by dswinder, Sons of Sam Malone
Here at Epic Carnival, we meet weekly under The Beer Tent to shoot the shit. I, dswinder, will be the ringleader, but you can join in on the discussion every Monday at, eh, 2ish ?!
It seems to be a universal belief that in college football, the Southeastern Conference reigns supreme. Sure, arguments come by way of the Big Ten and Pac Ten, but when it all boils down, the SEC is thought to be THE premiere conference in college football.
Between the Florida Gators routing The Ohio State University for the 2007 Sears Trophy, Andre Woodson of Kentucky coming into the season as a Heisman hopeful, Les Miles' complete disregard for the Trojans of USC, and OSaban Been Lyin' finding his way into Tuscaloosa, it appeared that this season would prove to vault the SEC even higher into the standings of college football elitism.
Well, with the season came losses by the droves, and with the losses came claims of parity. You see, the SEC is so good that they're just going to beat each other up. That explains it. I mean, only parity could cause Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Auburn, Arkansas, and Alabama to have three losses a piece. That's not to mention South Carolina's four tallies in the "L" column -- or Georgia's two dances with defeat. Hell, even LSU lacks a perfect record. You know, the same LSU that's coached by Les Miles -- the guy that called out USC (the left coast version).
Defenders of the SEC claim that the conference is so chocked full of talent, so equal, that it's impossible to go undefeated. Apparently, losing games is a sign you're doing well. The simple fact that the University of Tennessee Volunteers control their own destiny with three losses, two of which are to conference foes, will never fail to blow my mind. Keep in mind, I attend UT, but there are absolutely no circumstances where a team in the "strongest" conference in the nation should ever be at the wheel of their season with three defeats.
Now, I'm not questioning that the SEC has beat each other throughout the season. I'm simply suggesting that it has more to do with the weakness of the conference and the current lack of dominant teams, barring maybe LSU, that we've come to expect over the years.
Of what I would consider the five biggest non-conference games played by SEC teams, the Southeastern Conference has managed a measly 1-4 record, with their only win coming in the form of LSU's whipping of Virginia Tech in Baton Rouge. The other four include losses to Cal, Florida State, South Florida, and West Virginia by Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, and Mississippi State respectively, and I use that term loosely.
South Carolina stood at sixth in the BCS just three short weeks ago -- good enough for the second highest spot occupied by an SEC team. Now, after three straight losses, including an upset at the hands of Vanderbilt, the Gamecocks are nowhere to be seen in the polls, and have, without much noise, slipped into the shadows of the NCAA.
Fast forward to today and the SEC occupies seven spots in the BCS top 25. Five of the seven have already racked up three losses, which leads me to wonder -- Does the SEC get by on past merit alone? Is there truly parity in the Southeastern Conference? Or have they simply become a parody of what they once were?
Monday, November 5, 2007
THE BEER TENT: IS THERE REALLY PARITY IN THE SEC?
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3 comment(s):
It's a good argument and it's hard to tell which way it goes on this one. I think in terms of merit, everyone will give the SEC teams more leeway then anyone else because of their clout which everyone seems to acknowledge on some scale. I would have to say it is parity though. Ron Zook has been able to sell the awful Illinois program on the fact that you can start right away. The names of the school aren't carrying like they used to because opportunity is more key then tradition
Well, the simple fact that South Carolina lost to Vanderbilt and that Tennessee blew Georgia out after being blown out by Florida...Then the Bulldogs went down to Jacksonville and handed a loss to the Gators. These games weren't decided in squeakers...It just seems to me that there is no team in the SEC this year (other than LSU) that is dominant enough to prove the SEC to be the best conference in the nation.
They always say the ACC is a bad conference when they do the exact same thing that the SEC does. They beat up on each other and no real team is able to separate from the rest of the conference.
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