There is a conference in college football so good that the 12 teams in it have combined for only five losses out of the 47 out-of-conference games they've played. That's a 42-5 record when facing teams not in their division. No other division even comes close:
The ACC is 31-12.
The Big 12 is 36-11.
The Big Ten is 33-9.
The Pac-10 is 21-9.
The WAC is ... eh, who cares?
In fact, seven teams in this conference have not even lost an out-of-conference game. Only the Big 12 comes close with five teams perfect out of the division.
There is a conference in college football that has outscored opponents nearly 11 points a game in the 102 combined games they've played so far this season. Every team included, from first to 12th.
There is a conference in college football where only one team (Mississippi) has a losing record. All other conferences (aside from the Big 10) have at least two. Most have three, four, or even five.
There is a conference in college football in which the team in ninth place (Arkansas) has posted a 6-4 record overall, a 5-2 record at home, a Heisman trophy candidate and has put up more points than half of the schools in the top 10 of the BCS Standings.
There is a conference in college football where the second-to-worst team (Vanderbilt) doesn't have a losing record, has beaten the only top -10 team they've faced and allowed only 215 points, less than No. 5 Missouri, No. 9 Georgia, No. 12 Florida, No. 13 Texas, No. 20 Tennessee, No. 21 Michigan, No. 23 Kentucky, and No. 25 Wisconsin, nearly a third of all ranked teams in the nation.
And finally, there is conference in college football with the best team in the nation (LSU), another top-10 school (No. 9 Georgia), an additional three ranked teams, (No. 12 Florida, No. 20 Tennessee, and No. 23 Kentucky) and 7-4 Auburn and 6-4 Alabama that have legitimate claims to be ranked.
Before the season, syndicated columnist Dennis Dodd called the SEC "the best league in the country." He went so far as to say the "excellence of the SEC has reached critical mass" and that the "competition is cannibalistic." In any other division, many of these programs would be dominating and making significant noise in the postseason, but because they are all corralled together and have a 12-week season to beat each other up gladiator arena-style, only one or two teams are physically and emotionally able to carry the torch into December and January.
The Southeastern Conference is playing like a man among boys on Saturdays and don't be surprised if it's the SEC that takes home another national championship.
November 14, 2007
Jeff:
Factual error: The Big Ten has only one losing team in the conference: Minnesota
Also, 10 of the 11 teams in the Big Ten are above .500.
The Big East is 8-2 in its last 10 games vs. the SEC.
The Big Ten is 7-3 in its last 10 games vs. the SEC.
SEC has lost its last 10 road games played outside the South.
Yep. That’s one helluva conference.
November 15, 2007
Kyle Jahner:
Nowhere in this article do you address the quality of teams the SEC schedules out of conference. How can you make an arguement without even touching on this topic?
As mentioned, it is nearly impossible to get an SEC team to leave the South for a game.
As for those 42 wins, 11 wins over Sun Belt teams (worst conference in America) shouldn’t even count. The likes of Tennessee Tech, Western Kentucky, South Carolina State, Kent State, Richmond, East Michigan, and Miami…of Ohio are also nothing more than glorified scrimmages. And I didn’t even look that hard for those 18 freebees. There are probably 25-30 games, all at home, that no big conference has no business losing.
Lots of conferences schedule patsies (Big 12 is awful about it), but the SEC has always been one of the best. Plus, the South’s D1-A non-BCS teams are among the worst in the country. The WAC and MWC are far better than CUSA or Sun Belt.
Vandy beat Richmond, East Michigan and Miami…of Ohio. Wow, I respect their 5-5 record. When Stanford beats USC the Pac-10 is crap, when Vandy beats an SEC power its because the SEC is awesome. Double standard perhaps?
We will see how good they are when Bowl season comes. All I know is that Cal wiped the floor with Tenn, S Florida beat Auburn, and neither is doing well in conference play. Missou crushed Ole Miss too. Va Tech is the lone truely impressive win, and even I say LSU is legit, despite 8 home games.
November 16, 2007
Kyle Jahner:
And with the Ducks shot down over the desert, yes, LSU will probably win the title over whatever Big 12 slob emerges. That proves nothing about the overall state of the conference. The idea that the second-tier SEC teams would dominate the Pac-10 or even the Big East or ACC or Big 12 is silly. Maybe the Big Ten.
Dixon’s knee just changed the Heisman race and title race, and for the worse. I think Oregon (with Dixon healthy) vs LSU would have been a great game. Better than LSU-Mizzou, OU or Kansas.