re: Ivan Maisel: SEC Not The Best Anymore

Let's look at this more closely.

The worst loss Saturday was Georgia. They are the 4th best SEC team record wise and Ga Tech is number 2 in the ACC, but UGA still should have won that game.

Here is the way the match ups look. The number beside the time is their overall finish in the conference.

ACC rank SEC rank
GT-2/3 UGA-4
Clem-2/3 USC-10
Louisville 4 UK-11
FSU-1 UF-8


The way I see it. The only game the SEC should have been close in was the UGA/GT. As it is, the SEC was very close to going 3-1 in those games.

Man, Redmustang who is the Chica in your Avi? She be chilly & hots simultaneously!

I stick to the roundabout conference test - put any other team in the SEC, and just about every time they will have more losses. If UGA/Auburn/non-2014 LSU played in the Big10, Pac12, ACC - an average season would have 1 loss, maybe 2 at worst. We would all be the equivalent of Ohio State, Oregon, FSU.

Big12 is pretty ridiculous this year, I would probably give them the nod over the SEC as of right now but that is it. Pac12 nonconference is a joke, and ACC/Big10 are too weak to even be in the discussion (this year's SEC east implosion notwithstanding).

If Bama wins the title this year and the down SEC programs return to normal, all of this "fall of the SEC" talk will look so premature.

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I'm not so sure that the cycle hasn't been broken. Only a restructuring of the division's can solve this

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The West was a mess from the mid 1990s until about 2003. Alabama was the only "consistent" West program from 1992-1999 and still had a losing season in there.

On the flip side, the East had Florida and Tennessee rolling during the same time frame. With Georgia being a solid third team. Certainly this wasn't like the West is now, with the entire division bowl eligible, but I'm not so sure the cycle is broken.

Alabama and LSU will be replacing coaches over the next decade. We will see if they make solid hires. And if the current coaches at Texas A&M, Ole Miss, and Arkansas have panned out. It looks like Mississippi State has a long term solution though.

A down South Carolina. A down Flordia @ #3 Florida State. Then fricking Kentucky. Yeah, big surprise the ACC won those three games. UGA should have beaten Tech, but you know...UGA.

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ACC rank SEC rank
GT-2/3 UGA-4
Clem-2/3 USC-10
Louisville 4 UK-11
FSU-1 UF-8

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Exactly and USC, UK, and UF all played on the road as heavy underdogs. Clemson 8-3 vs USC 6-5, Louisville 8-3 vs UK 5-6, and FSU 11-0 vs UF 6-4. UGA was a bad loss, but the others were all mediocre teams at best. No bragging should come from that.

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The best running backs in the FBS play in the Big Ten

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The best wasn't good enough to finish against what was a bad defense at the time. Ivan is going to make me want to see bama win it all.

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Has this ever not been the case? Some other conferences have always had better QBs & RBs. The question is who fields the most complete teams? Not who has the most star power. There is also no way that the Pac-12 has better D-lines than the SEC. That is a joke.

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Agreed. Couldn't the argument be made that the talent level across the board is elevated in the SEC, which prevents fewer studs to stand head and shoulders over everyone else?

He could be right. We will know by the end of the season. Alabama, while a legit #1, has looked anything but dominant in a lot of games. The East as a whole is not good but the ACC was fortunate to be playing weak SEC teams; the ACC teams we favored in every one of those games with the notable exception of my embarrassing Georgia Bulldogs.

The rise of MSU and Ole Miss this season and then faltering towards the end of the season does suggest overall weakness when you consider recruiting rankings. Auburn losing 4 games after playing in the NCG last season also doesn't look good. Couple that with LSU and A&M having 4 and 5 loss seasons respectively and even the West looks much weaker compared to last year.

All I have to say is Kiffin better have his scoring machine in full throttle; because after the Iron Bowl, it appears Bama won't be any more capable of stopping Oregon and TCU than they were vs Auburn. FWIW, TCU looks like the best balanced team on offense and defense but we will see soon enough.