The SEC is Mad and They Aren't Going to Take it Anymore!

[30Duck]

When you're used to filling half the bracket, only getting four out of 12 is hard to take.

 

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey fires controversial shots at CFP, other conferences

SATURDAYBLITZ.COM

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We knew it wouldn't be long before SEC commissioner Greg Sankey would begin his politicking to cram as many teams inside...

 

[jrw]

How long before the SEC and ESPN decide that they’re just going to have their own league, and no longer mingle with the peasants?

[noDucknewby]

Classic circular reasoning:

 

1.  All these 2-loss SEC teams deserve to be ranked because the SEC is so tough.

 

2.  This proves that the SEC is the toughest conference because they have the most ranked teams.

 

And don't get me started on how worthless the ESPN strength of schedule rankings are, now who is their biggest broadcast partner?

[MicroBurst61]

AND ESPECIALLY when All the other conferences are playing conference foes...SEC is playing "Sisters of the merciful Beat Down".

 

So half of the other conferences pickup another loss, thus dropping them on the rankings;  most SEC teams pickup an "automatic" win, move up to fill spots by dropping teams from conference losses, then loudly, blatantly point out how "many more" ranked teams they have...thus gotta be the toughest conference with the  (built in) hoghest SOS.

 

I cannot believe that this still works for the SEC,  more than a decade after the end of the BCS!!

 

Oh well.  It was it is, I quess. 

[Jon Joseph]

 

Greg Sankey, Serenading for the SEC? Who knew (except the folks in Tallahassee. )

 

 

You Go, Greg! 

 

And with the conference so deep from top to bottom it won't be upsetting when Kentucky beats Texas, Auburn beats A+M, the Cowbells beat Mizzou, and Florida swamps Ole Miss, Right?

 

I do think Georgia will survive UMass and the Vols will take down UTEP.

 

 

[30Duck]

So Saeth, Saban:

 

"I think Ohio State and Oregon, the top teams in the Big Ten are just as good as the top teams in the SEC. But the SEC is so much deeper," Saban said on "The Pat McAfee Show" Friday. "There's 8 or 9 teams that have been in the top 25 this year, and they're all playing each other and they're beating each other. You have a 2-loss team like Georgia that has played five top-25 teams and they have two losses. That's a little different than playing no top-25 teams, or not beating any top-25 teams like some teams in the Big Ten"

[Steven A]

On 11/22/2024 at 12:42 PM, 30Duck said:

So Saeth, Saban:

Hey St. Nick:

 

If most of your teams start in the top 25, then as they beat up each other, they don't fall far and then end up with top 25 W's.

 

The eyeball and helmet tests are used to start the season and absent utter failure, those teams stay in the top 25.

[30Duck]

Listening to Cowherd, I know, I know. But I need something to drown out the leaf blower.

 

 He was talking about the Indiana @ Ohio State game. and one of the things I heard him say was, "Indiana is similar to Oregon." unfortunately I didn't catch what the similarity was.

 

What I did hear though was when he said, "All the pressure is on Ohio State". He is right about that, and everybody knows how Dan has done in important games. But shouldn't there be at least some pressure on Indiana?

 

[Sandy Rocks]

All these teams need a NET which takes into consideration a variety of factors, I think 6. Then the determination is based on an objective measure. It is not fair, as many have said, to have a conference that only has to play eight games and non conference games against Division II or Division I teams that rarely have good records. I do commend the Ducks. They have always played good non conference teams, during most years anyway.

 

There do need to be automatic bids for conference winners, I thought they were doing that but I guess not. Teams should be rewarded for winning their conference. In all the whining, I did not hear anything about the difficulty of the duck's schedule.

 

[CalBear95]

I agree with Saban.  The SEC is deep this year and there is a lot of parity.  If the SEC got 4 teams in I wouldn’t blink. 5, I could get it but the argument gets a lot tougher because now you need to subtract from somewhere and that somewhere is the B1G or ND. 
 

There are 4 teams max from the B1G.  UO, OSU, PSU, and IU. 
 

The SEC can reasonably claim the following as CFP worthy teams: UGA, Alabama, Texas, TAM, Tennessee and Mississippi. 
 

UGA is a no-brainer though they aren’t perfect given their inconsistent play.  But they have a rough SOS and going 3-2 against the top 25 is pretty good 

 

Alabama…guh!  Take away their brand name and you are left with a win over UGA (good), a stretch of 3 mediocre games where they went 2-1 and could just have easily been 1-2 (not good) and a really ugly loss to Tennessee (not terrible only because it was a road game)

 

Tennessee and Mississippi are very similar in terms of their argument.  Wins against top 10 teams, losses to top 25 teams.  They are good teams and I’d rank the Fighting Kiffins a nose ahead of Tennessee. 
 

After this weekend Texas will be in the same boat as IU: weak SOS and only 1 loss but it’s a convincing one against a top 10 team.  The only difference is that Texas’ was at home.

 

TAM’s resume gets worse with each week.  Their win against LSU looks less impressive now and they’ve lost to any quality team they’ve met (USC being the most recent).  
 

If TAM beats Texas, however, all hell is going to break loose because (1) the SEC is at most going to get 5 teams but probably 4, and (2) what do you with Texas?  The answer to that question causes a whole ripple effect. 
 

If Texas is in, how to you exclude TAM even though they are clearly in the 6 spot on this list but will have clinched a spot in the CG?  And if Texas and TAM are then in, how do you argue Penn State or IU is better than either Mississippi or Tennessee given neither have wins against a top 15 opponent?

 

So, Saban isn’t wrong when he says that.
 

HOWEVER, unsaid is the lack of 9 league games.  If you did that then I think you are left with a clearer picture of who the top 4 are and you avoid a situation where TAM and Texas can get to the conference CG even though they aren’t better than 3 or 4 other teams in the league.  
 

Said another way, live by the 8 game schedule sword, die by the 8 game sword. 

[DuckFan93]

How about playing more G4 games instead of FCS, to prove that SEC is better than other leagues? 

[30Duck]

On 11/22/2024 at 3:30 PM, CalBear95 said:

 

Said another way, live by the 8 game schedule sword, die by the sword.

Even with the 8 game advantage Georgia's schedule is tougher than Indiana's. The only way Indiana should get in the Playoff is the Automatic bid. 

[Jon Joseph]

 

Friends CalBear + 30, Texas has the same number of wins vs the Committee's Top 25 as Indiana and it has one more loss than Indiana. 

 

The SEC is deeper but the SEC will have nine fewer losses than the B1G until it plays 9 conference games. This Saturday sees games vs. UMass, UTEP, and THE CITADEL! In a 14-week season, these games = a third Off Week late in the season. 

 

Mizzou is 23 simply because it's in the SEC. Mississippi State, Kentucky, Florida, and LSU aren't all that. Not every SEC game is a battle of behemoths like never witnessed before.

 

I kind of get the SEC playing 8 but the ACC? And I get SCOREBOARD. The SEC has earned its football field bona fides. 8 games have the potential to result in utter champ game chaos. Make It So!