Whoa, Nelly! (14) Georgia 10 (1) LSU 7 at the half of SEC Championship

Georgia leads LSU 10 to 7 at the end of the first half. LSU has no first downs and the score really should be 10-0 since the LSU player did not cross the goal line with the football.

Now if I may, let me get back to my original point, which is not that one conference is better than another. One could find all kinds of data to bolster any claim either way.

Yes. Your original point was that it was a myth that the SEC was a superior conference. Only when I (as somebody from outside the SEC) called you on that did you respond by trying to change the subject from conferences to a single team, USC.

If we're talking about the last twenty-five years, I won't claim my Ivy League is a top conference. I won't claim my Big 12 is a contender for the top conference. I will say that I consider the Pac 12 the second-best conference over the past twenty-five years (and there's a clear gap before you get to the Big 10 and Big 12, etc.), but that the SEC has a strong top two-thirds, while the Pac 12 has a strong top third.

You may point to the Pac 12 not scheduling non-Div I schools. Commendable. It hasn't help them, or home and away scheduling. I think that's a step above saying that the Pac 12's the best conference because it has the nicest uniforms.

The SEC is 7-0 in BCS title games. It will become 8-1 this year, with its only loss . . . to an SEC team. The Pac 12 is 0-2. The Pac 12 win that was vacated, USC didn't have to play undefeated SEC team Auburn (USC had beaten Auburn in the regular season in other years, but not Auburn's best team in 2004, in the National Championship - and not without ineligible player Reggie Bush). Five different SEC teams have won the BCS National Championship.

Ten SEC teams played in bowl games last year (they went only 5-5, but it means the #8, 9, and 10 SEC teams were playing, what?, the #3, 4, and 5 teams from some conference?). The Peach Bowl contract requires the #5 SEC team to play the #2 ACC team yearly . . . unless the SEC has two BCS teams (which happens annually), in which case the Peach Bowl is always #2 ACC vs. #6 SEC. That's the way the other bowls are set up. The SEC is always playing up against higher ranked-in-conference opponents.

I'll just leave the final words to ESPN today, people who get paid to analyze college football and who apparently are good enough at it that they keep their jobs and we read them:

"[F]or the first time in modern history, two teams from the same league will play for the national championship.

"And not just any league, but the SEC, the one that has the evidence to show it's the best league in college football but lacks the discretion not to brag about it."

I won't try to change your opinion. You're "SoCal" Pubbie. You have a dog in this fight. I don't.

My original point was not that the SEC was not the best conference. I actually never wrote that, did I? It's that the mythology has risen to such ridiculous levels that circular reasoning rules the day.

Only SC, UCLA, and Notre Dame do not pad their schedules by going out of the Division, although no one else makes it the annual ritual that the SEC does. Even mighty Alabama has THREE wins this season against winning teams in FBS (1A). That's a tough schedule? Oklahoma State has defeated four teams in the final BCS top 25!

If one looks closely, it is hardly arguable that aside from four schools- LSU, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida, the SEC has been nothing special for many years. Since Tennessee won the Championship they've been on a steady decline and the rest have been mediocre to horrendous every year. Now Florida is nothing special too.

The Do Over Bowl is a travesty and I'm not the only one that thinks so. An ESPN online poll of 500,000 people indicted that almost 80% didn't want it.

I will say one thing the SEC does better than any other conference and that's promote its brand. The BCS is a creation of the SEC, for the SEC, and the ultimate goal has arrived. No one else need apply.

My original point was not that the SEC was not the best conference. I actually never wrote that, did I?

Your original point seemed to be that the SEC was just like everyone else. An equal.

>You wrote that the SEC has "some good teams, some bad teams, and some in the middle like everybody else." I don't think they're like everybody else. I think they're a step above the Pac 12 and two steps above the Big 10 and my Big 12.

You said that the top team in the SEC, and one that had just reeled off nine wins in a row (and has generally looked incredible since its first two losses) were teams with "quarterbacks who can't throw, receivers who can't catch, defensive backs who can't cover, and lineman who can't block." In other words, the best the SEC had to offer was worse than what other conference had, and to "any impartial observer" the SEC didn't deserve its status. This impartial observer disagreed.

Heck, last year Auburn had one of the worst SEC defenses. Couldn't stop anybody in the SEC. Only beat them by outscoring them. Consensus outside the SEC was that Auburn needed to score 60 to beat Oregon, because Oregon was going to run and pass up and down the field all night. Turned out that the worst defense in the SEC was capable of generally shutting down the most powerful offense outside the SEC.

That was . . . impressive. Then again, it was like the year that Ohio State was supposed to be the team of the decade and Florida didn't stand a chance. Ohio State had such speed and power, and they ruled the Big 10. Jeez, Ohio State even ran back the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Then, Florida's 'average SEC speed' kept Ohio State's players looking for their shoes and jock-straps all night long. And Ohio State got rolled.

I know Colt McCoy got knocked out of my National Championship game against the SEC. But we were pretty well dominated elsewhere, too.

It's painful to watch and someday the pendulum will swing the other way. But the SEC simply plays at another level.

So take the last shot; I'm through posting on this thread.

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