Wonder why SEC on top? Look at other conference finals (with video)
Can you hear SEC commissioner Mike Slive? "Yes, I am king. Are there any questions?" (AP photo)
While it’s easy to understand why any fan of a conference not named the SEC grows tired of hearing and reading about the SEC, the evolution of this year’s conference championship match-ups screams why the landscape is so lopsided.
This came home Monday when Miami announced that the football program was going to self-impose a bowl ban (hoping to beat the NCAA to the punch) and therefore would not accept a bid to the ACC championship game. This allowed Georgia Tech to back through the door as Coastal Division “champions.” The Jackets will face Florida State for the ACC title.
This isn’t meant to pick on Georgia Tech. It’s not the Jackets’ fault they have been given this opportunity, despite a relatively crummy season. But if you want to know why the SEC commands the attention it does, just look at how the ACC and other conference championship games compare.
Here are the conference title games, listed from worst to first:
• BIG EAST: There is no conference championship game because it doesn’t have enough teams (12 is the mandated minimum). Why the Big East is an automatic qualifier in the BCS order of things is beyond logic because it seems to exist only to have its remains picked over by the ACC and Big 12 for their own conference expansion. On a related note: Possible Big East champion Rutgers is considering joining the Big Ten.
• BIG 12: It was forced to cancel its conference championship game after 2010 because the defections of Nebraska (Big Ten) and Colorado (Pacific 12) left the conference with only 10 teams. In other words, the name “Big 12” is a lie! There’s also this: Kansas State, the conference’s best team and No. 1 in the BCS until Saturday, just got flattened by Baylor.
• ACC: The conference championship will match Georgia Tech against Florida State. If the Yellow Jackets lose to Georgia, they will be a 6-6 conference finalist. So much for marquee value. Coastal Division teams Miami and North Carolina are ineligible and usual power Virginia Tech has fallen apart. The Seminoles, winners of the Atlantic, have a nice record (10-1). But they get little love from computers (ranking 17th) and stand only 10th in the BCS. That’s what happens when you lose to North Carolina State and have one win over a ranked team (Clemson).
• BIG TEN: This is very ACC-like. Third-place Wisconsin (4-3, 7-4, with another possible loss this week at Penn State) will represent the “Leaders” Division in the conference championship game. Why? Because Ohio State (7-0, 11-0) and Penn State (5-2, 7-3) both are ineligible. The other finalist will be either Nebraska or Michigan, neither of whom rank among the top 13 schools in the BCS.
• PACIFIC 12: Oregon, the conference’s best team and until Saturday the No. 2 team in the BCS, may not even play for the Pac-12 title now. The Ducks lost to Stanford at home, and now need a win over Oregon State and a Stanford loss to UCLA to get into the game. The Bruins locked up the South Division with last week’s win over USC. But they’re far out of BCS title contention (17th).
• SEC: Conference teams have won six straight BCS championships and, as much as it pains the rest of the populace, there is a chance the SEC will make it seven. If Georgia beats Georgia Tech Saturday and Alabama beats Auburn, the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide will meet next week for not only the SEC championship but a pass into BCS game. Upsets by Tech and/or Auburn would change the scenario. But as of now, the SEC has by far the best conference title game and with the most on the line nationally.
So what else is new?
- By Jeff Schultz
Cyber-chatting on Atlanta sports — and can Tech pull the upset?
Busy times … earlier blogs you might’ve missed
• Falcons win — but run before somebody changes their mind
• Short takes: Ryan awful, defense great, win important
• Georgia’s new reality: From on the brink to BCS title possibility
• Upsets launch Georgia into BCS title picture (updated game column)
• Short takes: Murray wakes up the offense
• Weekend Predictions: Dogs, Jackets, Falcons and the lust triangles
• Falcons’ flaws aren’t worse than any other NFL team
• College hoop kings provide rare thrills for Atlanta
• Falcons’ startling admission: Ray Edwards was a blunder
• Will SEC get team to BCS championship (answer below) (with video)
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Week 13 in the SEC – ESPN (blog) | football.sportreports.tk
November 19th, 2012
1:14 pm
[...] of the bowl race, but …Notre Dame takes over top spot in BCS standingsPhiladelphia InquirerWonder why SEC on top? Look at other conference finals (with video)Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog)SEC Big Winners After UpsetsWBFSChicago [...]
Rick James
November 19th, 2012
1:14 pm
@GTBob
Once again Bob your loyalty for Tech and dislike(envy)for Georgia and the SEC cloud your judgement,common sense and comprehention skills.Go online and buy a ticket for the ACC championship game.They start at six bucks on stubhub..
Buckeye
November 19th, 2012
1:15 pm
TN and Auburn:
SEC! SEC!
Seth
November 19th, 2012
1:17 pm
Talk about teams backing their way into a championship. Who did the SEC play this past weekend that warranted their teams to move into 3 of the top five BCS spots? What a joke! And Oregon drops to 5th because they lost in overtime to the 11th ranked team and one of the best defenses in the country? The SEC makes it into the championship game every year because they have gamed a broken system not because it is a superior conference. Sure they have won those games, but winning one game isn’t the hard part getting there is unless you play 4 junior colleges a year.
DeezNutz
November 19th, 2012
1:18 pm
Hey Buckeye, exactly who did you guys beat this year that’s worth a damn? Nebraska? Your conference is weaker than the ACC these days. It’s a sad day when you have to bring in Maryland and Rutgers to give your conference a bump. Enjoy the fall when Urban gets bored of playing for nothing and decides to move on to something a little more interesting … I mean … needs to spend more time with his family due to health concerns.
Chris
November 19th, 2012
1:19 pm
The SEC has teams at the top based on reputation. No way if you have watched Florida or GA you would think they were top 5 teams. GA has played one good team and lost 35-7. Florida has had some LSU like luck this year to escape while being nothing more than average. Alabama has played one team capable of throwing the ball and they got beat by them. The SEC is like everyone other conference, they have a couple of good teams, a few bad teams and a bunch of average in the middle.
DixieDawg
November 19th, 2012
1:22 pm
From Buckeye: The dogs have NOTHING to hang a hat on since 1980 but a bumbling (pun intended) record against top 25 competition
Hang your hat on this: 2002 & 2005 SEC Champions
Dawgdad (The Original)
November 19th, 2012
1:22 pm
Buckeye
How many championships have Ohio State won lately in spite of Mr. See no Evil, Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil, sweater vested Jim Tressell? How many times have those great teams been exposed as frauds, when tested against the SEC?
kingdaddy
November 19th, 2012
1:24 pm
Bucky
No thanks, I like my Jose, but thanks, you can drink some “malt-liquor” for me and thanks for voting for the POS-POTUS DUMBA$$…
ARdawg
November 19th, 2012
1:24 pm
GA Sandlapper
Theoretically yes, it would work out that way in the BCS but, the talking heads are trying as hard as possible to insure it doesn’t. They don’t feel the rest of the country has the stomache for another sec/sec match up
JB
November 19th, 2012
1:25 pm
Ok. here goes. I’m just reporting. It appears that the entire country outside the south has SEC fatigue about the BCS Championship. I’m thinking the Dawgs get screwed if they beat Bama and there will be another one loss team play Notre Dame. Don’t know why other than what I’m reading on a National level. Dawgs are not even in the conversation. Hold on brothers and sisters. Just watch. Oh course they would take ( have to) Bama if THEY beat us. I don’t think it’ll work the other way. Damn.
robodawg
November 19th, 2012
1:25 pm
The polls have got it about right. Okay, I don’t know who really thinks Notre Dame is the best team in the land, but they are undefeated for now. And other than that, you’ve got the top 10 dominated by SEC teams, the PAC 12 comes in second with several solid, well-coached teams, and the Big 10, ACC, and Big 12 have one or two flagship schools representing otherwise middling conferences.
College Football Like English Essay
November 19th, 2012
1:26 pm
who has the SEC beaten outside of the SEC? Arkansas was ranked #8 at beginning along with all the top SEC teams because someone said they were good. Where are they now? LSU is the only team with a good schedule. The rest play one or two good SEC teams and then all terrible teams but they are the best? Let the champs play the champs to sort it out. No more SEC/SEC games
Frankly
November 19th, 2012
1:27 pm
This is not WHY the SEC is on top but merely evidence of its superiority. The SEC is on top because the league has better teams and the reasons why it has better teams has been discussed ad nauseum.
Tools Everywhere
November 19th, 2012
1:27 pm
@Buckeye
What a tool. Know SEC history over the last 10 years before you come spouting sh-t you know nothing about. Ohio Stae is a joke against the SEC for 25 years and everyone knows it. Just look sat the record. I come with facts, you come with a big mouth.
Wet Willie...keep on smiling
November 19th, 2012
1:27 pm
Can’t wait for Urban and Nick to meet again. Urban won th 1st no doubt in a great game. The 2nd he lost in a great game and we sent him to the hospital. The 3rd beatdown sent him home. The 4th should be special then again even Mike Shula beat Urban. In 77 after Coach Bryant and Bama beat the living shet our of Woody and Tattoo U Coach Bryant was asked about the greatness of Coach Hayes to which he replied.”Woody is a great football coach and I ain’t bad myself”. Roll Tide
ScoutDawg
November 19th, 2012
1:28 pm
NO way. An 11-1 SEC CHAMPION gets IN NO MATTER WHAT.
come on schultzie
November 19th, 2012
1:29 pm
get it right for crying out loud.
HEY JEFF WHY DO OTHERS HAVE TO DO YOUR WORK FOR YOU? OVERSIGNING IS THE PRIMARY REASON WHY THE SEC HAS RISEN TO THE TOP.
while saban is a good coach …. his stint in the nfl exposed the fact that when he has to play by the rules he no more than just an good coach…. not the great coach he appears to be in the college ranks. enter over signing…….
http://oversigning.com/testing/?s=saban+miles
saban and miles have signed more players than any other program over the last 10 years via over signing. it is NO coincidence that lsu and bama have resided as 1 and 2 in the bcs. they are also the worst at over signing by a wide margin. the sec as a conference is the worst by far.
for instance saban averages 27.5 players every year. gt on the other hand probably signs an average of 19. so over 4 years we sign 76 players and bama signs 115. a difference of 49 players. 50% more than gt every 4 years. 115/76=150%. the quantity of players is not the only issue.
of the 115 they sign every 4 years, they cherry pick the very best 85 and drive off the remaining 30 to grades, injury, malcontent, transfer etc etc. that is why the sec always seems to pull away in the 3d and 4th quarters of games against any other top programs not in the sec… tosu oklahoma fsu UGA etc. that is why they have won 5 nc in a row. as the article points out the sec commits this foul far more than any other conference.
they don’t have ’sec’ speed. they don’t have better coaching. they have better rosters top to bottom because of the over signing / cherry picking. that is why tosu got their butt kicked in the 2nd half by both uf and lsu. tosu and the big ten do not over sign. the acc does not over sign but for maybe fsu i think.
sec teams like bama and lsu end up with so much talent on their roster that the difference between 1st team an 3d team is marginal as compared to other programs. richt at uga does not over sign.
that is a huge reason why uga has fallen behind auburn, lsu, bama and now sc. sc under the ol ball sack now over signs. funny how sc pulled away from clemson last year in the 2nd half. that is a re occuring theme in any game bama lsu uf and now usc is involved in for the most part.
this is not the only result from the over signing. for example say the sec per team average is 105 players every 4 years. (probably high)
using this number means that the sec cans 20 players per team every 4 years in order to maintain the 85 schollie limit each year. a total of 12 x 20=240 players.
basically, the sec removes 240 of the best players from the talent pool of southern players that gt and other programs recruit from. that is why we cant recruit big uglies on the d and o. the sec hordes them all via over signing.
you may or may not remember but before we had the 85 scholarship rule. teams like bear bryant and bama would have 120+ plus players on the roster.
different method of cherry picking and hording players but the same end result. that is one of the reasons why coach dodd disliked bear bryant. dodd thought that player hording was immoral.
this really hurts teams like gt, vandy, acc, big 10, big east, pac10 …. tosu and yes even UGA.
UGA FANS…. look for bama to pull away from uga in the 3d and 4th quarter in 2 weeks exactly like it does to all teams that dont over sign.
yes the sec has the best fb conference no doubt and its not because they coach better or have sec speed. all teams have players with ’sec’ speed. they just horde more of them.
is the sec the best fb conference in the country as you ascribe to schultzie? hadly!
if you held a 100 yard dash for 100 runners and continued to give one athlete a 10 yard head start such that he kept winning most of the races… would anybody call him the fastest man in the world?
HELL NO.
the sec is a good conference dont get me wrong but remove oversigning and they become just another good conference among many.
Buckeye
November 19th, 2012
1:29 pm
Why can’t we play in the B1G CG? Did we do something wrong again?
ARdawg
November 19th, 2012
1:30 pm
Bucky
Great move there Einstein adding Maryland and Rutgers to your *cough* impressive conference.
kingdaddy
November 19th, 2012
1:31 pm
Bucky
Has OSU even won a bowl in this Century???
JB
November 19th, 2012
1:31 pm
Hope you are right ScoutDawg. If not us, I would want Bama there. They are family, although distant..LOL
GTBob
November 19th, 2012
1:31 pm
GTBob — Wow, you think I’m “upset” that Tech is going to ACC title game? That’s really what you took from this blog? Silly.
Sorry, but what else prompted this blog in which you felt to rant about how terrible everyone is except the SEC? It just happens to come out the same day that Miami bailed out and you take a couple of unneeded shots at Tech. It just doesn’t seem like you are very happy about the news today. Just my opinion.
DeezNutz
November 19th, 2012
1:31 pm
Buckeye, your team is pretty much the reason the SEC has the reputation as the dominant conference in the first place. THE Ohio State University pummels the Big10 every year only to get beat down by SEC teams in the bowl games. Since you bring up 1980, I should mention you all haven’t beat an SEC in a bowl game since that magical year. Oh what about 2011 Sugar Bowl you say? Yeah that win was vacated, remember.
scottiek
November 19th, 2012
1:32 pm
Fuss all you want about the SEC working the system. The bottom line is that for 6 years running, the SEC’s best lined up against the next best from all over the country. And ON THE FIELD, the SEC EARNED national championships by beating #2. You can argue the process and protest the attention, but there’s no way around the final scores of the big games.
Sammy Dawg
November 19th, 2012
1:32 pm
Isn’t the real question what have the SEC presidents and athletic departments done differently to dreate such domination? Is this just a regional advantage coupled with an “ownership” of this being “our thing”. Fan support in the SEC is way better than any other sport or region in the country.
Joey
November 19th, 2012
1:32 pm
I’ve seen several today calling the SECCG a “play-in game” to the BCSCG, JB, mostly because of the BCS ranking points.
Provided Bama and UGA win this Saturday, of course.
JB
November 19th, 2012
1:32 pm
Isn’t Ohio st on a long probation for REALLY cheating.
GA Sandlapper
November 19th, 2012
1:32 pm
Just let another someone from another conference play an SEC schedule…Notre Dame would have 2 to 4 losses playing the schedule of UF, LSU, TN, SC,etc.. Cannot include UGA’s schedule in this arguement
andrew
November 19th, 2012
1:33 pm
“FSU get little love from computers (ranking 17th) and stand only 10th in the BCS. That’s what happens when you lose to NCState and have one win over a ranked team (Clemson).”
UGA only has 1 win over a ranked team and they are ranked 3rd… !!!
octavian
November 19th, 2012
1:33 pm
Buckeye, perhaps you would explain to us exactly how the SEC “gamed the system.”
Otherwise, your comment sounds like the resentment we’ve come to expect from Big 10 fans
who have the rather foolish notion that their conference is the best in the nation.
Buckeye... Time for your quiz
November 19th, 2012
1:35 pm
Guess what Ohio State’s record is against UGA? You guessed it: 0-1. Let’s do double or nothing. Guess what Ohio State’s record is against the SEC? Hint: its only win was vacated because of the improprieties of Old Mr. Sweater Vest. That’s right: 0-9. Ouch. Kind of hurts when you put it in perspective so I can certainly see why you are so bitter. What an overated program in the least. Pathetic.
GTBob
November 19th, 2012
1:35 pm
Hate the SEC all you want, challenge the ratings all you want but, until you loud mouths complainers beat the SEC, just STFU.
How can anyone beat the SEC? They will only play cupcakes until the MNC. Basically the SEC only has to win one game a year keep convincing people that they are an unbeatable machine of a conference.
DeezNutz
November 19th, 2012
1:35 pm
Buckeye, I hope you don’t think we dislike the OSU here in the SEC. Nothing could be further from the truth. WE love OSU, our SEC friends love to play the OSU in the BCS CG because it’s another automatic win. Wish you all could play in the BCS CG, ND might actually give an SEC some trouble.
Chris
November 19th, 2012
1:36 pm
SEC fans make me laugh- they are so oblivious to facts. Not to mention- what kind of retard cheers for other teams in the conference? I would want all of my opponents to lose games.
Tools Everywhere
November 19th, 2012
1:37 pm
@GT Bob,
You are one of the very reasons the SEC is the best confernence. You live here (with many other trolls) in envy. You won’t see this trafffic on other conference articles.
Joey
November 19th, 2012
1:37 pm
“The 2nd he lost in a great game and we sent him to the hospital.”
******************************************
Wet Willie, I read that Urban’s health problems resulted from Mrs Myer finding out about the 20 year old UF co-ed.
I still think he was grieving over Tebow’s graduation . . .
Red Stick
November 19th, 2012
1:38 pm
Current strength of schedule for the BCS top 10 (http://www.teamrankings.com/college-football/ranking/strength-of-schedule-by-team):
Notre Dame-40
Alabama-5
UGA-32
FL-10
Oregon-9
K St-22
LSU-4
Stanford-2
Tex A&M-1
FSU-61
Geaux Tigers
Go SEC
GA Sandlapper
November 19th, 2012
1:38 pm
We just need a real, 8 team play-off.
GA Sandlapper
November 19th, 2012
1:40 pm
Red Stick..how could you pull out the schedule rankings? SEC Bias!! ESPN must of put those rankings together!! (SARCASM)
DeezNutz
November 19th, 2012
1:40 pm
GTBob, you could look at the bowl game results each year when up to 8 SEC teams play all of the other conferences and win, despite the fact the SEC is usually handicapped by having to put up a 3rd place conf. team versus a 2nd place conf. team or a 5 v. 3 or something of the like. The SEC still wins the majority of the games. That’s how the SEC gets so much respect from the pollsters. We don’t have to play them during the season, we just beat em up in the bowls.
Patched Tire On I-95 in Jacksonville
November 19th, 2012
1:40 pm
Buckeye
Thanks to the Phantom interference call that Im sure some booster paid the refs Ohio St hadnt done anything since 1970
and if they played in the SEC instead of the joke conference you play in; you would be nothing more than a middle of the road SEC team
Instead of the Big 10 being called Big 10 why dont they call it the Big 1 conference cause every season The Big 10 has only 1 team that is any good
blue
November 19th, 2012
1:42 pm
JB…Not a dawg fan or an SEC fan…but I don’t think there is any chance it goes down that way (IF UGA was able to beat Bama…which I doubt). I am a Big 10 guy (MI) but am, unlike Buckeye, able to be intellectually honest with myself. “In order to be the champ…you got to BEAT the champ”. I want someone from outside the SEC to play the SEC champion to see if SOMEONE can knock them off. I do not see any way that a non-SEC team jumps over EITHER team that wins the SEC championship. And Buckeye…really dude, you guys have NEVER beaten an SEC team in a bowl game, and you are talking trash? Sounds like you got “stupid” tatooed on your brain and it did…you know…serious damage.
Fellow comedian
November 19th, 2012
1:43 pm
A tOSU fan calling other team and conference fans “delusional” is hilarious. Ask anyone who has ever spent time around Buckeye fan, “delusional is in their DNA”.
GTBob
November 19th, 2012
1:44 pm
Here is the SEC’s formula for success:
1. Schedule as many weak OOC games as possible.
2. Top load the conference. Have 4-5 terrible teams that the top teams can beat up on.
3. Avoid tough games later in the season.
4. Have ESPN over inflate SEC teams in the rankings.
Its basically as simple as that. Its not a big coincidence that Alabama and UGA have played pretty weak schedules and are both going to make the SEC championship.
kingdaddy
November 19th, 2012
1:44 pm
Bob
Those “cupcakes” include Tech who is playing for an ACC-CG, LOL Funnyman…
Buckeye
November 19th, 2012
1:45 pm
kingdaddy,
When it comes to the POS POTUS, you and I are in complete agreement.
come on schultzie
November 19th, 2012
1:46 pm
HEY JEFF WHY DO OTHERS HAVE TO DO YOUR WORK FOR YOU?
the sec is a good conference that uses an unfair advantage to hold onto the top spot. of course you will never see espn complain about it.
http://oversigning.com/testing/?s=saban+miles
saban and miles have signed more players than any other program over the last 10 years via over signing. it is NO coincidence that lsu and bama are often 1 and 2 in the bcs. they are also the worst at over signing by a wide margin. the sec as a conference is the worst by far.
for instance saban averages 27.5 players every year. gt on the other hand probably signs an average of 19. so over 4 years we sign 76 players and bama signs 115. a difference of 49 players. 50% more than gt every 4 years. 115/76=150%. the quantity of players is not the only issue.
of the 115 they sign every 4 years, they cherry pick the very best 85 and drive off the remaining 30 to grades, injury, malcontent, transfer etc etc. that is why the sec always seems to pull away in the 3d and 4th quarters of games against any other top programs not in the sec… tosu oklahoma fsu UGA etc. that is why they have won 5 nc in a row. as the article points out the sec commits this foul far more than any other conference.
they don’t have ’sec’ speed. they don’t have better coaching. they have better rosters top to bottom because of the over signing / cherry picking. that is why tosu got their butt kicked in the 2nd half by both uf and lsu. tosu and the big ten do not over sign. the acc does not over sign.
sec teams like bama and lsu end up with so much talent on their roster that the difference between 1st team an 3d team is marginal as compared to other programs. richt at uga does not over sign.
that is a huge reason why uga has fallen behind lsu, bama and now sc. sc under the ol ball sack now over signs. before spurrier started oversigning the gamecocks were strugglin. now they are a top ten team.
funny how sc pulled away from clemson in the 2nd half of last years game game isnt it? usc is to clemson as bama is to uga. all 4 teams have 4-5 star talent. only 2 of those teams over sign.
in 2 weeks look for uga to hold its own against bama for a half. it will be all bama after the half. it will have nothing to do with the adjustments that saban and staff made and everything to do with bama being the fresher team… the team with more overall talent.
this is not the only result from the over signing. for example say the sec per team average is 105 players every 4 years. (probably high)
using this number means that the bama for instance cuts 20 players every 4 years in order to maintain the 85 schollie limit each year. mutliply that number by the number of teams that oversign. that is the number of players that were held out of the talent pool.
basically, the sec hordes a large number of the best players from the talent pool of southern players that gt and other programs recruit from. that is why gt cant recruit big uglies on the d and o. the sec hordes them all via over signing.
you may or may not remember but before we had the 85 scholarship rule. teams like bear bryant and bama would have 120+ plus players on the roster.
different method of cherry picking and hording players but the same end result. that is one of the reasons why coach dodd disliked bear bryant. dodd thought that player hording was immoral.
this really hurts teams like gt, vandy, acc, big 10, big east, pac10 …. tosu and yes even UGA.
UGA FANS…. you have no chance in beating bama in two weeks. none.
yes the sec has the best fb conference no doubt and its not because they coach better or have sec speed. all teams have players with ’sec’ speed. they just horde more of them.
put another way….
if we held a 100 meter dash sprint for the top 100 sprinters in the country but we gave the same sprinter a 10 yard head start for each race. if he wins most of them is he the fastest man in the country?
HELL NO IS ISNT. he had an unfair advantage!
if we really want a national championship it is time for the ncaa to really crack down on over signing and level the playing field. all the bragging that sec fans do now is just so much false bravado no matter how much they say to the contrary ….
AND THEY KNOW IT.
Buckeye
November 19th, 2012
1:47 pm
Dixie,
2002 and 2005 SEC! SEC! Championships.
Thanks for stepping up, however, did those result in SEC! SEC! glory for the SEC! SEC!?
Think not.
GTBob
November 19th, 2012
1:47 pm
Bob
Those “cupcakes” include Tech who is playing for an ACC-CG, LOL Funnyman…
I agree. UGA gets a free win at the end of every season. Must be nice.