Exposing the SEC!

Brandon Swartz - Fan Nation (CNNsi Blog Author stationed in Balad, Iraq)
After last week’s blood bath fued with fellow SEC college football minds, I thought I’d give you folks a little more food for thought, except this article was written by Brandon Swartz, A GI stationed in Balad, Iraq.  He agreed to have his article posted on my BCSBusters site, and I thought I would give him a little more exposure here on “The Bleacher Report.”

Brandon currently blogs for CNNsi’s - Fan Nation Blogs and his recent article you are about to read has been viewed over 1400 times in two days on the Sports Illustrated website.  Enjoy the read and I guess there is another idiot out there who feels the same way I do.  Feel free to visit his blog on CNNsi and send him some prayers and wishes for a safe return.

The SEC is an overrated over blown Conference.  There I said it. It’s out there.

What? No! He didn’t, he wouldn’t.  This is Fan Nation suicide.

Or is it…
Read the blog then let me know.

As we all know everyone wants to come out and claim the SEC as the best conference in NCAA football.  But lets take a good look.

When it comes to the top 25 the SEC bias is so obvious you can not help but to laugh.
There are only 3 teams in the Top 25 with 3 losses.  All from the SEC.  There is only 1 Top 10 team with 2 losses, guess where they are from? Yep, the SEC!  And the Top ranked 1 loss team in the country? LSU, also from the SEC.

(As long as LSU wins out they can almost count on being handed a spot in the BSC title game, not only that it would be a home game for the Tigers) 

LSU is getting #1 votes while they lost to a Kentucky team that is not only not ranked (which is saying a lot because about half of the SEC gets handed a top 25 ranking), but just lost to a .500 team.  Meanwhile take a look at Missouri.  Their only loss came from Oklahoma, who is 7-1 and #5 in the nation. But still LSU sits at #3 while Missouri sits at #9. The difference being that Missouri has to win out and have 8 other teams lose to have a shot at a national title.  LSU just has to win out and hope for a loss from Boston College or Ohio State.

The SEC has really only played 4 Top 25 non conference games this season.  LSU demolished VT, but Cal also put away Tennessee.  All told they are only 2-2 in those 4 games.

We see teams like Tennessee blow a 21 point lead AT HOME and MOVE UP in the AP poll! What? Really? Are you kidding me? I know they won, but it was just sad.

Still not convinced? Well lets look at fair matchups, and the only way I can see to do that would be to look at the Bowl Games.  This is a non conference match up that is supposed to match up even teams.  Over the past 5 seasons the SEC is a mediocre 18-16 in bowl games.  Hardly domination. 

While I do not feel that the SEC is a bad conference, I have a hard time saying they are the class of the NCAA.  If you want competition, look at the Big East.  Not only are they 2-1 against the SEC this year, but they have had 6 of their 8 teams in the Top 25 this season. Every team has at least 1 conference win, and even Syracuse the worst team in the Big East this season took down a Louisville team that was at the time #18 in the nation.

(Teams like UConn and S Florida have shown that the Big East deserves thier spot in the BCS) 

If it is top teams you seek. Look no further than the Pac 10.  While USC has been the class of that division for a while, teams like Oregon and Arizona State have turned in great seasons thus far. Or even take a look at the Big 12. Teams like Texas and Oklahoma are making way for Kansas and Missouri. 

So then my question turns to who anointed the SEC as the top conference? Is it that they have the best players in the NCAA? Well they last had a Heisman winner in 1996, and when I took a look they only have had a whopping 2 Heisman winners since I was born (1984).  Compare that to the Big 10’s 5, Big 12’s 5, Big East’s 3 and the Pac 10’s 3 (all from USC).  So USC has won more Heisman Trophies than the entire SEC over the last 23 years.  

(the SEC’s last Heisman winner)

Well if they don’t have the top players maybe they win the National title every year. Well… that’s not entirely true they have only claimed 2 national titles in the past 10 years! Again USC has them beat. When I did a study to see who has dropped the most over the past five seasons in poll positions the SEC had 4 teams make the Top 25, but they also had 2 in the Top 5 and boasted the most overrated team of the past 5 seasons Tennessee. 

(USC has more national titles over the past 10 years and more Heisman winners than the entire SEC over the last 23 years) 

This leads me to my question.  What do people see in the SEC? How do they get a pass when they lose to their lower tiered teams like Vandy or Ole Miss, yet that same pass is not extended to USC when they lose to a Stanford? I will tell you - what I just do not see it and fail to understand it.  

The next time someone rips on Ohio State or Boston College by asking “who have they played?” Consider the previously mentioned statistics the next time the SEC claims their conference is the greatest. They only play ridiculous non conference opponents and then when they do play legitimate teams, they don’t fare so well. 

But wait… There’s more to the story than meets the eye.

Ok, I can admit when I miss a few things, and in this case I did.  Sorry SEC fans.  I have not been able to keep up as much as I would have liked to at this point in the season, due to my military responsibilities in Iraq.

Anyway, after looking into every SEC schedule, here is the SEC’s breakdown against BCS schools, which again, is hardly impressive.

2-2 vs. Non Conference Top 25 schools

1-2 vs. Big East
2-1 vs. ACC
0-0 vs. Big 10
2-1 vs. Big 12
0-1 vs. Pac 10

There are also 3 SEC teams that have not even played a single game against a BCS team this season.  The funny part about that is that two of those 3 teams played for the SEC title last season.  While Florida will get to face 1 BCS team in a lowly Florida State squad at the send of the season,  Arkansas will NOT FACE A SINGLE BCS opponent this season. How sad is that?