Played Like a Fiddle

[Cantpickem]

Have we been duped by the books & media into thinking that the SEC is a superior conference? I would believe that we have after the past few bowl games. We can't say that these teams (LSU, Ole Miss and Miss St) didn't want to be there and lost interest. They just weren't up to par with their opponents whether it be based on injuries, mental attitude or preparation or just out matched.
Moving forward we've been led to believe by the media and the books that the Big 10 (Wisc, Minn, Ohio St) doesn't stand a chance against their SEC opponent. I'd have to disagree based on recent events. Maybe the SEC is better conference (this isn't a debate on conferences) but the books have exploited that notion by inflating the lines.

Any positive thoughts on this?

 

[alkimyst]

The SEC is still the best overall vonfereutop yo bottom, in my humble opinion, but other teams and conferences are closing the gap. It's tough go argue with the # of national titles the SEC gas won, however, as evidenced by what Paul Johnson said yesterday, I think people are tired of having the SEC shoved down their throats by ESPN and being told how superior the league is compared to everyone else. The gap is nowhere near what it was perceived to be even a year or two ago.

 

[tmader7]

Miss State has no excuses, nor does LSU, who was so one dimensional this season on O, it wasn't funny. Only thing that kept them in games was their D, and their secondary was supposed to be among the best in the land, but that didn't show the other night. Ole Miss had serious injury issues, to the extent of 42-3, that's a stretch, but their wide outs were out, and they had injuries on the O line as well, I'm hitting myself in the head with a hammer still for taking them. I'm teasing the dogs today, don't think I can lose doing that. GL and Happy New Year CP!!

~T~

 

[Cantpickem]

Miss State has no excuses, nor does LSU, who was so one dimensional this season on O, it wasn't funny. Only thing that kept them in games was their D, and their secondary was supposed to be among the best in the land, but that didn't show the other night. Ole Miss had serious injury issues, to the extent of 42-3, that's a stretch, but their wide outs were out, and they had injuries on the O line as well, I'm hitting myself in the head with a hammer still for taking them. I'm teasing the dogs today, don't think I can lose doing that. GL and Happy New Year CP!!

~T~

Same to you Tmader and GL to you

 

[Willie99]

I think that top to bottom argument has lost its luster. During the regular season, there are far too few significant interconference games to judge conference strength. It's mostly about perception.

During bowl season we get a chance to see great interconference games. Unfortunately, they're our only real tool.

In the current bowl season, the SEC is shitting the bed thus far. That can't be spun

 

[ERockMoney]

It’s just typical SEC hate shining through and through. Heavy is the head that wears the crown. The SEC fanboys will overestimate the conference and the haters will look for any reason to diminish their dominance. Same story here and everywhere for years.


Most bowl games are a horrific way to gauge conference strength, as its far too difficult to determine motivation, extended time off, coaches (some are terrible in preparation week to week, but can be deadly with added time), etc.

Has the SEC been dominant this bowl season, absolutely not, but it’s not a sign the conference its being altered by the media to present false strength. The SEC is 4-3 in bowl games at this point and shockingly was expected to be 4-3, what a catastrophe. Sure, Mississippi got drilled, but maybe, just maybe, TCU is a legitimate top three-four side who played with a chip on their shoulder after getting screwed out of the playoff.


Mississippi State was a different animal IMO, you had a team who was number 1, possibly winning the best conference in football for the first time in 70+ years and looking to secure a spot in the inaugural playoff only to lose to Bama and their rival Ole Miss. Their prize, a lesser bowl versus an underrated GT side that was ecstatic to be where they were.


You can say the same thing about most conferences. The Pac 12, which many, myself included, consider the second best conference. They were expected to be 5-0 at this point, but are as unimpressive as 4-1 can get. USC was supposed to drill a Nebraska team the world thought was in shambles, Arizona State was expected to murder a feeble Duke side and should have lost, Arizona, who participated in the conference final, got a hole stomped in them by the worst version of Boise in eight-nine seasons. The Pac 12 sucks right, well not really.


ASU was fresh of a beat down of Notre Dame and headed towards the conference championship, a playoff elimination game versus Oregon. They proceeded to lose to a terrible Oregon State team and lose to their bitter rival in the finale. I would assume it would be difficult to get up for mighty Duke, who is led by one of the better coaches in the land.

If anything, the big conferences have performed pretty close to what was expected save for the B1G which was expected to be 0-5 and is 2-3 with a solid performance from Nebraska in a loss and the Big12 who was expected to be 3-1 and is an embarrassing 1-3 with a couple of massive beat downs. Even with these performances, it’s difficult to judge the focus/discipline from teams like Arizona, Oklahoma, ASU, Miss St., etc heading into what would be considered letdown bowl games from pre-season or in-season expectations.

Don’t worry; if Auburn or Oregon loses today you will have a thousand more of these threads. God forbid if Alabama lost, the forum would shut down from all the SEC haters climbing out of the woodwork. Then again, if Ohio State gets drilled you may see as many threads claiming what a fraud they were and how they shouldn’t have been there in the first place, poor TCU, B1G sucks, Give the Frogs a share of the title and on and on and on…..

Happy New Year’s!!