SEC Open Thread

[koonja]

Not if Mizzou beats the SEC West representative in the SEC 'chip.

If Bama loses today, I think it's gotta be Oregon, FSU, TCU and Baylor (would be OSU, but they're not beating any good teams without Barrett).

But I think it'll be moot, because I think Bama's gonna win.

Why does Mizzou have to win? If Bama loses today, they have 2 losses and OSU, TCU, etc, would jump them, no?

 

[IrishLion]

Why does Mizzou have to win? If Bama loses today, they have 2 losses and OSU, TCU, etc, would jump them, no?

Bama has locked up the SEC West already actually (I believe) as of MSSU's loss. If Bama loses today but then beats Mizzou, I think they'll be propped up.

I agree with you that it should be TCU or someone jumping in, but I don't think it would actually work out that way.

But again, Bama's gonna win tonight.

 

[Redbar]

I believe Mizzou has two or three wins the last two years against SEC teams with winning records. As Bishop stated, they have done a good job winning their division at a time when a lot of the divisional teams in the East have been down. Kudos to them for taking advantage of it. And their win yesterday was impressive as were their front seven on defense.

As far as how good or bad the SEC is in football.... well, isn't much of an argument there. And anyone who tries to make the argument that the SEC isn't the best conference either doesn't know football very well or lets their hatred overtake their ability to analyze teams, divisions, conferences.

I had my tongue over near my cheek when I posted that T Town.

 

[Legacy]

Dismissive

Dismissive

As far as how good or bad the SEC is in football.... well, isn't much of an argument there. And anyone who tries to make the argument that the SEC isn't the best conference either doesn't know football very well or lets their hatred overtake their ability to analyze teams, divisions, conferences.

This best conference claim is tiresome and specious. From an Irishman's independent vantage, I see teams, not conferences. If you want to wrap yourself in the victories of your top teams, that's fine, but irrelevant. If you want to dismiss the ACC as a second rate conference, that's fine, but blind to the results of this weekend. You don't want pride and regionalism to limit your ability to be objective.

Missouri and Texas A&M didn't become world beaters just because they joined the SEC. As former Big 12 teams, they have done pretty well with minimal changes in their programs. Kudos to Missouri for their second trip in two years to Atlanta. Mizzou made it to the Big 12 championship game two years in a row in 2007 & 2008, too. But that's a much worse conference in your mind, I'm sure. And Missouri plays in the SEC East and you would probably consider them to be mediocre in the SEC West.

 

[ACamp1900]

Of course, it's only the ND fans with no dog in the fight that are biased and don't know football when it comes to southern football... Surely its not the southern football fans , they clearly have no bias

 

[IrishSteelhead]

Of course, it's only the ND fans with no dog in the fight that are biased and don't know football when it comes to southern football... Surely its not the southern football fans , they clearly have no bias

If you have never danced with a snake around your neck at church, you don't know football......

 

[dshans]

If you have never danced with a snake around your neck at church, you don't know football......

Praise The Lord!

All Hail Bryant!

The SEC shall provide!

 

[Bishop2b5]

Praise The Lord!

All Hail Bryant!

The SEC shall provide!

I'm going to be running a Football Understanding Clinic & Klan school in January. $350 gets you a possum hunt, a visit to Bear's grave, a bottle of Jack, lunch at Dreamland BBQ, and a date with a slow-witted but busty Auburn girl.

 

[GoldenDomer]

They play good football

 

[NCND]

They play good football

Agree. Unbelievable the difference between the TOP SEC teams and Notre Dame.

 

[GoldenDomer]

Agree. Unbelievable the difference the TOP SEC teams and Notre Dame.

My god, they would break us. I think kids would have tears in their eyes hearing the news that we were playing them. They are men, we are boys. Bama showed us we weren't ready.

 

[phillyirish]

Call me crazy, but if Mizzou upsets Bama and knocks the SEC out of the playoffs I will call that a fair trade for ND's shitty season. (Assuming 2 things: Bama doesn't get the nod as a 2 loss team which I honestly think could likely happen, and 2) Ohio St doesnt win it all).

 

[Wild Bill]

Agree. Unbelievable the difference between the TOP SEC teams and Notre Dame.

Unbelievable the difference between mediocre PAC teams and ND.

 

[T Town Tommy]

This best conference claim is tiresome and specious. From an Irishman's independent vantage, I see teams, not conferences. If you want to wrap yourself in the victories of your top teams, that's fine, but irrelevant. If you want to dismiss the ACC as a second rate conference, that's fine, but blind to the results of this weekend. You don't want pride and regionalism to limit your ability to be objective.

Missouri and Texas A&M didn't become world beaters just because they joined the SEC. As former Big 12 teams, they have done pretty well with minimal changes in their programs. Kudos to Missouri for their second trip in two years to Atlanta. Mizzou made it to the Big 12 championship game two years in a row in 2007 & 2008, too. But that's a much worse conference in your mind, I'm sure. And Missouri plays in the SEC East and you would probably consider them to be mediocre in the SEC West.

Legacy,

I enjoy your posts as you bring a lot of very good information to them. And you should post more. But don't let your hate of anything override your objectiveness.

Every ACC team playing an SEC team yesterday was favored to win with the exception of Ga Tech. Somehow, a poor Fla Gator team with a lame duck coach almost beat the undefeated FSU Criminoles. A team that is probably headed to the playoffs. The 9-3 Louisville Cards beat Ky by four. Wow. Four whole points. Against traditional cellar dweller Ky. Clemson finally breaks S Carolina's streak. Great for them. And Tech hadn't beat Ga since something like 2008. I was actually pulling for Tech in that one as there are a couple of hometown guys who play for Tech ( J. Thomas and J Golden). For the record.... I hope Ga keeps Richt around for years.

Mizzou... again, they have been the recipient of coming in to the SEC East when the traditional powers in the East have been down. But I will take nothing away from them. They have won - even against the less than stellar teams of the East - and deserve the recognition they get. Solid front seven on defense, an ability to win games when needed, and a great addition to the conference as a whole.

The Aggies. Let's see. They finished third, fourth, and sixth....... in their division. Their hype and their coach is overrated. Been saying it for three years now.

And yes... I do consider the SEC East to be mediocre to the SEC West. As does most people who watch college football.

 

[MNIrishman]

Legacy,

I enjoy your posts as you bring a lot of very good information to them. And you should post more. But don't let your hate of anything override your objectiveness.

Every ACC team playing an SEC team yesterday was favored to win with the exception of Ga Tech. Somehow, a poor Fla Gator team with a lame duck coach almost beat the undefeated FSU Criminoles. A team that is probably headed to the playoffs. The 9-3 Louisville Cards beat Ky by four. Wow. Four whole points. Against traditional cellar dweller Ky. Clemson finally breaks S Carolina's streak. Great for them. And Tech hadn't beat Ga since something like 2008. I was actually pulling for Tech in that one as there are a couple of hometown guys who play for Tech ( J. Thomas and J Golden). For the record.... I hope Ga keeps Richt around for years.

Mizzou... again, they have been the recipient of coming in to the SEC East when the traditional powers in the East have been down. But I will take nothing away from them. They have won - even against the less than stellar teams of the East - and deserve the recognition they get. Solid front seven on defense, an ability to win games when needed, and a great addition to the conference as a whole.

The Aggies. Let's see. They finished third, fourth, and sixth....... in their division. Their hype and their coach is overrated. Been saying it for three years now.

And yes... I do consider the SEC East to be mediocre to the SEC West. As does most people who watch college football.

Always an excuse.

 

[IrishLax]

Legacy,

I enjoy your posts as you bring a lot of very good information to them. And you should post more. But don't let your hate of anything override your objectiveness.

Every ACC team playing an SEC team yesterday was favored to win with the exception of Ga Tech. Somehow, a poor Fla Gator team with a lame duck coach almost beat the undefeated FSU Criminoles. A team that is probably headed to the playoffs. The 9-3 Louisville Cards beat Ky by four. Wow. Four whole points. Against traditional cellar dweller Ky. Clemson finally breaks S Carolina's streak. Great for them. And Tech hadn't beat Ga since something like 2008. I was actually pulling for Tech in that one as there are a couple of hometown guys who play for Tech ( J. Thomas and J Golden). For the record.... I hope Ga keeps Richt around for years.

Mizzou... again, they have been the recipient of coming in to the SEC East when the traditional powers in the East have been down. But I will take nothing away from them. They have won - even against the less than stellar teams of the East - and deserve the recognition they get. Solid front seven on defense, an ability to win games when needed, and a great addition to the conference as a whole.

The Aggies. Let's see. They finished third, fourth, and sixth....... in their division. Their hype and their coach is overrated. Been saying it for three years now.

And yes... I do consider the SEC East to be mediocre to the SEC West. As does most people who watch college football.

Trying to mitigate the losses with "well, they won close sooo...." is really comical. SEC daily gets more and more exposed for exactly what outside people say it is... a couple GREAT teams and then the rest of the conference is no better than normal teams from other conferences. Missouri lost to freaking Indiana on top of the piss poor performances handed in yesterday by the other teams in the SEC LEast. What non-SEC fans want people to accept is that the bottom half of the conference is as bad as really any other conference... instead the propaganda machine says "every team is great, and every week is a tough game" which is BS.

Really funny to watch an under talented Big 12 team that can't hold their own against the worst of the Big Ten repeatedly win half of that mighty conference.

 

[T Town Tommy]

Always an excuse.

Where? What did I post that's not factual.

Always a complaint... especially from you. If my team just lost by five tds to a team that wasn't even ranked do you think I would give a damn about anybody else? No. I would be worried about my team. I sure wouldn't be talking about any other team or conference. Geez.

 

[T Town Tommy]

Trying to mitigate the losses with "well, they won close sooo...." is really comical. SEC daily gets more and more exposed for exactly what outside people say it is... a couple GREAT teams and then the rest of the conference is no better than normal teams from other conferences. Missouri lost to freaking Indiana on top of the piss poor performances handed in yesterday by the other teams in the SEC LEast. What non-SEC fans want people to accept is that the bottom half of the conference is as bad as really any other conference... instead the propaganda machine says "every team is great, and every week is a tough game" which is BS.

Really funny to watch an under talented Big 12 team that can't hold their own against the worst of the Big Ten repeatedly win half of that mighty conference.

I don't think anyone has propped up the bottom half of the SEC Lax. Every conference has those that are at the bottom due to simple math... gotta be winners and losers.

But to state the SEC still isn't the dominant conference in football is ridiculous. I will say this... the last place team in the West will be favored over a tremendous amount of teams in the country that are going bowling.

 

[IrishLax]

I don't think anyone has propped up the bottom half of the SEC Lax. Every conference has those that are at the bottom due to simple math... gotta be winners and losers.

But to state the SEC still isn't the dominant conference in football is ridiculous. I will say this... the last place team in the West will be favored over a tremendous amount of teams in the country that are going bowling.

I think you can rather easily make a case that the PAC12 was deeper than the SEC this year.

 

[koonja]

ACC (Who FSU is getting ripped on for rolling through because it's supposedly a terrible conference) was 4-0 against SEC yesterday. Just saying.

 

[T Town Tommy]

I think you can rather easily make a case that the PAC12 was deeper than the SEC this year.

I don't. Outside of Oregon and Arizona I don't really see any team that stands out.

I thought this may be the year for the Pac 12 to step it up. But UCLA, Stanford, and USC were disappointments. ASU showed signs of being good... and bad. Kudos to the Ducks and Arizona. They were the most consistent of the bunch out there.

 

[Grahambo]

I'm with T-Town. I think the SEC is still the best just not by as wide of a margin as it was in the past. I think the talent in the south has spread out a little more across the US then it has in recent history.

The SEC, to me, is still the best overall conference, but the gap has closed.

 

[T Town Tommy]

I'm with T-Town. I think the SEC is still the best just not by as wide of a margin as it was in the past. I think the talent in the south has spread out a little more across the US then it has in recent history.

The SEC, to me, is still the best overall conference, but the gap has closed.

I agree. There are more players from the South going other places to play. And some non southern schools are taking those 3 star athletes and turning them in to all conference performers and NFL draft picks as well. And there are states that are starting to produce more and more talent than in the past. Va is a great example. There have been some unbelievable talent the last 4-5 years come from there. They have always had talent... but they are starting to produce elite level talent at a high rate. The Northeast... while still not tremendous numbers, have a lot of elite players now.

 

[ickythump1225]

My god, they would break us. I think kids would have tears in their eyes hearing the news that we were playing them. They are men, we are boys. Bama showed us we weren't ready.

Holy s**t, I mean I agree we wouldn't beat any top level SEC team but my god s**t like this is just ridiculous. Tears in their eyes? Really??

 

[ickythump1225]

I don't think anyone has propped up the bottom half of the SEC Lax.
the last place team in the West will be favored over a tremendous amount of teams in the country that are going bowling.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

SEC Open Thread

Although a rivalry game, Auburn put up 638 yards and scored 44 pts on the road against one of the more vaunted SEC defenses. I know they didn't win, but there is some parity there, and the SEC is pretty deep IMO.

*if you took the B1G, and had all 14 play the SEC, and could manipulate the matchups any way you wanted (Ohio State vs Vandy), I still don't see the B1G splitting those 14 games.

 

[DomeX2 eNVy]

As far as how good or bad the SEC is in football.... well, isn't much of an argument there. And anyone who tries to make the argument that the SEC isn't the best conference either doesn't know football very well or lets their hatred overtake their ability to analyze teams, divisions, conferences.

Bob Stoops says 'Hi'; and I don't think his hatred is the reason since he was able to analyze Bama last year and beat 'em good.

 

[Legacy]

Overrated arguments

Overrated arguments

With the season almost completed, we can use the (AP) rankings to compare preseason vs current rankings. The assumption is that the pollsters are knowledgeable football fans with some objectivity.

The preseason polls had eight SEC teams in the top 25 (Current ranking as of today in parentheses):
#2-Alabama (#1); #6-Auburn (20); 9-South Carolina (not ranked); 12-Georgia (15); 13-LSU (23); 18-Ole Miss (13); 21-Texas A&M (not ranked); 24-Missouri (14). Not ranked in the preaseason-Mississippi State (10th today).

Of those eight teams, only three are now ranked higher than their preseason ranking (Alabama, Ole Miss, Missouri). The other five have disappointed - or were overrated.

In the preseason, three of the top 9 were SEC teams. By Week 5, seven of the top 14 teams were from the SEC. But as the season has rolled on, by Week 15 only Alabama (#1) and Mississippi State (#10) in the top 10 teams nationally. Mississippi State is currently considered the fourth best two loss team in the country.

By week 15, the top nine nationally ranked teams include:
Three Big 12 teams, 2 Pac 12 teams, 2 Big 10 teams and 1 team each from the SEC and the ACC. Eight teams from other Power 5 conferences are considered better than the second ranked SEC team, Miss St.

Regular season SEC vs Power Five records (Source)
The SEC did not play any Pac 12 teams. But against the other three Power 5 conferences, the SEC record was 5-6. All six losses and only one of the wins were by SEC East teams. The SEC record against the ACC this year is 1-4.
The Pac 12 record against the same three Power 5 conferences, including ND, is 8-4. (6-3 without ND)

Bowl Eligibility
Two SEC teams will not go bowling this season. Four others have six wins and qualify only because one win was over a FCS team. Without that FCS win, six of the fourteen SEC teams would not have winning records.

 

[Bishop2b5]

Actually, 4 teams are ranked higher than their preseason ranking... you left out Mississippi State.

 

[MNIrishman]

Bob Stoops says 'Hi'; and I don't think his hatred is the reason since he was able to analyze Bama last year and beat 'em good.

You see, it doesn't count because Bama wasn't the best in the conference and they were disappointed they only went to the Sugar Bowl so they didn't play real SEC football in their game and it only counts if you beat the best in the conference unless you do in which case it doesn't. Also any losing teams from the SEC only represent the SEC East (if you're in the West you're an honorary member of the SEC East for the game you lose) so the SEC West is still the best and will be petitioning for a wild card spot in the NFL playoffs so they can play meaningful football out of conference.