Shift of power in college football

[Irish Houstonian]

Actually, notwithstanding Meyer's resignation, I think the SEC is becoming even more of the premere conference in college football.

To be sure, the Big Ten is also improving, and getting Nebraska sure helps. But now you've got Arkansas and Auburn going to BCS bowls, and MSU on the rise. South Carolina is also improving, and Georgia will also be much improved next year with its young talent (although that's what people say every year...). I mean, the defending national champion that returned most of its starters and had several #1 recruiting classes was like the #4 team in the conference this year.

Of course, much could change once Newton, Mallett, Urban Meyer and D. Mullen are gone, but if today is any snapshot the SEC will be more dominant than ever in the near future.

 

[lookingdeadred]

I think you are engaging in some serious wishful thinking

I think you are engaging in some serious wishful thinking

I am no fan of the SEC but I like its future better than the Big 10's.

The SEC is holding on by its fingertips while the Big 10 seems poised to grasp control of football superiority. What do you think?

 

[CanadianIrish]

How is the Big 10 even close to competing with the SEC? Wisconsin has had a great year, but one year doesn't make a program. Michigan is worse off than ever, Ohio St. underperformed, Michigan St. had one good year. The SEC has the number 1 team in the country, another top 10 team, + Alabama, Florida (didn't play well but the cupboard is full) and more. It's not even close.

If Michigan St. wins 9 games next year I will personally eat a live fish and put up video on this website.

 

[dskoo65]

i predict OSU gets ripped by arkansas, which will make 3 of their last 5 bowls blowout losses to SEC teams. (and only 1 win in their last 5 bowls)

 

[AdmiralBackhand]

You mean when they killed us via the long pass in 2006?

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

I'm not too impressed by the Big Ten. Nebraska helps.

 

[GreatGolson]

Ya, although it would be nice to see the Razorbacks win a championship during the end of the SEC Empire, i think the Big Ten is the future

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

Next year, State Penn loses Michigan and Michigan St., but they get Nebraska and Indiana St., and Eastern Michigan.

 

[johnnykillz]

I would agree with that.

Ohio State will be elite as long as Tressel is around.

Wisconsin is at a higher level than what Barry Alvarez accomplished.

Michigan State finally has a coach and will be very good.

Nebraska will be incredible.

Iowa, with Ferentz, will always be the darkhorse.

Penn State was rebuilding this year, they will be back.

Michigan is incomplete but if they give Rodriguez enough time he will have Auburn-north campus going on in Ann Arbor. The Big Ten won't know what to do.

Northwestern's coach gets an A+ from me. The will trip some people up.
Very, very good conference in my opinion.

Texas Tech will beat them this year...

Oh yeah, and they did good. Just saying.

 

[Stoic]

If OSU beats Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl forget about. SEC will be done

You realize that tOSU is 0 for the the century against SEC teams and you're predicting the fall of the SEC if tOSU beats a middle of the road SEC team? Riiiight! I'm so hoping the Razorbacks blowout tOSU or beat them..

 

[Dizzyphil]

The SEC is holding on by its fingertips while the Big 10 seems poised to grasp control of football superiority. What do you think?

Well, looking at main question of the thread........

Since the BCS in 1998, the SEC has won everytime it has been in the Championship Game (6-0). The Big Ten is 1-2 with Ohio State being in every game winning it once. The Big 12 has been 7 times but with a 2-5 record. So I really don't think the SEC is just going to lose any grasps, not to mention the SEC is in the Championship Game this year for the 5th year in a row. So, I don't really understand where the SEC is losing any of anything?!?!

Diz

 

[Old Man Mike]

Predicting complex future states is usually a fool's errand, and one that I have erred at myself many times. I have found only one guideline which has served me fairly well in these sorts of things: FOLLOW THE MONEY.

If you believe that the SEC is no longer going to pour money into football at greater legal and illegal amounts than other conferences, then you have reason to believe that they will fade in their dominance. Frankly, I don't see a snowball's chance in He*l of that happening---no matter how many death penalties and national embarrassments come their way.

I may have told this story several months ago on this board, if so , forgive the repetition. During the 80s I think it was, there was a big public football scandal at Georgia. There was a national and local outcry that the President of the University do something about this [something Moral, that is] which, however, if implemented would hurt Georgia's chances against Alabama et al. The university president said that he was going to do nothing of the sort, because it would "be like unilateral disarmament". THAT'S the reality of SEC football, folks.

 

[IrishinSyria]

Texas Tech will beat them this year...

Oh yeah, and they did good. Just saying.

You're right, but only because Northwestern's stud QB is done.

 

[irishtrain]

I agree with the guys who say that as long as the conference is football first and college life second they will remain on top, To say its a religion down here is short of the mark- its how each person in each state judges his states worth and if he is a fan his/her self worth. They are still selling Paul Bryant items over the radio/TV as Christmas presents-the coach,the life,the legend. They do not care how the rest of the country perceives their schools, only that they win at all costs. And that they have been able to do.

 

[jason_h537]

you realize 75% of all elite talent comes from SEC country, yes?

Actual facts from the Sprting News. Percentage of players drafted by Conference

SEC: 15%
Pac 10: 14%
ACC: 14%
Big 10: 12%
Big 12: 12%

Also California has more players in the NFL than any other state

 

[jason_h537]

The SEC is the best conference IMO, but the gap is not anywhere near as wide as people hype it up to be. Pac 10 and Big 10 are close but both conferences are top heavy.

 

[NewEnglandGuy]

Some people have touched on it...but the SEC does a lot of shady stuff which in this day and age equals success..."gray" shirting players in over signed classes (the 25 man rule does not apply here) helps no doubt

 

[irishtrain]

The SEC is the best conference IMO, but the gap is not anywhere near as wide as people hype it up to be. Pac 10 and Big 10 are close but both conferences are top heavy.

Jason I told a buddy a few days ago that it was the best conference and it was the most over/rated conference at the same time. They have lobbied petitioned and earned the reputation by their actions on and off the field. These good ole boys down here have learned how to play the game on and off the field to the max, if Auburn burns Oregon again this year you will not here the end of the crowing. They're good but not nearly as good as they think they are. What bothers me more than anything is that the media seems to be in their hip pocket because of the $$$$$ generated by the football programs. Even though I am on record on getting football players into Notre Dame I never want to see Notre Dame stoop to SEC standards. May it never happen.

 

[NDMontana]

The SEC is holding on by its fingertips while the Big 10 seems poised to grasp control of football superiority. What do you think?

I've seen the Big 10 send Ohio State to NC after NC where they get smoked. I've seen other Big 10 teams getting smoked in Bowl Games. The thing about the SEC and the Big Ten is that they benefit from the same system: They always have three or four teams start the season ranked high, mostly play a garbage non-conference schedule and then reap the benefits of beating each other all year. As I've posted before, the SEC consistently plays garbage non-con and then talks up their in-conference schedule. Sure, they've produced the best team quite often lately but that doesn't necessarily make it the best conference. Hell, in 2008 the SEC's BCS entrant (Flordia was in NC), Alabama, got housed by Utah.

I think the Big XII and Pac 10 don't get the respect they deserve.

 

[IrishinSyria]

Jason I told a buddy a few days ago that it was the best conference and it was the most over/rated conference at the same time.

I 100% agree with this statement.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Predicting complex future states is usually a fool's errand, and one that I have erred at myself many times. I have found only one guideline which has served me fairly well in these sorts of things: FOLLOW THE MONEY.

If you believe that the SEC is no longer going to pour money into football at greater legal and illegal amounts than other conferences, then you have reason to believe that they will fade in their dominance. Frankly, I don't see a snowball's chance in He*l of that happening---no matter how many death penalties and national embarrassments come their way.

I may have told this story several months ago on this board, if so , forgive the repetition. During the 80s I think it was, there was a big public football scandal at Georgia. There was a national and local outcry that the President of the University do something about this [something Moral, that is] which, however, if implemented would hurt Georgia's chances against Alabama et al. The university president said that he was going to do nothing of the sort, because it would "be like unilateral disarmament". THAT'S the reality of SEC football, folks.

Brilliant as usual, Mike!

Using terms like "best" on an ND board, referring to the SEC sits poorly with me. First you have Fulmer’s ADD kids, then LSU's "academic scholarships" for football players, (check and see what is available if you are high school football player with above a 3.2 GPA in Louisiana), etc., etc.

Give me the same advantages that the SEC schools take. With their farm club systems in place, the most plausibly deniable payoff system in America, a rich pool of local talent that is locked into playing for their universities, (because local high school standards are so low or poorly met that they cannot qualify elsewhere); I will win you National Championships also! Notice I did not say Brian Kelly. With the same advantages, a football idiot like me could do it!

Methinks a better conversation for this thread would be, in light of the blatant cheating and disregard for ethics and regulations, how does Notre Dame go into their home territory, and win the recruiting battle? And how do we pummel them every chance we get? Don’t you think this is part of Jack Swarbrick’s conversation about why college football needs a Notre Dame?

That is where to start a conversation. Here is where to finish it:

YouTube - The Beatles Hey Bulldog (2009 Stereo Remaster)

 

[Old Man Mike]

Yes, Trotter, I'm with you on the need to restructure the subject of this discussion if we are to gain any insight on how we/ND relate to the future of college football. But the thread is what it is. Both you and I believe that the SEC will remain the power of college football [perhaps not three of the mightiest five teams every year, but "in general"] as long as they consider their teams as major business ends of their universities to be pursued with only business goals in mind.

That latter phrase is what distinguishes them from most other NCAA programs including our own, who attempt to maintain the concept of "student" in each student/athlete's college experience. The big question is whether a Notre Dame or a Stanford or a Big Ten school can consistently compete with that business-model and win national championships. I believe that ND's "unfair advantage" as the acknowledged "spiritual" school which tries to do it correctly and resist the tide of modernity in lack of morals [plus a really good coaching staff] CAN in fact do this. "My name is Pollyanna and I am a recovering Optimist".

 

[tadman95]

"The real interesting tidbit is that 100% of elite talent comes from ND country."

Oh that feels good!!!!!!

 

[Old Man Mike]

P.S. I believe that it is well possible that the subject of this discussion played a role in Urban Meyer's recent decision. Before he went to Florida he was felt by almost all commentators [and our own administration] to be a pretty good man. Once down there [and the term "down" has double meaning in this case], he found that he could no longer be that person. Morals, in fact, went completely out the window. He became "Urban Liar" to sustain the expectations that he was hired into. He looked the other way on who he was recruiting until his program led the nation in Wins and Arrests. [In my opinion NOT a coincidence].

My vision is that his subconscious put him in the hospital, and he didn't like who he was looking at in the morning mirror. He probably thinks that he needs a good cleaning of the soul, and there was no way that this could happen by remaining chief executive officer of Floridafootball.com.

 

[irish1958]

AS that great philosopher, Ted Pavlick, once said: "If you want to know why someone did what they did, it is either money or sex, or both."
In recruiting for the "sec" it is both.

 

[Epitome]

It's early however the Big is 2-0 and the SEC is 0-1 in their bowl games.

 

[Epitome]

SEC 0-2

 

[NCDomer]

I'm not sure how bowl game w-l record means anything about the power of a conference, especially when you're looking at the meaningless bowls. Not all opponents are equal. Bowl games are just a snapshot of the quality each team has, but they also exclude all of the bad team in a conference.

The fact that an SEC team won the NC the last 4 years and possibly for the 5th consecutive time this year makes the majority of people believe the SEC is the best conference. Like it or not, championships are what matter and the SEC has had the best team in the land the past few years.

Big 10? They haven't won anything since OSU's victory over Miami with a controversial call.

Sagarin conference ratings for the past few years:

2010
Pac 10
SEC
Big 12
Big 10
ACC

2009
SEC
Big East
Pac 10
ACC
Big 12
Big 10

2008
SEC
Big 12
ACC
Pac 10
Big East
Big 10

2007
SEC
Pac 10
Big 12
Big East
ACC
Big 10

2006
SEC
Big East
Pac 10
ACC
Big 10
Big 12

2005
Big 10
ACC
Big 12
Pac 10
SEC

 

[Epitome]

Sagarin doesnt account for off the field happenings ie Meyer leaving, Newton's case still open etc... By the way Saragin rating needs to add Neb to the Big 10 before you could use that logic. Oh South Carolina lost=SEC 0-3

 

[jus10]

The SEC is holding on by its fingertips while the Big 10 seems poised to grasp control of football superiority. What do you think?

I'm watching Alabama blow out Michigan State (28-0, Halftime), as you say this.