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NCAA Bowl Season 2011
- Thread starter BioDriver
- Start date
LOL! I bet there is zero difference in those standards between the SEC and the ACC. On-field performance, OTOH...
Agreed. We hear this kind of dribble all the time about why the SEC is better.
Some reasons why the SEC is better (with a hater's rebuttal following):
Our stadiums are bigger and they stay full! (It's because the SEC oversigns.)
We generate more money, and higher better coaches. (It's because they greyshirt so many players)
We love our football on average more than other conferences. (They cheat in the SEC)
We view football as a way of life! (Their schools have low academic standards.)
We talk about football all year around! (They schedule weak out of conference games.)
We focus on defense (They don't have to play high-powered offenses very often)
It just gets old arguing with folks from other conferences about this kind of thing. They'll look for miniscule reasons why the SEC is so dominate, yet skip all the simple reasons that are right below their noses. Passion is the key to everything in life, and those who have it will succeed at what they do. The big schools in the SEC as many or more fans at their spring scrimmage game than most other school stadiums will hold. But lets try to blame it all on some kind of cheating or something.
Thanks for the thoughtful answer. I disagree a bit with answer #1, though. I think the Big 10 schools have fan bases that are every bit as passionate as the SEC's. It's interesting that SEC players often hold up SEC signs after winning bowl games, and the fans chant "SEC! SEC!" It's one thing to be proud of your conference, but that kind of enthusiasm is usually reserved for your specific team. I've seen fans go just as crazy for their own non-SEC teams, but I've never heard a Pac 10/12, Big 10, or Big 12 chant after a major victory. It's just curious, that's all.
Many SEC fans will argue that the points you make have always been true. So why hasn't the SEC always been dominant? Not hating; just wondering about the recent success.Agreed. We hear this kind of dribble all the time about why the SEC is better.
Some reasons why the SEC is better (with a hater's rebuttal following):
Our stadiums are bigger and they stay full! (It's because the SEC oversigns.)
We generate more money, and higher better coaches. (It's because they greyshirt so many players)
We love our football on average more than other conferences. (They cheat in the SEC)
We view football as a way of life! (Their schools have low academic standards.)
We talk about football all year around! (They schedule weak out of conference games.)
We focus on defense (They don't have to play high-powered offenses very often)
It just gets old arguing with folks from other conferences about this kind of thing. They'll look for miniscule reasons why the SEC is so dominate, yet skip all the simple reasons that are right below their noses. Passion is the key to everything in life, and those who have it will succeed at what they do. The big schools in the SEC as many or more fans at their spring scrimmage game than most other school stadiums will hold. But lets try to blame it all on some kind of cheating or something.
Except for the fact that Florida, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, and Mizzou are members of the AAU, Georgia is listed as a public ivy, Bama and Auburn are ranked within the top 50 public universities, and Kentucky has one of the best public university surgery programs in the country (only beaten by Cal, Virginia, and Texas). Are their academics on average as good as the B1G or Pac-12? Of course not, since AAU membership or high academic ranking is practically a requirement for joining onto one of those. But to say they're academic slouches is incredibly ignorant.
Michigan would like a word with you
I think the main reason for this is that the SEC has had a number of top teams in recent years (5 different schools have won a national championship in the BCS era). Meanwhile, the Big Ten and the Pac 12 have only had one winner each, Ohio State and USC.
As someone who's lived in Big 10 and Big 12 country (Columbus, OH, Springfield, MO, and Moore, Oklahoma) I can assure you that fan passion was no where near SEC levels even though I was within biking distance of Ohio State and Oklahoma. Now granted, their are rabid fans of most every team out there, but the casual person walking around town might not even give a flip about their local team. You can't live in Alabama without having a diehard allegiance. In Lousianna and Southern Mississippi, most every other car you pass has an LSU tag or some kind of emblem on it. Georgia fans are hard to avoid anywhere in their state, and you'll see Volunteer stuff throughout Tennessee. The women and children are rabid about it, not just the male sport nut types.
I really don't think folks will ever truly understand this until they move down south. Don't take a homer's word for it like me. Just listen to talk radio. I don't mean something like Finebaum, but a national show. Try Bill King's show for example. Or Jack Arute, or anything else. You'll here those guys say there is nothing like SEC country with regard to fanaticism. I don't know how else to explain this.
True. I didn't hear all the "SEC!" chants and see the SEC sign bearing until relatively recently.
I think we're missing each other. Domination comes and goes, and the SEC is currently on an unprecedented run. What I'm saying is that the SEC has always been regarded by most as the most consistently tough conference in the country. That doesn't mean we don't have down years, or that other conferences don't have great years. But competition in the SEC is typically tougher than anywhere else, and has been for as long as I can remember, for all the reasons I've listed. It doesn't mean we are better than anyone else. I think this is where non-SEC'ers get their feelings hurt or something.
Also, the SEC hasn't always had a long list of dominant programs nationally either. LSU and Florida both had very little success nationally prior to the 90's. The same could be said for Georgia and Tennessee. Auburn has never had a national presence in terms of championships. Really only Bama was a national power, yet they teams have been consistently big and caused problems for others outside their conference.
Now, in the last 20 years or so, the rise of LSU and Florida has been remarkable. Throw in that Tennessee and Auburn have also won national championships in that time, along with Bama of course. We've seen Ole Miss in the top 10, Miss St in the top 10, Arkansas in the top 10, South Carolina in the Top 10, along with Kentucky and Vanderbilt both in the top 25. That's quite remarkable, and spans a period of time much larger than the last 4 or 5 years which really should be longer. Never mind that LSU won in 2003, and Auburn should have played for the championship in 2004, many thinking they would have won.
I think opposition helped create this phenomon also. As folks outside the SEC starting attacking the conference, it helped create a sense of community here such that we want to brag a bit. I'm not sure if you guys saw it, but A&M and Mizzou both had fans chanting "S-E-C" at some of their games this season. We don't approve just yet, but it just goes to show you that anyone can get caught up in this kind of thing without necessarily being from the SEC.
It ain't because the SEC oversigns - but stadium size and attendanceare a big part of the success of the SEC. The Big10 also. The SEC/Big10 dominate college football monetarily and facility wise for just this reason.
Well, actually you don't... but you do generate top tier level revenue.
I'd argue that they hire better RECRUITERS... but I see a dichotomy between coaching and recruiting that is rather blurred in college.
It doesn't hurt.
Having a decided advantage due to oversigning/greyshirting does help attract coaches because it is a competitive advantage.
You just have to be unethical enough to use it and be allowed to by the rules.
The Big10 doesn't allow it.
The SEC does more of it than any conference in the country. By far. LSU under Les Miles and Alabama under Nick Saban do more of it than anyone in the conference.
Well, both statements are true.
You can hang your hat on not cheating as much at football as the Big 12 though.
Auburn is a close second fiddle to SMU when it comes to major football violations, and Alabama and LSU aren't far behind them.
Both true..
#2 is true compared to the Big10 when looking at the entire student body, irrelevant when talking about football players.
The SEC is the current best conference - but they aren't "dominate".
Passion is the key to everything in life, and those who have it will succeed at what they do. The big schools in the SEC as many or more fans at their spring scrimmage game than most other school stadiums will hold. But lets try to blame it all on some kind of cheating or something.
It's that very passion that allows them to hire dirtbags like Nick Saban and continue with oversigning and greyshirting.
That passion overrides the ethics that should stop those things from happening.
As someone who has spent my entire life living in Big10 country, attended a Big10 university, and currently work for a Big10 university - I'll tell you that they aren't.
Not apathetic like Miami-Florida fans and able to sell out big stadiums - but not as passionate.
One need only look at seat license fees to suss that out.
Really? Counting ATM and Mizzou already?
Florida and Vanderbilt are the AAU schools in the SEC.
EVERY school in the Big10 has been AAU (although Nebraska just got tossed).
Isn't that behind every single university in the Big10 (except private Northwestern) and about 2/3 of the PAC-12?
Michigan would like a word with you
Prior to about 4 years ago, Michigan averaged only a couple thousand folks at the spring game. Didn't even play it in Michigan stadium.
Ummm... no, we haven't.
Unless you really think carrying a rank during a season means something... end of season rankings are the only ones worth looking at.
Oh god this page
Seriously, I don't know why you feel the need to berate every post regarding the SEC but it's coming off as bitter and jealous of their athletic programs' success. That and I think every problem with the SEC was dwarfed by a certain Big 10 travesty that was brought to light a few months ago....
Seriously, I don't know why you feel the need to berate every post regarding the SEC but it's coming off as bitter and jealous of their athletic programs' success. That and I think every problem with the SEC was dwarfed by a certain Big 10 travesty that was brought to light a few months ago....
If aborgman spent the same amount of time finding a cure for cancer that he does trying to prove SEC fans wrong, there would probably be a cure by now.
-Mike
-Mike
I'm not bitter or jealous.
The SEC is a spectacularly successful football conference historically, and especially over the last 5 years.
I just find the myopia and homerism of many SEC folks to be absolutely hilarious, and there is nothing in the world I love more than figuratively "poking a beehive with a stick".
It's kind of like winding up religious fanatics.
Unless you're talking about Ohio State - that's a bit Apples/Oranges. There is a difference between violations related to competitive advantage/cheating and illegal acts that have nothing to do with the football team.
