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
Tide Rising
January 7th, 2011
11:44 am
dean,
People didn’t even realize it at the time but not only was Kiffin publicly embarrassing the UT program but he was damaging it in terms of manpower. 12 players ended up transferring when he came on- I figure that they just saw for themselves what a BSer this guy was and could see through it. UT played his first year with only 68 scholly players and Dooley is left to rebuild the numbers that Kiffin left him. Terrible job in 1 yr by Kiffin.
danny
January 7th, 2011
11:50 am
USC? Bid deal David!
Tide Rising
January 7th, 2011
11:51 am
I’m outta here.
For the record I think AU romps over the Ducks- the difference being that I think AU has better defensive players than what Oregon has seen and I think that Fairley will be a disrputive force in the Oregon backfield the same way Cameron Heyward was for OSU against Ark. He was the difference in the game in the Sugar Bowl in either sacking mallett, pressuring him, or putting Ark in 2nd and 3rd and long with tackles in the backfield of rbs. Fairley will do the same to some degree. AU 45 Oregon 34.
Vince
January 7th, 2011
11:51 am
I am pulling for Auburn…..but folks like All Auburn, All Day make it very difficult.
SEC Fan
January 7th, 2011
12:10 pm
We in the SEC who do not have our heads in the sand have given Auburn University an Honorary Discharge from the ranks of the SEC. As with a boorish, alcoholic uncle, we don’t claim them.
That said, the Ducks are a joke with a gimmick offense that will not stand up to Auburn’s admittedly mediocre defense. The only reason that the NCAA gave Auburn a pass on camgate is that the joke of having Oregon compete in the BCSCG would have been even more pathetic with another joke like TCU on the opposing sideline. At least people in Lee County, Alabama (the ones who own TV’s, that is) will watch this boondoggle now.
dawg777
January 7th, 2011
12:12 pm
I HOPE OREGON BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF AUBURN’S SEMI PRO TEAM . A BUNCH OF TRACTOR DRIVING REDNECKS !!!!
lee mackey
January 7th, 2011
12:13 pm
I’m a lifelong very strong Crimson Tide supporter, but have enough state and SEC pride that I’ll be rooting for Auburn next week. Roll Tide, but here’s a strong WAR EAGLE!
dawgfan
January 7th, 2011
12:13 pm
Go Ducks!!
DC
January 7th, 2011
12:14 pm
dawg777…have you seen your fans? Just saying…
UGA WHO?
January 7th, 2011
12:16 pm
I think this game is a toss up…Most people think auburn will dominate oregon because they think oregon does not play anybody, but contrar my friends….I just beta 1,000 on oregon +3 and will be mighty happy after this one is over…….Oregon 35- au-31
UGA WHO?
January 7th, 2011
12:17 pm
DAWG777 ARE YOU SERIOUS? IN ATHENS AND THE UGAY FLEABAGS IS WHERE ALL THE REDNECKS ARE…BETTER GET A GRIP SON.
fred
January 7th, 2011
12:19 pm
Tony, the record you show for the SEC in BCS games is wrong. Just off the top of my head there are at least two losses (Alabama to Utah and Arkansas to OSU)
jwr
January 7th, 2011
12:25 pm
Paul in RDU
January 7th, 2011
9:40 am
jwr
January 7th, 2011
8:57 am
@ David:
I suspect that if USC had been facing the SEC in BCS bowls, their experience would be pretty close to another touted conference leader who is 1-3 (and tried real hard to go 0-4) against SEC teams
__________________________________________________________________________
USC vs SEC teams since 2000
9/2/2006 @ Arkansas (10-4) W 50 14
9/17/2005 vs. Arkansas (4-7) W 70 17
8/30/2003 @ Auburn (8-5) W 23 0
9/2/2002 vs. Auburn (9-4) W 24 17
Yep – they really have had problems against SEC teams. Didn’t the 2004 AU team go unbeaten?
Paul, I said “BCS Bowls”. I have no doubt Ohio State would’ve had a better time of it playing SEC middle-roaders. If you want to sit on your couch and fantasize that USC would give a beatdown to the SEC champ every year, that’s fine…I also have a unicorn farm for sale with your name all over it.
ARdawg
January 7th, 2011
12:31 pm
Tony is a Gomer
ACC 4 Lyfe!!!
January 7th, 2011
12:32 pm
Everyone knows the SEC is a joke. Look at how we owned you yet again this bowl season. Look at how Clemson owns SC? FSU owns UF? Wake owns UT? UNC owns LSU? GT usually owns uGAY? Stop hiding behind your mythical conference pride bs and join the rest of us here in the real world!! Look at the NFL for your proof. No other conference has more players in the pros than the ACC. The ACC even has the most starting QB’s!!
GT
January 7th, 2011
12:34 pm
I would have said so until I saw Stanford University play. If Oregon beat those guys they can beat Auburn, which is literally a one man show, very poor defense. The world, except for Georgia, may have caught up with the SEC. Not as a conference but as individual teams, like Ohio State and TCU. A lot of it is these teams go and get who they want despite the star system. They hire coaches that can coach like Gary Patterson. I really see Oregon winning this thing.
SEC Fan
January 7th, 2011
12:34 pm
The PAC10 is what it is. Can’t blame the West-coasters for being fans, but they are fans of a pansy football conference. The numbers back up my statements. Gimmicky offense & hardly any defense. That’s West Coast football. California girls are cute enough, though.
SecIsFootball
January 7th, 2011
12:38 pm
Auburn Man….being a long time Alabama and seeing BAMA win a number of SEC and National titles, I have learned one important thing. When my team wins, I dont get a ring!
I am also 37 so name calling and such doesnt really work for me. I see it from both sides, the lunitic fringe as you have referenced. I saw a thread on a rivals board where a BAMA fan was taking a shot at AU academics and brough up James Brooks. An AU fans reply took a shot at Siran Stacy and him losing a number of member of his family in a car accident. I try to stay away from that type of mess. But, to each their own I guess. Like I also said, I grew up in AL and have many friends who either attended AU or are fans so I know that that small percentage on a message board that people at times group as the views of the entire fan base, is not a good representation of AU fans in general as goes for BAMA fans. You have a lot of internet bad a$$es from both fan bases but in all of the Iron Bowls I have attended, I have never seen a bad incident take place. You may have some students who gets stupid and I had an annoying couple next to me this year who couldnt mind their own business, but that happens. Its all in good fun. And you are wrong about the Iron Bowl this year! 
Good grief
January 7th, 2011
12:44 pm
You aren’t doing yourself any favors. You are basing Stanford’s greatness based on what exactly? An annually overrated ACC bust that got their a$$es handed to them at home by James Madison? Seriously? This is the same Oregon that needed a missed FG to beat a horrible Cal team. The same Cal team that lost by 28 points to both UCLA and Oregon St., not mention getting 52 hung up on them by Nevada.
Way to show your typical Yech ignorance as usual.
Carlton
January 7th, 2011
12:47 pm
Is it just me or does ESPN have too much money? Anyone else see that piece with Desmond Howard talking about Cam Newton in an all 3-D world with random blocks popping up and him pushing them away? PLEASE!!
There’s more efficient ways to make your point than virtual 3-D play worlds ESPN!!
Sorry, had to get that off my chest. But Tony-why did you write this article? If you haven’t noticed, every blog the past 2 weeks on this website has been filled with discussion on whether the Pac-10 or SEC is better by people on these blogs, you didn’t need to write an article to fan the flames yet again. Thanks
Good grief
January 7th, 2011
12:47 pm
Just like I said earlier, this is the same Oregon team we have seen for the past 15 years. Only difference is they didn’t drop a game late in the season as they traditionally do. They will get destroyed.
huh?
January 7th, 2011
12:48 pm
Carlton,
I don’t think anyone is debating which conference is better. I’m sure that reality is painfully obvious.
WestDivisionDawg
January 7th, 2011
12:55 pm
Bama Fan#2 @ 8:15AM
Got “Albert Means”?
Gator Man
January 7th, 2011
12:55 pm
Go Auburn, most of the Sec Fans dont realize how the rest of the country hate SEC: Go, SEC, SEC
Carlton
January 7th, 2011
12:56 pm
Everyone knows the SEC is the best by the way-all the arguments I’ve heard from people on here the past 2 weeks has been:
“Well, the ACC beat you TWICE this year in bowls..” Whooptee- maybe this can be the first year in a consistent string of upcoming years for y’all? Both wins were over 6-6 teams btw..
“The Pac-10 really is a tough conference top to bottom”..when was the last time the Pac-10 had a national champion NOT named USC?
“The Big 10 is awesome because Ohio State beat Arkansas”..whooptee-Arkansas almost stole that game from y’all, you played 5 players (who have great tattoos by the way) that should have been playing to get that 0-9 monkey off your back and egg off Tressell’s face. Sh*t y’all can’t even count how many teams are in your conference and are so arrogant that you can’t change your conference’s name to “protect integrity” (then call your divisions Legends and Leaders??? PLEASE)
“Well, the Big 12 is awesome because..” well, no one has really been on these blogs saying the Big 12 is any good because half their teams are leaving next year and Oklahoma and Texas both never show up for big games (way to beat UConn this year OK…)
Wow-by the way, just say an eye-opening quote by Oregon’s AMAZING head coach: “At some point in the game, someone’s defense will have to step on the field and stop the other team’s offense. Whoever’s team does that with more success will probably win the game.”
Wow, really? Great analysis from the flagship team coming out of the Pac 10 to win y’all first NC for the conference in 5 years.
DawginLex
January 7th, 2011
12:57 pm
War Eagle, fly through da hood
Ain’t got no classes, grades still be good
War Eagle, pays more than State
Sign up and don’t be late
Go! Go! Go!
Probation, comin’ again
Hit ‘em late, Hit ‘em late,
Clam up and spin, Hey!
War Eagle, cheat for Auburn,
Stepchild of Dixie Land!
MY FAVORITE!!!!!!!
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Carlton
January 7th, 2011
12:58 pm
Correction-longer than 5 years. Forgot USC LOST in ‘05 to Texas and SHARED a championship with LSU in ‘03. Yeah, Pac-10 rocks
DC
January 7th, 2011
1:00 pm
Red panties?
jumbeauxtiger
January 7th, 2011
1:04 pm
Auburn 41 Oregon 21
Tomsjeep88
January 7th, 2011
1:07 pm
SEC claims four straight? At least Bama’s ring was made of gold.
P. Bull Terrier
January 7th, 2011
1:13 pm
The bowl schedule is crazy. I had no idea that the Cotton Bowl had not been played yet, and was hardly aware that the BBVA Compass Bowl even existed. As a fan of the SEC, I will generally watch at least part of a bowl game that involves a SEC team, but not if it is played days or weeks after I haved stopped thinking about the college football season. I doubt I’ll see LSU in the Cotton Bowl tonight and I know I won’t even bother to check the score of Kentucky’s game in that other bowl. I can’t believe the TV networks are making money with this kind of schedule, and if they’re not making money, no one is making money. It would be interesting to see a comparison of TV ratings for all of the bowls this year vs. several years ago when most bowls were played on or before New Year’s day.
This season’s Auburn team disgusted me for a lot of reasons that have nothing to do with the fact that they beat UGA. I would hate to see Auburn win the National Championship game, but I would hate it even more to see a SEC team lose the National Championship game. When it comes to bowl season, I always want to see the SEC (and even GA Tech) win them all. As much as I hate to do it, I’ll be pulling for an Auburn win over Oregon.
Joe Bob Thibodaux
January 7th, 2011
1:15 pm
Carlton, add this:
Steward Mandel of Sports Illustrated had this to say about USC:
(THE NCAA)….
“the committee hammered USC’s vaunted football program — 13 vacated wins, including its 55-19 Orange Bowl win over Oklahoma; a two-year bowl ban; and 30 docked scholarships.”
The hurricane Katrina did a job on LSU in 2005, but we almost won it all that year, too. Not making excuses, but 3 games in 13 days is rough in college football. Congratulations to Tennessee for your victory over LSU that season.
Dr. Love
January 7th, 2011
1:15 pm
I’m a Georgia fan – can’t in good conscience pull for Auburn, Florida, or Tennessee. (Or Tech).
BAMA dude
January 7th, 2011
1:15 pm
Good luck to Julio Jones, Mark Ingram, and Marcel Dareus. As expected, they haver all officially declared for the NFL Draft. These guys gave us some great memories.
BAMA dude
January 7th, 2011
1:21 pm
Oops. They have all officially announced that they will enter the draft. Semantics, but still. Donta Hightower has decided to return.
5IML
January 7th, 2011
1:21 pm
Dont’a is coming back. Saban said a few others are still thinking about it.
Good luck to them all. And thanks for the Championships. RTR!
Carlton
January 7th, 2011
1:22 pm
Well, Julio Jones announced he’s leaving for the NFL before AJ Green-that’s one thing he was better at doing than AJ..
5IML
January 7th, 2011
1:24 pm
Calton,
That and winning championships.
5IML
January 7th, 2011
1:25 pm
And yards after catch.
Bama recruitnik
January 7th, 2011
1:26 pm
Bama dude,
That’s okay and good luck to those 3. We’ll just reload with another #1 ranked recruiting class- current class is #1 ranked with several 5 star recruits still on the board. The talent waiting in the wings is sick and the recruiting cup runneth over. Roll Tide!
m
January 7th, 2011
1:27 pm
Tony, even though you are nothing but a shill for the BS—-bcs, it is the worst system ever developed my man and it is ruining college football. It has rendered all the other bowl games meaningless, and it gives an unfair advantage to the sec by being hand selected for the so-called championship every year, instead of having to earn their way.
The sec is the all hype conference…they are 3-4 in bowl games so far (hardly matches the sec bs rhetoric) and they are 0-2 vs the ACC. And they probably will finish no better than .500…like I said, the all hype conference.
We need a 16 team playoff. It would make college football fun again. It would crown a true champion…not the fake bs champion that we will get on Monday. If we had a playoff this year, teams like Oklahoma, Alabama, TCU, etc that have played well in the post season would get to fight their way to the top instead of having it handed to awBARN and Oregon.
Tony, if you had any class or credibility whatsoever, you would lead the charge for a playoff instead of being a shill for this silly system we have now.
Bama recruitnik
January 7th, 2011
1:27 pm
5IML,
Don’t forget Upshaw and Maze look to be staying also. Loaded loaded loaded.
Not So Fast
January 7th, 2011
1:28 pm
Hey SEC Fan:
you wrote:
SEC Fan
January 7th, 2011
12:34 pm
The PAC10 is what it is. Can’t blame the West-coasters for being fans, but they are fans of a pansy football conference. The numbers back up my statements. Gimmicky offense & hardly any defense. That’s West Coast football. California girls are cute enough, though
***
Do you even watch PAC 10 football? Oregon does run a spread offense like many SEC teams; Stanford and Cal a Pro Style Offense, as does USC; USC runs a cover 2 defense sometimes referred to the Tampa 2 (as in Tampa Bay FL). WTF is gimmicky about these?
Read thru these blog comments and you can’t help but hear the envy you have for USC. The program has had 2 down years, (9 and 4, 8 and 5). If these are down what about Florida and Texas?
Nobody can say what would have happened if USC had faced different teams in the Championship Years or the SEC matchups; what can be said is USC played all comers and won the games. USC still has that attitude, play the best. (for the Record tOSU is also 0 for this century against the Trojans) even during one of those “down years”.
When you talk about USC football their is only 1 team in the SEC that belongs in the discussion, BAMA, end of story. Every USC fan I talk to has great pride in their program, but they do acknowledge the great tradition at Alabama and have great respect for them.
For God’s sake act like you’ve been there.
wxwax
January 7th, 2011
1:28 pm
I hope it’s Oregon. Also Texas A&M.
I think that the dominant player will win the game, though, and that’s Cam Newton. I don’t think highly of him as a person. But the college game is almost too easy for him.
Oregon will eventually score. But I fear that there’s no stopping Newton at this level.
Bama recruitnik
January 7th, 2011
1:29 pm
m,
Are you forgetting that the sec whupped the acc in the regular season? LSU over UNC, S Carolina over Clemson, Georgia over Tech?
DC
January 7th, 2011
1:29 pm
Carlton…Julio is like Terrell Owens..he will be just fine..AJ is like randy moss..he will be just fine…so its like splitting hairs…and not like AJ was that great at UGA..if you think about it he was kind of a bust (for UGA)…injuries..suspension..
Not saying he is a bad WR..not at all..he is sick! but didn’t really make the impact UGA was expecting..due to injuries and suspension.
David Granger
January 7th, 2011
1:31 pm
As the UConn women’s basketball team proved, no winning streak goes on forever. Eventually an SEC team will get beaten in a BCS championship game.
Auburn’s awfully strong, but I wonder if they’ll really be ready for Oregon’s “jump right back up and snap it again” offense. (Personally, I think the NCAA might end up changing the rules in a couple of years to require that a defense have a minimun time to get set.) Ought to be an exciting game, for certain. They’re both outstanding teams, and I don’t look for there to be many “dull” moments.
Hard for a bleed-black-and-red Dawg fan to say this, but “War Eagle!”
Carlton
January 7th, 2011
1:38 pm
Actually, I’d argue Julio got hurt more than AJ did. He was tougher though this season playing through that hand injury though. AJ showed toughness last season when he hurt his shoulder but played through it. Yards and touchdowns though? Advantage-AJ..
Paul in RDU
January 7th, 2011
1:39 pm
jwr
You are claiming that USC would have a poor record against SEC teams in BCS bowls and it is based entirely on your opinion.
In ACTUAL games against SEC teams in the last 10 years, USC has won all 4 games played. One of them (against ARK in 2006) was a 50-14 beat down on the road of a team that won the SEC West that year. I think USC’s record shows that they could compete against the top SEC teams in the last 10 years.
Carlton
January 7th, 2011
1:41 pm
And one of those years AJ had the amazing Joe Cox throwing to him, so…
AJ’s “bust” was that Richt began to become delusional 3 years ago when AJ first got on campus inexplicably..not his fault his 2nd and 3rd year he constantly saw a safety over the top and Bobolikes to run it on 2nd and 3rd & 20…