October 29, 201411 yr The second best team may have been wrong but I don't ever feel like the eventual champion has ever been wrong. Is that good enough? As fans should that be enough for us? Or should we demand, as we have over and over again as a collective, that the system be set up to demonstrate that on the field as much as possible?
October 29, 201411 yr OK. Maybe I didn't explain myself well. Nobody plays a lot of great out of conference games. It's a problem across football that I do think is getting better (although unfortunately thanks to a rise in awful neutral site games). What I mean is that while all leagues are insular, no other league is rewarded for it like the SEC. SEC teams beat each other up in league games and it's "See how tough it is to win week in, week out in the SEC?" while if the PAC 12 beats each other up in league games its "See there's just not a really great team out there this year." SEC played the most tough OOC games this year. They're 4-0 in those games (UGA v GT still remaining). You've got no argument. In the BCS bowl games, the SEC had the highest winning percentage as well (63% - 64% if you don't count LSU v Bama). As for bias, the Big 10 had more BCS bowl appearances than the SEC. Winning percentage 46.4%.
October 29, 201411 yr Loved the BCS. Not one year can we say the best team didn't win. To me that's the most important thing. At the same time I don't believe that the 2-5th teams in the SEC are always the 2-5th best teams in the nation. Undefeated Auburn being left out?
October 29, 201411 yr Alabama has looked good in one game this season and that was against a Texas A&M team that is likely benching their starting QB now. Beat Arkansas by how many points? On the "Herd" today, someone from Vegas said if all the top 10 teams played each other on a neutral field today, Alabama would be the only team favorite in every game.
October 29, 201411 yr SEC played the most tough OOC games this year. They're 4-0 in those games (UGA v GT still remaining). You've got no argument. Still not sure why the ACC's games against ND don't count as they're not in the league and they are a HUGE hole in several teams' non-conference schedule, but whatever. In the BCS bowl games, the SEC had the highest winning percentage as well (63% - 64% if you don't count LSU v Bama). As for bias, the Big 10 had more BCS bowl appearances than the SEC. Winning percentage 46.4%. Congratulations... better than the Big Ten. I don't deny that the SEC is the best league, but its absolute dominance over the rest of college football has been fundamentally untested on a broad level and remains such. It's the best league, but I remain unconvinced that it's so good it deserves more than a single spot in the playoff in any given year.
October 29, 201411 yr On the "Herd" today, someone from Vegas said if all the top 10 teams played each other on a neutral field today, Alabama would be the only team favorite in every game. The two Mississippi teams have significant weaknesses on one side of the ball or the other (Miss. St. on defense and Ole Miss on offense). As I said earlier, Alabama could potentially be the team with the guns to get it together on both sides of the ball and ultimately end up in the SEC title game.
October 29, 201411 yr Undefeated Auburn being left out? There were 3 undefeated teams...I guess SEC Bias kept Auburn on the outside looking in?
October 29, 201411 yr There were 3 undefeated teams...I guess SEC Bias kept Auburn on the outside looking in? That one has always puzzled me more than any other BCS season. I've never figured out what the computers liked about Oklahoma so much that year. Nebraska getting in over Oregon in 2001 is another. In the end, it was all a lot of foolishness and I'm happy we're finally getting closer to a system where dominance must be displayed in a series of games against other top teams from around the country.
October 29, 201411 yr The two Mississippi teams have significant weaknesses on one side of the ball or the other (Miss. St. on defense and Ole Miss on offense). As I said earlier, Alabama could potentially be the team with the guns to get it together on both sides of the ball and ultimately end up in the SEC title game. Ole Miss is averaging 32 points a game, they have one low scoring slug fest on the road (at one of the toughest locations in the country) and you write them off? Miss St. D has given up some points, but the teams that have scored on them (Auburn, Texas A&M, Kentucky and LSU) have scored on everybody...not just them.
October 29, 201411 yr Remaining Games: Ole Miss- Auburn, Arkansas, Miss St. Miss St.- Arkansas, Alabama, Ole Miss Alabama- LSU, Miss St. Auburn Auburn- Texas A&M, Georgia, Alabama LSU- Alabama, Arkansas, Texas A&M Looks like the SEC West is going to work this out for themselves!
October 29, 201411 yr Ole Miss is averaging 32 points a game, they have one low scoring slug fest on the road (at one of the toughest locations in the country) and you write them off? Miss St. D has given up some points, but the teams that have scored on them (Auburn, Texas A&M, Kentucky and LSU) have scored on everybody...not just them. Dr. Bo is unreliable at QB. He's what concerns me about the Ole Miss offense heading into the games with Auburn and Miss. St. The points have come against some pretty weak defenses. It's pretty blown up by games against La-Lafayette, Vanderbilt and Texas A&M. They could hardly move the ball on LSU and they struggled to score against Memphis. They felt it against LSU and I don't think they're done feeling it. They're a good team, but a solid defense will be able to hold them down unless Dr. Bo is really firing. Miss. St. gave up 34 to UAB (who's not what we'd call great) and 31 to Kentucky (who struggled to score against Ohio, Florida, and Vandy). They're vulnerable defensively. All I'm saying is that Alabama is the one with the coaching and the athletes to really put it together on both sides of the ball come the end of the season and that I think they will.
October 29, 201411 yr Remaining Games: Ole Miss- Auburn, Arkansas, Miss St. Miss St.- Arkansas, Alabama, Ole Miss Alabama- LSU, Miss St. Auburn Auburn- Texas A&M, Georgia, Alabama LSU- Alabama, Arkansas, Texas A&M Looks like the SEC West is going to work this out for themselves! A couple days ago Greenberg was reading a predictor that says it's a 43% chance, I think that was the number, every team in the west will have at least two losses by the end of the season. If you're anti-SEC guy that should make you smile.
October 29, 201411 yr Not once? We can't even speculate? I don't believe that's the case. I'd have loved to see what Stanford in 2010 or 2011 could have done against the champs. Oklahoma State had a heck of a team in 2011 as well. There are others but I like the idea that maybe, just maybe, we're getting closer to a system in which you actually have to prove you're the best on the field rather than speculating about who may or may not have had the best season based on opinion or possibly flawed computer rankings. We still need at least one more expansion of the playoff to really eliminate the possibility of ranking error determining the champion. I wish I had more likes to give for this post. A four-team playoff is small, but it whittles down a lot of the "what ifs?"
October 29, 201411 yr The Rest Remaining Games: Florida St.- Louisville, Virginia, Miami, Boston College, Florida Oregon- Stanford, Utah, Colorado, Oregon St TCU- West Virginia, Kansas St., Kansas, Texas, Iowa St. Mich St- Ohio St, Maryland, Rutgers, Penn St. Kansas St- Ok.St, TCU, WVU, Kansas, Baylor Notre Dame- Navy, Arizona St., Northwestern, Louisville, USC Georgia- Florida, Kentucky, Auburn, Georgia Tech
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.