The SEC Has Lost Its Crown

#26
#26
Wow, what a bunch of Chicken Littles!

Face it, this bowl season was terrible for the SEC but, truth be told, it was just an anomaly. And truth be told, the only really bad loss was Ole Miss (almost all of the rest came down to 1 or 2 plays). The SEC has been and will remain the toughest conference for the following reasons:

1) Recruiting - HS football is king in the South and the SEC gets the majority of the 4 and 5* kids. Year in and year out, 7 of the top 10 ranked teams for the recruiting crown are SEC schools. It's not even close (the other leagues might get one team in that mix).

2) Coaches - the best and highest paid coaches are in the SEC. Most of the SEC jobs are "destination" jobs and coaches who are extremely successful in other conferences are promoted up to the SEC jobs. Name one conference has as many destination jobs as the SEC.

3) Out of Conference scheduling - The upper half of the SEC regularly dominates teams from power conferences who are on their regular season schedules.

4) Facilities - Again, you can find one or two teams in another conference with comparable stadiums, indoor facilities, weight rooms, etc. but not like what you see across the board in the SEC.

5) Fans - See above. Yes, there are rabid fans at Oregon, OSU, Baylor, Nebraska, etc. but have ever seen anything like what you find across the SEC? USCw can't even fill their stadium when they're winning.

Anyway, there's probably a lot more but I'm too tired to think of them right now. I'm just hoping the Vols follow the examples of UGA, Ark., ATM, Mizzou, USCe, etc. in winning today.
 
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#27
#27
Like I said before get ready for an ESPN glory glory to the B1G season next year I bet it doesn't come up that OSU is 1 & 11 against SEC teams just them & Michigan.
 
#28
#28
Now when Bama fans start trash talking we can say at least we've never lost to any team from Ohio.
 
#29
#29
Arnvol said:
Like I said before get ready for an ESPN glory glory to the B1G season next year I bet it doesn't come up that OSU is 1 & 11 against SEC teams just them & Michigan.
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I respectfully disagree. B1G will always be on the chopping block. It's a high right now, but it'll sink in and the excuses will fly on why Bama lost and all the other SEC teams losing. They will ride Oregon so hard this week it'll be sickening.
 
#31
#31
By the time we are good enough to be a playoff team it will have moved to 8 teams, so I don't see anything to freak out over. Most conferences are a few good teams and a lot of cruddy teams, I still believe the SEC is better on average than the other power P5's though.
 
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#33
#33
Weezer said:
....to a third string qb?
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I agree that not winning the NC 2 years in a row is bad.

However, Dobbs was practicing as the 3rd string QB half-way into the season.

But, Cardale Jones has been practicing as the 1st backup since before the season began.

"3rd string QB" is such a mis-nomer, it's bordering on a lie.

Don't get suckered by the hype.
 
#34
#34
thetennlegend said:
Dear god. The sec is still the top conference as a whole. Just because the best two teams are from other conferences doesn't mean the sec sucks now. Anyone who would agree the big 10 or big 12 is better is an absolute joke.
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I got some ocean front property in Arizona....you interested?

Big10, Pac 12, and the Big 12 are at least equal to the SEC. Hell, even the ACC can make the argument. Teams from the top half of any conference can beat teams from the top half of any other conference on any given Saturday. The national bias towards the SEC will come to a halt very soon, and it should.
 
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#36
#36
Weezer said:
As a conference, we are no longer the top of the heap. It used to be the SEC, then the rest of the college football world, but after tonight, the playing field has tilted. The best of the best won't come from our conference. It'll be the PAC12 or the B1G. The fact is, the best in the SEC this year, the mighty Bama, cannot even fall back on the tired old excuse that we beat ourselves up week in and week out. They lost to a team playing their third string QB. It was pathetic.

So what does that mean for us? Yes, we can laugh at Bama(and pray we win our own bowl game), but Butch lost one tool in his recruiting arsenal tonight. How do you sell playing in the "conference of champions" to kids in other areas of the country when you're no longer the conference of champions? How do you sell SEC dominance after a bowl season like this one? You can't. Teams like Bama, teams that compete, they'll always be able to sell that. But as a rebuilding team, we were able to sell our conference. I know some of you don't think it was much, but hey, you use what you have, and the simple truth is, it's one less tool Butch has now. That's one less foot in the door, and in the long run, we'll never know how much it may or may not hurt us. Hopefully Butch can find enough closer to home that it will not matter, but when UT was at its height, we could open practically anydoor in the country. As long as the SEC was known as THE strongest conference in the country, we could open many doors in the country because of that and our storied past. Now, we're in an average conference. We're an average team atm. Hopefully we continue to rise, but fewer doors across the country are available to us now. We have to start winning next year. A five hundred record in an average conference won't be good enough anymore. Next season, we have to make that leap to being a truly winning team, otherwise, it's very possible we backslide and watch as teams in other conferences pass us by.

Yeah, yeah, a bit melodramatic, but it's all true. Next year needs to be at least an 8 win season. We gotta progress because arguing we play in the SEC no longer holds water.
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a bit melodramatic! this is melodramatic! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtoCw2iOTSc#t=32
 
#37
#37
A common theme of late holds that SEC competition results in a war of attrition leaving teams in less than championship shape at years end. OSU never plays a difficult schedule and it paid off last night.
 
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#38
#38
The SEC is 5-5, so not only can a win today but Tennessee above .500 for the year, it will do the same for the SEC
 
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#39
#39
MedicT said:
A common theme of late holds that SEC competition results in a war of attrition leaving teams in less than championship shape at years end. OSU never plays a difficult schedule and it paid off last night.
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Addressed. The arguement holds no merit when OSU is playing its third string qb. If OSU was completely healthy, that arguement might hold water, though I'm not sure Bama was missing any key players.
 
#40
#40
The arguement can be made that conference prestige does not effect our recruiting. I personally believe it has some effect, though it may only be minor. I think it's hard to argue that the SEC isn't losing its luster. As a conference, we've fallen back to the level of other conferences. Five years ago, we outpaced those other conferences. That's no longer the case.
 
#41
#41
Weezer said:
Addressed. The arguement holds no merit when OSU is playing its third string qb. If OSU was completely healthy, that arguement might hold water, though I'm not sure Bama was missing any key players.
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That has no merit given a third string qb that has proven to be very, very good.
 
#42
#42
The SEC is down this year and didn't fair so well last year...I hardly call being down 2 years as falling off the map. The problem with the SEC is the SEC. The dang conference from top to bottom is pretty tough we beat each other up and then have to go play everybody else.
 
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#43
#43
This bowl season has proven the SEC is overrated. We're living off our past accomplishments. Currently, we're just an average conference. I don't believe other conferences are better, but I don't think they're worse either. Once upon a time, you had the SEC, then you had the rest of the college football world. Now what we have is a far more level playing field. I'm sure other conferences love it. Personally, I think it blows. I enjoyed knowing we played in a higher level conference.
 
#44
#44
MedicT said:
That has no merit given a third string qb that has proven to be very, very good.
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In that case, as a top conference, every SEC back up should be very, very good, which, once again, makes your point moot. You cannot argue we beat each other up every week and overlook they were playing the guy penciled in at #3 on the depth chart at qb when they started the season. That's ludicrous. Wasn't yesterday only his second start? To overlook that is to say OSU is outrecruiting Bama. Do you believe OSU is outrecruiting Bama?
 
#45
#45
Bama lost the game when they started passing the football in the 2nd quarter up 21-6 instead of running it down OSU's throat and slowing the game down. Henry and Yeldon were running for between 5-7 yards per carry. I watched Wisconsin play Auburn-Alvarez ran Gorden 35 times in that game for over 200 yards. Even the commentator (Matt Millen) said that they should be giving the ball to Gordon. It was simple, but effective. Why didn't Saban and the Tide run the ball 30-40 times in the game? Simple reason, they have Lane Kiffin who thinks he can out think everyone.
 
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#47
#47
Weezer said:
As a conference, we are no longer the top of the heap. It used to be the SEC, then the rest of the college football world, but after tonight, the playing field has tilted. The best of the best won't come from our conference. It'll be the PAC12 or the B1G. The fact is, the best in the SEC this year, the mighty Bama, cannot even fall back on the tired old excuse that we beat ourselves up week in and week out. They lost to a team playing their third string QB. It was pathetic.

So what does that mean for us? Yes, we can laugh at Bama(and pray we win our own bowl game), but Butch lost one tool in his recruiting arsenal tonight. How do you sell playing in the "conference of champions" to kids in other areas of the country when you're no longer the conference of champions? How do you sell SEC dominance after a bowl season like this one? You can't. Teams like Bama, teams that compete, they'll always be able to sell that. But as a rebuilding team, we were able to sell our conference. I know some of you don't think it was much, but hey, you use what you have, and the simple truth is, it's one less tool Butch has now. That's one less foot in the door, and in the long run, we'll never know how much it may or may not hurt us. Hopefully Butch can find enough closer to home that it will not matter, but when UT was at its height, we could open practically anydoor in the country. As long as the SEC was known as THE strongest conference in the country, we could open many doors in the country because of that and our storied past. Now, we're in an average conference. We're an average team atm. Hopefully we continue to rise, but fewer doors across the country are available to us now. We have to start winning next year. A five hundred record in an average conference won't be good enough anymore. Next season, we have to make that leap to being a truly winning team, otherwise, it's very possible we backslide and watch as teams in other conferences pass us by.

Yeah, yeah, a bit melodramatic, but it's all true. Next year needs to be at least an 8 win season. We gotta progress because arguing we play in the SEC no longer holds water.
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Hold your horses.

The Bama loss was less about the SEC and more about Lane Kiffin.

I for one revel in the loss and the chewing that LK is probably still taking.
 
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#48
#48
Weezer said:
In that case, as a top conference, every SEC back up should be very, very good, which, once again, makes your point moot. You cannot argue we beat each other up every week and overlook they were playing the guy penciled in at #3 on the depth chart at qb when they started the season. That's ludicrous. Wasn't yesterday only his second start? To overlook that is to say OSU is outrecruiting Bama. Do you believe OSU is outrecruiting Bama?
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You fail to understand that recruiting and player development is not a nice neat linear process.
 
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#49
#49
thetennlegend said:
Dear god. The sec is still the top conference as a whole. Just because the best two teams are from other conferences doesn't mean the sec sucks now. Anyone who would agree the big 10 or big 12 is better is an absolute joke.
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Exactly. The difference between SEC vs rest is almost half the SECis a powerhouse and can put away another team. Other conferences have 2-3 of those teams while the SEC has 6 with 3 on the rise
 
#50
#50
No. The SEC as a whole is still the best conference and probably will be for a long time. The top teams just weren't the best teams this year.

This run of title games was going to end eventually..
 
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