I suppose this is just “Why I Can’t Stand the SEC, 2.0“. But anyway…

If you read any of the preseason college football publications or web sites, one thing becomes more and more clear. Yes, USC may be the best team in the nation. But that’s not important. What’s important is that the SEC has the best conference, you’re not allowed to argue it, and playing the season is just pointless.

Yes, the SEC is deep. They probably have more good teams than any other conference. But here’s something most of the idiots never mention- THEY DON”T ALL PLAY EACH OTHER. Who gives a f*** if they have six great teams when they don’t all play each other. At most, each of the ranked SEC team has four tough conference games. If the SEC teams all played each other, I’d buy the argument that other teams might struggle in that conference. If SEC teams all played each other, I’d give SEC teams the benefit of the doubt in the rankings.

That’s what happens when you have two divisions in a conference. You don’t get an accurate representation of the strength of each team within the conference, because they’re not all playing the same schedule. This is one of the reasons I’m against the Big Ten adding a 12th team.

It’s the age old southern argument that “if they were in the SEC, they be the eight best team.” Again, I’d buy into this more if being in the SEC entailed a full SEC schedule, but it doesn’t.

Let’s take a look at the SEC schedules. I’ll work with the teams ranked in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25. Those teams are LSU, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Auburn, and Arkansas. Now let’s look at their schedules.

LSU plays Florida, Auburn and Arkansas
Florida plays Tennessee, Auburn, LSU and Georgia
Georgia plays Tennessee, Florida and Auburn
Tennessee plays Florida, Georgia and Arkansas
Auburn plays Florida, Arkansas, LSU and Georgia
Arkansas plays Auburn, Tennessee and LSU

So, of the six ranked SEC teams, none of them have more than four conference games against ranked teams. Tough? Yes. So tough that no other teams in the nation would be able to handle it? Hell, no.

Now, Alabama? They have a tough schedule. They have all of the ranked teams except for Florida. South Carolina has all of them except for Auburn. Those are without a doubt tough schedules.

I’m not trying to say that the SEC isn’t a great conference. They are without a doubt very talented and very deep. But this growing notion in this country that they are the best, and should be given a boost simply because they play against the SEC is stupid. They do no better than any other conference in inter-conference play, and they have their fair share of doormats mixed in with their good teams.

The assumption that team X would finish with a much worse record if they were in the SEC is just plain, old-fashioned stupid. Who’s to say that Rutgers would suck in the SEC. From what I saw last year, Arkansas would have been an average team in the PAC-10 or Big Ten. Hell, they went 0-2 against teams from those conferences, losing by a combined 39 points.

Then you’ve got geniuses like ESPN.com’s Pat Forde. After going off (rightfully) on Les Miles for being an idiot, Forde makes the argument that the SEC is the best conference because…get this…THEY HAVE TO BE. The way of life in the south, and the lack of anything else to do, apparently makes for better play execution.

This is a direct quote:

“The SEC has to be better than the PAC-10. It’s nonnegotiable.

The quality of life in the South is dependent upon good college football. Local economies, race relations and collective psychological health all would suffer without it. Sweet tea would not be as sweet. Fried chicken would not be as crispy. Country songs would be even sadder.

If SEC football were mediocre, the South might as well be back in Reconstruction.”

I understand that this supposed to make you crack a smile, not be an actual defense of the football, but it perfectly explains the attitude I’m talking about. The SEC doesn’t have to be better than anyone. They play good football. Let them prove themselves on the field like anyone else.

The SEC may be the best conference top to bottom. They also have 12 teams and most of them play a very soft non-conference schedule. SEC teams play 8 of the 11 other teams in their conference, compared to the PAC-10 playing 9 of 10 and the Big East playing all seven other teams in it’s conference.

The SEC may turn out to be the best conference in the nation this year. They may not. People have to remember that these teams change every year. This is not like the New York Yankees. Every five years, the entire team is different. Just because somebody is wearing the Alabama uniform, does not make them better than everyone else for that reason alone.

Let the games play out. Let the SEC fans bitch all year that they could all beat USC, and USC would have three losses in the SEC. But there is far too much hype on this conference this year. You heard it here in August, that the SEC is tremendously over-rated this season, just as they were in three of the last four seasons.

Or, we could just do as everyone seems to be implying we should do, and just crown the SEC champion the National Champion, and leave those bowl games for the small schools that can’t hang with the big boys in the south.

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More on my vendetta against the SEC here.

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