Yes but WHY has the SEC been trending downwards the last few years? It sure isn't talent/recruiting..
coaching in the SEC, in the East in particular, hasn't been very good. and while recruiting in the SEC as a whole is still very good...no one is doing it like Bama is.
Why? Because everyone is beating each other?
We won't know if the SEC is average or its usual self until bowl season.
I personally don't buy into this media narrative the SEC is down and the Big 10 is great. In terms of recruiting the SEC still dominates everyone. And in terms of NFL draft picks the SEC still dominates.
Regular season college football action proves nothing since most of the games are intra-conference. All it proves is whether a conference is balanced (as seems to be the case in the SEC this year since everyone but Bama has 4-5 losses) or if the conference is top heavy (like the Big 10 where 4 teams have separated themselves from the pack).
If the SEC dominates bowl season like it did last year. And if the Big 10 flops like it did last year. Then this entire regular season narrative of the SEC being down and the Big 10 being the best goes down the drain.
FL can't play offense. LSU can't play offense. Tennessee can't play defense. ARK can't decide what they're going to be week to week. Ole Miss and MSU are both down from the past 2-3 years. KY and MO don't play defense....aTm turns out doesn't play defense either.
no one in the SEC, save Bama has an offensive line that's worth writing home about.
you're free to feel however you want, but as an SEC homer by nature, the 2016 version of the SEC can't hold a candle to the SEC that was around 5+ years ago. not even close.
the only team this league can prop up this year is Bama. Bama could beat anyone in the country.
Michigan, Ohio State, Clemson, Washington, Wisconsin....are all better than the next best team in the SEC...and i'm not really sure who that is at this point. it ain't us, i know that. probably a pick 'em between FL, Auburn and LSU. and FL just lost to FSU convincingly, Auburn lost to Clemson and LSU lost to Wisconsin.
compared to what we're used to seeing from the SEC...the SEC in large part is just soft this year.
no really physical offensive lines, downgrades in coaching across the board, lack of quality qb play....all play a part in this.