Can the SEC continue its run in the BCS?
Happy Friday, everyone. After all the blogs and all the games and all the discussion since mid-July, it’s hard to believe that we are in the final days of the 2010 season. I was going to do Five Burning Questions to get us into the weekend but with the SEC involved in three bowl games in the next four days, I have only two questions for you this morning:
1. After an 0-3 start to bowl season, the SEC is now 3-4 after Arkansas’s loss to Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl. How will the SEC finish and can it avoid a losing bowl season?
2. The SEC has won four staight BCS National Championships. Will the run continue Monday night against Oregon in Glendale, Ariz.?
Let’s start with question No. 1: We knew the SEC East was significantly weaker than the SEC West this season but the final numbers were pretty striking. Here are the records of the SEC West teams against the East during the 2010 season:
Alabama, 2-1: (beat Florida, Tennessee; lost to South Carolina).
Arkansas, 3-0: (beat Georgia, Vandy, South Carolina).
Auburn, 4-0: (beat South Carolina twice, Kentucky, Georgia)
LSU, 3-0: (beat Vandy, Tennessee, Florida).
Ole Miss, 1-2: (lost to Vanderbilt, Tennessee; beat Kentucky).
Miss. State, 3-0: (beat Georgia, Florida, Kentucky).
So on the season the SEC West was 16-3 against the East. Four teams went undefeated and only one (Ole Miss) had a losing record.
The SEC West is 2-1 in bowls with Alabama winning the Cap One, Mississippi State winning the Gator, and Arkansas losing the Sugar. LSU plays Texas A&M tonight in the Cotton Bowl while Auburn plays Monday night in the BCS championship game. Kentucky will try to salvage something for the SEC East when it faces Pittsburgh (and interim coach Phil Bennett) on Saturday in the BBVA Compass Bowl in Birmingham. All three games look like tossups to me and the SEC needs to go 2-1 in order to finish .500 in the bowl season.
Now to the second question. We all know that the SEC has won four straight BCS national championships. When you throw in LSU’s 2003 championship and the 2004 Auburn team that went 13-0 and got shut out, the SEC has been in the national championship picture for seven of the past eight seasons. Here are some tidbits on that run you might find interesting, courtesy of the smart people from the SEC office:
**–A win by Auburn would give the SEC its fifth straight national championship, but just as significant would be the fact that Auburn would be the fourth different school to win a title in that five-year span: Florida (2006, 2008), LSU (2007), Alabama (2009).
**–Since 2006, half of the slots in the five BCS championship games (5 of 10) have been taken by SEC teams. The other five slots were taken by the Big Ten (2), the Big 12 (2), and the Pac-10 (1).
**–There have been 40 sets of BCS standings since October of 2006. In that span an SEC team has been ranked No. 1 in 18 of those 40 weeks. The rest of conferences: The Big Ten (13 weeks), Big 12 (five weeks), Pac-10 (four weeks).
**–In that same 40-week run, 11 of the 12 SEC teams have been ranked in the BCS Top 25 for at least one week. LSU leads that list with 37 weeks ranked. Vanderbilt was not ranked.
**–And finally, the SEC is 7-1 in BCS bowl games since 2006. Here is the breakdown of BCS records by conference:
SEC…………….7-1
Pac-10………..3-1
WAC…………..2-1
Big East……….2-2
Mountain West…1-1
Big Ten…………..2-5
Big 12…………….2-5
ACC………………1-3
Independents…..0-1
That’s a lot of numbers but it points out that the SEC has had an unprecedented run in the BCS since 2006. Now in that stretch it should be noted that the SEC has never faced a Pac-1o team in a BCS bowl. The SEC’s five national championships in the BCS era, which started in 1998, have come against the Big 12 (Texas and Oklahoma), the Big Ten (Ohio State twice), and the ACC (Florida State).
In fact, ESPN.com’s Pat Forde points out that since 1959, the SEC and Pac-10 have met just nine times in bowl games. The score? SEC 5, Pac-10 4.
So, as we leave you and head to Glendale, Ariz., we ask: Will the SEC continue its remarkable run on Monday night?
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Barnhart and Durham: Today we preview tonight’s Cotton Bowl matchup between Texas A&M and LSU and look ahead to next Monday’s BCS championship in Arizona. Glenn Gilbeau, who covers LSU for the Gannett News Service, will join us from Dallas. Noted talk show host Paul Finebaum will join us from Arizona to talk BCS championship. We’ll also have an interview with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, who grew up in Auburn, Ala., and will be in Glendale pulling for his Tigers. Please join us at 10 a.m. www.790thezone.com
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387 comments Add your comment
UGA fan
January 7th, 2011
9:52 am
waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
I’ll never get over big bad Auburn whopping us like that. My friends and I cried like babies for days. They were to physical for us – they took it seriously!
waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
ClinchPanther
January 7th, 2011
9:53 am
Go Ducks!! I hope the tigers, war eagles, plainsman, whatever they are lose big time.
GTBob
January 7th, 2011
9:53 am
Tony, if you don’t want to be known as an SEC shill then maybe every blog everyday shouldn’t be about how much you love the SEC. It’s hard to take you seriously when you write blogs like this. There is no information in here that even modest college football fans didn’t already know. Plus you explain the SEC’s 3-4 bowl record by touting how strong the SEC west is. Way to latch on to the childish explanations of radical SEC fans.
Also, if you want to ask the question of whether Auburn can beat Oregon or not maybe a comparison of the teams and how they match up would be better then just telling us how awesome the SEC is.
Lt Col Razorback
January 7th, 2011
9:54 am
As you can tell from my moniker, I am a University of Arkansas alumnus (Class of ’69) and an ardent fan. It makes me sick to say it, but “my team” FAILED to represent the SEC in the way that they should have. Ryan Mallett performed admirably at the quarterback position but was let down by his receivers multiple times. Had his receiver on the first play of the game caught the football instead of letting a near perfectly thrown pass slip through his hands, Arkansas would have taken the lead at 7– 0 within the first 10 seconds of the game and a positive momentum would have been established rather than lost.
But having made my apologies for “my team”, the answer to the Auburn question is a resounding YES they will bring another national title to the SEC; and here is why.
1. Cam Newton is an awesome double–threat quarterback who is a much better player than Terrelle Pryor of Ohio State who the Arkansas defense seemed unable to stop.
a. If Arkansas’ defense couldn’t stop Terrelle Pryor, there is no chance what–so–ever that Oregon’s defense can stop Cam Newton!!
2. Oregon will score some points against the Auburn defense, but not nearly enough to offset the production made by Cam Newton and the Auburn offense.
Ormewood
January 7th, 2011
9:54 am
To Dawg fans,
Wouldn’t an Auburn win have an adverse effect on UGA recruiting in the state of GA? Bama has made significant inroads in Georgia of late. Auburn stole a recruit from the Dawgs just this week. That trend would continue, wouldn’t it, if Auburn wins Monday especially the way CMR has the Dawgs tracking?
Ted Striker
January 7th, 2011
9:55 am
Go Duckies. Beat Auburn.
wesleyCOWARD
January 7th, 2011
9:57 am
wesleywhatwhat – hey COWARD, stop avoiding the question and answer it already (if you’ve got any balls).
If you think the SEC is so pathetic, tell me which conference is a bigger football powerhouse and state specifically why.
Otherwise, shut up COWARD.
ATL XMAN
January 7th, 2011
9:57 am
bulldog fan 1st and SEC fan 2nd so go auburn. keep the sec rolling in the BCS. it only helps the other sec teams in the future to get a shot at the title.
Steve
January 7th, 2011
9:58 am
Will the SEC continue its remarkable run on Monday night you ask. In the words of Curly,”Certainly.”
Mtn Dawg
January 7th, 2011
9:58 am
16,500 gallons of beer sold
Limited Access LIFTED
January 7th, 2011
9:59 am
`
Cecil Newton will attend the game and be ‘Loud and Proud”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . of his shameful behavior.
Big Al
January 7th, 2011
9:59 am
Nice words auburn man but I believe you protest too much. I have numerous auburn friends and none pulled for the TIDE last year—but I gurss there could always be one.
jennifer
January 7th, 2011
10:01 am
Kid, I’m a lifelong Bama fan and have always pulled for Auburn when they played outside the conference or when their victories within the conference wouldn’t affect our standing. Normally, I would be cheering for Auburn to win the BCS game, and proud that another team from our state represented so well. But this year, with Cam Newton, it is just impossible to feel like theirs is a legitimate season and there will always be a cloud hanging over Auburn’s inevitable victory. So, no, this year I cannot pull for Auburn. I’ll even go so far as to say I’m pulling against Auburn. I’m just too disgusted by the Cam Newton situation.
RambleOn84
January 7th, 2011
10:01 am
The SEC will, at worst, finish .500 in the bowls.
LSU will blow out Texas A&M tonight, proving they were worthy of a BCS bowl (just like Alabama did).
Who knows what Kentucky will do?
And Auburn will beat Oregon, although it will be closer than many think. Oregon really is a great team, but Auburn will wear them down.
Out of State Monkey
January 7th, 2011
10:03 am
I’m not sure the bowl win versus Michigan should count for the SEC since everyone on Michigan’s schedule took turns beating them down this year…much like UGAY’s loss shouldn’t be counted since everyone took turns this year beating them down too. It’s fair SEC homers, take away a win and a loss and it’s a wash.
goldwreck
January 7th, 2011
10:05 am
FSU had an invitation to join the SEC in the mid 90’s and elected to join the ACC.Bowden was in his heyday and FSU apparently didn’t want the stronger competition from the SEC.Supposedly it came down to the last minute.The AD (I can’t re-call his name) said he made his decision on the way to the press conference to make his announcement.I think that rejection led to the SEC pulling Arkansas in.I don’t think FSU would consider the SEC today if the SEC were to consider FSU.
wareagle2006
January 7th, 2011
10:07 am
@GatorMike Oregon might have a curfew but LaMichael James has been seen partying around Glendale, so it looks like both teams are enjoying themselves, did you in Tampa?
Gatorman
January 7th, 2011
10:09 am
Auburn will have to play the Ducks, the crowd and probably some bias from the refs, so it could be difficult at best. One thing I noticed watching Oregon this year is the speed they have on offense. I think most defenses will have a tough time keeping them from scoring. However, as an SEC guy, I really hope Auburn pulls it off.
tulevol
January 7th, 2011
10:11 am
Just say NO to quack!! I am pulling for the SEC in the NC game, always have, always will.
DawginLex
January 7th, 2011
10:12 am
out of state monkey idiot,
It is a proven fact that anyone that refers to The University of Georgia as “UGAY” does so to mask their own sexual issues.
That is all.
Auburn Guy
January 7th, 2011
10:13 am
To those of you pulling for us on Monday night, thank you sincerely. For those of you who aren’t,well, you gotta do what you gotta do. For the record I pulled for Bama last year and was happy that they won the championship. I would do the same this year if it was Bama or UGA or even Vandy. The more championships the conference wins the conference stays strong and gets stronger. Just my two cents worth. War Eagle.
Nat
January 7th, 2011
10:14 am
I’m surprised to know pliers have found their way to Auburn… but your points are well taken, Auburn Man. To KidRay, there’s your answer, buddy. Some SEC folks are pulling for Auburn, some ain’t. Just like life all across the nation. HEY TONY – HOW ABOUT AN ALL-CRIMINAL BOWL ARTICLE? Some of Bobby Bowden’s great FSU teams – featuring Deion Sanders who never attended class – could play Ohio State and their 5 non-suspended folks.
Jeff
January 7th, 2011
10:15 am
Wouldnt that be cool if Auburn lost on a blown call.
DawginLex
January 7th, 2011
10:16 am
Jeff,
Why don’t we ask the Buckeyes if Terry Porter is available?
The ref in the 2003 BCS title game that called the interference penalty after Miami was running on the field celebrating their championship.
I understand he is in the OSU Hall of Fame
Jeff
January 7th, 2011
10:18 am
Exactly!
Chris
January 7th, 2011
10:18 am
The only reason the SEC has won so many championships is because of the system. The national media believes in the hype that the SEC is the best conference. But look, they are struggling to go .500 in their bowl games and that includes an 0-2 record against the ACC I might add. Because the media believes them to be the best they always vote them into the game. When you play in a title game that many times you are going to win a few. If there was a playoff established during the last decade, no way in hell the SEC even comes close to winning this many titles.
Jeff
January 7th, 2011
10:22 am
With replays it will be hard but I’m confident we can have more filth added to this season.
tulevol
January 7th, 2011
10:23 am
Chris, you don’t get “voted” into the NC game! You go undefeated and earn your way into it, unless you are a non aq, then you are screwed no matter what. If AU had lost to SC in the sec champ. they would NOT be in NC game. Quit your whining. SEC rules!!!! 4 national championships in a row!!
News Article: Latest Bama News 1/7/11
January 7th, 2011
10:23 am
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Reality
January 7th, 2011
10:24 am
SEC fans chose to ignore the big picture….
While yes, a SINGLE team from the SEC may do well and be in the NCG, the rest of the pack are very average at best. Does anyone really think that a 3-4 bowl record is stellar?
However, SEC fans won’t see that. Most of those jokers wear blinders to any real stats or facts. They think that if Auburn wins the NC game that it somehow implies that THEIR team is a winner. They are not.
I guess the rest of the nation calls SEC fans idiot red neck trailor trash for a reason….
Mr Natural
January 7th, 2011
10:24 am
I used to live in North Carolina, heart of ACC basketball, and it was no different there regarding conference loyalty, just a different sport. All ACC fans root for other ACC teams against non-conference opposition, the expection being North Carolina and Duke.
Auburn Man
January 7th, 2011
10:24 am
@ SecIsFootball…I am an Auburn Alum. I too live in Atlanta, born and raised as a matter of fact. Both my parents are Auburn alum. My father played football and baseball at Auburn on scholarship. My grandfather is an alum he also was a professor at Auburn too. My grandmother was an employee at Auburn for 30 years. I do not know one Auburn fan who puts in the energy to hate Bama at the level you describe. As far as celebrations on Auburn’s campus at a Bama loss I can only say kids will be kids. Forgive them for they know not what they do. I guess I assume most of the people taking time to write in should be past the underclassmen mentality of a football game. I also think being 47 years old puts me in a position to see the world from a bigger view than the last game Auburn and Bamma played. I feel sorry for people who put that much effort into hating another team. College football is not about hating Bamma for me. It’s about the pageantry, tradition and honor of attending a great institution and pulling for my team. And also just plain old getting together with old friends that I’ve known for years. I think most of the guys you describe are people I wouldn’t want to know. Being a fan of my team doesn’t make you a good guy. We all have a lunatic fringe, unfortunately I think Bama fans don’t get that they too have people that bring the game down. About the Iron Bowl, Jones did quit, and Saban was at a loss for how to respond. You can point to outside reasons but your team proved they could beat Auburn for less than 2 quarters. The reasons are many why they lost but at the heart was a team giving up and a Coach that couldn’t keep them together. As far as pulling for Bama as an Auburn fan, I hate it, I would rather pull for UT, FL,UGA, SC, Vandy, Arkansas, Missy State, Missy, Kentucky or LSU before Bama.
Chris
January 7th, 2011
10:25 am
Yes you do get voted into the game by being voted #1 in the human polls which makes up 2/3 of the BCS formula….
Out of State Monkey
January 7th, 2011
10:27 am
Teams don’t get voted in? Ask Auburn from 2004 or how about 2010 TCU about their thoughts on that. I know, I know, Mountain West teams can’t hang with SEC teams. We’ll have proof of that next September, right Puppies?
tulevol
January 7th, 2011
10:28 am
You don’t get voted #1 unless you WIN!
And the idiot redneck trailer trash boys from Auburn will be feasting on duck Monday night!
SEC haters, gotta love ‘em, bless their pea pickin’ hearts.
Auburn Man
January 7th, 2011
10:31 am
@ Goldwreck…FSU didn’t CHOOSE the ACC. The SEC rescinded their offer when FSU put the requirement of not playing Auburn and Alabama in the same season. The ACC decision was backed into.
Gatorhater
January 7th, 2011
10:32 am
For clarification, anyone who is counting the officiating travesty in the Music City Bowl as a loss for the SEC, is fooling themselves or drinking the ACC kool-aid!
Auburn Man
January 7th, 2011
10:32 am
Pea pickin’? Does anyone really say that anymore?
BAMA dude
January 7th, 2011
10:33 am
Morning all. Well, I certainly hope the Ducks win. Stumbled across an interesting little tidbit yesterday on a board discussing the APR column in the New York Times. Seems that <a href="http://peoplefinder.auburn.edu/peoplefinder/index.php".if you search here, every single Auburn football player will come up except for one. Anybody care to guess who the one Auburn football player is who doesn’t appear in the student database? Can’t be a privacy issue because no information is given except for name and, in some cases, major. Also, Bobby Lowder’s daughter Catherine, who Bobby forced Terry Bowden to employ, comes up as an Athletic Dept. employee. Pat Dye is a “special advisor.” Very interesting that everybody seems to be accounted for except for one player.
Brad
January 7th, 2011
10:34 am
Goooooooooo Ducks! Sic’em! Quack Quack Quack Quack Quack Quack
Gary
January 7th, 2011
10:34 am
The whoel SEC is down this year not just the east. Look at how many players Bama lost last year and try to convince me that the West is strong. They should have killed Auburn with that first half performance and they are not nearly as good as they were last year. Georgia put up 21pts against Auburn pretty quick but couldn’t score once against a conference USA team. Auburn squeaked by on a few games early. I am not convinced that these teams are playing better ball. Ark and USC are the same teams they were last year. Mississippi State is much better. LSU and Bama are not as good as they were last year. Florida took at huge hit this year. Georgia and Ole Miss fell off the SEC map. Tennessee might as well be in the ACC. All I am saying is the SEC ain’t that good this year and I am not sure Auburn has what it takes to beat Oregon. Think the SEC looses this one. Wouldn’t hurt my feelings. I am usually an SEC homer, but I don’t like how Auburn got to this one. I don’t think they have an ethical athletic department. There is a history of acidemic fraud and booster problems. I just don’t think they have done whats right to earn that trophy.
BAMA dude
January 7th, 2011
10:34 am
Well, hyperlink fail. Let’s try again.
Auburn people database
tulevol
January 7th, 2011
10:34 am
I thought that was the official salutation of the plains, my bad.
Eagle dude
January 7th, 2011
10:36 am
@ Bama dude Too bad that article was regurgitated from 2004. When you’re on top they pull out all the stops to bring you down.
GTBob
January 7th, 2011
10:36 am
@Mr Natural,
That is not true at all. Most ACC basketball fans are not like SEC football fans. I remember being with a big group of UNC and GT fans last year when Duke played Butler. Almost everybody there was rooting for Butler. Ive never talked to another ACC fan about conference pride or ever heard an ACC chant at a basketball game. To be fair though, in college basketball your strength is determined on the court. In college football your strength is determined in the polls. Therefore I can somewhat see the obsession with conference perception.
Mr Natural
January 7th, 2011
10:38 am
Although I hate the BCS, I think this should be one of the best games yet. I was pretty sure Auburn would beat Oregon but after I saw a pretty impressive Stanford team play the other night, I’m not quite so sure. Oregon handed Stanford there only loss, demolishing them 52-31.
Oregon plays a pretty wide open style with a lot of speed, similar to other SEC teams, so it’s not going to be like playing Ohio State or Oklahoma.
Should be a great game.
reebok
January 7th, 2011
10:40 am
KidRay – I’m a G-Tech fan, and even I am pulling for Auburn because of the southern-football-tradition connection. I’ll pull for pretty much any deep south team against anyone else. Have a great weekend!
aprilglaspie
January 7th, 2011
10:40 am
If OSU had to play by AJ Green rules, they would have been smoked by Arkansas. Unadulterated crap from the NCAA, but what would anybody expect.
Auburn Man
January 7th, 2011
10:40 am
@ GTBob…I agree. The fans are different. As are the conferences. I agree too that it’s based in Bball to Fball difference.
404
January 7th, 2011
10:43 am
If SEC had offered F$U memberhsip in he SEC East,
F$U would likely joined the SEC.
And F$U would have O-W-N-E-D the SEC East
and probably the entire SEC for 10+ years.