If you look at the bowl eligible teams in the SEC this year and look at their recruiting commitments thus far, it looks as if the West will be a three team race and the East will be a three team race for the next few years. The lower tier in each division shows no sign of moving up (including Vanderbilt, which will not have another Cutler anytime soon and Tennessee which is in free fall and has few commitments).

east will be a 4 team race. uf, ut, uga, usc.

so whats new? you been watching SEC football long?

I am in my 50's and have been watching since Cholly Mac was the coach. It seems to me that the talent level, team speed and team depth of second tier teams is markedly inferior to that of upper tier teams. My point is that we have long criticized conferences like the PAC-10 for having absolute cupcakes year in and year out. We are getting into the same shape. That undercuts our argument that we are the best conference top to bottom and that two SEC losses is as good as an undefeated season in the PAC-10.

The drop off from the upper tier to the lower teir in the PAC-10 is much bigger than in the SEC. The SEC really has more like 3 teirs in the average year. Arkansas (terrible this year) normally has a competitive squad that can't quite hang with the LSU & Auburn of the west, but could compete for conference titles in a few of the other BCS conferences. Same with South Carolina in the recent past.

The SEC West is getting very interesting. Ole Miss reached their greatest heights a few years ago & things aren't looking good for their future. Some people believe Miss St will be a competitor in a few years, but from what I've learned of Croom, I no longer think he can do it. Arkansas will come back to be a steady team again. Bama, Auburn & LSU are all moving towards being some of the top programs in the country IMO. What Tubbs (errr... Bourges) has done so far this year after losing 4 first round draft picks has been nothing short of amazing. Bama will have a dip next year, but will continue to compete for the West title. LSU has recruited better than anyone in the West which should ensure us success for years to come.

The East is perhaps even more interesting. South Carolina is coming along faster than many people thought they would - even though they have only 1 more win than they did last year at this time I think, they still won the big games (UT & UF). Tennessee sure did slide pretty low pretty fast. They won't stay that far down, but will they ever be the big dog again. Georgia has been the East's best team for the past few year & looks to continue, unless Meyer can shake things up once he "gets his system implemented". Watching what happens with that will also get interesting.

With LSU, Auburn, S. Carolina & Florida in the conference - I think we could see some pretty good offenses coming out of the SEC in the near future also.

The SEC East is actually getting more competitive.

During the 90s, Florida and Tennessee were dominant.

Right now, there are 4 teams that have realistic chances at winning the division.

Right now I feel sorry for Vandy. If not for a partial referee in the Florida game, they could have gone to a bowl game.

note: Vandy and their fans are great and deserve a reward for their dedication


If they had not gotten a field goal blocked at the end of game and lost to MTSU, they could have gone to a bowl game. If they had played a lick of defense against lowly Kentucky, they could have gone to a bowl game.

If these two things happen, and the ref doesn't screw them during the Florida game, then they might be 8-3! :shock:

The ref only screwed them out of the opportunity for a 2-pt conversion, not actually out of the 2 pts.