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Has the SEC's bowl dominance quieted its critics in your neck of the woods?
Posted on 1/5/16 at 12:11 pm
Posted on 1/5/16 at 12:11 pm
So my friend, Clay (not his real name), is a UT and Big 12 homer...he has been ragging me all year about the SEC being overrated...it didn't help that we had some terrible non-conference losses. But, I stood firm, and kept citing Massey's College Football Ranking Composite Poll that had the SEC rated the top conference all year. This composite poll is an average of 120 computer polls. It's a pretty good tool to compare teams and conferences.
Anyhow, the SEC steamrolled it way through the bowl season, going 8-2, with the eight victories the most ever by a conference in one season. Seven of the wins were by 21 or more points. It was glorious.
After casually mentioning these facts to Clay, he immediately went on the defensive. His spin: the SEC played inferior opponents during the bowl season. I knew that Clay didn't do much research to generate his spin, so I did the research for him. Using the team rankings in Massey's Composite Poll, I was able to ascertain the following
SEC vs. Evenly or undermatched opponents: 4-2
No. 45 Louisville beats No. 35 Texas A&M 27-21 in Music City Bowl
No. 1 Alabama beats No. 5 Michigan State 38-0 in Cotton Bowl
No. 23 Tennessee beats No. 21 Northwestern 45-6 in Outback Bowl
No. 13 Michigan beats No. 20 Florida 41-7 in Citrus Bowl
No. 11 Ole Miss beats No. 14 Oklahoma State 48-20 in Sugar Bowl
No. 49 Auburn beats No. 28 Memphis 31-10 in Birmingham Bowl
SEC vs Overmatched opponents: 4-0
No. 17 LSU beats No. 44 Texas Tech 56-27 in Texas Bowl
No. 26 Mississippi State beats No. 51 North Carolina State 51-28 in Belk Bowl
No. 29 Georgia beats No. 46 Penn State 24-17 in TaxSlayer Bowl
No. 27 Arkansas beats No. 56 Kansas State 45-23 in Liberty Bowl
While four of the games were indeed against inferior opponents, SEC won all four of those games by a combined margin of over 20 points. Six of the games were against evenly or superior opponents, and the SEC was still able to post a 4-2 record (.666), which is still better a winning % than every other conference.
The perception was that the SEC was down this season. Yet, we were still the top conference according to Massey's Composite Bowl and our historical bowl season cemented it.
I don't expect Clay to ever see the light.
Anyhow, the SEC steamrolled it way through the bowl season, going 8-2, with the eight victories the most ever by a conference in one season. Seven of the wins were by 21 or more points. It was glorious.
After casually mentioning these facts to Clay, he immediately went on the defensive. His spin: the SEC played inferior opponents during the bowl season. I knew that Clay didn't do much research to generate his spin, so I did the research for him. Using the team rankings in Massey's Composite Poll, I was able to ascertain the following
SEC vs. Evenly or undermatched opponents: 4-2
No. 45 Louisville beats No. 35 Texas A&M 27-21 in Music City Bowl
No. 1 Alabama beats No. 5 Michigan State 38-0 in Cotton Bowl
No. 23 Tennessee beats No. 21 Northwestern 45-6 in Outback Bowl
No. 13 Michigan beats No. 20 Florida 41-7 in Citrus Bowl
No. 11 Ole Miss beats No. 14 Oklahoma State 48-20 in Sugar Bowl
No. 49 Auburn beats No. 28 Memphis 31-10 in Birmingham Bowl
SEC vs Overmatched opponents: 4-0
No. 17 LSU beats No. 44 Texas Tech 56-27 in Texas Bowl
No. 26 Mississippi State beats No. 51 North Carolina State 51-28 in Belk Bowl
No. 29 Georgia beats No. 46 Penn State 24-17 in TaxSlayer Bowl
No. 27 Arkansas beats No. 56 Kansas State 45-23 in Liberty Bowl
While four of the games were indeed against inferior opponents, SEC won all four of those games by a combined margin of over 20 points. Six of the games were against evenly or superior opponents, and the SEC was still able to post a 4-2 record (.666), which is still better a winning % than every other conference.
The perception was that the SEC was down this season. Yet, we were still the top conference according to Massey's Composite Bowl and our historical bowl season cemented it.
I don't expect Clay to ever see the light.
This post was edited on 1/6/16 at 10:53 pm
16
Posted on 1/5/16 at 12:13 pm to Chicken
quote:
So my friend, Clay (not his real name), is a UT and Big 12 homer.
Big 12 sucks! SEC! SEC! SEC! 
Posted on 1/5/16 at 12:14 pm to Chicken
There were critics?
Posted on 1/5/16 at 12:15 pm to Chicken
quote:
I don't expect Clay to ever see the light.
Sounds like you need better friends. Ever hear of the OT lounge? I'd go introduce yourself
Posted on 1/5/16 at 12:15 pm to Chicken
No because UF didn't bother to show up. And also Treon.
Posted on 1/5/16 at 12:15 pm to Chicken
My neck of the woods (Carolinas) doesn't even know what football is. Sad.
Posted on 1/5/16 at 12:18 pm to Chicken
Kirby Smart
Posted on 1/5/16 at 12:32 pm to Chicken
Posted on 1/5/16 at 12:36 pm to Chicken
Was he your source on Saban to Texas?
Posted on 1/5/16 at 12:37 pm to Chicken
quote:
the SEC was still able to post a 4-2 record (.666),
Posted on 1/5/16 at 12:40 pm to DrunkenStuporMan
Some folks love the dark. LOL
Posted on 1/5/16 at 12:54 pm to Chicken
Well the SEC did get some favorable matchups this year but the SEC also took care of business. It goes in stages though, some years the matchups aren't as favorable.
Posted on 1/5/16 at 1:03 pm to pvilleguru
quote:
There were critics?
I've had to listen to Louisville fans run it about beating a QB-less A&M and how Clemson reinforces the ACC "superiority".
Posted on 1/5/16 at 1:08 pm to Chicken
I've got Big 12 family and B1G close friends who are both arguing the same things Chicken. "Bad match-ups, favorable match-ups for the SEC," etc., etc., etc.
Nothing is going to totally quiet them but they have eased-off some.
Now, my Clemson friends ... nah. They are just steadily talking crap. They say stuff just like the Big 12 and B1G fans do, about the SEC, but they add that the only game that matters is this Bama vs Clemson match-up because it is the only evenly matched game that has, or is going to be, played.
I've decided that the whole conference superiority thing is just like politics and religion. No one is going to change their minds or give credit where credit is due ... with the possible exception of we SEC fans who, honestly, appear to be tougher on our own conference at times than are other fans of other conferences.
Here's another way to look at it and we should always use this as a proper perspective of things.
I know for a fact that A&M and Mizzou fans used to bitch and moan about the SEC getting too much credit WHEN they were members of the Big 12, and even back to the SWC and Big 8 days. I have A&M family members too and I rag them about how they used to bitch and moan about it all the time. And my ex business partner for many years was a Mizzou guy and he constantly bemoaned how the SEC received unfair favoritism from ESPN and the NCAA.
But these days they all get-it. They do. I still rag them about it and they just hang their heads and admit it ... because there is no denying it.
It's always going to be the SEC against the world in college football. There will be rare years where one conference or another might be better, but those years will be few and far between.
Oh, and one of the most common arguments I've heard this year is about how down the SEC was this year and that's why so many of our teams qualified for bowls ... which is why we've done so well. That, plus there are still tons of claims that we all play very weak non-conference schedules, blah blah blah.
Recruits know better and that's all that really matters. Oh, and ESPN and most of the talking heads know better too ... so there is that I suppose.
Nothing is going to totally quiet them but they have eased-off some.
Now, my Clemson friends ... nah. They are just steadily talking crap. They say stuff just like the Big 12 and B1G fans do, about the SEC, but they add that the only game that matters is this Bama vs Clemson match-up because it is the only evenly matched game that has, or is going to be, played.
I've decided that the whole conference superiority thing is just like politics and religion. No one is going to change their minds or give credit where credit is due ... with the possible exception of we SEC fans who, honestly, appear to be tougher on our own conference at times than are other fans of other conferences.
Here's another way to look at it and we should always use this as a proper perspective of things.
I know for a fact that A&M and Mizzou fans used to bitch and moan about the SEC getting too much credit WHEN they were members of the Big 12, and even back to the SWC and Big 8 days. I have A&M family members too and I rag them about how they used to bitch and moan about it all the time. And my ex business partner for many years was a Mizzou guy and he constantly bemoaned how the SEC received unfair favoritism from ESPN and the NCAA.
But these days they all get-it. They do. I still rag them about it and they just hang their heads and admit it ... because there is no denying it.
It's always going to be the SEC against the world in college football. There will be rare years where one conference or another might be better, but those years will be few and far between.
Oh, and one of the most common arguments I've heard this year is about how down the SEC was this year and that's why so many of our teams qualified for bowls ... which is why we've done so well. That, plus there are still tons of claims that we all play very weak non-conference schedules, blah blah blah.
Recruits know better and that's all that really matters. Oh, and ESPN and most of the talking heads know better too ... so there is that I suppose.
Posted on 1/5/16 at 1:13 pm to scrooster
quote:
Oh, and ESPN and most of the talking heads know better too ... so there is that I suppose.
quote:
SEC fan
Gee, I wonder where everybody gets these ideas that ESPN is trying to promote the SEC. LOL
Posted on 1/5/16 at 1:17 pm to Chicken
Total points
SEC 366 points
SEC opponents 193 points
SEC 366 points
SEC opponents 193 points
Posted on 1/5/16 at 1:19 pm to Tiger n Miami AU83
Clays's team gonna win another National Championship long before your team does unless your team is Alabama.
Posted on 1/5/16 at 1:33 pm to Chicken
it would be interesting to see this as how teams ranked in their conference vs each other
Posted on 1/5/16 at 2:04 pm to Chicken
Alter
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