SEC Overrated?

[Mell413]

Who does the Pac 10 play out of conference? Oregon plays no body outside of conference this year. Stanford and USC have their contracts with ND who yea this year is right now the best team but if it's the past 8 out of 10 that's not a good team to have on your schedule (I'll admit it we ranged from suck to average to ok top 20-25 team)

That's Because K state bailed and they had to scramble and find an opponent to fill the spot. That's not their fault. Hell if they would have beaten K State I wonder how that would have affected the polls?

Anyway back to the main point. The SEC is good, but I never really got the feeling they are/were head shoulders above everyone else this year. I mean Florida needed a blocked punt to beat Lafayette at home. LSU almost lost to Towson. It's still the best conference, but I don't think the gap is as large as some make it out to be. A lot of people act as if other conferences don't even belong on the same fied. A lot of this is cyclical anyway. Who knows the SEC could be down and the Big 12 could be up.

[desertrat218]

Who does the Pac 10 play out of conference? Oregon plays no body outside of conference this year. Stanford and USC have their contracts with ND who yea this year is right now the best team but if it's the past 8 out of 10 that's not a good team to have on your schedule (I'll admit it we ranged from suck to average to ok top 20-25 team)

Since you asked:
Stanford: San Jose State (10-2), Duke (6-6), lost to Notre Dame (12-0)
Oregon: Arkansas State (8-3), Fresno State (9-3), Tennessee Tech
Oregon State: Wisconsin (7-5), BYU (7-5), Nicholls State
Washington: San Diego State (9-3), Portland State, lost to LSU (10-2)
Cal: Southern Utah, lost to Nevada (7-4) and Ohio State (12-0)
Washington State: Eastern Washington, UNLV (2-11), lost to BYU (7-5)
UCLA: Nebraska (10-2), Rice (6-6), Houston (5-7)
USC: Hawaii (2-9), Syracuse (7-5), lost to Notre Dame (12-0)
Arizona State: Northern Arizona, Illinois (2-10), Missouri (5-7)
Arizona: Toledo (9-3), Oklahoma State (7-4), South Carolina State
Utah: Northern Colorado, BYU (7-5), lost to Utah State (10-2)
Colorado: lost to Colorado State, Sacramento State, and Fresno State

First thing to point out is Pac 12 teams play 9 conference games instead of just 8 which means they play 12 fewer non-conference games.

Note that Stanford, UCLA, and USC do not play FCS schools and none of them played 2 FCS schools!

9 conference games plus an average of at least one more BCS non-conference opponent. Fewer opportunities for big non-conference opponents but they played a lot more them than the SEC did!

[Bravo95]

Mannnnn, OK look, SEC fans talk **** but we know there isn't some HUGE gap. There are great programs in the Pac-12 and Big 12. And if the Big Ten could stay off probation, we would say the same for them. Just messin' with ya.

[Catfish1314]

I was wondering when the annual "SEC is overrated" thread would pop up.

As you pointed out, Florida, South Carolina, and Alabama all have sound victories over 9-10 win non-conference opponents. LSU beat Washington, which managed to beat 10-2 likely Pac-12 Champion Stanford earlier in the year. Three of those four wins were on the road or on neutral sites.

There are some lousy teams in each division, as is the case with every conference, but I don't see how any of the top ten SEC teams are overrated. I think they've all proven their salt in one way or another throughout the season. The SEC is not overrated and the conference will just reaffirm that again in bowl season like it always does.

[Mell413]

Like I said previously the SEC is the best conference, but LSU might be one of the worst 10-2 teams I have seen recently. Maybe I just hate Mettenberger too much, but that offense is terrible to watch. I think CFB as a whole is down across the board. My main gripe is that the lesser programs get elevated just by being in the SEC. If people want to talk about how good Bama, Georgia, and Florida are I have no real issues, but teams outside of those get elevated

[desertrat218]

Georgia in particular gets my interest....they only played 2 good teams this year, Florida and South Carolina. They won a close one with Florida and got crushed by South Carolina. The only other team Georgia played this year that has won more games than they lost was Mississippi State...that's all!

So, in 12 games Georgia has faced 3 teams with a winning record(not counting FCS Georgia Southern), got crushed by one of them, and is somehow one game away from playing for the BCS Title.


BCS is a failure and a fraud, has been from the start.

[Wingman]

Since the BCS's inception in 1998. SEC teams have played in 8 of the 13 National Championships and have won every one they played it. In 2004, USC played and beat Oklahoma. Auburn went 13-0 in the SEC, but did not get a chance to play in the NC. USC's NC that year was vacated.

Is the SEC light years above everyone else? I don't think so, but the people that analysis teams and divisions seem to think the SEC is definitely the strongest conference. I can live with that.

[Catfish1314]

Georgia in particular gets my interest....they only played 2 good teams this year, Florida and South Carolina. They won a close one with Florida and got crushed by South Carolina. The only other team Georgia played this year that has won more games than they lost was Mississippi State...that's all!

So, in 12 games Georgia has faced 3 teams with a winning record(not counting FCS Georgia Southern), got crushed by one of them, and is somehow one game away from playing for the BCS Title.


BCS is a failure and a fraud, has been from the start.

Actually Vanderbilt is the only other team they played with more wins than losses. Ole Miss finished 6-6 and they didn't play Mississippi State.

The additions of Missouri and Texas A&M really screwed up some schedules. Perhaps the most notable was the @ Alabama game which was magically removed from Georgia's slate.

So of the teams in question, Georgia has probably had the easiest ride but their best win (#4 Florida on a neutral field) is one of the best wins any team in the country can lay claim to.

[Bravo95]

Georgia in particular gets my interest....they only played 2 good teams this year, Florida and South Carolina. They won a close one with Florida and got crushed by South Carolina. The only other team Georgia played this year that has won more games than they lost was Mississippi State...that's all!

So, in 12 games Georgia has faced 3 teams with a winning record(not counting FCS Georgia Southern), got crushed by one of them, and is somehow one game away from playing for the BCS Title.


BCS is a failure and a fraud, has been from the start.

We're still talking about this? Who's fault is it that Tennessee, Auburn, and GA Tech sucked this year?

^That's two established powers and one non-conference rival that play the Dawgs annually, all of whom have really no excuse for not winning a minimum of 8 games every season. Florida was down for a couple years and bounced back, UGA beats 'em again and get almost no credit. All I see is more whining. Also, even under the old system UGA would likely be in a similar spot because they won the East, are in the Conf. CG, and the teams in front did not take care of business when the path was clearly laid out for all of them.

I'm sure you remember Nebraska made it to the title game back in '01 despite getting bodyslammed vs Colorado by four TDs and not winning their own division, and I guarantee you weren't fighting the good fight back then. Guys, just let it go, this is the system we have. The "real" playoffs will begin in a few years and everyone can wait a while to complain about that too.

[Wingman]

Georgia in particular gets my interest....they only played 2 good teams this year, Florida and South Carolina. They won a close one with Florida and got crushed by South Carolina. The only other team Georgia played this year that has won more games than they lost was Mississippi State...that's all!

So, in 12 games Georgia has faced 3 teams with a winning record(not counting FCS Georgia Southern), got crushed by one of them, and is somehow one game away from playing for the BCS Title.


BCS is a failure and a fraud, has been from the start.

I have read a lot of comments on these boards, other boards, and listened to sports commentators. It seems the general consensus is that Florida had the hardest schedule, has a great resume, etc. Well, Georgia beat Florida; therefore, Georgia is rated above Florida. It really is that simple. It doesn't matter how they won, they won. It doesn't matter who else Georgia played. They are a one loss team that beat supposedly one of the best one loss teams in the NCAA. End of the story.
I think everyone would have to agree that to go undefeated, or even have a one loss season, most teams are going to have one or two ugly wins. It happens every year. Unfortunately, sometimes the best teams have an ugly loss at an inopportune time. Alabama against A&M, Georgia against SC, Florida against Georgia, Oregon against Stanford, Kansas State against Baylor, etc.

[Quinnsanity]

Hard for me to believe that they're overrated when they beat up non SEC teams in pretty much every significant game they play.

[desertrat218]

I have read a lot of comments on these boards, other boards, and listened to sports commentators. It seems the general consensus is that Florida had the hardest schedule, has a great resume, etc. Well, Georgia beat Florida; therefore, Georgia is rated above Florida. It really is that simple. It doesn't matter how they won, they won. It doesn't matter who else Georgia played. They are a one loss team that beat supposedly one of the best one loss teams in the NCAA. End of the story.
I think everyone would have to agree that to go undefeated, or even have a one loss season, most teams are going to have one or two ugly wins. It happens every year. Unfortunately, sometimes the best teams have an ugly loss at an inopportune time. Alabama against A&M, Georgia against SC, Florida against Georgia, Oregon against Stanford, Kansas State against Baylor, etc.

You overlook the fact that Florida is Georgia's ONLY impressive win, and Georgia lost to the only other ranked team they faced by 4 TDs!

[Catfish1314]

You overlook the fact that Florida is Georgia's ONLY impressive win, and Georgia lost to the only other ranked team they faced by 4 TDs!

What team(s) on what basis deserve(s) to be ranked ahead of Georgia?

[Mell413]

What team(s) on what basis deserve(s) to be ranked ahead of Georgia?

Bias aside I'd probably pick Oregon. I know someone mentioned something about ugly wins, but Oregon didn't really have any. Their closest win was by 10 points and that was after they give up a TD in garbage time. They lost by 3 to Stanford so even their one loss wasn't bad. That was the only bad game they played all year. Their loss looks better than Georgia's. They certainly pass the eye test too. Oregon had their chance and they lost, but I'd probably take them over Georgia (This isn't s slight to Georgia)

[Pinstripe pride]

Below is a list of the top 15 teams in the nation. Now I am just curious. Which SEC teams are ranked too high? Which ones shouldn't be in the top 10?

1) Notre Dame (12-0)
2) Alabama (11-1)
3) Georgia (11-1)
4) Florida (11-1)
5) Oregon (11-1)
6) Kansas St. (10-1)
7) LSU (10-2)
8) Stanford (10-2)
9) Texas A&M (10-2)
10) South Carolina (10-2)
11) Oklahoma (9-2)
12) Nebraska (10-2)
13) Florida St. (10-2)
14) Clemson (10-2)
15) Oregon St. (8-3)

LSU is too high, georgia is too high, texas a&m should not count as an SEC team since they wer ein the big 12 last year.