smack Talk-A-Pella Grams and the college football virtual reality headset.
• Parody Episode: The Big Ten Show/Big Ten Shorts, where the host hands the Big Ten a lot of Stealth Insults under the guise of promoting the conference as superior to the SEC. Appeared a few times in 2014, then returned in 2019 for an April Fool's Day special.
• Parody Product Placement: The Beat Bama Burger, which is only served in Baton Rouge when LSU beats Alabama.
• Polyamory: Georgia and Alabama both making the Playoff in 2017 is portrayed as this in the school dance skit, as the Playoff dances with both of them at the same time.
• Released to Elsewhere: An Oklahoma family tries telling their daughter that their National Championship went to live on a farm upstate, but quickly ends up admitting that it died at the hands of LSU.
• Sore Loser: After losing to their hated rival South Carolina in the last week of the 2022 regular season, eliminating them from playoff contention, Clemson takes the College Football Playoff hostage to try and force an immediate expansion from four teams to twelve (which won't happen until 2024) so they can get in.
  Police Officer: Expand to 12 teams?! Aren't you afraid of 3, maybe even 4 SEC teams making it?
  Clemson: ...collateral damage!!
• Thousand-Yard Stare: What Texas does when Texas A&M reminds them of their loss to Maryland, complete with sad music in the background.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: After being the butt of numerous skits for years, including multiple videos in the early 2019 season, Tennessee finally got their moment as SEC Shorts honored their midseason turnaround and securing of bowl eligibility by making them the star of a triumphant Rocky parody.
  • The same occurs to Arkansas in 2021, when solid wins over Texas and Texas A&M help them to move out of the FBS basement as they are ranked in the top 10 in the AP Poll.
• Tranquil Fury: In How Georgia fans deal with Hope, Hope tries to get together with a Georgia fan. The latter, furious at her for constantly giving hope that Georgia would compete for a national championship, has a calm look on his face whilst repeatedly spraying her eyes with pepper spray.
• Typecasting: If Alabama or Auburn are in a video, Josh and Robert will likely respectively play as them, due to respectively being alumni of those schools.