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
tulevol
January 7th, 2011
10:45 am
404, just like they got owned by Tenn in 98?
SecIsFootball
January 7th, 2011
10:45 am
Auburn Man….I understand what you are saying but like I said, i have A LOT of friends who are AU fans who wanted nothing to do with BAMA winning. I am sure there were some as I am sure there are some BAMA fans who want AU to win. I just happen to be one those who doesnt want to see AU win just as I understand AU fans didnt want to see BAMA fans win.
As for the IB, we will have to agree to disagree. In the 2009 game, AU throw out a lot of gimmick plays in the 1st half and once those were gone, BAMA felt that had seen everything AU was going to throw at them. Hence after the 14-0 start, BAMA outscores AU 26-7. The same happened this year. We had a D that was not very experienced, especially with our corners. Once AU saw the blitzes we threw at AU in the 1st half, AU felt they had seen everything we had at that point and adjusted. Neither Julio or Saban quit. The better team won the game just as AU did all season and just as SC and LSU did against Alabama. If we would have been blown out after the big start, yes, I would agree we gave up. The team never stopped playing and unfortunately with our last drive, we had to go 80 yards with a QB who had not thrown a pass all game. You call it how you want. I have seen Alabama teams quit when they get down. Especially under Shula. This years team did not quit. They were beaten by a better team just as BAMA was the better team in 2009.
ATLBadger
January 7th, 2011
10:46 am
Who cares? NFL playoffs (to determine the real champion) start tomorrow.
The BCS crap really needs to not be dragged out so long. BCS National Champ game on a Monday night, after NFL playoffs start is a joke. Why not have it last night or tonight?!
BAMA dude
January 7th, 2011
10:48 am
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.
Two points here.
1) The concept that the media tries to knock off everyone who gets on top is absurd. I don’t remember a national title contender involved in the controversy the Barn has this year.
2) The article was actually pertaining to Auburn’s current APR, which sits at 85th in the country. In 2006 they were #4, even above Vanderbilt, because they were giving athletes passing grades without making them take the classes. Everybody was graduating. Now that they are playing by the rules they are 85th nationally out of 120 schools in graduating the football players. Most interestingly, 100% of white players graduated for this time period while only 49% of black players did.
sensible
January 7th, 2011
10:51 am
I am a Georgia fan. I pull for some SEC teams sometimes when they are playing Ohio State, Notre Dame, etc. I never pull for Florida under any circumstance. If they were playing Afghanistan in women’s checkers I would be pulling like hell for the taliban! I rarely pull for Tennessee or Alabama. In the past I have pulled for Auburn against other SEC teams, but no longer. The Auburn fan base is uneducated and annoying at best. They defend Cam Newton to no end when anyone can see his recruitment has been a fraud from the beginning. Fairley is dirty, although I would rather apologize for a player like Fairley for being dirty than apologize for pretty much UGA’s whole team for playing like a bunch of pansy jackwagon women. Chizik will be proven a weak coach within 3 years. I don’t see a single thing that would benefit UGA by Auburn winning the national championship, so in summary, GO DUCKS!!!!!
Fink
January 7th, 2011
10:53 am
I could NEVER in a 1,000,000 years root for a Big 10 or Pac 10. The day I say to myself “Way to go, Michigan scored” is the day I stop watching college football.
I’ll never say Roll Tide, Hotty Toddy, or Geaux Tigers…..but I always root for SEC teams in non-conference games.
I
Buckeye
January 7th, 2011
10:53 am
Bucks for Ducks.
12-1, Sugar Bowl Champs, Top 5
6-7, Liberty Losers, Unranked.
GeneralNeyland96
January 7th, 2011
10:57 am
Hey Tony – don’t forget that LSU also won in 2004…that makes 6 total, with maybe a 7th Monday night!
LSU-2 ‘04 ‘08
UF-2 ‘07 ‘09
Bama ‘10
UT ‘99
BAMA dude
January 7th, 2011
10:58 am
Buckeye
January 7th, 2011
10:53 am
Bucks for Ducks.
12-1, Sugar Bowl Champs, Top 5
6-7, Liberty Losers, Unranked.
Are you actually addressing someone or just being a doosh? This is a college football blog, not a UGA one, though I can’t understand why a fan of The Overrated State University (a title earned over decades, not just this year) would be vitriolic toward UGA anyway. Have y’all even played each other before?
White guy named Akeem
January 7th, 2011
11:01 am
This is not an SEC team, this is a professional team.
Auburn Man
January 7th, 2011
11:02 am
@ SecIsFootball ….Here’s the funny thing. You are obviously a person who can disagree or argue without getting nasty or hateful. Your points are valid and I understand your position. YOU are the kind of Bama fan that I like to talk a little smack at the office to and enjoy the greatest rivalry in the country with. When I speak derogatorily about Bama fans it’s never with people like you in mind. Rather it’s the lunatic fringe. Yes, we’ll just have to disagree on the Iron Bowl. But that’s to be expected I suppose. I heard Joe Scarborough the other day say that you can’t really enjoy a Iron Bowl victory more than a day or two because it very quickly changes into a fear of losing the game for 300 plus days. I’ve never heard that angle but wow is it true for me. Good luck next year until early November.
War Eagle!
Vince
January 7th, 2011
11:03 am
As much as I dislike Fairley, this Dawg fan will be pulling for Auburn over the Ducks. Roll SEC!!!
dean
January 7th, 2011
11:04 am
I’m just too skeptical about Auburn and feel that they have purposefully hid information about the scandal and the NCAA has turned it’s head to turn a profit. The whole scenario is disgusting. I’ve always rooted for the SEC teams in BCS games but fair play trumps conference allegiance. I won’t watch it but I hope the Ducks win it.
SECman
January 7th, 2011
11:07 am
GO DUCKS………..
Auburn Man
January 7th, 2011
11:08 am
@ Dean. I have not read anything that Auburn hid anything. Auburn has done everything it was asked to do. I would like to hear you explain how AU hid info. Please I would really like to hear it. I’m not being augmentative I am very curious as to why you say purposely hid info.
DC
January 7th, 2011
11:08 am
Dean…no information was hidden..that is one reason why this process was quicker than say ohhhhh THE REGGIE BUSH CASE!..Reggie, his family, and the university kept info from NCAA and did not cooperate whatsoever. Money makes the world go round..i agree the NCAA loves to do things in a way that will make them the most profit…but, the the national coverage etc..if it comes out that NCAA hid info it would be extremely bad for them…that didn’t happen.
Joe Bob Thibodaux
January 7th, 2011
11:08 am
Tony, I know all who bleed purple and gold back the War Eagles 100% in this upcoming contest. I expect a close game.
Joe: I agree, Tennessee should have won against LSU, but they made a critical mistake, so they didn’t.
Lt Col Razorback: I feel your pain. Razorbacks were rusty and dropped passes like they were thrown wet fish instead of footballs. Too bad but Mallet and company were a really good team.
Tony, I support all SEC teams–even Bama and Florida–when they are playing out of conference. Its the code of the west. (Get in line Bama dude) its the right thing to do.
I think the QB situation will again keep it close between TAM and LSU tonight. GO TIGERS.
Cam, put the ol whip A. on the left coast champion. Auburn deserves to be National Champion.
SEC RULES.
JBT
Vince
January 7th, 2011
11:09 am
@Bama Dude…
Yes, Ohio State has played Georgia one time. UGA defeated OSU 21- 14 in the 1993 Citrus Bowl.
Ga Fan
January 7th, 2011
11:11 am
I am a Ga Fan and woudl never pull for auburn. I hope they lose and then get the death penalty when they are caught.
LOL...
January 7th, 2011
11:12 am
LOL.. .Barnhart sounds so proud doesnt he?
Frannk1
January 7th, 2011
11:13 am
If the SEC wins again, the NCAA should force the SEC to breakup.
Auburn Man
January 7th, 2011
11:13 am
Ga Fan…… Wow, powerfully articulated thoughts there. I’m sure you’re a charter member of an impressive brain trust somewhere.
dean
January 7th, 2011
11:13 am
I understand Auburn man (congrats on your team- it is a great one!). There is no evidence to date and there may never be any. I’m a skeptic, even of my own team. I just don’t beleive that Louder didn’t get in there and give the money to the father. The argument that Cam knew nothing about it is laughable. Look, I’ve always rooted for Auburn in SEC games (I’m a UGA alum and have always had a healthy respect for AU- heck I almost went to grad school at AU). I’ll probably end up rooting for them come Monday night anyway but I’ll always feel they paid him and got a brilliant lawyer to find a loophole to cover them even if there was evidence. So there, in a wierd way I just convicned myself to pull for them. Go SEC and War EAgle but darn, I hope this doesn’t come back to bite your school and our conference in the rear end.
Tide Rising
January 7th, 2011
11:14 am
Looks like buckeye gets the last laugh in his onrunning dispute with dog fans.
Bama dude,
You may have missed it but buckeye and the dawg fans have been going back and forth for a few days now.
BAMA dude
January 7th, 2011
11:16 am
I probably did then TR. I don’t care for the Bucks myself. They really are the most perpetually overrated team in the land.
dean
January 7th, 2011
11:17 am
I’ll give OSU this. They have alot of fans with alot of time on their hands. Every NCAA football board I’ve gone to has them all over the place. If they could recriut southern players they’d certainly make a formidable SEC team!
DC
January 7th, 2011
11:17 am
You can’t hide that large amount of money…you just cant. Money trails are very easy for government to find.
McDawg
January 7th, 2011
11:17 am
only reason i’m pulling for Auburn is b/c its Pac-10
Arkansas could have run away w/ the game if they knew how to catch the ball
overall its been a mixed result for SEC which was representative of the conference
Auburn Man
January 7th, 2011
11:17 am
@ dean….Now see there’s where I get scared too. Just say Bobby Louder and I start shaking. If this deal is dirty then I would bet the farm that Louder is up to his checkbook in it. I’m an Auburn Alum too with Family that are UGA alum. I pull for UGA when not playing AU.
dean
January 7th, 2011
11:18 am
Of course Ironheads kid from Peachtree Ridge ended up there. But every good Georgia kid goes out of state nowadays.
bamaguy
January 7th, 2011
11:19 am
Of course the streak will continue.
I remember 1992 when Alabama was picked to be the sacrificial lamb for Miami in the Sugar Bowl. Alabama was also undefeated but just not “in the same league as Miami” according to all the experts. Coach Stallings at the time said to the press “if you can go through the SEC season then win the conference championship game you can beat anybody.” The press just scoffed. We all know who won that game and became National Champions.
The vendors that sold outside the Super Dome was so sure that Miami would win that they only made one template for game score bumper stickers with Miami’s name on top. I still have mine:
Miami 13
Alabama 34
Auburn will win.
Auburn Man
January 7th, 2011
11:20 am
@ DC …I agree. Newtons family is not financially sophisticated enough to hide that kind of cash. Besides, with the FBI sniffing around this it would be hours not months to find he money trail.
Tide Rising
January 7th, 2011
11:20 am
5IML,
If you’re still out there I have seen that Ingram and Dareus are definitely going pro and that’s okay. Losing Ingram won’t really hurt as it’ll just be Trent’s time to shine. Hate to see Dareus go but I understand. I haven’t seen anything about Julio deciding to go though so I’m hoping he stays although I do expect that he will go.
In any event if we lose only those 3 that would be great. I fully expected Mark Barron to go, Hightower to go, and possibly Upshaw and Maze even. Doesn’t matter what happens though. We’re freaking loaded.
One other thing- we just took over no. 1 ranking in rivals recruiting rankings and we still have legitimate shots at a minimum of 4 5 star players. When its all said and done the 2011 recruiting class will be even better than the 08 class which gave us Julio, Ingram, etc. ROLL TIDE ROLL!
dean
January 7th, 2011
11:20 am
Yeah, he really needs to be banned from the program. I’m sure other alums could pick up the financial slack. Trust me, I do hope the whole thing is clean for you guys. Good luck Monday!
ManUp...
January 7th, 2011
11:21 am
Quack, Quack, Blurrrrr…
dean
January 7th, 2011
11:22 am
Hey Tide, they say that with Ingram going pro is a Saban selling point to get Barry Sander’s Jr. to commit.
Auburn Man
January 7th, 2011
11:24 am
@ Tide Rising…I thought Trent looked better than Ingram most of the year. I was wondering if he wasn’t better than Ingram in October. He’s gonna be big time next year.
VA.dawg
January 7th, 2011
11:24 am
this dawg will pull for the sec!!!! Oregon will do fairly well until the 4th qtr. that is when Auburn this year has come alive.
All Auburn, All DAY!
January 7th, 2011
11:25 am
You pathetic losers that continue to bash Cam and Auburn i ask you this question. What do you see when you look at the man/woman in the mirror and are you proud? The fact that you are so riled up about what has been reported, and certainly over reported with minimal facts is probably taking years off your lives.
UGAY fans your program is a total train wreck, and you are so full of hatred it is pathetic.
Alabama fans can’t seem to ever see the realities involved when their program is not in national spotlight. Get over yourselves, as it is not always about you!
Gaytors are whining about Auburn being a 1 man team, but we had to endure 3 years of Tebow, but you forget about your own 1 man team.
Atleast LSU, S.C., Arky, Miss State, UT are somewhat rational when looking at other programs, and current standings having Auburn at top on SEC in 2010.
Tide Rising
January 7th, 2011
11:26 am
Auburn Man,
If there is anything dirty that happened with Cecil and Lowder then it is precisely that Cecil is unsophisticated with money that would keep him out of trouble. He’s the type that would probably put the cash in a mattress or dig a hole in the yard and the cash would in effect be untraceable.
On the other hand poor people that never see good sums of cash are also more likely to spend quickly and extravegantly- flashy new car, jewelry, clothes, etc. Doesn’t seem Cecil has any of these things.
Auburn Man
January 7th, 2011
11:27 am
Well, I’m out now that the lunatic fringe has checked in. Guilt by association
Tide Rising
January 7th, 2011
11:29 am
dean,
Yeah I saw that we’re on Barry Sanders Jr. but he is a 2012 committ. We’re still all over Crowell but I don’t see us getting him. His dad wants him to go to Bama but he grew up a dawg fan and to me its really, really hard to pull a kid who grew up a fan of the homestate school.
dean
January 7th, 2011
11:29 am
Well Auburn all day, can you honestly tell me that you didn’t think your program was a train wreck when Chizik came on board and at the end of last year. You got 3 very good players that turned the whole year around. It remains to be seen if they can sustain this level of success when 2 of those 3 leave.
I don’t know of any UGA fans that are full of hatred. We usually hate Florida on game day but that is it. Conversely, most UGA fans on here are saying they will pull for the SEC team. Did you actually read any post before spouting off?
Auburn Man
January 7th, 2011
11:30 am
Tide Rising.. Agreed. I just have to hope for my school and team it didn’t happen at Auburn. With proof it’s a dirty deal I’ll scream louder than anyone else. Ironic pun there with louder.
dean
January 7th, 2011
11:31 am
Tide Rising, we are losing lifelong Dawgfans who are recruits every minute it seems. The way we played UCF I can understand how. Crowell does appear to be leaning UGA but I’ve learned to never take anything for granted. Saban could easily make a good push and get him last second.
Tide Rising
January 7th, 2011
11:33 am
All Auburn, All day,
Relax dude. Bama fans can handle the fact that AU is in the bcs title game this year just fine. We’re already thinking about next year and well beyond that.
Enjoy the great run you’ve had this year and then start planning for the post Cam era.
The biggest criticism that you will have to overcome is not whether or not Cam knew about his father’s solicitations but rather if Chizik’s great run is a one and done and then back to 8-4 on a yearly basis. That is the big question and will only be answered in time.
dean
January 7th, 2011
11:34 am
Yeah, if it does come out the best thing AU fans can do is to express disgust with the athletic program. It will make your institution look alot better. I always respected Tennessee but when Kiffin was there they all began the blind allegiance and smack talking. Then they were shocked that he would treat them as he did. It was obvious all along for the rest of us that he was going to end up screwing them over some how. I hated the way Donnan portrayed our program. A lot of attitude, jumping on mid field logos and such and not even that many wins.
Tide Rising
January 7th, 2011
11:40 am
Auburn man, you scream louder. Quite the pun indeed.
Dean,
The reason i think Crowell ends up at UGA is not just the home state thing. Its also that Richt and others are telling him that one impact player, especially a great rb, can completely turn a program around a la Lattimore at S Carolina or Cam at AU. To me that is a tremendous selling point for the simple reason that it so appeals to the egos of a young man like Crowell. Lets face it- a lot of these 5 star kids have their heads in the sky and have people adulating them and its hard not to get quite an ego listening to all the hype and getting all the love- literally in the case of UT booster girls. Sorry UT fans but I just couldn’t resist. For that reason i think he ends up a dawg. Hope I’m wrong of course.
Gen Neyland
January 7th, 2011
11:43 am
On paper, I give Chessestik credit for getting Auburn to the point of playing for the NC. Any program that has played for it knows it takes a little luck, a little controversy and more wins than losses ( go, Duh here). I’m kinda split on the outcome. I’ve followed Oregon and Auburn to a degree this season and they both just have a knack. Although I’ve picked Oregon, either/or winning won’t surprise me. Either/or losing might..! Here’s to Tennessee for leading the way regarding SEC domination at the BCSNCG. Nobody else can lay claim to being the first BCS-NC…GBO
Snoopy
January 7th, 2011
11:43 am
AU will put a STAMP on the O… AU’s D is underrated & when NF puts a few hits on them west caosters, they’ll fold up like a cheap tent!!