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Dude... They didn't play any more FCS games than any other top conference.
Yes these schools should also be commended for their bravery for facing the mighty Southern Conference of the FCS. Especially Alabama they faced the unstoppable 1-9 Western Carolina Catamounts.
Yes these schools should also be commended for their bravery for facing the mighty Southern Conference of the FCS. Especially Alabama they faced the unstoppable 1-9 Western Carolina Catamounts.
But we should still treat them like they defeated Godzilla.
But we should still treat them like they defeated Godzilla.
No, people from outside the SEC should just be quiet and accept that they the SEC is the superior conference until the day comes that a team from another conference can prove otherwise on the football field. Hasn't happened yet. Eight games and waiting...wake us up, when it happens.
No, people from outside the SEC should just be quiet and accept that they the SEC is the superior conference until the day comes that a team from another conference can prove otherwise on the football field. Hasn't happened yet. Eight games and waiting...wake us up, when it happens.
I won't argue with the championship pedigree but the SEC has a built in advantage over everyone else in getting to the NCG. 1 loss often eliminates a team from every other conferences but a two loss SEC team is still alive. So just getting to the NCG is 3/4 the battle and the SEC is guaranteed a spot in the dance essentially no matter what.
No, people from outside the SEC should just be quiet and accept that they the SEC is the superior conference until the day comes that a team from another conference can prove otherwise on the football field. Hasn't happened yet. Eight games and waiting...wake us up, when it happens.
No, people from outside the SEC should just be quiet and accept that they the SEC is the superior conference until the day comes that a team from another conference can prove otherwise on the football field. Hasn't happened yet. Eight games and waiting...wake us up, when it happens.
Check out the thread about the talent in the different regions...pretty obvious why we are the best.
I won't argue with the championship pedigree but the SEC has a built in advantage over everyone else in getting to the NCG. 1 loss often eliminates a team from every other conferences but a two loss SEC team is still alive. So just getting to the NCG is 3/4 the battle and the SEC is guaranteed a spot in the dance essentially no matter what.
I won't argue with the championship pedigree but the SEC has a built in advantage over everyone else in getting to the NCG. 1 loss often eliminates a team from every other conferences but a two loss SEC team is still alive. So just getting to the NCG is 3/4 the battle and the SEC is guaranteed a spot in the dance essentially no matter what.
And that is precisely because of the pedigree -- the respect that the SEC gets is earned. If LSU and Florida lost to Ohio State, more voters at the end of the season would conclude that the Big10 is probably the stronger league than the SEC. If Oklahoma had beaten LSU and Florida (and if they hadn't been absolutely skullf*cked by USC), people would be talking about the the Big 12. If the SEC had lost even ONE of those games, voters would at least assume that there's some parity. However, the reality is that the SEC hasn't just won some or even a simple majority of those contests; they have been absolutely dominant over other leagues. Winning 7 times and losing none goes beyond just 'chance'; it's a telling indication that one league in particular is above all others. Voters cannot ignore that, even though many of them come from different parts of the country and would love nothing more than to take the SEC chants and shove them where the sun doesn't shine. I credit the voters for remaining objective, even though many probably don't want to be.
Just think about the past few weeks. Think about how writers everywhere were rejoicing at how tantalizingly close we were to having the SEC out of contention for just one year. All Kansas State had to do was to beat Baylor, and all Oregon had to do was to do what they had done two of the past three years in beating Stanford. The press corps and the nation's coaches were ready to be done with the SEC. It ain't the Southland's fault that they weren't up to the pressure.
Check out the thread about the talent in the different regions...pretty obvious why we are the best.
I might check it out, but I really don't need to. I already know. I've known since I was a boy growing up in the south what football means to the average southerner. Friday Night Lights put the Texas football scene on the map, but what they don't know is that there's probably even more passion further to the east. Friday nights in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida are not just nights for high school football; they're nights that people in small towns will be talking about years from now.
I once wrote about why the Southeastern Conference is so good. It's not just the talent; it's that the talent has already begun to develop. The intensity of the competition in high school prepares them for the greater amount of intensity that takes place in college. A lot of the players who play for LSU or Alabama have already played in front of large crowds in the Super Dome classic or the equivalent in Atlanta or Florida. The only reason the SEC didn't develop into a juggernaut earlier is because of the coaching, which was the missing ingredient all these years. There was a coaching lull after the departure of Bear Bryant. Not anymore.
I'm going to go back to the original thread post. Regarding Oregon, I think this loss to Stanford, as disappointing as it might be, could end up being one of the best things that ever happened to Chip Kelly, if they learn from this.
There's no reason to ditch this dynamic offensive system; they just need to consider throwing in a new wrinkle to it. Why not add some short yardage weapons? For example, they could add one or two big, physical, if not a bit slower, tight ends on the edges, and they could be used in the same way that Stanford uses theirs. They could also add one or two ground and pound, bulldozer type running backs, who could be the sledgehammer behind someone like Barner and Thomas. Kelly can still rely mainly on speed, but he could add the occasional dimension of power. I think that if there's a weakness in Kelly's game, it's that he insists that speed can outperform power, and the history of the game at all levels shows that rarely can a team win games by relying on speed alone.
He also needs to address the other side of the ball. Kelly needs to start recruiting some pass rushers. Not just linebackers who can sack QBs on the disguised blitz, but a front four who can control the lines by themselves. I think the Ducks rely too much on everyone playing defense together, which sounds good in theory, but it's better to have a talent advantage on the front lines and to allow the linebackers and the secondary to have more freedom to stay away from the line and play pass coverage.
I don't know if Oregon can win by being just faster than everyone else. I thought they might have a chance to do that, but once again, this last game showed that a team that plays fundamentally well on the lines and at LB has a chance to slow anyone down. Oregon really could have used some sledgehammer options on those third and fourth downs, and they just didn't have them. Being an in-conference opponent, Stanford had played against Oregon's speed for the past two or three years and had grown accustomed to the kinds of adjustments that they needed to make.
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