re: Where did the SEC stack up against the other conferences this year?

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Overall record isn't that impressive, in my opinion, when you look at the quality of opposition. There are a lot of bad teams on this list, and a lot of those wins were less than stellar (looking at the OT wins against Georgia Southern, FAU, and Jacksonville State)

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I agree with you. Against that list, 45-10 should be expected as minimum for the SEC. Combine that with the struggle with FCS and bad non-power 5 FBS teams, and it wasn't a good year for the SEC out of conference.

I Think all of the conferences are down a little bit. I am not convinced that there is a real good football team in all of college football. any of these teams could lose to the other in my opinion and could lose to any team on the right day. Just my opinion.

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What was the best win for the SEC OOC? I'd say it's South Carolina over UNC

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Agreed, though Alabama over Wisconsin was also good.

Louisville and Tech weren't as big of wins for AU and UGA, respectively, as they would have been in years past.

I don't think you can count Michigan as a dumpster fire.

Well here are how the leagues faired in terms of record OOC against Power Programs:

BIG 10: 9-8
SEC: 6-5
PAC 12: 5-5
BIG 12: 4-4
ACC: 7-14

Notre Dame was 7-2 against Power teams... which are included in the numbers above.

Since 6 ACC teams played Notre Dame, the ACC certainly had the toughest slate. However, if you take Notre Dame out of their record, the ACC still finished last with a record of 6-9.


Another way to look at things is to create a point system such as the one below:

+1 point for each OOC Power Program Win
-1 point for each OOC Power Program Loss
-1 point for each additional FBC Loss
-2 points for each additional FCS Loss

This system only rewards wins against OOC power teams. It does not reward any OOC wins against non-power teams, but does penalize losses. Each loss to an FCS team is penalized twice as much.

Here's how many points each league has in that system:

-3 BIG 10
-4 PAC 12
-4 BIG 12
-5 SEC
-12 ACC

The SEC had 5 losses to non-power programs, including one loss to an FCS team. That's why it faired worse.

Arkansas lost to Toledo.
Ole Miss lost to Memphis.
Vanderbilt lost to Houston.
Vanderbilt lost to W. Kentucky.
S. Carolina lost to The Citidel.


As bad as a year as this was for the SEC, it could have been far worse.

Florida won in OT vs. Florida Atlanta
Georgia won in OT vs. Georgia Southern
Auburn won in OT vs. Jacksonville State (FCS)
Florida only beat East Carolina by a Touchdown
Kentucky only beat ULL by a Touchdown
Missouri only beat Arkansas St. by a Touchdown
Missouri only beat BYU by 4 points
Missouri only beat UConn by 3 points

That's 8 wins the SEC did have against non-power programs that were by a touchdown or less. It could have been far worse.

Judging by the opening bowl game lines, Vegas thinks we stack up pretty well.

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Judging by the opening bowl game lines, Vegas thinks we stack up pretty well.

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Here are the SEC teams with the best chance of winning, in order, IMO:

LSU
Mississippi State
Arkansas
Georgia
Alabama
Auburn
Tennessee
Ole Miss
Texas A&M
Florida

I'd for sure pick Texas A&M and Florida to lose.
I'd for sure pick those first five teams to win.

That brings the SEC to 5-2 with 3 virtual pick 'ems (Auburn, Tennessee, & Ole Miss).

So I could see us going anywhere from 5-5 to 8-2.

I'd say 7-3 or 6-4 is most likely

Just compared my thoughts to the Vegas lines. Pretty much as I would have expected.

I'm surprised that Tennessee is a 9-point favorite against Northwestern. Northwestern is not a bad team. They beat Stanford and Wisconsin. Their only losses were to Iowa and Michigan. Not a bad resume.

While I think the Vols can win the game, I'd take Northwestern and 9 points in a heartbeat if I was a betting man.

I mean has Tennessee won or lost a game by more than a touchdown all season? They lost to Oklahoma, Florida, Arkansas, and Alabama by a combined 19 points... and beat Georgia by 7. I don't see the Vols beating any Top 25 team by more than a touchdown.

I think it all starts and ends with bad QB play in the league. It was pretty darn pedestrian from top to bottom.

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I think it all starts and ends with bad QB play in the league. It was pretty darn pedestrian from top to bottom.

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Imagine how bad it will be next year without Prescott, Allen, and Coker in the league?

Those are 3 of the Top 4 QBs in the conference this year. Chad Kelly is the only kid in the Top 4 who should be returning.