The point that everyone in America is missing about

[missouridawg]

the SEC being down this year is quite simple.

The SEC is currently 3-3 in bowl games.

The losses shape up like this:

Big 10 #5 team beat SEC #8 team
ACC #2 team beat SEC #4
Big East #1 beat SEC #3

If Bama played Louisville, UGA played Clemson, and Texas A+M (or USCe) played NW, the SEC would, easily, be 6-0. Those matchups would pit SEC#5 vs Big 10 #5, ACC #2 vs SEC #2, and Big East #1 vs SEC #1 (a much better barometer for compariing conferences).

In SEC games that have been won.... SEC #7 beat ACC #6, SEC #2 beat Big 10 #2, and SEC #6 beat Big 10 #3.

Conversely, if MSU could've played Big 10 #8 (Minnesota/Indiana), LSU played ACC #4 (GaTech), and UF played Big East #3 (Rutgers)... I think we would've seen another SEC sweep.

The SEC, by far, has some of the worse matchups in bowl games. We always play a team that, in the conference hierarchy, is higher than the SEC participant.

The Music City bowl, Peach Bowl, Gator Bowl, and Cotton Bowl all follow this principle. It occurs because the SEC always has two teams in the BCS.

With all that being said, the SEC was slightly down this year... but not nearly as much as the national media is saying.

/endrant

 

[Irondawg]

Very true although to my eyes I thought we were a more talented team than NW - we just didn't play better that day. I wouldn't call us vastly more talented but I think we'd win that game 7 out of 10 times. I expected Clemson - LSU to be close b/c this LSU team has struggled to put it all together and Clemson had a potent offense.

FL getting hammered really surprised me though.

 

[Hump4Hoops]

It's simple. If TR had even a below average game, we beat NW.

Our defense, running game, and special teams were clicking. Russell had a pick 6, 2 TOs in the redzone, and a pointless wild throw INT that lead to a NW score. He's easily responsible for 20 to 28 points in NW's direction, in a game we lost by 14.

 

[RocketDawg]

But the reason a lower ranked team in the SEC plays a (sometimes much) higher ranked team in the B1G and ACC is that the SEC is stronger all around than those teams. It's already an attempt at balance. But it's no doubt to me that the SEC is down this year ... us, Arkansas, and Auburn come to mind. Ole Miss is the only one I can think of that's stronger than last year but they're still not really strong.

 

[croomin]

What matters here is what Bama does. We'll see.*

nt

 

[Dawgzilla]

I don't buy any bowl excuses. If the SEC were 6-0 right now, then all the SEC homers would be out in full force using that stat as proof the conference was strong. They are 3-3, so just accept it.

Keep in mind, the two best teams in the BIG were ineligible this year. MSU was not playing the #5 team from their conference, but the #7 team. Considering the SEC has 14 teams while the BIG only has 12, that's a pretty good matchup. UGA should have destroyed Nebraska, but instead let them hang around for a while.

You always have a few mismatches in bowl games, and you have games like the Sugar Bowl in which one team considers the bowl the biggest game in school history, while the other team wishes they were somewhere else. But the mismatches and all usually kind of even out over the long run, so they cannot be used as an excuse.

This year, the SEC had 6 really good teams, 1 really decent team (Vandy), and 7 weak-to-terrible teams. Auburn and Tennessee had their worst teams in decades. Kentucky was really bad, even by their standards. Arkansas was the worst they have been in quite a while. The bottom 8 teams were winless against the top 6 teams, and I don't know when's the last time something like that happened. No major upsets in the conference at all.

As for the Top 6 teams, they are all really good....but they don't all belong in the Top 10. LSU will not finish in the Top 10, although Florida might still stay up there at 11-2. If the Aggies lose, then they will drop out as well. 4 teams in the Top 10 is still too many, but its hard to find very many teams that should be ranked ahead of the SEC top 6.

 

[missouridawg]

Keep in mind, the two best teams in the BIG were ineligible this year. MSU was not playing the #5 team from their conference, but the #7 team.

I took into account that the Big 10's two best teams were not bowl eligible. The Big 10 finished with Ohio State on top, Nebraska at 7-1, Penn State at 6-2, Michigan at 6-2, and NW at 5-3 (Wisky finished 4-4).

 

[thatsbaseball]

If Bama loses should we put you on suicide watch ?

 

[dawgs.sixpack]

bowl games outside the BCSCG are kinda a pointless measuring sticks for conferences. many times the players are more interested in going out and chasing chicks in the big city instead of preparing for a game like it's a regular season game. yeah there are a handful of teams with extra motivation to resist that stuff and actually prepare like it's a huge game (louisville comes to mind immediately), but the simple fact is that a lot of players (and sometimes even coaches) don't feel the urgency in preparation that they feel for a regular season big game. there's rarely inherent hatred between bowl teams, and the difference in finishing the year 8-5 and 9-4 just isn't that big of a motivation.

also, worth noting that if ohio st and penn st had been eligible, the big 10 matchups would have been a little tougher.

 

[thatsbaseball]

I agree. I`m just picking at Missouri. He put more thought in his post than some SEC teams put in their bowl game plans.