DISCLAIMER: THE VIEWS AND OPINIONS IN THIS POST ARE NOT SHARED BY COLLEGEFOOTBALL2DAY. THIS IS JUST AN INTERESTING READ. I SHOULD ALSO INCLUDE, THIS IS NOT MY POST, BUT A POST FROM ANOTHER PAGE. THE SEC Exposed: Every college football fan should read this.I am posting this because of a running argument with someone that I consider to be a good friend. I apologize for the length of it. The rankings game works like this: preseason rankings typically include three, or four SEC teams among the nations top ten, (last year there were 5), more than from any other conference. Of course Florida, (#10 preseason), only won 4 games last year, and Georgia, (#5 preseason), went 8-5 and wasnt even ranked at the end of the season. Before the season even begins, this bias for SEC teams is built into the system, and the advantage is nearly insurmountable by any other conference. Start the season with five of the top ten teams being from the SEC, as was the case in 2013 with Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M, South Carolina and and Florida, and the conference is virtually guaranteed to be represented in the title game -- and this is an important point -- even if neither of these schools end up winning the conference. Evidenced last year by the fact that neither Mizzou nor Auburn were even ranked preseason, and the two played for the right to go to the national title game in the SEC Championship. How is this??? Well, to be the best, so goes to the old sports adage, youve got to beat the best. But since only SEC teams are consistently DECLARED the best in preseason, before anyone ever plays a game, only SEC teams get the chance to prove themselves against the best. Now, throw in the out of conference schedule that the SEC plays, and you see that in general the SEC plays an out of conference schedule that is designed to accentuate its dominance. Last year the five SEC teams that finished in the Top 25 played a combined two out of conference games against opponents that finished in the top 25, and South Carolina is SUPPOSED to play in state rival Clemson. So, my lone nod in this area goes to Tennessee for scheduling Oregon. Other than that, Auburn, Alabama, Texas A&M, South Carolina, Mizzou and Vandy, (the SEC teams that did finish ranked), scheduled a miss mash of FCS, Division III, and low rent FBS schools for out of conference games. And yet, one will hear repeatedly of SEC dominance over all other conferences and how any other seeker of the throne should play somebody. Just ask any Florida State fan. How did this happen??? Consider that the BCS was created by then-SEC commissioner Roy Kramer to pit the #1 & #2 teams in the nation in the national title game. And then consider that In 2008, ESPN and the SEC signed that a 15-year, $2.25 billion agreement allowing the network to televise the conferences games. In addition, consider that ESPN owns the rights to televise all BCS games, including the national championship game. And then further consider that because ESPN essentially owns college football, the SEC agenda that it pushes invariably sets the tone to be followed by other media. In fact, in February 2013, six months before the 2013 season even began, ESPN declared that Alabama, Texas A&M Georgia, South Carolina and Florida to be among the nations ten best. The rest of the media naturally followed. And the poll manipulation continues throughout the season. Last year to the benefit of Auburn and Mizzou. How can polls be manipulated??? The most bald-faced example occurred in 2011 when the then number-three-ranked Oregon Ducks lost a September game in Dallas to then number-four-ranked LSU by a score of 40-27. Following the defeat, the Ducks dropped 10 spaces in the polls, to number 13. With the demotion, Oregons championship hopes were essentially obliterated from the first week of the season. Fast forward to November, when then #2 Alabama Crimson Tide lost at home to #1 LSU, and dropped only one space in the polls, to #3. This eventually set up an all SEC national championship game that Alabama won, despite not even winning their own division, much less conference. Just this year, we have seen Mississippi St, unranked at the outset of the season, rocket to #14 based on a win over then #8 LSU, whose only quality win came when Wisconsin imploded in week 1. Other than that, it appears that LSU, much like Florida and Georgia from last year is a highly over rated SEC team, on which other SEC teams will build their resumes. Auburn beat LSU by 34 yesterday. If youll notice, when a highly ranked SEC team beats another highly ranked SEC team, the winner rises higher in the polls than it might normally, based on the fact that its just beaten a top-tier team from the countrys elite conference. By the same coin, the losing SEC team in this scenario doesnt drop as far as it might otherwise, since, after all, it has lost to a presumably powerful top-tier team from the countrys elite conference. And if an unranked SEC team beats a ranked one, well then, that just shows us exactly how powerful the SEC is top to bottom. Watch the rankings tomorrow. Alabama will not even fall out of the Top 10, Texas A&M might drop to #12 or #13, but Oregon is going to plummet, as will Oklahoma. I also expect Ole Miss and Mississippi St. to jump UCLA, Michigan St., Notre Dame, and possibly Baylor. Its a chicken-or-the-egg situation. Does the SEC get favorable rankings because its so good? Or is the SEC so good because it gets favorable rankings? I argue for the latter. And I am not saying the SEC is bad. It isnt. However, I am saying that the SEC has been favored by an uneven playing field for the last ten years or so. Need further proof??? Consider this....and remember that they used to be able to split national championships between the AP and UPI polls, (this accounts for the fact that I have 58 national titles accounted for in 50 years). In the 50 years preceding their eight national titles in a row, the SEC had only won 13 national championships, (or portions of a national championship), with seven of those, (or portions), going to Alabama. Other SEC teams to win it all, (or portions) were Auburn-1957, Mississippi-1960, Georgia-1980, LSU-1958 & 2003, Florida-1996, and Arkansas-1964. (I used the conference that teams play in now for reference) Thats a winning percentage of 26% between 1953 and 2003. Compare that to the rest of the Power 5 and you come up with 13 for the Big 12 (26%), 11 for the Big Ten (22%), 11 for the Pac 12 (22%) and 10 for the ACC (20%). Now compare that with the 88% national championship winning percentage that the SEC has enjoyed over the last 9 years, and you tell me if this dominance isnt manufactured.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 18:52:57 +0000
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