Question:
Is the SEC really the best conference, or is it just "hype"?
anonymous
2011-12-01 15:15:00 UTC
SEC always plays a weak non-conference, almost unanimously. The question ESPN wont ask, nor any other big marketing company, is what makes the SEC so good? They play week non-conference teams and then ALWAYS beat up on teams like Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Miss St, Tennessee, and (w/o Cam Newton) Auburn. Half the league are cupcakes that are split up so perfectly that a decent Alabama/LSU/Arkansas can reasonably go through the SEC with an undefeated season, or a one loss/two loss depending on the combo. My question is, prove to me how the SEC is the best conference in college football and why 2 teams from the same conference are going to play in a National Title game. Do this without reference to polls please, as polls have the bias of ESPN's reporting. Let's hear it, make me a believer...
Sixteen answers:
Renee23
2011-12-01 16:03:57 UTC
This as been said for many years now. Ask the other conferences if they want to play an SEC team.
Colonel Reb
2011-12-01 23:42:50 UTC
It's really a mix of both, oddly enough. The SEC has been the most consistently good conference over the last several years. The SEC in 2009 and 2010 was full of legitimately good teams. The 2009 SEC was arguably the greatest year in any conference's history. This year it's very top-heavy, with Bama and LSU being well above everyone else. Arkansas and Georgia are both good teams, though nothing great (Arkansas should have lost to Vandy and could easily have lost to Ole Miss), and after that it's mostly a bunch of mediocre teams, with Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ole Miss bringing up the rear. The teams at the top are great, the teams at the bottom suck, and most other teams are so-so.



I'm not a big believer that the SEC is so much better than everyone else, but I can't really see how anyone else is better either. I don't think they're better than everybody else this year.



And just about everyone plays weak teams early.



When did Miami become an SEC team?
anonymous
2011-12-01 23:24:32 UTC
Hard to argue with stats though

such as 5 straight titles

and something like 80 winning percentage in BCS games



I do think it is skewed to favor the southern teams though-they play these bowl games in their own backyard, in weather that is very favorable for fast, quick teams



I do not for one second deny that the best teams have come out of the SEC recently, but if they really are so great, then I want to see them come win a game in real football weather



interesting point- last year miami (basically an SEC team) played notre dame in el paso during a snowstorm...miami was totally out of their game and got beaten by a ton

the year before that LSU played penn state in a monsoon-penn state won that game



I also agree with your point about how the schedules are set up to allow an SEC team to run the table. in the conference is a deep as ESPN claims, you should not have someone going undefeated every year in the conference



but still, at the end of the day, the SEC owns college football right now. Hopefully Hoke and Meyer can help put the Big 10 back on the map
Big Guy
2011-12-02 03:08:11 UTC
This is extremely simple to answer; SEC teams have been in the BCS championship game 7 times and have 0 losses and 5 different schools haven been champion. Only the Big 12 has 7 appearances (no other conference tops 3) and they have only won 2 out of those 7 times (no other conference has won more than one time). SEC domination of the BCS title game. Check the stats for conferences and bowl games too, SEC dominates that also. Top to bottom (Ole Miss on bottom this year, but only two years removed from back to back Cotton Bowl wins, did I mention that Ole Miss has the 3rd best NCAA bowl winning percentage too behind only Penn State and USC) SEC rules!
Jim Crockett Promotions Fan
2011-12-01 23:20:37 UTC
Didn't LSU play The University of Oregon in Cowboys Stadium at the beginning of The Season and beat them?



Doesn't The SEC put more teams in the Top 25 in The Pre-season than any converence?



Haven't the last 5 National Champions come from The BCS? Haven't those BCS Champions been 4 different SEC Schools: LSU, Florida, Alabama and Auburn?
Better Than Most
2011-12-02 00:01:29 UTC
The best team in the SEC has consistently been better than the best team from other conferences. This is a matter of fact as the BCS Champion has come from the SEC for the last 5 seasons and, most likely, this season as well. It cannot be disputed by a rational, mature, objective individual.



You list 6 weak teams from the conference and somehow fail to mention Georgia. Georgia has proven over the last 10 - 20 years to be pretty much of a cupcake. That you missed this is an indicator that you aren't a student of the game and you're just an anti-SEC agitator. No problem there. We can't all be smart. Anyway, by your own analysis there are 6 or perhaps 7 "cupcakes" in the conference. That leaves 5 or 6 teams, not counting A&M and Missouri, that contend for BCS bowls consistentely year after year after year after year. Name another league that has 5 or 6 teams that consistently compete for BCS bowls. You can't. Don't bother trying. The 5 recent BCS championships have gone to four different schools. Other conferences don't come close to that level of depth.



I cannot discuss the possibility of how two teams from the same conference may play in a National Title game without referencing polls. Again, you show a tremendous lack of understanding in regards to the subject of college football. The polls are a driving factor in the rankings and the rankings are the sole determining factor in which teams play in the BCS bowls. It is not possible to discuss the BCS rankings without discussing the polls. My 3 year old daughter understands this. That you don't calls into question your intelligence and your manhood.



Your suspicion that ESPN's reporting somehow influences polls and therefore BCS bowls is yet another indicator of your ignorance or stupidity. Why is it that you seem to be able to shrug of this influence yet you are convinced that the pollsters cannot remain unswayed? Do you really think that you have that much more intellectual integrity than every pollster? Do you really believe that you're the only human on the planet that can ignore the far reaching, sweeping influence of the evil empire that is ESPN? I find this hard to believe and conclude that you're an ignorant buffoon living in a world of delusion rather than fact.



Consider this: SEC schools are generally in the southern region of the United States. The weather in SEC territory is generally favorable compared to the weather in other regions. This allows for more year round participation in all sports. This results in the development of bigger, faster, stronger high school athletes. Better athletes combined with better coaches combined with a highly engaged fan base combined with massive sport budgets at member institutions leads to SEC success on the football field.



Finally, let's address SEC out of conference scheduling. The SEC has proven that scheduling weak out of conference opponents does not result in poor BCS rankings as long as the conference schedule remains strong. It has been shown time and again that out of conference scheduling is not a major factor as long as the conference schedule is sufficiently strong. Knowing this to be true and still scheduling a tough out of conference schedule is incredibly stupid. Why LSU did it this year is anybody's guess but it certainly worked out for them. Which would you rather be? Oregon with a tough out of conference schedule and no chance of competing for the BCS title or Alabama with a weak out of conference schedule and a very high likelihood of participating in the title game? If your favorite school or favorite conference is too stupid or too weak to take advantage of this type of scheduling you should blame the people in charge of that school or conference. Don't blame ESPN, the SEC, the polls, or anything else. That's a tactic of the weak willed and simple minded.



Point proven. I win. You lose.
Hog Wild
2011-12-01 23:34:10 UTC
Ok first I will start by saying that EVERY conference starts off playing weak OOC games,so you can just forget about the argument. Second the question what makes the SEC better is never asked,but rather told that the SEC is better cause they win the battle in the trenches with the OL/DL,now of course this is not always the case. I watched the Sugar Bowl last year,and Ohio State won,cause of two reasons.



1) Arkansas WRs dropped pass,after pass.

2) Arkansas could not block Cameron Hayward. He dominated the game.



However,I can not tell you that the SEC is the best overall this year,cause it is not.



Miami is far from being a SEC team. Beating them last year was no accomplishment.
GZA, ARIZA, and ODB
2011-12-01 23:23:32 UTC
There top heavy. From the middle to the bottom their just as bad as any of the other conferences. It's the fact that they had 1, 2, and 3 were all SEC and the top 2 now are sec.
connor
2011-12-02 02:04:52 UTC
No doubt about it. Hands down SEC is the best. It has the highest level of football played right now. It has the best players, the best coaches, and the best fans. I am not saying this because I am a Georgia fan. Who is going to play in the national championship? Two SEC teams. It is not even close to any other division.
BamaAndy
2011-12-02 12:16:35 UTC
What other conference has won 5 titles in a row and about to make it 6..The two best teams in the country, hands down are LSU and Bama. That is why they are in the BCS title game.... Mute point....
anonymous
2011-12-01 23:23:18 UTC
They are good. But people seem to forget about the ACC and Big 12 of the 80's. Now those conferences were no hype
anonymous
2011-12-01 23:33:31 UTC
Yes, SEC is the best conference
Nicholas
2011-12-01 23:30:35 UTC
Yes it is



It was the Big 12 years ago
KT
2011-12-01 23:20:33 UTC
you complain but you haven't named anyone better..who has won the last 5 national championships?

espn has nothing to do with the play on the field..
anonymous
2011-12-01 23:40:30 UTC
Too top heavy. Big 12 is better from top to bottom.
anonymous
2011-12-02 01:50:46 UTC
You aren't too smart


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
Loading...